lessons from nature

the Scriptures speak of the natural elements crying out Christ's Lordship. well, i believe they chat about various other things as well, under the umbrella of His ubiquitous omniscience and perpetual rule. for one, He has given me (as requested) much wisdom lately about how to study. it might be too late to recover what 'could have been' for this semester, at least for the final i'm about to take tomorrow. however, i will implementing the strategy full-time next semester. it is simply this:

progress by regressing. everyone uses computers, technology, phones, etc. to 'enhance' information exchange. and yet i've noticed a peculiar trend--my mind works faster, better, and more efficiently when it's looking at real paper. this explains why every attorney (out of 9) i've ever handed papers to when working at the law firm always wanted PAPER not computer files. they would convert everything to paper. technology impedes.

so, the holy grail of study methodology is this: be in motion, either walking, or jogging while looking at a piece of paper, while listening to a voice file that you have recorded of that piece of paper. my retention has skyrocketed. i literally think i'm getting 3 hours out of each hour of time. amazing. thank you Lord!

Of course, law school is not purely about retention. and, i'm finding, for me, i'm pretty sure it's moreso about loving and serving Him above all else. am i going to sell my soul to go for the top and leave Him behind? No way! That choice begins the moment you step on campus--well, really it begins before you get here, but my point is that God has left me to choose whether i would step into old habits of workaholism and selfish pride--putting my own fears/desires for success ahead of His unique purposes for my life, and moreso than that--at the fundamental level--above HIM as a person.

One of the ways in which He spoke to me today was, after a hard hour and change of straight walking on the beach while reading and listening to my outline simultaneously, i felt the thought that i should put it away, and just listen to the next song on my IPOD, instead of my outline, so i did. It was mercy me's 'where you lead me' and i was floored. it was as if God was speaking the words of the song directly to me--that He wants me keep following where He leads and leave the rest to Him. If He wants me here next year, He'll make it happen. i can't do it on my own power, and...why would i want to??

and as He was saying this a seagull swooped down [hadn't seen one yet in the previous hour] and tracked along the rolling wave coming into shore, as if it wanted to surf the thing. the grace of it was astounding. and then i thought....that is just like me....i'm flying with Him, and close to the edge of a wave that could capsize me.

and then a few minutes later i looked and there were two seaguls tracking the wave in the exact same way--and tracking each other. and God said:

God: That's what it will be like...you'll be flying the same path, in the same way, and must still focus on who you are, your mission, and most importantly--ME (as in--God). And then she'll be flying right beside you, and you'll be a pair--but seperate.
Me: Oh, ok. Got it.

It was extremely liberating, and i know it sounds silly, but if there's anything i've had to overcome regarding the prospect of dating/romance, it's a lack of personal boundaries which stem from a good thing, which is an uber-close/connected family, primarily, but it is quite reassuring to know that all God wants me to do is keep being me and following Him first and foremost.

And all it took was some waves, some sand, and some seagulls to teach me.

And all it takes is paper and a voice and walking, one foot in front of the other, to study. Try it sometime, you might be surprised....