Book Learning

Well, as I write this, I am preparing for the first class of my last semester in this round of graduate school. I will graduate in May, Lord-willing, with a Masters of the Arts in Ministry.

Now, I will surely write more about this whole thing later, but what I'd like to say now is that I have really been blessed by this whole fantastic experience.

Due to some scholarships, employee discounts, and generally affordable tuition, I think I can safely put the financial price-tag on this endeavor at about: $24,000-ish (tuition, books, fees...)

It seems cheap (both literally and figuratively) to put such a number on this education. So, this is the only time I will do it. And the only reason I do it now is because I am ashamed at how often I think of the price of pretty much everything (computers, deli meats, cars, Pringles, pants, plane tickets, and office chairs), and how unfair it would be to slap this number on that experience. I think I need to learn this lesson for everything else too. 

Spread out over 4 years, I was at once a part-time worker and a full-time student, and now I find myself with those roles reversed, but still intent on finishing the degree (albeit a different one than when I started). And it was worth every nickel and every second.

Today I had the privilege of sharing with a group of first-time grad students what a joy studying God's word for the last four years has been.

And it still is.