Further from the beginning, but closer to the end...

Another semester here at CCU has come and gone. Today was the last day of final exams. Now I am packing up most of my belongings and getting ready to go home for Christmas break. I am definitely ready to be home and not have to worry about school work for a while. It just wears you down. As I reflect on this semester I realize that it was probably my most productive one so far. I have been in a college setting for three and a half years now and I finally feel like i'm starting to make some progress. I do believe I will feel as though next semester will be my most productive one when it is finished. I do not necessarily know why, but from looking at my class schedule, I think I will have more relevant and informative classes in the year(s) to come. I have approximately 4 semesters left. Seems crazy to me. I have a lot to learn. I don't know if I will be ready in 4 semesters, but I guess I will have to be.

Preparing for full-time ministry is not easy. No one ever said it would be, but we all kind of hope it is. The more I think about it the more I realize that I am not ready. I am not ready mentally or spiritually. Like I said a minute ago, I have a lot to learn still. I am going to have to seriously apply myself and strive to learn everything I possibly can. As I am sitting here thinking about how I think about how I am not ready for the ministry, (read that again and you might get it... :-P ) I wonder.. "is anyone ever ready?" Sure, when my four final semesters are over I will be ready to get out of here and begin my ministry, but will I be fully prepared for what I will have to do and go through for the rest of my life? ...I don't think so... Correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think anyone is ever ready. There is always more to learn, more to experience, more to do, more to say, more to study, more to love. Four years of specific studying will not prepare me for everything. Oh, my professors will try to instill all of their knowledge onto us students, but it will never be everything we need to know. The way I see it, life is one long class full of a bunch of field trips and special speakers. There is always something else to learn and we need to be ready to absorb every last piece of information we can.