Going to Seminary

“There is a danger of doing too much as well as of doing too little. Life is not for work, but work for life, and when it is carried to the extent of undermining life or unduly absorbing it, work is not praiseworthy but blameworthy.”

Ralph Turnbull (1901-1985)

How good are you a tightrope walking?  How many items can you juggle at one time?  What are the most important balls to keep in the air?

These are among the many questions I was faced with during my first semester in seminary. I knew it wouldn’t be easy…not with a husband, two young children and two geriatric dogs in tow. I understood it would require a sizeable adjustment having moved our family (as well as my mother-in-law) to a new area, requiring us to find new dentists, doctors, libraries, schools, grocery stores and more. I sensed it would involve great sacrifice since my husband would be gone nearly five days of each week for his job…only leaving us a small window of time together on the weekends.

So, how did I juggle all of these responsibilities? And, how well did I do in meeting them?  To answer this question, I called upon Stephen Covey’s time management grid where Covey* identifies four areas (quadrants) signaling how we should spend our time:  (1) urgent and important, (2) not urgent but important, (3) urgent but not important, and (4) not urgent and not important.

One area in which I think I succeeded (in some small measure) was that my family remained in quadrants (1) and (2). Obviously, I had to make judgment calls as to when the needs were urgent or not and I had stress maintaining those levels but I sacrificed to make sure they were honored.

Where I fell short was in how I treated my seminary work, my devotions and myself.  Regarding seminary, more often than not, I had placed my coursework in the urgent/important grid. I did that knowing that my family sacrificed a lot to allow me to follow my calling so I thought I was doing them a favor by pursuing my seminary coursework “all out” such that their support would not be in vain. What I realized later was that they had already given enough and, while I needed to attend to my studies, I didn’t have to give 110% every time. Regarding my devotions, I often found myself empty and exhausted from the reading and the writing of seminary work and it ate away at the time I had set aside for personal study and prayer. I think this is what troubled me most because I knew how monumentally important it was. And, concerning myself, I neglected good eating and exercise regimens and I did not get the level of sleep that my body most desperately needed. Frankly, I’m still feeling and seeing the effects of this personal neglect.

As I look toward the fall term and the balance of my seminary journey, I realize I need to make some adjustments or I’ll be paying a price I am no longer willing to pay. Regarding coursework, I’ll give it a good effort and be willing to consider completed assignments to be “good enough”. Regarding my devotional time, I simply need to observe the Sabbath day as it was intended. In so doing, I can spend more time with my family, be more caring toward myself and be able to reconnect more fully and deeply with God. To remind me of these commitments, I plan to keep a copy of Covey’s grid posted on my wall along with Jesus’ commandments to love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind and strength and to love my neighbors as myself (Mark 12:30-31).

Perhaps Galileo said it best when he noted ”I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forego their use.”  I, for one, need to heed God’s words of wisdom when it comes to understanding what is truly important and how best to balance that to which I have been called.
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*Stephen Covey is the author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People

I wonder if you have a growing list of things you are going to do “when you get time.” For most people there seems to be at least a few things that are on a project list that are waiting for the right time or resources to be implemented. Some of these have more to do with the way we structure our priorities, and others are just waiting for the right pieces to fall in place. Either way, I bet that list (for most of us) is getting longer – not shorter.

My wife and I have experienced this at a couple of times in our marriage. We tried to get the timing right for me to step into fulltime ministry from a parttime role. We tried to wait for the right time to have a child. Once our boy came on the scene we wanted to wait for the right time for her to become a stay-at-home-mom.

In these few cases and SO many more, if we had truly waited for the “perfect” time – we would still be waiting. We have found it easy to find multiple reasons for delaying some life-changing decision; everyone does. But we have also learned that once we acted on those things – God provided. In fact, it became difficult to understand why we had not acted sooner rather than later.

I have had a similar experience with seminary and it became even more evident to me as I completed my journey at Rockbridge Seminary last month. For several weeks I had been longing for (and dreading a bit) the day when I had a week with no assigned reading, with no papers due at midnight, or some other seminary-related action to complete.
I just knew that once I graduated I would have tons of time to jump into the ever-growing pile of books I want to read. I would have more quality time to spend with my family. I was looking so forward to my well-deserved break of doing whatever I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it.

My realization, however, was found on the opposite end of my assumption of all the free time I had coming. What I found is that I have absoutley no idea how I ever completed seminary! When I look at my schedule, there is no room for classes, homework, or papers. There is no time for me to engage professors or fellow students. And defintely no time to read page after page of something that I’m certain would make even God yawn two pages into it.

My point is that if you are waiting for the perfect time to jump in to furthering your education – that time might be right now. If you are thinking that you just can’t add one more thing or that your schedule is too cluttered – just ask yourself if that situation will be better, worse, or the same a year from now. My bet is that you will be just as busy or busier later as you are right now.

Now, admittedly, there are significant reasons to delay the timing of such an important decision, and the contributing factors are much broader than the scope of this post. But waiting for life to cease its incredible demand on you physcially, emotionally, and spiritually will be a long, long wait. Why not jump in and give it a go for a semester? See if you are able to do with seminary the same thing you do with every other hurdle life throws at you – face it head-on and conquer it through Him!

This guest post was written by Terry Delaney.  You can read more from Terry at Diary of a Seminary Student and Said at Southern.

The Semester is Over!  Now what?

I don’t know about you, but it seems like I spend each semester thinking about how I need to get ahead in my classes so I do not have work piled on at the end of the semester.  And every semester I find myself piled with work at the end.  My wife once said that semesters just end whether you are ready or not.  Well, now that the semester is over, what are you going to do with yourself?

What can you do with your down time; that is, if you have any down time.  I know more than a few people who are taking summer classes.  I am not one of them.  I need the time to let my brain relax and finally digest all that I learned over the school year.  If you are one of those taking summer courses, my hat is off to you.

For those who are not taking summer courses, allow me to offer up some ideas to use your time wisely:

Honor Your Family’s Sacrifice 

First, if you are married, take your spouse out for a date night—s/he has earned it!  Your spouse has probably done much more than you realize in allowing you to focus on your schoolwork.  If you have children, take them out for a day at the park or the zoo.  Your kids miss you even if you spend a lot of time with them throughout the semester.  Spending quality time with your family ought to be priority—how much more when you actually have the time to spend?

Meditate on God’s Word 

Second, read your Bible.  If there is anything more important than spending quality time with your family, it is spending quality time with your God.  He saved your soul and He commissioned you to preach the Word.  For many seminary students, Bible reading goes out the window once the semester workload gets heavy.  It takes about an hour a day to read through the whole Bible in two-three months.  You could easily read the Bible during the summer.

Fellowship With Your Redeemer 

Third, take a day where you actually get away by yourself and get with God.  Leave your cell phone and MP3 player at home or in the car and go sit in the woods for an afternoon for a time of silence and solitude with God.  Allow the eternal spring of life to recharge your spirit.  We can all testify to how rough each semester is, why not refresh your soul with God?

Enjoy Your Mind
Fourth, read that book you have wanted to read since last summer.  Not everything needs to be deep theology or related to your field of study (for you music majors).  Personally, I plan to read a couple biographies this summer in a kind of devotional format.  Drink in the lives of those who have gone before you.  They will teach you so much more than you can imagine.

Nap to the Glory of God 

Finally, take some time off to do absolutely nothing.  Obviously you are going to be doing something, but there is nothing stopping you from taking a nap to the glory of God!  Spend a day your pajamas if you are able or just read all day.  I have found it liberating to get rid of my watch for a day (I am a slave to that thing!) and not be governed by time.

Now, I realize most of us will be working at  jobs or ministries or going on missions trips, but that does not mean you can’t do one or all of these things I have listed.  You create your own list.  The bottom line is do not waste your “time off” by doing nothing the whole time.  Be sure to fill it with what I like to call “quality down time.”  Keep everything in perspective and make sure your priorities are right and enjoy your summer break from seminary…if you have one.  God bless.

So, I have another paper to write this week. Honestly, I hate writing papers. It just doesn’t come naturally to me. I feel like I might overthink them too much or something. Anyway, I spent 7 hours in the library today working on this paper and have, basically, nothing to show for it. I’d say it takes me at least 10 to 15 hours to write an average paper. Is that normal? How long does a typical paper take you?

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