life beyond the well…

Category Archives: Education


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Press Reset

I’ve been hoping and praying all year that it wouldn’t come to this.

I started this year out with the best of intentions, and was fairly faithful in my progress- at least initially.

But then, I just got swamped. Late nights and early mornings, trying to balance family life, work life, regular life, and my school life. Finally, the moment came where I’d have to do what I’d been hoping all along would NOT have to happen: I had to press “Catch me up” on my bible reading plan app.

I know for some of you, this may not be that serious.  But for me, it was an immediate and striking reminder of how I had become too busy; of how the “urgent” began to crowd out the “important”.  And the thing is- I recognized it when I was just a few days behind in my reading plan, but instead of taking immediate action to fix it (i.e.: devote some extra time to reading and studying the word), I just kinda casually dealt with it- reading a little extra here, a little extra there; but not enough to be significant or to make any real progress or to see any real results.

The truth is that I viewed pressing that “Catch me up” button as a failure, instead of as an opportunity to learn, grow, and recalibrate myself to prioritize the items that I feel are most important.  By being bound to this mindset, I got further behind instead of making even the slightest hint of progress.

Life is kind of like that.  We hate to press the reset button.  We never want to have to catch up, because having to catch up means having to admit that we were behind instead of “on par” or “ahead”.  But what I learned is that it’s okay to press the reset button.  It’s okay to have to catch up and reorganize your priorities.  It’s better to take the steps necessary to move forward and progress than to stay stuck because you have too much pride to admit that you were behind in the first place.

In what areas of your life do you need to press the reset button?  Let me encourage you to JUST DO IT!  You’ll feel better afterwards- I promise!

Be encouraged!  Peace and blessings!

 


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Update- Just Say Thank You

You may remember this post from a few weeks ago, where I expressed my frustration about a student who had failed to write a thank you note for additional emergency aid that she received.  I also reflected on how grateful I am that God doesn’t remove our blessings when we fail to display gratitude:

“With my student, their failure to finish the process and send a thank you note has resulted in a reversal of the funds, meaning the funds will be removed and they will have to figure out a way to finance any remaining balance on their account.  Thankfully God’s grace and mercy doesn’t have “reversal consequences” in our lives, where He goes back and reverses or removes a blessing because our lack of gratitude or our failure to respond to his attempts to reach us.”

So the update is- after removing the student’s aid, she contacted us and sent in a very long thank-you note; which she said had been sent weeks before, but we had never received.  Fortunately, the emergency aid that she so desperately needed was reinstated; and I believe that she has learned a lesson about the value of follow-through ensuring that timely information reaches its destination; as well as a lesson in checking email consistently.

I’m just glad she’s able to stay in school.

Peace and blessings!