Lookin' forward and lookin' back
Week 7. Most of the folks I'm friends with keep the same sort of yearly schedule I do. It's based on the semester system of the academic world. At this point in our calender, we're not primarily thinking it's now october 1st and have this, this, and this to do. It's a "I have 9 weeks left in the semester, two projects due between now and then, and a fall break where I'll procrastinate while laying up with family and friends. Nonetheless, I was extremely surprised to hear that this is week 7.
Pic 1: Here some of us are at the Pumpkin Fest a few weeks ago. Front (L to R) - Adrielle, Josh B., Kindel, and me. Back - Karen, Matt, Bryan, Janine, and Melody.
God has been very good. Let me reminisce on His grace and love:
The new people God has brought into my life have lavished encouragement on me. To tell you truth, the past three or four weeks I've felt spiritually parched. Upon listening or reading the words of those pleased by God's nearness and ever-present love, my heart lights up with desire to be in that place again! So easily I go back to the same routine of neglecting the Spirit's call. And the Great Shepard has kept true to his promise to go after every wandering sheep that is his. It's through my friends and family, including those at my local church, that my faith is being built up.
My adviser confirmed that I'm on track to graduate in May. I have a couple of life options I'm pursuing for post-graduation: a PhD program or work. I've spent much more time thinking about PhD programs over fixing up my resume or looking for job opportunities. Maybe it's just that time of the year? I often think, though, that the only real job option available for someone with my education is, well, to stay in academics. Where does an environmental chemist look for a job? I don't want to sit behind an instrument all day, pushing the 'start' button and filling out reports. So I'll preface my next paragraph with the comment that I have not fairly considered the job option.
Nonetheless, I've been very encouraged in my search for a PhD program. After making some contacts with local profs., I think that I have what it takes to get into some decent environmental science or engineering programs. Some of the email discussions have been particularly useful in helping me see what type of adviser, group, department, and project that will best suit me. Ask me sometime about how I've seen Providence working through this process.
Research and TAing have been going very well, but they keep me quite busy. Because of a full schedule, it's been a little more difficult to keep up with friends. At lunch today someone noted that I had basically disappeared for a few weeks. Well, there's truth to that.
Some prayer requests before I finish:
Spiritual health that positively affects my relationships
Consistent and healthy balance of time
Leading and fair decision making w/ regard to work and more grad school
Unspoken request for some healthy problems among family members
For some reason this passage was brought to mind:
"When our days there were ended, we departed and went on our journey, and they all, with wives and children, accompanied us until we were outside the city. And kneeling down on the beach, we prayed and said farewell to one another. Then we went on board the ship, and they returned home." Acts 21: 5-6
posted by PB&K @ 3:03 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Thanks for sharing, Paul. You'll be in my prayers. I, too, have gone through times of dry devotionals, and times of great joy and encouragement. I'm not sure how much this is a matter of human effort, or simply a matter of having one's heart in the right place in being obedient to God? or something else?
Also, I struggle sometimes with investing in other people (in friendships, family responsibilities, mentoring, teaching), and investing in alone-time with God. These two naturally should work together, but it seems that in my life I've gone through seasons of much more alone time with God, and seasons of much much more socializiation. I've wondered if God designs things this way....(?) and sometimes imagined the (corny, I know) metaphor of the lifecycle of the butterfly to imagine how God prepares us for the world through a lot of solitary confinement (which seems so backward, doesn't it?...)... Some thoughts. I can't believe we're at week 7 either! I feel like it was just May a little bit ago.
Take care
j9
it's a tough balance between finishing up school and doing things that are "fun". it seemed that you realized your point of too much "social" committments this past year; thus, trying to cut back on that time (which is probably wise). just be careful that you don't start overcommitting to your work either. it's a fine line, but i'm sure that you'll figure it all out. :)
You've probably heard this before, but let me say that when considering what PhD programs to apply to, you should put a lot of up-front effort into figuring out what you want to do after the PhD. If you want to be a front-line researcher (probably a 60+ hours/week job for at least 10 years) then you'll apply to the top [pick a small number] schools. If you want to teach and interact with a lot of students, going to a school like that might be a waste of time and mental/emotional energy. If you want to end up on a presidential advisory board, then I don't know what to suggest.
This was the big mistake that I made, so I thought I'd suggest not making it.
-DC
LOL! Paul, were you showing off your knowledge of Schrodinger's wave equation? I can't believe you knew that!
However, if you look closely, I believe you'll spot an error. Planck's constant is displayed in place of Dirac's constant.
MWAHAHA! Am I right? I think I'm right. :)
The "dude" in the video is Donny Osmond; object of a major childhood crush. I still will stop and watch when I'm flipping channels and catch him on the tv. **sigh....**
And yes, I dance like him. Probably not nearly as well, but big arm movements and cheesy expressions. At least this is the boys' opinion. :)
Do take advantage of the dance lessons! Great fun physical activity! I wish I'd done so when I was in college.
How are things going? How are you liking your schedule? I can't believe you're thinking of doctoral programs already!
Blessings,
Hillary :)
"ab initio quantum mechanics calculations "
Is that what we're doing? I'll be sure to let the boys know the error so they won't repeat it.
I'll probably have to wait until they get up from their nap. Oh, and then there's snack time. Hm. And then "Arthur" is on PBS. So it'll probably have to wait until after that. :)
Thanks Paul!
Blessings,
Mrs. H.
Post a Comment
<< Home