Quite Some Time

It has been six weeks or so since I've even looked at this blog, and not for a lack of things going on. My days have been full to overflowing with family, friends, colleagues, work endeavors, educational pursuits... Where to start?

At the end of March I went to the regional NACA conference where we typically book the majority of our entertainment for the year for students. It was a great trip, and I came home extremely proud of my students. I did a little "mobile blogging" (you know, with a pen and paper?) while I was there, and I stumbled upon it today:

Thursday, March 31...But what surprised me, I mean really surprised me, was a tiny little moment before our first meal together. We all sat down around a table set with salads, water, baskets of bread, and a plethora of extra forks. Everyone sat. No one moved. Everyone looked around then looked at me. Silence. Then a quiet voice asked, "Did you want to, um...pray?" I couldn't help but beam a little, okay, a lot on the inside, which I am only sure leaked out to the outside. "Why yes, I'd love to. Amongst the hustle and noise and activity of nearly a thousand students, the seven of us quietly praised God for His goodness.

April has been nothing short of a veritable tornado of activity personally and professionally. I don't know how many days I've said, "I have a love/hate relationship with April. Today, it's more hate." Heres' a brief recap of some of the things I have survived (although I feel like I could write entire posts on almost all of these):

• I started an intense workout program called P90X which I love, but when caught up with the rest of life in the tornado, I can't ever seem to dedicate quite enough days to it. I have two main goals in working out nearly six days a week, an hour a day or more: 1) rocket to the summits of multiple 14,000-foot peaks with ease as opposed to my labored, exhausting attempts of years past, and 2) rock a string bikini shamelessly, even if just for myself.
• My students pulled off two formal balls on back-to-back Saturdays, both with varying levels of successes and failures. My only free Saturday in April was the day before Easter, as this weekend I'm headed on a bus trip to Chicago for a White Sox game.
• I have been at work at least four out of every five (well, six with all the Saturdays) nights a week, pulling some marathon workdays out of thin air (with the assistance, of course, of significant amounts of caffeination and endless prayers of supplication). Somehow through it all, I still really do love my job.
• I applied to a doctoral program at Edgewood College in Madison, Wisconsin and interviewed just last week for admission. I am still awaiting word on my acceptance. Being admitted would begin a three year journey of simultaneous full-time grad school and more than full-time employment that I am undoubtedly clinically insane for attempting and will assuredly result in being over-educated, under-paid, and deeply in debt.
• I attended the funeral of a man my age that I attended college with. He was married to a woman that I was a friend and RA with in Wilgus Hall, and it was a stark reminder of just how unstable and unpredictable life can be despite our very best attempts to make it both stable and predictable.
• I spent Easter weekend with family, which I will probably write another post about later. It was a lovely weekend, but some interesting reflections came out of the time. 
• And as we march on toward May, the Student Life department is quickly dwindling as individuals seek out more promising employment and educational opportunities elsewhere. I'm sure, at some point, I will also reflect on this, as the implications are potentially huge and terrifying, but we trust God's guidance for the security of our future. 
• I made not one, but two new friends. The administration on campus interviewed a candidate for the Health, Recreation, and Wellness program, and before even offering her the job thought of all of the similarities between her and I. I am thankful that Dr. Ward stepped out and asked me to help her find a place to live. She is a great new friend. And the campus chaplain introduced me to a new associate pastor at a local church and she's full of sass, spunk, and sarcasm. It has been years since I made an honest to goodness new friend, so that has been very nice.

And there you have it. You're all caught up. With so much going on, and finally making the attempt to put some reflections down on paper, I'm sure more will follow. It's kind of like working out or eating well. You know it's good for you, but a little lull in the action tends to make it easier to forget just how good you feel after you've done it.