Once again, school is in session. I have a lot of good classes this semester! Fortunately, I was able to consolidate my class schedule to Tuesdays and Thursdays, so that leaves the rest of the week for work. I am really happy to be taking Jeremiah, Romans, Intro to World Religions, and Spanish II, but I am perhaps most happy about my faculty directed study in Harry Potter. I have never really taken the series seriously, so I am looking forward to taking a look at what Rowling has to say from a literary and philosophical perspective.
All that aside, I think this will prove to be a very interesting semester. This will be my first semester that I am married, and not living in the dorms. It’s so good to go back home at the end of the day to an actual place that is yours with food that is yours and a nice queen sized bed! I am really enjoying my new life a lot, and I am very content with the place that I am at.
I have not gotten here without adversity though. Believe me, when I first began to talk to friends about marrying Katlynne, there was adversity, and understandably so. I was 19, in college, without a good job, and, above all, majoring in Humanities (what kind of job will that get you?). Needless to say, many were suspicious. However, through determination and hard work, I think I proved to them, to Katlynne, and to myself that I loved her and I was going to do what it took to support her and be with her. This included getting several jobs (one of which is blogging for the marketing department), cutting down on unnecessary spending, pursuing my studies more diligently (you have to keep that GPA up to get the scholarships) and cutting out a lot of time to be with her. It was not and is not an easy process, but it is a very good and rewarding process.
There was also wedding planning, and all of the little things it takes to get married. This was quite a heavy load to carry on finals week (we got married the Saturday after last semester, we were eager, what else can I say?). I have to say that the week leading up to the wedding was one of the most stressful weeks of my life. I was in Hermeneutics class, which has a killer final project. That alone would have been plenty. Add that on to finals in other classes, relatives calling non-stop, moving in to the apartment, and so on and so forth… It was a rough week. There was and is a lot of adversity.
BUT… it all paid off the next day. Katlynne was the most beautiful and radiant that I had ever seen her, and we were married by my home church pastor in front of all of our family and friends. It’s interesting how our lives intersect, isn’t it? That was one of the major highlights of my entire life, and I was privileged enough to share that with Kate. I am privileged to have her now as my wife, and to be doing school and facing adversity and going to work and all of those sorts of things with and for her. I like my new life.
Grace and Peace,
Jacob Given