Stardate: -315006.82

As another semester approaches, I find myself in a transitional phase of my life, but at the same time feeling like nothing extremely dramatic is happening:

• My relationship with Bethany is going well, nearing engagement and the time to start planning a wedding. All considered, we're in a very good place in our relationship, perhaps one that I didn't expect to get to this soon.
• I had to switch to taking classes on Mondays this semester in order to get two classes that actually go towards my degree. This means that I'm taking a year off Greek -- not ideal, but a necessary detour at this point. I don't have anyone to carpool with yet this semester. I'm taking Christian History and Theology II and New Testament II, and a one unit spiritual formation intensive class called Spirituality, Shame and Grace.
• Basketball season is in full swing, except for the two weeks off that just happened over Christmas. I usually do four or five high school freshman or JV games a week. I haven't been doing much middle school this year, probably because of an influx of rookie officials.

In the last three months I have:

• Aced a Greek final exam and written a research paper on The Problem of Institutionalization in the Christian Church.
• Followed the Blazers closely during their bleak and harsh month of November and their 13-game win streak in December. Ironically, I watched very little of those 13 games on TV.
• Gone on my first dress-up-romantic-evening-out kind of date.
• Got a flat tire on my bike on my way to morning work and had to walk four miles home.
  

Stardate: -315006.73

It's time to break the silence. Interestingly, three months without posting to this blog (I did post to my as-yet-undistributed Blazers blog back in October) is not specifically a reflection of a lack of time. Seminary has happened, yes. I had about five weeks of near-constant homework at the end of the semester, yes (partially from procrastination). It can be hard at times to want to blog when I have to write for homework, yes. But lack of time? No.

It may be more of an illustration of the fact that for things that don't come naturally for us, it takes priority, and planning, to do them over and above other things. I'm not the kind of blogger (at least, not yet) who comes home at 10 pm and naturally gravitates to writing a blog entry. My best writing is done in the morning, actually, or in the middle of the day. And as yet, I haven't made blogging a part of my routine during that time of the day. Will that change? Perhaps. I certainly would like to procrastinate less in other areas of my life (read: homework), and maybe it will carry over to this area as well.