I fear my brain is not fully functioning. Upon receipt of the list of my symptoms, my sisters giggled, so at least I no longer fear for my life – just my sanity. This week, I’ve put a bagged loaf of bread in the toaster, forgotten how to work the toilet, and nearly applied toothpaste to my face and lotion to my toothbrush. The accused ailment generator? Studying.
Or rather, stuDYING.

I’m sure you’ve felt it, too: inundated by a deluge of meetings to attend, bills to pay, notes to write, meals to prep, articles to read, and lists to tackle. The feeling of drifting at sea, gulping gasps of briny air at irregular intervals when you can steal a breath between crashing waves.

Enter the Sabbath.

An island of respite. A rock in time that comes every 7 days, storm or shine. No matter how soggy you feel, you can depend on this 24-hour “temple in time” for restoration. (If the Creator of the universe rested after six days’ work, do you think you should go for seven straight??)
If you haven’t experienced the all-consuming peace that arrives every Friday night and quiets the soul until its departure an “evening and morning” later, you are sincerely missing out. HMU.

Back to stuDYING.

I firmly believe that the primary benefit of graduate studies is to teach you how to assimilate a large quantity of information and regurgitate it in an apparent show of knowledge; your field of study is simply secondary. So after receiving my graduate degree 4+ years ago, I like to think I know how to study. Like any unused tool, however, that skill has developed a bit of rust.

Nearly every waking moment of the past 3 months that was not dedicated to work, sleep, or hygiene involved research studies and classwork about everything from heads to hips to heels. Articles, videos, monographs, flashcards… and Jessica’s subsequent brain decline (but that isn’t on the test, so I don’t know much about it).

To ensure my knowledge regurgitation would be satisfactory, I’ve taken regular learning assessments and tests throughout this terror-by-tutelage. Since taking the first test, I’ve noted that the test writers have gotten a lot better at their jobs. Test #1 had multiple questions that had no clear answer, requiring a 1-in-4-chance guess at the correct response, much to my vexation. The fault was clearly in the test.
Clearly.

The tests now, while challenging, do offer the correct answer on more occasions than not. The prompts are more enlightening, the responses more succinct and on topic. I consider the tests a fair representation of the knowledge I’ve mastered.

Funny how the blame is never with oneself.

How often we rage against our current “test” with the complaint that the right answer isn’t available, that the test item is unclear, that there’s no way anyone anywhere could ever succeed or be expected to pass! But when we gain some perspective – through study, or experience, or just taking a pause – the test becomes something appropriate for our maturation.

Hey! I know the Test Writer. He’ll always give an option of the correct answer.

The [tests] in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the [test] to be more than you can stand. When you are [tested], he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
I Corinthians 10:13, New Living Translation 

Keep studying!