The Blessings of Institute

This quarter at UW has whizzed by. Time has raced onward, professors keep giving large loads of homework and institute keeps hosting fun socials and activities to attend. Initially when I moved up here I thought that 10 weeks would be an eternity, however I soon found that it to be the contrary. I wished time could slow just a little.

I found that I was so busy that I could easily stay up into the early hours of the morning studying, get three hours of sleep and repeat the cycle the next day. In fact this is what I did for the first couple of weeks. I'm learning a new spoken language and a new programming language and adapting to both has required significant investments of my time. Initially I thought, who has time for institute? Who has enough time to maintain their grades, attend institute and then attend all the activities that they host? Did I at least have time to attend the institute class each week, or was that too great a time commitment?

Mentally I told myself institute seemed like a huge commitment. My grades- I thought- would define my life and success in college, effect what jobs I could get later in my professional career and what schools I could apply to for grad school.

However, spiritually I knew this wasn't the least bit accurate. I knew that I would need the strength that Institute would provide from the spiritual calamities that I encounter every day- foul language, beliefs that are in direct contradiction to mine and people challenging to do things that I knew to be wrong. Although it didn't really make sense to me mentally or mathematically, I told myself that Institute was worth the time commitment and I told myself that I would attend class every week without fail. I even told myself that I would attend the committee meeting held every Friday morning to serve the Lord and the Institute.

As I tried this out the first couple of weeks something astonishing happened. Although I was spending less time on my studies, and was giving up a morning once a week, I found that my grades actually improved and that I was succeeding in all of my classes. I was going to institute, the meetings on Friday and all the socials and doing less work and study, but my performance had increased.

I know that this is because the Saviour is seeking to bless me for giving Him my time. Matthew 11:28- 30 states: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light."

Through application I have come to know that this scripture is true. Mentally we may feel like we don't have enough hours in the day to do all that needs to be done. We may feel like we have so much that we can't fit institute in. But I know that if we put the Lord as our first priority everything else will fall into play. I know He loves us and seeks to bless us for following Him and that by attending Institute we can build our relationship with Him. If you want your burden to be light, come to institute!