On Thursday night when I wrote this post, it felt like the first time I’d stopped all year. I’m sure it wasn’t (but then again…).

The reason it felt like the first time I’d stopped all year was because it was finally the end of the semester. A full-time worker, I was also a full-time student these past six months. One subject in a Pyschology diploma and two in a Divinity diploma.

Do I have any idea why I’m doing all this study? Not really. I just believe I’m being led to do it – and perhaps even more in the future – by God.

I knew it was going to be a bit too much, coming home from work and just studying and zooming classes. And it was.

Don’t ask about my apartment and how tidy it isn’t right now. I can’t remember the last time I vacuumed. The flowers that fell off a bunch in a vase are still on the dining table (I at least sorted out the vase and the stems). And if you know what’s good for you, you won’t ask how disgusting my bath tub looks (one word: rimmed).

I felt fatigued once the final exam (3 Old Testament essays) were finally done on Tuesday. Then I felt somewhat delirious on Wednesday night at Bible Study. Unfortuantely I was leading the study, which can barely be called a study, based on what I produced.

But I made it through. How? By God’s grace, of course. But on a human level, I think it boils down to two things: priorities and routine.

You prioritse things and people if they’re important.

If someone’s important to you then you’ll pick up the phone and call. You’ll send a text. You’ll do what you need to do to show them that they’re important. Even if it’s inconvenient. Even if you’re juggling a bunch of other balls in the air at the same time.

So even though it would have been a lot easier to sit down (lie down, even) when I came home in the evening. I prioritised study, because it was important.

On top of that, I’ve been all about routine these past six months: to the point that I was mocking myself by late April.

It really was that bad.

Alarm at 4:30am Read the Bible. Pray for about a hour. Dress and get out of the house by 6:19am. Train at 6:25. Bus at 6:45. Into the office by 5 to 7. Turn on computer and air con. Make coffee. Work.

Notice how the prayer went for about an hour? Also a priority. Prayer does amazing things.

Then in the afternoon, I’d get myself out of work earlier than usual so I could get home and not stop working, but just shift the focus.

I’m concerned by how much of a creature of habit I’ve become. The only thing that’s not getting as routine as it should be is the time I go to bed. Definitely on sleep deprivation right about now. Definitely need to work on the sleep hygiene routines.

I think the psychologists would have something to say about that.

Yours with only one more subject left in that diploma,

Alison