Elation and Satisfaction

One of the things that always frustrated me about being a local pastor was the lack of joy one could have upon the completion of anything. For instance, there is a sense of joy that comes in the planning and preparation of a worship service (all the elements, including the sermon preparation and delivery). However, once it is completed, there is little chance to celebrate. You feel a sense of satisfaction at the completion of the task and you celebrate what God did, then you have to begin preparing for the next Sunday. You evaluate the service the next week and do what I used to call a postmortem on the previous Sunday, but you are already trying to put all your time and effort into the next week. Sometimes it is hard to find time to celebrate.
At other times you want to celebrate what God has done in people's lives. Decisions they've made, growth they have accomplished - but that was always terribly hard to measure. It's kind of like seeing a child grow up everyday. There doesn't seem to be nearly as much progress as when you live all the way in California and don't get to see your grandson in Illinois except once every six months and then you see a big change! But, I digress. (Just a cheap excuse to put in a picture of our grandson being held by grandma). Anyway, it is hard to celebrate progress when you can't always find the right tool by which to measure it.
However, in my Ph.D program I find that there are milestones that you get to achieve and there is time to celebrate. I finished my Comprehensive Exams today. Four of them over the past two weeks. I have spent more than 6 weeks preparing directly for them. I have been barely visible with friends and neighbors. It is the most intense thing I have ever done. Just before taking the last exam today (the fourth of four) I was informed that I had passed the first three. I think I did well on the one today (it was the easiest of the four) and I am confident that I passed them all. As of today, I am no longer a doctoral student. I am now a doctoral candidate. All I have left is the work that prepares me to write my dissertation and the actual writing of the dissertation. My goal is to have all my preparation work done by the end of next summer and to have completed the dissertation writing by December of 2009. That would mean that I will graduate in June of 2010. That means, from start to finish, I will have completed the Ph.D in 3 1/2 years. That is as fast as it can be done. I still don't know if I will be able to keep up the pace, but that is my goal.
But all that is in the future. For today, and the next few weeks, I am going to celebrate the completion of my Comps. I like that. It feels good to celebrate and to have a long, long party in which to rejoice. Amen.