I'm not going to lie to you... I'm in class right now. It's the second and last weekend of my Ministry to Children course. Wireless internet is a beautiful thing.

My spring break in Nashville was wonderful! I got to spend time with some of my favorite people, ate at some of my favorite restaurants, saw some famous faces, and came to some priceless realizations. The last time I was in Nashville was back in the fall. I hadn't been back in Abilene too long, and I was really missing my friends and families in Tennessee. When I was there the only thing I could think about was how I wanted to be back. This time was different. When I visited the children's classes, it was SO good to see the kids again (especially the ones that remembered me!). Last time I was there I still considered them "my" kids. This time I realized how much I missed "my" kids at Highland. Coming back on Sunday I was actually anxious to get back to work. I'm starting to see my purpose for being here and, instead of running from it, embracing it.

There was one thing, however, that was making me not want to come back to Abilene too quickly. Over the break I spent some time studying for my very first graduate school exam for my New Testament class. Of course I always could have studied more, but I did spend a good number of hours studying for it. I took it this past Monday morning, and afterwards felt like I did better than I initially thought I would do. I felt like I probably barely passed it, and if I got anything higher than a D, then I would be jumping up and down. In class on Tuesday our tests were given back to us. I made an 85! When Dr. Thompson gave it to me, I just looked at it for awhile, thinking surely he hadn't added the points up right. I can't tell you what it did for my ego. Lately I've been feeling like I am not as smart or "deep" as the other students. My weekly posts never sound as educated as the rest. Maybe I am not cut out for graduate school. But getting a nice B on a very hard test made me feel like I really can do this. I didn't start jumping up and down until after I left the classroom.

Thanks for your continued prayers for my dad. He came home from his second trip to the hospital on Tuesday- also his birthday. Well I better get back to listening now...