Senioritis has become an all-encompassing reality. In fact, it’s hit me like a brick wall, particularly this last month. Graduation is nine weeks from today. In 63 days, I will have finished my college career. Not really sure where the last four years have gone. It’s been a really good experience – one in which I’ve grown and learned a lot about the world and myself. And while I wouldn’t trade these past four years for anything, I also don’t think that I would choose to go back and relive them. I’m ready for the next chapter and stage of life. It’s exciting to think about having a place and a job waiting for me for when I graduate.

It’s finally starting to get warmer. Yesterday and today were absolutely beautiful days. I went on a few walks in the neighborhoods on the mountain. One of my favorite places to walk is along West Brow road. The houses are beautiful, and it’s right along the edge of the mountain. The view overlooking the valley is so incredible. It’s nice to get off campus as well. It’s refreshing. Bets was in town this weekend. She, Marianna, and I went to Starbucks and then went for a walk.

It’s been a quiet day. After church and lunch, I just watched a movie with Mary Frances and relaxed.. then spent some time with Marianna and Bets. Then I had dinner in the great hall with some friends – Andrew, Sarah, Casselberry, Suz, Chloe, and Febre. The realization that I’m graduating in May has definitely kicked in. And as much as I’m looking forward to moving onto the next stage of life, it’s hard to not scramble around wondering where the time has gone. I’ve found myself spending more and more time with friends and trying to soak up as much of my time here as I can.

I’ve found myself studying and working a lot harder too. Kind of backwards – you’d think that having the assurance of a job waiting for me, I’d be relaxing a little more. The drive and determination that I have to study and learn while I’m still here is crazy. I was thinking about it, and I wish I had had this same drive and discipline the first few years of college. I wish I had made better use of the professors and my education here. Having said that, I’m more than making up for lost time now..

Thoughts from Oswald Chambers..

THE INSPIRATION OF SPIRITUAL INITIATIVE

“Arise from the dead.” Ephesians 5:14

All initiative is not inspired. A man may say to you – “Buck up, take your disinclination by the throat, throw it overboard, and walk out into the thing!” That is ordinary human initiative. But when the Spirit of God comes in and says, in effect, “Buck up,” we find that the initiative is inspired.

We all have any number of visions and ideals when we are young, but sooner or later we find that we have no power to make them real. We cannot do the things we long to do, and we are apt to settle down to the visions and ideals as dead, and God has to come and say – “Arise from the dead.” When the inspiration of God does come, it comes with such miraculous power that we are able to arise from the dead and do the impossible thing. The remarkable thing about spiritual initiative is that the life comes after we do the “bucking up.” God does not give us overcoming life; He gives us life as we overcome. When the inspiration of God comes, and He says – “Arise from the dead,” we have to get up; God does not lift us up. Our Lord said to the man with the withered hand – “Stretch forth thy hand,” and as soon as the man did so, his hand was healed, but he had to take the initiative. If we will do the overcoming, we shall find we are inspired of God because He gives life immediately.

Oswald Chamber’s reading for the day from My Utmost for His Highest.

THE DEVOTION OF HEARING
“Speak; for Thy servant heareth.” 1 Samuel 3:10

Because I have listened definitely to one thing from God, it does not follow that I will listen to everything He says. The way in which I show God that I neither love nor respect Him is by the obtuseness of my heart and mind towards what He says. If I love my friend, I intuitively detect what he wants, and Jesus says, “Ye are My friends.” Have I disobeyed some command of my Lord’s this week? If I had realized that it was a command of Jesus, I would not consciously have disobeyed it; but most of us show such disrespect to God that we do not even hear what He says, He might never have spoken.

The destiny of my spiritual life is such identification with Jesus Christ that I always hear God, and I know that God always hears me (John 11:41). If I am united with Jesus Christ, I hear God, by the devotion of hearing all the time. A lily, or a tree, or a servant of God, may convey God’s message to me. What hinders me from hearing is that I am taken up with other things. It is not that I will not hear God, but I am not devoted in the right place. I am devoted to things, to service, to convictions, and God may say what He likes but I do not hear Him. The child attitude is always, “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.” If I have not cultivated this devotion of hearing, I can only hear God’s voice at certain times; at other times I am taken up with things – things which I say I must do, and I become deaf to Him, I am not living the life of a child. Have I heard God’s voice today?

I’m reading through the Bible in a year. Ok, let me rephrase that. I’m making a valiant effort to read the Bible in a year this year. I’m already behind (go figure, right?), but I’ve found myself increasingly more drawn and interested the more I consistently read. I read about Joseph today in Genesis (ch. 40-42). Everything from him being sold into slavery by his brothers, to being thrown into prison, to interpreting Pharoah’s dreams and finally being second-in-command over all of Egypt. Not only is it a fascinating story, but it’s pretty cool to think about how God’s plan unfolded throughout the story and ultimately how God took care of Joseph.

Things have been pretty crazy with school and starting to think about plans for when I graduate. I’m starting to entertain the thought of buying a house sometime this year, once I start my job and am living in Nashville. My original (and current) plan is to live with my brother and rent from him. But the housing market is so low and some of the houses that I’d be interested in buying are going for $90,000-$110,000. I definitely still have some researching and planning to do, but who knows – maybe i’ll be a first-time home owner in a year. With everything going on though, it’s hard to not sometimes get overwhelmed and to wonder how everything is going to work out. Reading from Genesis was good. It reminded me that God is sovereign and gracious to His people, and He has a much longer-term plan in mind than I could ever hope to plan or imagine.

Oswald Chamber’s My Utmost For His Highest reading for today:

DO YOU SEE YOUR CALLING?
“Separated unto the Gospel.” Romans 1:1

Our calling is not primarily to be holy men and women, but to be proclaimers of the Gospel of God. The one thing that is all important is that the Gospel of God should be realized as the abiding Reality. Reality is not human goodness, nor holiness, nor heaven, nor hell; but Redemption; and the need to perceive this is the most vital need of the Christian worker to-day. As workers we have to get used to the revelation that Redemption is the only Reality. Personal holiness is an effect, not a cause, and if we place our faith in human goodness, in the effect of Redemption, we shall go under when the test comes.

Paul did not say he separated himself, but – “when it pleased God who separated me. . .” Paul had not a hypersensitive interest in his own character. As long as our eyes are upon our own personal whiteness we shall never get near the reality of Redemption. Workers break down because their desire is for their own whiteness, and not for God. “Don’t ask me to come into contact with the rugged reality of Redemption on behalf of the filth of human life as it is; what I want is anything God can do for me to make me more desirable in my own eyes.” To talk in that way is a sign that the reality of the Gospel of God has not begun to touch me; there is no reckless abandon to God. God cannot deliver me while my interest is merely in my own character. Paul is unconscious of himself, he is recklessly abandoned, separated by God for one purpose – to proclaim the Gospel of God (cf. Rom. 9:3.)

Chapel yesterday consisted of an incredible talk given by Dr. Ward, followed by Chaplain Messner giving the announcement that the college would be officially closed at 11:45 a.m. due to the incoming snow/ice storm. Amazing. It started snowing around 12:00 p.m. and didn’t stop until well into the evening. Last night, everything froze over with about an inch or so of ice. The trees are covered with ice, and all students have been confined to campus for the next 24 hours.

It’s been a lot of fun. I spent a lot of yesterday and this morning taking pictures.. some of which will soon hopefully make it onto here. This morning, Mac hosted a pancake breakfast for any students on campus to raise money for Haiti. From 9:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., the RAs flipped pancakes – plain, banana, blueberry, chocolate chip, and whole wheat. I took over one of the RA’s positions for an hour or so. It was fun, and a lot of the students from campus came down to have pancakes and hang out. Pray for Haiti. I don’t know how much money we raised, but they need prayer. Tabitha Kapic was recently appointed the National Director of Medair, and they have been doing some great work down in Haiti. If anyone is looking for ways to donate money or time, let me know and I can point you in her direction.

I realized I hadn’t posted any pictures in a while, so I thought i’d throw up a few from last semester.

Mary Frances and Me

I’ve recently started reading Forbes magazine. It’s a magazine on business and financial news, stock market analysis, and technology & global headlines. It’s something I first picked up in the business department at Covenant. I read a recent article by Rich Karlgaard entitled “Why Growth Matters.” Although I don’t necessarily agree with everything the author is saying, I do think he makes some interesting points about why economic growth is so vital if our country is going to make it out of this recession. Karlgaard makes the point that GDP growth is, at best, an inaccurate number when taken by itself.  GDP doesn’t always accurately capture inflation, as well as the point that increased government spending (like the “Cash for Clunkers” program, etc.) can make GDP appear higher than is really evident by actual growth of the economy.

Another big point that Karlgaard makes is that President Obama’s push towards greater social equality, even if it sacrifices economic growth, is not as simple (or as attractive) as it may seem. Even if GDP’s growth rate were cut only by 1% (from 3% to 2%), the real effects would be much greater. It is “reducing the rate of expected growth by 33.3%, not 1%, and that reduction is palpable in the real economy.”  It has far-reaching consequences in not only the investment world, but also in increasing unemployment rates. Simultaneously, the higher tax rates (and consequently, higher tax receipts) that President Obama would like to implement wouldn’t necessarily bring in more government revenue. As Karlgaard points out, there “might be less [tax revenues] than if growth had occurred at 3% with the lower tax rates.” The best way to increase tax revenues is to first increase growth in the economy (Art Laffer’s economic theory, 1970s). Yet another problem with sacrificing economic growth for increased social equality is the “damage done to innovation and entrepreneurship.” When taxes are increased, the ability to research and develop new ideas is made harder. Innovations, inventions, and creativity are seemingly and effectively punished by making it more difficult to enter into these ventures. Karlgaard uses the example of social engineering in Europe. “European entrepreneurs are hampered by higher hurdles of social engineering: VAT taxes, union work rules, employee job security, etc.”

Real economic growth is “vital to the health of a society.” That is what should be our focus in reviving the economy – not multi-billion dollar bailouts and stimulus packages and higher tax rates which, in the end, do not really serve to fix the real problem.

Well, it’s here. Senior year with only a few months until graduation. It seems pretty unbelievable. I’ve loved being here at Covenant, and I wouldn’t trade my four years here for the world. But I’m definitely ready for the next stage of life. Let me rephrase that – i’m looking forward to the next stage of life. Whether or not i’m ready is a different question.

I’m taking a full load this semester – 20 credits. Here is a little bit of an overview of the courses i’m taking, for anyone who’s interested.

• Industrial Organization (ECO 330 – class on corporations/firms and how they interact with each other in the economy)
• Strategic Management (BUS 400 – discussing the differences between operational decisions and strategic decisions for higher management in various corporations and how those decisions affect those firms)
• Human Resource Management (BUS 320 – reaffirming people as a firm’s most valuable resource and how to manage them within a large corporation; work-life balance)
• Auditing (ACC 410 – discussing the details and processes involved with auditing a firm’s financial statements and internal controls; GAAP regulations and SOX compliance; Gleim CPA review)
• Corporate Financial Management (FIN 345 – the second semester of Corporate Finance; dealing with detailed discussions of how any given firm manages their assets, liabilities, and owner’s equity; creativity in financial management)
• Senior Integration Paper (SIP – BUS 492 – my topic is “Corporate Ethics and Values: Ethical Decision-Making for Management Accounting”; 25-30 page research paper)
• Advanced Accounting (ACC 4022 – through LSU correspondence, issues with mergers and acquisitions, governmental and international accounting, etc.)

For May term, I’m heading up to New York City with my accounting professor, Chris Dodson, and about 7 other business/finance students. Dodson is teaching an investments course to us, along with visits to many of the major investment, banking, and financial firms in the greater New York/D.C. area – hopefully the New York Stock Exchange, Goldman Sachs, the Deutsche Bank, the Federal Reserve Bank, Ernst and Young Headquarters, Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan, Bank of America, etc.