Heading for Higher Things

Sitting in orientation class and thinking about how this is costing me over $1,800 and we're playing word association games. I know it will be worth it, after all this is what I've been saving up for over the past 7.5 years. I'm excited to realize there is an end in sight. So many times I would count up my pennies and think about how I would probably be 40 before I even started at the rate I was going. I was careful with my money as my education was a priority for me. I didn't have an iPhone or cable TV, I lived at home and I drove a 15-year old car. I did spend money on eating out with friends and buying fun clothes, though!

Then one day the doors began to open. Some I had to nudge, others I had to push rather hard, but each one opened clearly and remained open. As it happened, I began to realize that this was really happening. I was no longer dreaming; I was living the dream. It wasn't going to be easy, I knew that, but it was now possible.

It doesn't end there, though. I learned that graduate credits on a master's level can apply towards the doctoral degree as well. I have now set my sights past the master's degree to about 10 years down the road: to a PhD. I know it sounds rather presumptuous and wanting to only follow God's plan for my life means He could lead me down another road which may not include that. However I am learning that while God directs, He does want us to have goals to work towards. After all, He has instructed us to set our sights on the prize before us.

It's pretty amazing to see how God places longings in our hearts, equips us in those areas, and then fulfills those longings while giving us new dreams to dream so we are always living and growing. God only wants good things for us. This is one of those good things.