To be successful in accomplishing God's will for our lives, we must have determination.
As I was plowing, plodding, panicking, perservering in my studies throughout the day, I would have discouraging thoughts such as, "Why did I ever think I would be able to do this??" "Wlhat was I thinking when I signed up for this course??" "I can't do this!" Joyce Meyer then went on to say:
You may not always want to make the effort to be determined, but don't give up or you'll be outside of God's will. Find the discipline today to make 'pronouncements,' encouraging yourself to stay determined and settle the dispute between your spirit and flesh as you follow God's plan.
I know that I am doing what God has called me to do and over and over again, He has sent confirmation of that. Not once has He neglected to remind me that He loves me and has a purpose for my life. Yesterday I got to a point in my assignments, when I texted my friend Sharyn and said, "I am halfway on both assignments and stuck! I feel like what I am saying is just a bunch of big words trying to bluff my lecturers into thinking I know what I am talking about." Sharyn was already headed to my place to proofread both papers so I thought I should let her know what she was going to find when she got here.
Sharyn has recently completed online studies through the university and she brought her young adult daughter with her, who is also studying at the same university as me. While Sharyn read through my papers, I asked her daughter about the technical aspects such as how to cite references for quotes, how to make sure I format the essay correctly and how to submit the assignments electronically. When I first studied to become a teacher, we used typewriters and photocopied pages of books that we read in the library and there was no such thing in our world as "internet" or "google scholar" etc. When we needed to know the word count, we would count a line or two of what we have typed, counted lines on a page and gave an approximate estimate. Now, as I type in a Word document, I can look to the bottom of the document and see the exact amount of words I have used.
Sharyn was very thorough in proofreading, first reading the assignment question, the rubrik for one and the scaffolding of the other. She reassured me and said that in her opinon, I had answered the question and had done well. It was concise and well written. We discussed what I could do to 'fluff it out' a bit more without adding unnecessary verbiage. By the time they had left, I had been encouraged and reassured that I could do this. Before I went to bed that night, I completed one paper, made sure I had added the bibliography for both and was satisfied that I had done enough for the day.
Today I am going to work for a few hours but before I go, I'm going to work on the second paper. I would like to finish it before I go to work and there is a strong possibility I can reach that goal. After work, I will reread through both assignments to make sure they make sense and that I have cited references correctly. I will then submit the papers and breathe a big sigh of relief believing I can 'live' again. I am so thankful God has continually provided me with the right resources. The other day when I was stressing about finding enough material for my papers, I prayed about it, and was able to access some relevant resources online. Sharyn's encouragement last night was exactly what I needed to persevere more productively. The devotion from Joyce Meyer was a timely reminder that I need to be determined to stick with what God has called me to do.
On a side note, I have discovered that Milly is probably not going to be a good watch dog. Yesterday after a thunderstorm, she sat at the back door, staring towards the side of the house, barking. Milly doesn't usually bark and although I kept asking her what the problem was, she still sat there, staring and barking. I went outside to investigate and the whole time she stayed closely to the left of me and at times, behind me. When I went in the direction of where I thought she'd been looking, she went right behind me still staying close enough to touch my legs. I didn't see anything and when I went back inside, she was no longer staring and barking.
Well it's a beautiful day, blue, cloudless skies, birds chirping and singing their songs and I have a paper to write and a new job to attend to. The next few days are going to be very busy but I look forward to the weekend when I get to spend time with some very good friends as well as new friends and have my housewarming. I am sorely tempted to take a drive on Sunday afternoon and go for a walk along the beach. Ahhh! I can picture it now.
This is the beach at Ballina, New South Wales.
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