"It is finished," said Master Dulcy

after nearly two years of bein' schooled in grad school...i am now done. these past two years have not been often easy. in fact, they have been extremely difficult. i don't know if i will ever know if the struggle was a result of this season of life, my own issues, or simply as a result of the onslaught and demands of signing on to achieve a master's in counseling psychology.

since almost exactly two years ago when i graduated with my undergrad from Northwest, i have travelled all over the US (hawaii, oregon, california, idaho, colorado, utah, wyoming, kansas, oklahoma, texas, new mexico, DC, new york, and probably more), lived for 6 weeks in texas and one month in mexico. i have also experienced the pleasure, joy, responsibility, stress, and fun of living technically on my own for the first time in an apartment, the same one for the last two years, in fact. there have been 5 different people in our little apartment, good times, hard times, and unforgettable times.

as i leave behind grad school, i leave behind so much that i must concentrate to not become melancholy, overwhelmed, or emotional. it marks the end of my time in my apartment, shared with 4 different friends who will all move away or change roles in one way or another in my life. it means i leave behind 30+ great friendships forged in the fires of class until 10pm twice a week, all day saturdays, mock interview tests that had us quaking with fear, fighting for dinner breaks, and crying together over stress from school and from life.

all of this change, departing from good friends and good memories, it's hard. but somehow i know that all of the tears, the pain, the sacrifices, the stress, the freaking out, the frustration, the impatience, the character struggles repeating all too frequently, all of this has been worth it. one, because now i have my master's and you can call me "master dulcy" and two, because i would not be who i am now without going through the fire.

i feel privileged for the experiences the Lord has offered; that He has loved me enough to not let me stay the same, even if it meant pain, that he has brought me out a better person who will continue to be molded into His beautiful likeness. my passions and purpose have developed and been honed, but mostly, i can say that i have learned a vast amount about who i am in the Lord and how to better serve Him.

some verses come to mind in the midst of this, which discuss enduring hardship and fire, but coming out in the end as a refined and more whole person in Christ.
"We went through fire and through water; but You brought us out to rich fulfillment." Psalm 66:12, NKJV NIV says, "But You brought us to a place of abundance."
These verses remind me that the process is worth the result for our relationship with the Lord, like a refiner puts gold and silver through fire to purge the metal of its impurities and blemishes.

Also, the concept of a refiner's fire as referenced here:
"He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years." Malachi 3:3-4, NIV In the end, the Lord sees my offerings, what i have to give Him, as worthy.

Lastly, "I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:3-6 I long to pull my weight in Christ until the day of completion when I see Jesus face to face, but am also thankful that as I experience this completion of graduate school in my life I have Christ by my side.