I feel rich. It’s Friday night, and I just finished a day of drinking in deliciously diverse bits of knowledge. 

This morning, in Dr. Asatryan’s macroeconomics class, we discussed the effects of economic growth on global and national income distribution. Then I wrestled through a few pages of a book asking what a Christian-based socioeconomic system could (or should) look like. Which raises many, many questions. Deep ones. Ones that I cannot answer, but also cannot let go of. Another note on Dr. A’s class … he sprinkles in requests to list things we’re grateful for, or things we admire about each other, as he questions us on the effects of different global trade policies on different economic classes. 

This afternoon, a welcome break from business studies came in the form of a chapter on Intelligence Testing in psychology. What a chance to praise God! The mysterious biology and chemistry of the human brain is so minutely, astronomically wondrous! Think about this for a minute: psychologists are using their brains to study how their brains work. How awesome is that?!

After tea time (I am Dutch, you know), I read Charles Wesley’s refreshing, hopeful, convicting sermon on “The Almost Christian.” Then I attempt to piece together Descartes’s thoughts and mental processes. The key word is attempt. The dude’s thoughts were like spaghetti. After Descartes, I need something concrete, which I find by performing a differential analysis on the investment of two different soft serve ice cream machines. I never knew numbers could be so invigorating!

The excitement from that analysis had given me energy, so this evening I curled up with two very different books – Reading While Black and Culture Care. Now it is 11 o’clock and I am full of hope because I serve a God who created all of these unique people, all of these disciplines, all of this potential for learning. 

Tonight, I praise God because of the complex web that gave me the gift of education. I worked hard to save money for school, but I am not the only one. I didn’t even contribute the majority of my costs! Knowing that someone cares enough about providing an exciting, diverse, God-honouring, Christ-focused education that they would donate three times what I pay stirs a fire in my soul. I want to work hard. I want to learn with excellence because it’s not just my education. It’s a gift. Someone else has entrusted their investment in the future in my hands. They have put their hard-earned resources to use to give me a broader understanding of the world, and hopefully, an idea of how to make it more like God intended. I didn’t deserve this gift, this opportunity.

All I can say is thank you. I feel rich. I will work hard for you.