I once had this grand plan for my education... and I will share it with you if you promise one thing:

Don't laugh.

Back when I was naive and not tired all the time, I had the aspirations for two bachelor degrees, ESL, two Master's, and a Doctorate. Not to mention all the countless seminars and conferences that I wanted to attend to further my theological, ministerial, and teaching education. It was this dream that I had and longed for, and I proudly told all of my family this idea. And nothing was going to stand in the way of my aspirations for this goal.

Then life happened, and I moved. Then got engaged. Then moved again. Then married the girl of my dreams. Then had a son. Then had a career change. Then got a new job. Then moved again. And transferred or changed to three different colleges from the first the one I attended my freshman year.

This week I will finish my next-to-last semester before I get my first Bachelor's degree and all that will be left next semester is my Student Teaching.

My son will be two and a half when I get my first degree. And all I can think about is how tired I am and I am so ready to be completely done with school.

None of my past 5 years were part of my original plan for my education.

And that's okay, because I've learned that we are never going to stop learning in life.

I'm never going to reach a point where I stop learning how to do new things or stop adapting to different situations. Life is the best teacher, and I will never be smart enough or have enough knowledge to stop enrolling.

In fact, many of us suffer in life because we do think that we know everything, which in turn leads us to hubris and pride.

Humility is often a trait that many looks on with want, but it is so hard to attain. I do not know where my education will lead to after December. But I do know that wherever I go in life, I always want to learn, and I always want to be okay with learning new things, even if they were learned at a cost.

Don't ever think you've learned it all, because then you are just saying that have grasped perfection. And surely I don't need to explain why human beings aren't perfect.

I challenge you today to live your life trying to learn as much as you can, in our out of the classroom.