Sunday, 22 March 2020

2020 and the Struggles of an Extrovert

Pizza and Drinks
as a farewell
for some of the staff
I just realised I haven't actually posted any blogs posts this year, so figured I'd write one tonight while I had some time to kill.

 2020 started off in Golden Bay for me - I worked at the Anatoki Salmon Farm Cafe over the summer to get a wee bit of income before moving back to Christchurch. Originally I was going to just look for a job, however nothing was opening up all summer... So long story short, I applied for Laidlaw College and am now studying a Bachelor of Counselling at their Christchurch campus.

 It has been really encouraging so far in my courses as I know I am in the right place for my future career hopes and dreams of working with primary-aged children who are from broken and abusive homes. I have been able to cross-credit a couple of my papers from previous studies and am having to take a second year paper in order to keep my study full-time and keep StudyLink happy. This is good though, as it means I'll only have to take seven papers next year. I have made some really cool friendships with my classmates, and it is so nice to have connections there who have so much passion for people!
The struggle is real!
With Covid-19 now a global roller coaster, Laidlaw has shut its campuses both in Auckland and Christchurch, and will now continue classes online. With study and churches moving to live streaming, and camp events not going ahead, I am definitely struggling with the socialising aspect. Being an extrovert, my energy boosts often come from spending quality time with my friends and family, but it is definitely hard with the Government making so many restrictions! My mind eventually gets numb after watching Netflix, spending hours hopping from one social media to the next, or just reading various books in the evenings, so this is something I am starting to work through in order to stop my mind from boredom or beginning to go into a downward spiral. It is so hard to know when it's all going to blow over, and there is a lot of fear of the unknown at the moment, but it is also comforting to know that God will never leave us or forsake us - even in times like these. 

 That's pretty much all I'm going to share for now. I will try and post a bit more regularly on my blog, but it depends on the seasons of life.

Enjoy your week!
Esther x
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2 comments:

  1. Unknown22 March 2020 at 04:00

    Yes, it's hard not to hug and it's hard to resist the urge to see people. My phone is getting a hammering and so is the social media. But it's for the common good. We need to be responsible to minimise suffering and sickness. It's not being selfish or lacking faith. I have vividly in mind what Susan said to me in January about returning to Liberia and facing the the dangers and how they were planning and what measures they took to protect themselves. She said, 'Jesus sometimes calls us to be martyrs but He never calls us to be stupid" That made a big impression on me and I think it's very relevant.to us right now. I commend Laidlaw College in leading by example in moving to studying on line. Difficult though that is. I'm so glad you are finding your course rewarding and in line with what you feel is your calling. God bless you this coming week as you keep physical distancing but not necessarily social distancing through phone calls social media and yes, great little blogs!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown22 March 2020 at 04:01

    Oops forgot to say who that was from - God bless from Moira S !!

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