Oh Dear...

Emotionally Drained.

That's how I would describe myself at this very moment.  I knew this semester was going to be busy, but I wasn't prepared for the emotional toll it was going to have on my mind and heart.  I'm finally in my last semester of college and finally taking classes that I actually want to take.  But it just so happens that all the classes I want to take require me to study with my heart, not just my mind.

Here's a brief synopsis of my week:  Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings,  I spend 3.5 hours with mentally disabled adults (who are daily stealing my heart, by the way).  On Monday evenings, I spend 3 hours with the darling babies of teenage mothers in our community.  On Tuesday afternoons, I spend three hours at the local prison for a class called "Inside Out Prison Exchange" (fascinating class!!).  On Wednesday evenings, I spend an hour strategizing with the SOUP staff about how to best help our Ugandan kiddos. And there are a few thoughts about my sweet babies in China sprinkled in there, too. And most of my spare time is spent reading about disabled adults, transracially adopted children, and prisoners for the academic components of my classes.

To say I'm overwhelmed is an understatement.  I'm in over my head.  

But these are precisely the reasons I am majoring in sociology.  I want to be passionate about the things my King is passionate about.  I want to have a heart that breaks at the thing His heart breaks for.  But boy, my little ol' heart is having a hard time handling all this...really tough stuff!

For this season, Jesus is asking me to be emotionally stretched.  To spend myself on behalf of the least.  To learn more than I ever wanted to know about the ones He holds close to His heart.  And I am confident that He will strengthen me for the journey.

After all, He is the defender of the weak.  And that includes me.

So I say

Bring it on.