There's a fairly new song out by Kenny Chesney called "Living in Fast Forward" that has come to my mind several times over the past few weeks, as I have been thinking about leaving the Boston area. I feel like I've been playing in fast forward for four years now. Always on the go, I have been a study-aholic, and I am only now truly beginning to realize that the choices I make regarding my time can let me slow down - but I have to make them!

Lately, I've thought back to my freshman year, when Sean graciously brought me to services. Every Sunday afternoon, I spent the day with fellow Christians, instead of hurrying back to Boston to study - and guess what => my grades were just fine! What happened? How did my Sundays turn into Sunday-morning-only-when-can-I-get-back days? I think it all goes back to this idea of living in fast forward...

There a so many shiny things popping up in life to distract us, and when you are moving in fast forward, they tend to be the ones that make you stop for a minute before rushing. God's word doesn't always stand out as shiny. In fact, when people think you're nuts because you believe in creation and don't like getting smashed on the weekends, it tends to look rather dull and becomes much easier to stuff in the background. God doesn't set weekly deadlines for us that say `must do good deed # 1 on Tuesday morning,' so the good deeds, prayers, Bible study, and even occasions to spend time with other Christians slide lower and lower on the priority list.

"But encourage one another day after day, as long as it still call `Today,' lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin" (Hebrews 3:13 ) How are we supposed to edify and encourage one another if we don't have a clue about what's going on in each other's lives? God wants our time. Other Christians need our time. And we need that time too! We're all trying to run the race, which race are we really trying to run? Running His course might require us to slow down a bit in life's mad rush, but it's the only race that will matter when we die.

I want to thank you all for loving and supporting me for the past four years, and most of all, for trying to get me to slow down. Fast forward seems like lot of fun for a while, but looking back on it all, I've realized that there are better ways to allocate my time, and I hope that this lesson will help us all to pause and think about how much shiny stuff fills our time.

Brittany