Unfortunately, my first response was the enjoy all the freedom that assignment-free life brings to the twentysomething year-old American male. Some blow-out wins on NCAA 2011, 75 ranks in MW3, and about 10lbs later I am realizing that I need to rethink my strategy.
Reprogramming. The past 3.5 years of seminary and the three years at Olivet before have, no doubt, been the most formative years of my entire life. Attending NTS while also serving as Associate Pastor at Victory Hills, being a husband, being a dad, and now working at JCCC has really made me a different person than I was when I first moved out to KC. Above all else, I believe that my love for and understanding of the Bible have increased exponentially during this time. But now, done with the world of academia (at least for a time), I am realizing that I can't simply live on the powers of intellection. I need reprogrammed.
Spending so much time concentrating on exercises of the mind has left me emotionally lacking. While I have friends, I am unsure on how to interact with them. The hobbies I once enjoyed seem only reminders of the "good ol' days" in high school when I had youth group, Bible Quizzing, and a [really not that awesome] band that I played in. Now I find myself with bills to pay, futures to plan, a family to spend time with and invest in, and time that goes by whether I am using it or not.
While my seminary studies provided for me the opportunity to know the Bible with much greater depth and I once knew possible (and I have a lot more to learn), the relational aspect of "New Life" in Christ seems weak and fickle. In the midst of the transition period I have found myself becoming even more lax in the means of grace, in spite of the fact that I know that it is the means of grace that I need to engage myself in all the more in these days.
I received some hope last night as our home church started a new study on Forgotten God by Francis Chan. Check out this video:
It is this life in the Holy Spirit that I am excited to engage in again. "May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all" (2 Corinthians 16:13.
I can understand where you are coming from. I am looking at my last semester of seminary and wondering what will happen next. Its kind of a scary thought to not have homework and deadlines. It forces us to be more intentional with our time. I am trying to find some hobbies and recently bought some wood carving knifes to make gifts for family. But I still find myself spending too much time playing video games.