A consequence of switching really came and reared its ugly head today: equivalence credits. Now while they are well and good for saving me the hassle of taking even more courses, they are a nightmare on QUEST (the university’s enterprise content management system). So, over the course of the past two days, I had to fill in four course override forms. Four. Ridiculous.

At least my academic advisor (who had to sign all of them, and who happens to be the prof for one of the courses) got a good laugh out of my situation.

So, barring any further complications, here are the courses that I’m taking next term: CS432, STAT371, ACTSC371, MATH235 (haha!), MATH239 (haha!), BUS247. This is based on the assumption that I’ll be able to enroll in six courses (which I think I should). Hot dang.

Well we’re two-and-a-half weeks into Lent with around a month left to go and, so far, so good! I’ve been able to observe the season by being good on the things that I gave up and I’m pretty sure that I’ll come out clean on the other side.

What surprises me, however, is that the no alcohol thing is probably the hardest for me to keep. Not that I’m an alcoholic or anything. But I’m often in situations where I would drink. The iPod thing should have been the hardest but I have yet to travel somewhere farther than 30 minutes away. I imagine that if/when I head home, I’ll be itching to have music 😛

All of this comes in light of a recent conversation that I had at my Forum at St. Paul’s. We were talking about sacrifice and one participant questioned if we ever sacrifice for God. Before that time, I considered sacrifice an integral part of worship; we sacrifice our will as we surrender to God’s. But he contended that, since we expect to build a relationship with God through sacrifice, it’s not really a sacrifice at all. He argued that we can’t sacrifice if we get something (and, in this case, something immeasurably valuable) out of it.

Perhaps it’s a motive thing, then. Another participant said that if we give something up out of love for God, then it is a sacrifice. But it was countered that an ulterior motive, regardless of how small, exists to gain something; humans don’t do anything unless they get something.. be it self-satisfaction, recognition, appreciation, and so on. The first guy said that the true sacrifice would be to continue to live a Christian life after God tells someone that he/she will not receive His grace and mercy.

While I disagree that that is the only true sacrifice, I wondered if I could do that. Quite frankly, I expect that I would be very upset and distraught. But it’s not like I really deserve His grace or mercy. So maybe I could reason that it was just my due. So maybe I really could sacrifice.

Upon realizing this, I started to think how sacrifice has and has not been a presence in my life. I occurred to me that much of my sacrifices have been peripheral things… things that I could do without quite easily. My iPod and alcohol are among those things. But are they good enough? I’m starting to think not.

I think of rich nations living in opulence and decadence giving the “crumbs off of their table” to the desperate and needy like the countries in Africa. I think of me pointing my accusing finger at those nations and, in a parallel sort of way, I am guilty of precisely the same thing. I don’t know what my answer to this is, but I’m glad that I noticed it. Truth be told, I’m a little scared to find out. But you only live once, right?

So I had to decide where I’m going to stay next term. I checked out three places, and they were all very plausible possibilities:

1. Jenna’s: Sufficiently far from the university so that I would be able to bike, and to get away from the really run-down places. The room is really nice, albeit a tad on the small side. It has a huge window, which is super nice. It’s furnished well, too. The downsides are that the kitchen wasn’t quite up to par compared to the rest of the apartment, the stove/oven range is small, and I might have been there by myself. Coin laundry. It’s also not particularly close to anything except other houses. But I’d be helping out a friend.

2. Courtney/Katie/Cristina/Sarah’s: Right next to the campus at WCRI. The room is nice, albeit a tad on the small side. The rest of the apartment, however, is fairly well maintained and open. Plus, I’d be able to live with people that I know. The downsides are that the apartment lacks air conditioning (and, being on the top floor, it’d be hella bad in the summer), and that it feels very much like student housing. Coin laundry. The proximity to University Plaza might be too much of a temptation for me (to waste money). But I’d be helping out a friend.

3. Referral: Sufficiently far from the university (Bridgeport and Weber) so that I would be able to bike. In fact, it’s close to everything else except the university: Sobey’s, Bulk Barn, Shopper’s, Beer Store, Zeller’s, and everything in Uptown Waterloo. The townhouse is very nice and well-furnished. The room itself is monstrous (even bigger than the one I have now!) with an ensuite! Air conditioning and free laundry are all part of the deal. The downsides are that it is far from a good chunk of my friends (who are all on the north side of campus) and that I might be there by myself.

There were two routes that I could pursue: be a person pleaser, or be conscientious of my own needs. On one hand, I could be a slave to pride and, on the other, I could be a slave to selfishness. There really isn’t any winning here, as far as I could see. There is only one word that I know that can describe this situation: stink.