Back 2 “School”
It’s that time of year. Back to “School.”
Whether you are excited.
Sad.
Going back to Work after a long delay.
We have what you need to be successful this time of year!
Powering off experts, those who have been there and done that, join us as we share the best Back 2 “School” advice ever.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We look back on mistakes and either smile, cry, or a bit of both.
What would you have done differently this time of year had you known at the time how it would turn out? Would you have gone to that party? Or started your blog? Quit your job to go traveling? Married your spouse? Taken a different course in University? Or would you keep the life you’ve had?
Our lives are inspirations to help the next generation.
Make a difference today for someone tomorrow and share what YOU learned on YOUR JOURNEY.
What Back 2 “School” advice would YOU give?
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Last year I decided to go back to college after a 5 year break. I had started college for nursing right after high school and then gotten married two years in. My ex had an affair while I was pregnant with my daughter. We separated and later divorced. I relocated to WI and worked to pay down some debts. With my debts paid off I decided that last year was the time to take my land back (a phrase I love from Susie Larson). I knew that I needed to go to school to best be able to provide for my daughter.
God began to speak to my heart though about changing fields. At first I resisted, nursing was what I had dreamed of. It was what I wanted to do. As I began to listen to God and really seek him I realized that he really does know me better than I know myself.
My strongest desire was to be there for my daughter in every way that one parent can. (One of the reasons I think I was so set on not changing majors was that when life had hit me hard with the pregnancy, affair, divorce and relocation so many people told me I’d never go back and finish. Even family members, who love me, had discouraged me deeply.)
I had a pride issue. There was something less than about being a Mom and a teacher. It was less glamorous, less exciting, less challenging and definitely less rewarding. I began to pray that God would change my heart. I prayed that if it was His Will for me to go back he’d make it possible. I lost my job one week before my appointment to meet with my academic advisor. Satan was really trying to get me down. I prayed to God, begging him to let me know what I was supposed to do. This was my devotion that night. I decided to keep my appointment with the advisor. I’d at least go and see what I could do, I could always decide it wasn’t going to work. I had a month before classes started.
I met with my advisor. She gave me a checklist of things to do. The main thing I had to do was get enrolled in 6 classes all of which were full. The chances of me getting them all was slim. She told me to check daily and see if there were any openings. One by one those classes opened up. Not only did I get in all 6 classes but with a schedule that had no conflicting times.
The other big thing was to find out about financial aid. I applied and was awarded exactly $6 less than I needed to be able to pay for tuition. That left books and gas back and forth. I remember opening that letter and crying. I know it had only been 5 years but I felt like I’d been wandering in the desert for 40 and God had just delivered me to the promised land.
What a weight that had been lifted off of my shoulders. Finally I was in a place of relying solely on God to meet my needs and provide for my future. That first semester I learned so much. One of the biggest lessons was about a verse I’ve always loved. “Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 34:7 I always thought this meant love God and he’ll give you want you want. Sisters, I learned that all these years I hadn’t been delighting in Him. I was reading, praying, studying, serving but not delighting! To delight means to take great pleasure or to give keen enjoyment. When something gives you great pleasure or keen enjoyment what happens? You can’t get enough? Right? Well last year I really began delighting in the Lord and he began to give me the desires of my heart. What God was offering to me was the same as always, but the desires of my heart had changed PTL!
My heart was more in line with His than ever before (other than when I was first saved.) I took classes and really began to think education was my niche. I met a very inspiring professor who is geeky and loves math as much as me! I declared a minor in Mathematics.
I took notice of some young girls on campus who were making stupid choices as I had in my early 20s and I determined to live out loud! Before I did school and kept to myself. I was a nontrad student. I didn’t figure that I had the time or energy to really reach them and I thought they wouldn’t listen anyway.
The spring semester came around. Again several of my classes were closed due to me not having priority registration as a Sophomore. This is ok for most Sophomores because they still have a lot of wiggle room for electives to take, but for me having gone to school previously and already having electives due to changing my major, I didn’t have this room without tacking on time to my expected graduation.
I prayed again. This time not asking if I was doing the right thing. But believing with faith that I was doing what He’d asked and that He would mpve what I viewed as a mountain of an obstacle. “Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20-21 By the start of the semester I had all the classes I needed.
I even had two classes with three girls God had particularly laid on my heart the semester before. One of them had come to know Christ as Lord and Savior in the Fall and the other two were asking lots of questions. By the end of the Spring semester the other 2 girls had come to know Christ. They were all plugged in at a bible teaching church in Oshkosh. We had started an on campus bible study which had 20 regulars in attendance. One of the girls had led her Mom to Christ and another her dormmate and sister.
I thanked God and finished the semester with a humble and grateful heart. If I had remained prideful and tried to remain a nursing major those girls wouldn’t have been in my classes.
I said all of that to say this… I’m so grateful for many changes I made last year. I started dating a wonderful man. I embarked on a journey to regain my health (losing 40 lbs). I returned to school. As exciting as all of those things are the thing I enjoyed most about last year was delighting in the Lord and letting Him use me! Wherever you are in life Jesus longs to spend time with you and he has a purpose and a plan for your life. Believe that and see what He does in you and thru you this year!
This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Jeremiah 29:10-14