Today has been one of those days that I have come to learn is typical of my life now, where I haven't stopped
doing since my alarm went off at 7:40 this morning. I awoke, still quite sleepy after getting in to bed at 1:30, got ready for the day (complete with a mini meltdown while doing my makeup, witnessed by Lisa--apparently I lack any type of judgment as far as what looks good at 8 in the morning). I ran out the door to my job in the social work department, where I was instantly overwhelmed with the return of the department head, who has been on leave since last semester, as I was now receiving direction from 3 different superiors and had to make judgment calls on what tasks need to be prioritized. After work, I grabbed lunch to go, and enjoyed 20 minutes of eating and laughing at reality TV ridiculousness with my roommates before again running out the door to my Lifetime Fitness class. And true to form, my life has to be a joke in some way every day--as I arrived breathless (this class is in the gym, the building farthest from my dorm on campus, so I had to run to be on time), I was locked out of the classroom. For some reason, my knocking did not indicate to the other students who COULD SEE ME THROUGH THE GLASS DOOR that I was locked out, so the professor had to stop lecturing to let me in. Sat through that class (more like kept myself awake by filling out my planner for the next few weeks), rushed to the library to do a run-through of my speech to Becca, went to Oral Interpretation, and delivered said speech. After class, I rushed to meet a professor about a story that he wants the newspaper to cover, then met with the Dean of Students about more newspaper stuff, and have now been in the office since 3:20 answering e-mails about the paper.
It's easy to get bitter about days like these. It's Monday and the coming week shows no signs of slowing down, I'm tired, my eyes have hurt since I got out of bed, and I can't help but feel like I am being pulled in a thousand different directions by people who seemingly need something from me: my section editors need answers, my professors need assignments, my boss(es) need things to be completed. But you know what? I'm not. I'm not bitter. In fact, days like these mostly just make me feel quite blessed.
(photo courtesy of pinterest.com)
Days such as these, where I literally am breathless from rushing place to place, remind me of the One who still manages to take my breath away, even after 11 years. As I was walking from my last meeting back to the newspaper office, I forced myself to slow down to a meandering pace (so hard for me to do--slow walkers drive me crazy!), breathe deeply, and with each excruciatingly slow step, remind myself and simultaneously thank God for how He has blessed me so. Because all of the things that stressed me out and tired me out today? They are all, in essence, quite beautiful (ok, aside from the eyeshadow incident--there really was no recovering from that). The reason I have to prioritize between tasks at work is because the professors I work for and I have countless opportunities to work towards social justice every day. I have the blessing of a cafeteria that I can grab a quick meal from whenever I need to throughout the week. The friends that I ate and laughed with are dearer to me than nearly anyone else on earth. The classes I attended are preparing me for the opportunities I will have to glorify God with my life after school, and were, in themselves, chances to bring Him glory. My work for the paper is, I hope, being used to encourage communication and understanding amongst the students of this campus, and thus, I hope, working for Christ's purposes.
This is how I have managed to not only "get through" the beginning days of this semester. I am not simply getting by--I am savoring, I am intentionally using these moments that are marching me towards my eternal home. My one life, the singular earthly life that I have is happening every day around me. There will be no more simply getting through. Every neuron that fires correctly in my brain, every cell that divides the way it was meant to, every beat of my heart, every breath that I take, is a direct blessing from the Creator of all things, who is alive and at work in the here and now--not just in the past or my "promising" future. May I continue to savor each moment as such.
As I rush off to meet my friends for dinner and plunge head-first into a night full of pressing assignments, it probably won't be long again before I am breathless. Beautifully so.
