Happy Turkey/Giving Thanks/Thanksgiving Day!

Well, it’s Thanksgiving Day and I’m wondering what to write about.  I suppose I could write about the intensely awesome ritual that is baking the caramel pecan rolls which I got to partake in this morning as we watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Or maybe today I’ll write about what I am most grateful for as a seminary student coming home to a stress-filled household.  This semester is wrapping up at a quick pace.  Soon it will be finals week and all of our papers, projects, tests, quizzes, and translations will need to be finished.  The seminarian mindset at this point seems to be, “Oh no! The end is near! Run away!”  Then we go to whichever home we go to where the stress of Thanksgiving as a holiday is in full swing.  Food needs preparation, schedules need to work out, relatives and friends must be accounted for in setting up for the meal, and there is usually a good amount of deep anxiety surfacing as all of these elements come together.  

As my own family stresses about all of these things I hear my mom say to Dad:

“Chin up, baby, we’ve got each other.  We’ve got our family.”

And in an instant, Mom has just shown me what the most important thing in her life is and what she is grateful for. 

I know it’s a cheesy and overly repeated question, but it really makes sense to ask it on this day.  What are you thankful for?  There’s a reason why we think about it, because it’s in those places where we find God most active in our lives as we know it.

Half Way - - With Head in the Clouds

Downhill--- maybe?

As I look at the calendar, I see that the semester is more than half over.  Which makes me say YEAH, I've survived!  Yet it also makes me say, “Oi, I have so much to finish!” 

Over the weekend, I was pondering what to blog about today when Scott, my husband asked, “Whatchathinkin?”  Keep in mind he doesn't do that very often, so I was a bit caught off guard, but did mention I wasn't sure what to write about for the blog.  He said, “You need to take time to be with friends and family.  Like this weekend you traveled to Minneapolis to be with a friend when she got married.  And of course you got to spend time with your awesome husband.”  And he is right.  Even though we are 'over the hump' of the semester, may be a bit overwhelmed with those final papers, we still need to find time to balance our studies with family, friends, work, and social life. We may feel like our head is in the clouds, and we can't quite catch our breath, but that's when it is time to stop.  Enjoy the beautiful clouds. Thank God for the journey we've traveled thus far, and know that God will be with us as we finish the next few weeks.

 

1/2002  Ma & I half way down Haleakala Mountain

 

And the MOST important thing to do

THIS WEEK is get out and VOTE!  

Take the time you need to cast your ballot and make your voice heard.

I say "egg" funny

Hello, all!  My name is Janelle and starting today(!) I’ll be joining the LSTC blogging crew.  To get us rollin’ let me fill you in on a few tidbits of my story.

I’m a first-year (junior) student in the M.Div. program here at LSTC.  While downtown Chicago is at my fingertips now, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that I would be living here for any reason, much less to attend seminary!

Born and raised in the Metro-DC suburbs of Maryland, I am the only girl and the youngest of the four Neubauer children.  My brothers and I, we’re pastors’ kids.  Like my grandfather before, both my mom and dad attended Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg, serving as pastors in the Lutheran Church.  Needless to say, we made for a fine bunch of acolytes when our parents were in a pinch. 

While the church was like our second home, each of us children was on a life trajectory far different from our parents, or so it seemed.  We were all taken aback when one of my brothers (who studied Geology and Environmental Science) discerned a call to ordained ministry.  Like our parents and grandfather, he too graduated from LTSG.  ……..Whelp, I’ll spare you the details of my call story and discernment process (I’m positive chunks of it will appear in future posts!) but turns out that ten years after my brother, it was my turn to share my thoughts with the family; and here I am.

Yes, here I am.  I find myself at peace in this place, gently walking (well, sometimes rigorously trotting) alongside classmates as we begin our journeys toward ordination.  Still, I wrestle every day with questions.  I feel so called to this ministry, but where exactly am I going from here, O Lord?  I guess I didn’t catch on from before when I had no clue that Chicago was in my future…

For now, I am trying to focus on the astounding things I am learning on a daily basis about my church, my faith, my community, and myself: My church cares about being an intentional and inclusive place of worship; my faith calmly rests in the tension between thanksgiving and beseeching; and my community is committed to engaging in faithful dialogue surrounding many modern day issues.  Some really. amazing. stuff. is going on around here.

And what have I learned about myself?  Well, a lot!  But to prove seminary isn't only about deep personal thoughts and realizations, I've learned that (according to classmates from Texas, the Carolinas, and even Illonois)...

...I say “egg” funny.  Who knew!?

Peace!