Happy Independence Day!

I celebrated July 4th by hanging around the house all day then spent a thrilling night at a fairly customer-forsaken Walgreens. We were bored out of our minds. Never have I wished the clock to move faster.

While I was standing there passing the time, I came up with nothing profound (I bet you thought I was going to awe you with some amazing thought, but no...Walgreens just doesn't inspire me). The only think I could think was how tired I was of working weekends. Every. Single. Weekend.

That thought was still in my mind when I got home, so I decided to see what I could learn from it. (I'm a psych major, after all!) The train of thought went something like this: "I hate working weekends. But that's what this job is: nights, weekends and holidays. So this job really stinks. So I need to get a better job. Which means I need to stay in school."

So that's it: I'm staying in school so that I can get a job that I actually like having and don't regret taking.

Then I started thinking, "Why do I hate working weekends so much?"

Simple answer: Because my work schedule is keeping me away from those I love and miss.

As stated earlier, I work nights, weekends and holidays. When I work multiple days in a row, sometimes I can go two to three days without seeing my parents. And I've been keeping up with my sister more via Twitter than by actual conversation.

This schedule has also hindered my getting to hang out with friends, especially those who live any distance away. Some of them I'll see when I go back to school in a month. Others, I'll have to be content with phone calls and instant messaging for long periods of time because school will replace work (and I might continue to work during the school year), and I'll still be in the same predicament. And that's enough to make me want to cry.

So, in light of all this, I now have three, firmly established life goals: to bless God in all that I say and do, to do what I love and love what I do, and to keep those I love close to me (emotionally and spiritually if physically isn't an option) because the pain of separation has created such a hole.

Since the first one prohibits my complaining about the latter two, I will end this little note by being "joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer" (Rom. 12:12). I thank God that I have a job, I rejoice in the coming relief (school), I ask God to keep my loved ones safely in His arms until I can see them again, and I pray for the endurance to attain my goals.

But, as Miley Cyrus says, "It ain't about how fast I get there. Ain't about what's waiting on the other side. It's the climb."

May God bless each of you in your individual climbs.