A Whole New World and a Deepened Admiration

I finished reading a few articles about linguistics, specifically neuro- and psycholinguistics. I had never heard of these research endeavors before this evening, when I ran across them via a scholarship opportunity on Fastweb. I am fascinated by this world of biology and psychology that I have newly discovered. One of the most interesting articles dealt with lexical functional grammar (LFG).

This summer, God seems to be showing me a side of Him in much greater detail, creating in me much greater awe. I am three weeks in to my summer classes, meteorology and biology. They both require a considerable amount of reading. In meteorology, I read about how small visible light is (think micrometers) and about how an average of 4.6 million pounds of air pressure push against our roofs from the outside.* In biology, I read about buffers in our bodies that keep our pH balance around 7.4 and that we'd die if our pH ever reached 7.0 or 7.8. So what am I saying? The side of God I am talking about is his gracious acts of creativity and sustaining life.

Think about the knowledge involved in the sciences. The neurolinguists and psycholinguists I read about must be well informed in multiple disciplines in order to study the brain's activity regarding language. God created the brain, language, and the scientists who study them. Think of how intelligent God must be. God in His omniscience created all of life in its complexity that mankind is striving to figure out in our limited--comparatively paltry--knowledge.

I was sitting on the tailgate of our truck overlooking the field and thinking about how God made everything interact just right to sustain life. God knew exactly what conditions were required for you and me to inhale and exhale continuously and knew just what to include in a cell to enable it to recycle the materials it uses. Did you know higher than we can see in the atmosphere a layer of chemicals shields most of the UV and virtually all of the X-ray and gamma radiation from reaching the lower atmosphere and killing us? God arranged everything so-so, just the way He wanted it.

I am in awe of God the more and more I learn about the world He created. So many things could exterminate us, but you and I are still here. We can thank God for that. He is so gracious.**

*You may be wondering why our roofs don't collapse. It because the air pressure inside a house is equal to the air pressure outside it. Since air pressure exerts force in all directions, the amount of pressure against the roof is equalized to zero from air pressing down on it and air pressing up on it.
**These last few thoughts follow John Piper's line of thinking in his message "Don't Waste Your Life." You can listen to or read this message by downloading it free here, or you can purchase or read online the book Don't Waste Your Life here.

Prayer Request

Please pray for my sister. She is going through a hard time in her life. She is very busy working three jobs and taking a six-week Greek class. (For those of you unfamliar with Greek classes, they are very intense and have a heavy load. She will be learning what I learned in about 32 weeks in six weeks.) One of the companies she works for is Bath & Body Works. Their semi-annual sale is huge, and she is scheduled to work every available time she gave her boss(es). She is not getting much rest also. On top of all this, she is going through a desert spiritually. She is in a season in her life in which she feels far from God, and it worries her.

Again, please pray for her. Stress is overwhelming her. Pray that God will break her heart, if needed, and that His strength will empower her as she is weak. Pray that she will give her burdens to her Father and that she will trust what she knows is true during the spiritual desert in her life. Thank you very much for your prayers. God will bring her through this, even if it gets worse before it gets better, and He won't forget His daughter. Suffering produces endurance, character, and hope (Romans 5:3-4).

The Agony of Online Summer Classes

My summer so far has been rather quiet. I've spoke before of adjusting to living without a roommate or suitemates in the dorms, and that I've been working in the office instead of relaxing at home. Well, it all must come to an end eventually, doesn't it?

Well, it just did. Technically, it's still quiet, but it's not slow. My two online eight-week summer classes started this past Monday, and [whew!] are they intense! To stay on track, I need to read two chapters a week in each class. One of the classes is biology with a lab. My teacher informed me at the orientation today that the virtual labs can take up to two hours sometimes. Gross! Reading for biology takes me a while because I am taking notes on my computer as I read. I plan to comprehensively study my notes each week, so I can hopefully be adequately prepared and do well on the infamous, arduous tests.

Though I was more excited about my meteorology class than biology, I've found that I enjoy reading my biology textbook better than my meteorlogy one. I need to be reading the rest of Chapter 2 in my meteorology book right now, but I am so tired that reading sends me to sleep. (This is the agony part.) I am horrible when it comes to reading and not falling asleep. I used to be even worse than horrible, but I've improved some in the past year. It helps if I am not worn from the day when I open the book. Strange thing: I can read fiction with hardly a problem, but nonfiction simply kills me. My interest level in the subject doesn't seem to make a difference.

I am trying to be diligent in my studies though. I've read the first chapter of my biology book and over one and a half chapters of Weather Studies, and I've taken my first quiz for meteorology. The thing is I won't have much time to read tomorrow or Friday because I'm moving back home Friday. It'll all shake out though; I trust the Lord will work things out. I remember many times my freshman year circumstances looked bleak when it came to meeting assignment deadlines, but I'd pray for God's mercy and see what He'd do, and He'd open up more time for me that I normally wouldn't have. Believe me, trusting God with your schoolwork is the best thing you can do for your academic life and for yourself (like in dealing with stress). Don't misunderstand me, though, that doesn't mean you can procrastinate all you want and then expect God to get your homework done to turn in the next day. However, He is merciful and faithful.

So, if you plan on taking on summer classes at the college level anytime soon, remember to stay on top of things and read, read, READ! Read everything--the syllabus, all announcements online, assignments and their due dates, and, of course, your textbook! Try doing all that reading when you're fully conscious too; you'll comprehend much more that way and accomplish your work more efficiently.