I have blogged every single day for the past three weeks, and it’s hard to believe that there’s only three days left of this series. Also, I was just on the road for majority of the day today, so forgive me if this post runs a little shorter and less coherent than the ones I’ve previously written. Here is a recap of this week.

How has God been working in your life this week?

This week, God has been teaching me a lot about patience, both with time and with people. With the holiday season upon us, it’s easy to get into the habit of counting down the days until the last day of work, until Christmas day when you get to open presents, and until the much needed week of vacation after a year of hard work. As trite as this may sound, constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop keeps you from enjoying the things that are going on around you presently. While it is good to have something to look forward to, the things happening right now won’t last forever, so it’s also important to stop and pay attention to the things in front of you. Showing patience towards others has also been something that I need to keep working on. Though the nature of my job is generally pretty repetitive, parts of it can get stressful, but that’s never the fault of any specific person. Getting short with people – whether that be roommates, coworkers, or the barista behind the Starbucks counter – will never alleviate any present tension, nor will it make the situation better. I’ve heard time and again that majority of your life is taken up by how you react to things. It shouldn’t be in anyone’s nature to react negatively to situations – we are called to do all things with patience and love.

What is something great that happened this week?

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned that I finally began the long process of applying to graduate school programs. I ordered transcripts, I emailed several people for letters of recommendation, and I began work on other supplemental parts of the applications. This past week, one of my professors emailed me back saying he would be more than happy to provide me a letter of recommendation, and I received a completed letter from another one of my references. My top choice for grad school requires two letters of recommendation, so now having those two spots filled is a huge relief, and brings me another step closer to completing the application process.

What is something that happened this week that wasn’t so great?

Overall, I’d say that this past week has been an uneventful one, but if I were to really pinpoint something annoying that happened this week, it would be that a Starbucks barista accidentally made me a peppermint latte instead of a hot chocolate. Even though she insisted she make it again, she was pretty sour faced and irritated the whole time, as if I was the one inconveniencing her. Even though these things don’t usually bug me that much, one of my coworkers told me that it would be best to let the management at that Starbucks know about the incident. I usually prefer to let these things go, but I at least got $10 of store credit after all of that.

Any notable foods you ate this week?

Going along with the trend of highlighting great moments of fellowship instead of the actual meal we ate, I got to share meals with several close friends this past week. On Tuesday, I got to go out to dinner with a close friend who I haven’t seen since her wedding this past summer. It felt good getting to catch up with her and her husband, and finally being in the same time zone as them. The following day, I went out to lunch with another close friend that I’ve been desperately needing some catch up time with. Both meals were shared over much-needed conversation and fellowship, and they were both great reminders of the company and relationships God has blessed me with over the past couple of years.