Good afternoon, and happy November! Here in the Pacific Northwest, where I live, we are deep amid fall, and I love it! From the comfort of my porch, I witnessed a few rain showers. A “V” of ducks squawking loudly with each other as they migrate to warmer climates. The wind swirling the colorful leaves around in magnificent ways causes me to pause and reflect on the beauty of God’s creation.
It is great to be back. It has been quite a long time since I have posted a blog. Over the last few years, God had me going through one of the most spiritually and academically challenging seasons of my life. In fact, it was beyond my natural abilities that it required my complete dependence on Him. Most days consisted of prayer, study, research, and writing. Did I mention prayer? Yes, I did. But I need to repeat it because the copious amount of prayer and spending time in His presence IS what gave me everything I needed, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to graduate on May 6, 2023, from Regent University with a Master’s in Theological Studies. Soli Deo gloria!!
Before I get ahead of myself and explain more about that season, let me be completely transparent about some of my educational background. I was that kid in elementary school who was pulled aside to the corner of the classroom for extra help with reading. I remember spending hours with my mom after school while we worked on my reading skills. My extreme shyness and low confidence further hindered my learning capabilities because I feared taking chances and failing. However, over time, I progressed to average grades through high school, with—thanks to my mom and Mrs. Tanner, my teacher—an insatiable appetite for reading. And I was great at it! Praise God!
As I stated before, my grades were average in high school, but something changed in college. I realized that if I worked really, really hard, I could have honors-level grades. Wow, that is rocket science, right?! Work really hard and get excellent results…except that the hours I put in were looong. There were lengthy sessions of reading, studying, memorizing, using flashcards, visiting with my professors, analyzing lectures, and many, many hours of being “quizzed” by my family members so that I could finish well. If the course syllabus said the class required 10 hours of out-of-classroom work, I needed 20. For every class. In every subject. It did not take me long to realize that all those marathon study sessions—beginning with that little girl sitting on the couch with her mom with a strong desire to read—were powered by the Holy Spirit.
That explanation was much more involved than I thought. Still, I want you to realize that I would not have completed graduate school without surrendering all to God and allowing Him to orchestrate every step and detail. My only job? Complete obedience to Him.
But what God-inspired moment—detail—led me to graduate school? Well, let me fill you in.
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January 31, 2017, was a day filled with exercise, good friends, and a divine moment with Jesus. Here’s an excerpt from my unedited journal entry:
It was a great day that started with gentle yoga. After that, I met [two ladies from church] for tea at Starbucks. God is awesome, and we had an amazing conversation.
The thought even came to my mind that maybe I will get my master’s degree in theology of some sort. God’s plan and timing.
Did you catch the very profound and highly accurate wording of that last sentence? God’s plan and timing. Surprisingly, I don’t remember giving much thought to the “seed” God planted that day. I just had a feeling that it was important enough to write down.
Fast forward a few years. Yes, years to 2020. Not the beginning of the year but to November 30, 2020. Here is an excerpt of my unedited journal entry on that day:
So on Sunday, after I finished listening to the Sunday morning message [because everything was online because of Covid], I had it on my heart to look at Christian Masters in Theology Universities….
Once you get beyond all my grammatical errors, you realize that almost four years have passed since God planted that seed of going to graduate school for this degree into my mind! And let me tell you once He told me to investigate it, things moved fast. I was obedient in all that he called me to do in this process; less than a week went by, I was accepted to Regent University, pursuing the degree that He called me to, and enrolled in my first term. Praise God!!
However, I began graduate school in June 2021 due to prior commitments. I knew I had to commit everything to my full-time, year-round class schedule. I attended Regent University from June 21, 2021, through May 6, 2023, until I graduated with my Master’s in Theological Studies, just like God whispered to my heart several years ago. He fulfilled a dream I didn’t know I had, especially when I reflect on how much God has transformed and developed all my God-given gifts, talents, and abilities for His Kingdom and Glory.
Regarding this degree, God has only given me a glimpse into how He may use it in the future. And I am perfectly fine with that because I have learned over the years through many lessons, prayers, tears, and hard work that only God can take my “little” and turn it into so much more for His Glory! Ephesians 3:20 states, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…”
All the glory to God,
Shanon
Heaven Sent Sentiments 