D-Day

Tomorrow is a big day in our house.  A day that we have been expecting for over two and a half years, and really preparing for over the past four months.  I find myself chanting "Kill the Beast" from Beauty and the Beast, and I might just march out the door behind Jonathan tomorrow morning carrying a torch.

Tomorrow, my husband sits for part one of the optometry board exam.  Two days.  Sixteen hours.  Five hundred questions.  Three years worth of material.  One heck of a test, people.

I get nauseated just thinking about it.

He has been incredibly disciplined and focused in his preparation, and I can't tell you how impressed I have been to watch him attack this monster of an exam.  He always says his strength is not necessarily in the smarts but in the strategy.  I think he's got both covered pretty well.  Most importantly, although this exam preparation has definitely been intense, he has such a great sense of balance and perspective which keeps him from making all of our lives miserable just because he's got a monster on the horizon.  I love that about him, and have been so thankful for that quality over the past few years.

But on Wednesday, or V-day as it is named on our calendar, he gets his life back.  And I get my husband back!  I keep reminding myself that he definitely has the short end of the stick in this situation, but it sure isn't fun to be the spouse of the student either.  Let's just say that I was not cut out to be a single mother!

One woman show aside, it is also difficult to watch the person you love carry the load of so much stress and pressure without being able to do much in return.  Remembering my own time in graduate school has been an asset, reminding me that a stocked kitchen, clean house, and cheerful, encouraging spouse can work wonders during a season of stress.  (For example, I may or may not have single-handedly polished off an entire 9x13 pan of brownies in the 24 hours before my case study thesis defense...but that's another post).

Needless to say, we will both be thankful to see this season pass.  So if you think of it, please pray for us.  Pray that Riggins will sleep well over the next two nights so that Jonathan can get good rest.  Pray that Jonathan will have a sense of peace and confidence as he takes the exam.  Pray that he would have quick recall of the information he has been so disciplined to study.  Pray that he would have a sense of peace as he leaves the exam so that he can leave it all at the door and be done with it!  And pray that I've still got the flexibility to bust out all my best cheerleading moves when he gets home!