School

Reality has set in and I have finally decided that if I am ever going to complete this degree, then I had better actually get doing the homework. When I became an empty-nester at 45 some years ago, I impulsively decided to go back to school and pursue a bachelor's degree in counseling studies. I thought I would start out slowly, to see if I could handle the academic work after being out of school for more than 26 years.

I had not realized how much of my time and energy was taken up in parenting even though I seldom spent much time with my almost adult children at the time. My daughter married and moved about an hour away and entered university studies. My son worked steady nights and I only saw him if I happened to be in the kitchen when he came down and left the house. I had driven my kids to school for so many years and used to stop at the grocery store on the way home most days and then, even the grocery store closed for rebuilding and I suddenly found I had a HUGE hole in my daily routine. So, I thought, what am I going to do for the rest of  my life?

I started with a distance ed course at a Bible College in Old Testament survey and aced it so I felt pretty confident to continue and entered a program. The fact that I had been studying and teach Old Testament studies for 17 years is beside the point. It was interesting trying to find my high school transcripts from a school that had closed years earlier, but I did. It turns out that I was not that great a student in high school. I proved that it was easy to get a high school diploma by showing up regularly. I had done a year of college majoring in home economics before marrying my farmer sweet heart.  I was granted some transcript credits and proceeded to invest the next 10 years of my life going to school part time, after getting up before 5 every morning to milk cows then driving into the city an hour away 2 days a week. I eventually graduated with  a Bachelor of Religious Education in Counseling Studies. I did my internship at a pregnancy and resource center.

Within a month of graduating, I found myself in seminary pursuing a Master of Theological Studies. I jumped right in and took 3 summer course and discovered what work really is. I was used to taking 3 courses a year not 3 courses in 2  months. The first research paper I had to do radically changed my life. I was a part time student, did not yet have a student card, had never been to that university library, was working full time that week, did not have a topic and only had 3  hours to do research. I work well under that kind of pressure. I found my way to the 6th floor of Mills Library at McMaster University and as I was walking among the stacks, a whole shelf of books just "lit up" as I was silently crying out to God to give me a topic for this Christianity in a Pluralistic Society in the First Century course. Even though the prof thought it was a mediocre paper, that topic has become the passion of my heart and my life as I travel to India often to encourage women as I teach and preach on "How Jesus Changed the Role of Women". So, for the next 4 years every course, every paper, every trip to India, kept drawing me to conceptualizing my studies and my research into the daily life of uneducated, tribal Dalit, Untouchable and Outcaste women in remote rural villages of Southeast India.

I submitted my application for an on-line doctorate in Christian Counseling on graduation day. I am counting down 11/12 courses to go. There are no deadlines. It is self paced. Not the best scenario for a 60 something woman who recently realized she operates out of an ADHD mindset. So, I quilt. My next scheduled ministry trip to India will be November 2014 where we will be doing a women's conference on the campus of Harvest India. Its going to be fan-ta-bulous. And, yes, I DO hand write all my papers. I find it far more efficient.
And, I WILL complete this course.
Blessings,
Chris