"Good Enough Stand"

What an interesting morning it has been today for ol' me.

Today I had a lecture (on Friday of all days...) for Theology C, but put myself down as an 'explained absentee', due to my paid working commitments at Window Treatments. Unfortunately, neither of these two happened for me - whatever flu bug has been going round Christchurch *finally* found its way to me. And so here I am, at home, blocked, sore, and generally not feeling at all motivated.

So today, stuck at home, I took the chance to finish the upgrades I did to my computer. I bought a new 320GB hard drive to replace my two existing HDDs (totalling a mere 110GB), which meant that I had to reinstall everything. All my Windows XP updates, my antivirus software...everything! Thankfully though, I kept a backup of my 'irreplaceables', especially my BCNZ study stuff. Can't afford to lose those!

In trying to install Norton AntiVirus 2005, I found that I could not activate the software, because I had reached the maximum installations on my antivirus' product key. So I went to their website and entered a live chat session with an 'analyst'; a "Mr. Fix-it" fella, who got me back up and running again.

What I didn't bank on, was the fact that the analyst, whose name is Peter, is a Christian. After going through the processes of activating my software via his instructions, knowing that I have a head cold, he said that I was in his prayers. Touching =)
As a gesture of thanks to his valuable Norton assistance, and because I wanted to, I asked him if there was anything I could pray for. This was his reply, word for word. It's worth thinking about...

"To be good enough stand before when the lord comes in final day."

Such was this reply that I wrote it down on a notepad. And it got me thinking, as I hope it has you thinking also. When was the last time we pondered how we stood before the Lord? Do we even know where we stand? Do we even care where we stand?
I would hope that we do care about our standing before the Lord we serve.

"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'"

- Matthew 7:21-23 TNIV

The J Man Returneth

My goodness! Where DOES the time go aye? A huge APOLOGY to all those who are (or have been, given the fact that I've either been absent, gone on vacation, or died) frequent visitors to my humble patch of Cyberspace. A lot has been happening in my life; some good, some not so good, and some that are downright depressing. But in any case...here I am, at last, writing again on my little blog spot.

Some good things that have happened in my life, although most people already know them through other means. I've managed to complete semester one of my third and final year more than satisfactorally (to my mind anyhow), and am but three months away from the end of my academic career as a Bachelor's Degree student. Wow, where DOES the time go?

I've also been planning a wedding during this time - yes, that's right, for those who somehow haven't heard, I am engaged =) I have been active in sorting out all the lovely details, both great and small, of what goes into a wedding, and so far there hasn't been very many problems. I sure hope it stays that way; intuition tells me otherwise. Oh well, still all good though.

Some not so good things have been that I've been battling with a sort of "mild depression" over these last three months. Some fellow students may have noticed my absense at college when I should be there for certain lectures. This is due to this mild depression taking my motivation and energy levels to near-zero, and thus leaving me in a sort of paralyzed state. These mild depression moments have come and gone, and seemed to operate on a fortnightly/monthly cycle, lasting for a few days at a time. This depression has made it difficult to live life to the full, especially since I have never in my life had such depression states before. As I write, I write as someone who feels a lot more emotionally stable, as opposed to a month ago, and have been for the last couple of weeks. I hope I can repeat this confident sentence in another couple of months, free from these depression swings.

Other than that, I've been doing the usual college-type stuff: meeting new people, making new friends (hopefully), trying to stay on top of my assessment list, and seeing my degree through to even the bitter end! Roll on graduation; it will be well earned, and I hope I can say that on behalf of everyone I have journeyed with at college.