Okay, I admit it. I used to be a smoker. There was no better way to begin and end each day than with a leisurely cigarette. I wasn’t a stupid teenager when I picked up the habit either. Oh no, I was a stupid adult.
Though I had a pack a day habit for a couple of years, I never once purchased a carton of cigarettes. I knew that it would be cheaper to do so, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I reasoned with myself that I just might quit smoking, and I had no desire to be committed to ten days of the habit. After all, if I had invested in the carton, I would have no choice but to smoke them. (Is it appropriate to use the word “invested” when talking about blowing money on something that will literally go up in smoke?) Instead, I paid more for the individual packs and tried to kill myself slowly, one pack at a time.
Today, I find myself in a similar quandry. I am halfway through my ninth year as a teacher, and I am seriously considering returning to school in order to get a master’s degree in educational administration. Various family members have encouraged me to do so over the years, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. That same little Blair that sat on my shoulder telling me not to buy the carton has sat on my shoulder for years telling me not to pursue the master’s. (I never could get the Good Little Blair to wear white and the Bad Little Blair to wear red. That would make it too easy… these two guys dress alike, talk alike, act alike…. it’s amazing.)
After all, the master’s degree makes this a greater commitment. Instead of leaving the door open for other endeavors, I would be committing to this as a career. I never intended for this to be a career… teaching was supposed to be a temporary gig while I figured out what I really wanted to be when I grew up. Now I am 34… and still asking the same questions I was asking years ago.
So here I sit, with college catalogs in front of me. Would the master’s open some doors and shut others? Could it be that a master’s degree in administration could open doors for ministry? With a raise and possible promotion, would I actually be freed to minister for free without the pressures of serving a church in a paid position? I honestly don’t know.
I do know that the little Blair is still on my shoulder. I am looking at him right now. It is the same one that was there years ago telling me not to buy the carton.
“Go ahead,” he says, “get the master’s… it can’t hurt you to have it.” Then he lights up a Marlboro. Apparently, he never quit.
I know where you’re coming from on this one. I just finished up my Master’s in June and will finally be starting a new job with it on Monday. While I will be doing something I enjoy and to some degree love (research and statistics), my true passion I have recently discovered is writing (science fiction and fantasy, to be precise). I know that it’s hard to making a living at writing, at least initially, so I’m opting for the ‘wiser’, possibly saner route of working professionally while pursuing my love for writing on the side, at least until I ‘hit it big’ with one or more of my stories. I have this passion to write that I know is from God, and I want to use it, but somehow I know that the time is not right yet to pursue it full-time. A little voice keeps telling me to wait a little while, do this other thing in research for now, because the time is coming when I can give that up and pursue my love for writing on a more professional basis. In the meantime, I am finding a satisfaction in waiting that I never knew was possible. God has bigger and better plans for me, and I suspect that it is much the same with you.
Ok, so I know absolutely nothing on having a professional job, or going to college, or getting ANY type of degree but I DO know that if you went after a master’s degree you would have tons of people (myself included) supporting you the whole way. I think that if that is what God has planned for you and you think so too, you should go for it!