For October 21st:

“This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Psalm 118:24

Another thing that I have learned to be thankful for during my time at school has been the people who give up their time for me.

It seems the life of a student is designed to be somewhat self centered. For many of us it is the first time living away from our homes where we had responsibilities, chores, to improve the home for the family as a whole. But at school the only person I have to fold clothes for or set the dinner table for is myself. This self-centered atmosphere has begun to shape my attitude toward my time. When my friends are planning to do something like eating dinner or going for a run I find myself wanting it to fall during a time completely convenient for me. I want full control of how I spend my time and many other students and adults in general share that same desire. On campus this translates into many people who do not want to give up time for each other.

            Partway through the semester I needed to get a program onto my calculator and the Math Center tried unsuccessfully to help me. I was then sent to a certain professor’s office because, they said, “He will know what to do.” When I entered I was greeted by a jolly man in his sixties who reminded me of a rotund, Catholic friar. He assessed the situation and determined that the connection on my calculator was broken, but he proceeded to look up the program online so that he could hand type it into my calculator. I was with him for a good thirty minutes before he asked what time it was. I told him and he responded, “Whoops, I’ve got a class,” yet he proceeded to help me.

            I left his office in an attitude of great thankfulness for him and how he selflessly gave me his time. This experience made me think about how I view my time and I was reminded of this verse Psalm 118:24 “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” I am thankful for the time I have been given by the Lord and through the example of the professor I am also reminded that the time is really the Lord’s time. I have realized that it is with this thankful attitude that I should think about time and more freely spend time, the time that the Lord has given me, on others.

Natalie Thedford, College Sophomore