Only So Many Hours...

So - I was walking across campus yesterday thinking about how sad it is that the joy of learning has been replaced with the stress of learning. I was thinking about all the things that I would LOVE to learn about - but because society dictates what I must learn - I dread it instead of reveling in it. If I could study all the things I wanted - I'm SURE I'd never graduate! Certainly not with any usful degree to help me survive the world anyway. :( Why do we have to be so competitive. (And don't tell me to do it in my spare time- I don't have spare time! Life's to competitive for that. I almost DO feel like Darwin's survival of the fitest.) >.< Life would be so much more enjoyable if I didn't feel like it was a to-do list. It's like "take these certain classes at these certain times about these certain topics so that you can graduate at this certain time to do what everyone else is clawing to maintain some sort of security in." WOO! That was fun! *please sense heavy sarcasm*
So - enough bashing on school and the confining demands of society for survival. What would I do if I could do what ever I wanted? Well, hmmm... :) I'd LOVE to study:
-Prayer: the entire concept fascinates me! I'd love to take time to actually look at, understand, and study it rather than just do it - assuming what it is. I know what it is in its basics - but I want to understand it so I can appreciate it more.
-Photography: I LOVE looking at it! I love playing with (ie-editing) it! I'd LOVE knowing how to DO it! I had the chance to take a photography class once and I absolutely loved it! (Until I had to drop out in order to take on more volunteer hours to get better scholarships to a college...)
-Reading: I miss the days I could read for pleasure. Now - if I'm not reading for the sake of studying - I get a guilt complex. :(
-Astronomy: the skies have ALWAYS fascinated me! Especially the night sky! I studied a little about astronomy when I was a child but that also faded out when school increased.
-Quilting: ok - so now I'm kinda bleeding over to my "bucket list," but I've wanted to make a quilt for several years now. :)
-Music/Voice: I use to take piano - and hated it. Now I miss it like no one's business! What I wouldn't give to still be able to read music, pick something up, and play it on the piano! Also, I've always dreamed of taking voice. And at some point in my future - hopefully sooner than later - I hope to teach myself guitar. :)
-Nonverbal Communication: it may not be a perfect science (YET!) but I would LOVE to study nonverbal communication and microexpressions. (Yes - Lie to Me is a favorite tv show.) :)
-Shooting/Fencing: The first I've done and I love (though for lack of practice I've drilled bad habits into my style). Fencing, I've always thought would be really fun (Thanks to Lindsy Lohan's "Parent Trap") but have yet to actually try. It's not the highest on my list.

That's all off the top of my head. So yes - I truly am eclectic. :) What about you? If you could study anything you wanted - what's your list? :)

Why Worry...? Just Trust.

I'm almost ashamed to admit - I'm a worrier. I stress about things - a lot. And when I'm not stressing - I'm stressing about what's going to go wrong next. It's a very bad habit.
Tonight as I was reading my devotion, I was reading about Isaac and Rebekah. Their story always made me smile. It seems so hopeful to me - how they began. As I pondered their story, I began to think about my own life. So much seems to be going on right now. I've gotten to the point where I feel very overwhelmed and, well, stressed. As I was contemplating this, I began to wonder why I was stressing. "Why can't I just let life be good," I asked myself "why do I have to make it stressful?" Even my little daily jump start this morning was about how "God can handle any problem - and that includes yours." I began to laugh at myself. Why worry when I can trust? Why stress when I know that the God of all - has me in His care and cares for me? Too often I get caught in the "big picture" of life as a whole and become overwhelmed that I forget God and I miss living in the moment. It steals my joy. As I continued thinking, God reminded me of one of my FAVORITE passages of scripture and I just wanted to take a second to share it with you. I hope it's as encouraging to you as it is to me! Love in Him, Meag

"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?' For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." - Matthew 6:25-34