1
Corinthians 9:25
(New
International Version, ©2010)
25 Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict
training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a
crown that will last forever.
In 2011 an opportunity opened to present a paper at a
mathematics education conference in South Africa. I wanted to go to South Africa
again. Friends I would like to see live there. Places I would like to visit,
some for the first time and some just to enjoy seeing again, beckoned. Having
been born there and grown up there, I feel it’s almost like going home.
However, everything about the trip was expensive. It was
possible that I could get some financial support from the university for going
if I presented a paper at this conference. Furthermore, the trip would probably
become partially tax deductible if I presented a paper there. So I decided to
present a paper. I wrote up a proposal and e-mailed it in. The response was
enthusiastically positive.
After that I spent a great deal of time researching my
topic. I spent time in the university library using current periodicals. I
spent hours looking on the Internet. I went over what I had been doing in my
own classroom and worked to get things organized into a presentable form.
Finally, I started writing the paper I planned to present. This took more time
than even I had reckoned it would. Naturally, I didn’t want to stand in front
of the group and sound under-prepared.
What did all this time and effort gain me? Fifteen or twenty
minutes of presentation; polite applause; an entry on my curriculum vitae; some
financial support; pleasant memories, and that’s all.
Lord, help me to be as
diligent spending meaningful time preparing for the time I will get to present myself
before your throne!
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