Keeping Things Organized..........

Jen will tell you that I probably utter the title phrase of this blog multiple times during a given week. Everybody who knows me knows that I have a deep seated need to at least try and keep my life organized, broken up into different departments that I try to give the necessary effort and attention to. Jen will tell you that if I have a few spare hours one day, I'm more apt to try and do something else to get ahead, whether it be do some school reading, or write some interview questions for articles I'm working on, or whatever task I deem to be good enough to fill this open time that I have. Very rarely do I actually enjoy having free time to do nothing, because, as a task oriented type of person, I feel a sense of accomplishment and self worth when I accomplish multiple tasks in a given day, no matter how small they are. This brings to me to the start of a new semester here at Liberty, quite possibly my hardest one yet. Allow me to elaborate.

As a 2nd Semester Senior, the end is finally in sight for me. After this semester ends, I will only have 3 classes left to finish, all of which aren't super hard. It's looking like I'm going to be able to participate in the May Commencement Exercises with Jen, which brings great joy and happiness to the both of us, as we both are a bit burnt out on school(well, I'm way more burnt out than she is, but that's a side note.) This semester promises to be the hardest one ever simply because the 5 classes I'm carrying are ALL Senior Level 400 Business classes, which I am convinced are designed by the University to scare the living daylights out of the students who have survived to this point, as if they don't want us to have confidence going towards Graduation that we are in fact, going to graduate. I just finished the first week of classes, and already alot of my professors tried to instill a fear in me that I and the rest of the class could quite possibly fail and not graduate. Tales of group projects with 5 major parts to them, including creating promotional campaigns for local business, or writing a 30 page strategic plan for a multi million dollar company like Panera or PepsiCo were tossed at me and my fellow Seniors like a gauntlet was being laid down by the school. It is at that point that my inner drive to organize kicked in, but I find that several things are diverting my attention.

First, we had a snow day this week !! Yes, it's amazing that LU actually closed down school, but considering that close to 3 inches of snow fell on the ground and there was icey roads, our fearless leadership showed that they had a heart and gave us a day off from school and work. Much rejoicing was done on my part when I woke up in the morning and realized that the school was going to be shut down, but I was rejoicing for an entirely different reason than most. I saw that snow day not as an opportunity to goof off and play in the snow, but rather to get some homework done and get ahead for a brief while until the hammer really drops as we progress in this semester. However, something happenned that morning that I did expect to have happen, simply because it's not really a part of my radar when I have free time. You know what happenned.................??

I ACTUALLY TOOK A 3 HOUR NAP. Crazy isn't it ?? The one guy who always pushes through his tiredness to get the job done, whatever it may be, actually layed out on the couch and took one of the most glorious naps I have ever taken. Jennifer looked upon me when I woke up from my nap with a look on her face like she had witnessed a miracle or something, because the likelihood of me taking a nap normally is somewhere between me wearing an all purple outfit or eating a cream based sauce. Now, granted, I woke up and got a 2nd win and I got alot of homework done that day, which was great, but this new experience got me thinking about something...........is it possible to keep things organized in my mind while still engaging in an occaisional rest or relaxing activity ?? Luckily enough, something came in the mail today that I think will test the very fiber of my desire to be organized self.

As I got the mail today, folded inside my Wall Street Journal(it's for a class), was none other than a Creation Festival 08 Magazine. Having seen one of these before my inaugural journey to Creation 05, I was instantly excited because this magazine has the tentative schedule for when bands are playing. As I swiftly tried to find that schedule page, Jennifer uttered some of the most beautiful words I have ever heard her utter to me in our entire marriage........she said, "Sweetie, STEVE FEE is gonna be playing Friday morning !!!" Jennifer will tell you that if there is one CD that I am guaranteed to play at least once a day in the car, it's my Steve Fee CD that I got at Passion 07 in Atlanta, GA. They are one of my favorite bands, and the excitement that they were going to be playing at Creation Festival 08 sparked an excitement level to see who else was going to be there. I looked through the Schedule and saw that some of my other favorite bands were going to be there.......like Pillar, Jeremy Camp, SuperChick, Toby Mac, Newsboys, David Crowder Band and many others. I grew more and more excited until organized Steve mindset tried to kick in.

As I sat and pondered the excitement of going back to my 2nd Creation with my wife and our dear friends the Davis's and rocking out and worshipping the Lord with these awesome bands, I was instantly struck with thoughts about what's going to happen this summer ?? As Cindy and Jen and I have talked before, I may be working full time for the Men's Basketball Team this summer, or who knows, there may be something else coming up that would keep me from going to Creation Festival 08. Every fiber in my being wants to just go up there with Jen and our friends and rock out and have fun, but the ultimate struggle is being played out. On one side is my logical, rational, organized self who realizes that it's hard to commit for sure right now to get the tickets for Creation and just say that we're going because I don't know what committments I'm gonna have this summer. On the other side, this side that I'm learning to keep in balance, is just a desire to say you know what......we're going, no matter what. It's this struggle of balance that I am dealing with right now. As Jennifer would probably say to me, "You should pray about it," that's what I'm gonna do, because as I have learned, God has a way of working out in my life what He wants me to do, and as I am learning today and many other days, I've gotta have a balance in my life.

So, we'll see what's gonna happen, stay tuned friends.