I Can See the Finish Line

Mid-terms are over in my last semester in college.  Time is racing toward The Big Day-- Commencement--at an alarming rate.  I have worked so hard for this for so long, and the fact that this is it has not sunk in.  It doesn't feel real yet.

I'm still caught up in the busy schedule I have kept for the last several years. I'm focused; not looking right or left.  I'm just heading for the finish line.

I am blessed to have classes I love for my "last hurrah" as an undergrad. I have had semesters that I Just. Got. Through. This is not one of those, at least not because of the coursework. It is, however, one of the busiest semesters I've had. Managing my time is something I have worked on for years now, and I am glad I have. I don't know how I would get through this if I had no time-management skills.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about.  My classes are Tuesday/Thursday this time, and for the first time EVER they are both day classes.  Well, technically, the four o'clock class is considered a night class, but since I have to leave work early to get there, it's a day class for me.

My Thursday includes having to leave for class about 7:30 am. Class is from 8:00 until 9:15, then I drive to work and stay there for the next six hours with a working lunch at my desk.  At 3:30 I leave for the 4:00 class, which lets out at 5:15. Then I head to my church for praise team practice, which is from 6:00 through about 8:00. I am finally home by 8:30 pm.

Yes, I'm tired.

Thank God this isn't every day.  Tuesdays are like this minus the practice.  I get to head home on Tuesday after the afternoon class. Home!  Yay!  Home to do.... homework! I have budgeted my time so that I am always home working on homework on Monday and Tuesday nights, because I have church on Wednesday and practice on Thursday. I'm home most Friday nights and most Saturdays.

Of course the days I am not in class I have to work an average of 10 hours a day to get my work all done and my 40 hours in, so I'm not getting home real early any night.  I'm not complaining, though.  I have so enjoyed my college experience.  I have said it on here before:  I love school!  I have always loved learning new things, so it's a privilege to me that I get to go to college.

I think my mother would be so proud.  She always wanted to finish high school herself, because back in the Depression era when she was young, she had to drop out of school to help work and earn a living. I told her many times I would help her study for her GED, but she never had the confidence to try.  I must have inherited my love of school from her.  She loved learning, too; she just didn't think it was possible for her to finish her formal education. She always encouraged me to get all the education I could, just as I have always encouraged my children to further their educations.

So here I go; I'm almost there.  Eight weeks from tonight is Graduation; about 56 days. FIFTY SIX DAYS.

I do believe I can see the finish line from here...

I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. Phil. 4:13 NLT