taking breaks + being still= better perspective

i'm taking a break from studying for a geology test i have tomorrow morning and analyzing a child's language sample for class tomorrow afternoon. it's quite a combination. going from calculating the half-lives of radioactive isotopes to counting grammatical morphemes (and smiling at the cute toddler speech). if you're really wondering what in the world morphemes are i could give you a lengthy explanation complete with examples and your own practice sheet, but that's why google was invented. :)

anyway, taking breaks helps renew my perspective. after typing 8 pages of geology review answers/notes and staring at 50 sentences about dressing a teddy bear for several hours, it all starts running together. i start wondering why i ever thought beaches, volcanoes, and words were interesting and exciting. who cares whether the teddy bear is going to wear bloomers, a diaper, or underwear??

i lose perspective in life, too. it's only tuesday and i already feel bogged down with homework, papers, tests, constantly looking forward to collapsing in bed, and desperately trying to find time to be all alone with my Father. i need to take several steps back into God's waiting arms and sit for a time and be still. He has a much better purpose, a far greater plan, a bigger perspective (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8Gxv9CRRVM). there's a reason i can't understand. He sees what i cannot see, knows what i cannot make heads or tails of, and works in ways i could never imagine. He knows what everything looks like in the end and in the next minutes. He knows how to work everything out and He wants to show me as we walk along His way together.

it's comforting to know i don't have to know it all and it's ok to ask questions. i'm learning to ask good questions. i'm learning to give myself grace and breaks. i think i'm ready to finish calculating MLU (google it :) and practicing drawing the main features of a stream corridor. thanks to some prayer, music, and seeing my tangled thoughts untangled on my screen i have a better perspective than i did 15 minutes ago. not perfect, but better.

xo.