driving boats & finishing degrees

I cannot believe that it is October already.  Tomorrow it will be a week since my birthday.  Crazy fast how time flies.  

I not only turned older this year.  I also marked one year into my 100x40 goals.  I made some pretty good progress, but I now only have six years to finish the list.  Six years?!?!?!  I'm half panicked at the thought of trying to finish these goals in the time I have left, half inspired to work hard and enjoy the journey.  Dude, I’m weird like that.

I want to share two goal accomplishments from this summer today.  One was a completion.  One was progress. 

7. Complete Master’s Degree.

This was a big one.  In May, I completed the coursework towards a Master’s Degree in Religion – Church Ministries from Liberty University.  I did it in less than two years.  Lots of work and reading and writing, and by the end my brain hurt, but I truly think it was (or at least will be) worth it.

We were sitting on the porch on a rainy afternoon when my sister presented me with a black tube that came in the mail.  You apparently needed a Ph.D. to get that tube open.  But a few minutes later I was pulling out an extremely expensive piece of paper with my name on it in fancy script.  Just a simple moment, but one that I will treasure.

14. Do 40 things I’ve never done before. 

One of the fun things I did for the first time last year was drive a boat.  I’m sure that is not the correct terminology.  It wasn’t planned.  I just went out on a spontaneous late afternoon ride with my mom, stepdad, aunt and uncle. After going down river in search of the eagles (a mommy, daddy & baby), we headed upstream and, out of the blue, I said, “Let me drive.” 

My stepdad gladly turned over the wheel to me.  He probably shouldn’t have been so quick to say yes.  Because a second later I was asking where the brake was.  Yep, I really asked that.  I think that, in my defense, it is a legitimate question for newbie boat drivers.  So after a quick lesson on using the throttle, we were off for a couple mile journey up the river with myself at the helm. 

I think I did good for the first time driving a boat.  I state the following evidence.

1. I did not get the boat stuck on any sand bars.
2. We did not get lost. (hee hee)
3. No one fell overboard.
4. My uncle, who was in the Navy, said I did a good job.

Maybe next summer I’ll learn how to start the boat and park it, too.  I’m sure they’ve got good insurance.  And if I collide with the dock I can add wreck a boat to the list of things I’ve never done before.