First Snowfall- Last Paper- Advent with Sparklers!

Back Yard at home in Madison

As the semester draws to a close, I am overcome with various emotions. Sadness as I left campus this morning with my husband- leaving behind new friends who I won't see for 2 months. I'm amazed at how our intense study groups built camaraderie and close relationships among such a diverse group of people. Of course I am thrilled that I actually completed my first semester of seminary. I am overjoyed with the sense of accomplishment, and also the fact that as I continue this journey to ordained ministry, I continue to feel God's hand guide me along the way.

 Our first snowfall seemed to hit just as we hit the Wisconsin border this morning, and I am happy to say that I am now home, relaxing in front of a fire catching up with Scott, my husband, and simply watching the flurries fall. How ironic to get the first snowfall the day I arrive home!

Photo by Tina H.

Friday night was a great night with my roommates and other middlers as we celebrated Stephanie's, one of my roommates, birthday and sang Christmas Carols. This was a first for me, singing Christmas carols, but it certainly put me into the advent mood, especially as we held sparklers while singing Silent Night!

Now for a week of Christmas baking, preparing the home for Christmas, and catching up on 'fun' reading!

Community

The word community has had many different meanings for how we as humanity view the places we reside, work or celebrate. Last Sunday, the LSTC community as a whole came to Rockefeller Chapel to celebrate another brother in Christ welcomed into our community. 

Yet as we have heard through conversations whether it be in small groups or sharing through social media, that the sacred community that enfolds and embraces Seminary Life is rapidly diminishing. Perhaps those who are discerning their call to ordination, lay or academic teaching have not had the opportunity to experience how enriching Seminary community can be for us, especially as students. 

I thought I would share some snapshots over the years that I have resided here now as my mood turns reflective in the midst of preparing for Internship. 

Seminary is something that you must experience, and if possible immersed in the playful  and thoughtful daily life among other children of God.

Lape Bondye, God's Peace. 

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.

A Dip Worth Taking

For everything there is a season,
but every once and a while we can get away with things...  

Chicago's infamous windy chill has yet to snap me into the reality of the impending winter.  In fact, the temperature reached a high of 79 within the past few days.  Yeah, I know!  I couldn't believe it either!

During this brief jaunt back to summertime, I walked around campus clad in sandals and short-sleeves.  While I did tote around a light sweater*, I was eager to take advantage of this odd warm snap any way I could, and my friends pitched an idea worthy of some consideration:  an afternoon at Lake Michigan.

Earlier in the school year, a few of us enjoyed walks down to the lake** where we would throw a frisbee around and jump into the water for a swim.  Late August through early September this was not only a reasonable activity, but actually a quite popular pastime for a number of Hyde Park residents.  Whether or not those other swimmers were caught in traffic yesterday as the President's motorcade made its way around the neighborhood, one thing was certain: they sure weren't in the lake when four of my LSTC friends and I ran screaming into what we would later refer to as an ice-bath.  That's right, my friends--the five of us conquered a late-October Lake Michigan, and it felt great.  

Chaaaaaarge!

As we walked back to LSTC renewed, refreshed, and wiiiiide-awake, a light rain kicked up and so began Chicago's return to a weather pattern indicative of autumn: within a few hours the temperature had dropped 30 degrees and it was pouring.  Still, for everything there is a season, and in this season we got away with a short swim celebrating new friendships, warm-weather, and living within a mile of a vast, beautiful, and bone-chilling Great Lake.  

"And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Genesis 1:2b

*Felt too strange not to at least have the option of layering, it being the end of October and all!

**I'm still not convinced that the title "lake" does this enormous body of water justice.   

Support in the Process

Just a little while ago I left a Hebrew study group feeling a bit....frustrated.  I will leave it to the readers discretion to know whether "frustrated" is the right word to describe feeling so overwhelmed that I was moved to tears and wondering if this class will be the one that ends my seminary education and candidacy process. 

Language has never been my thing.  In undergraduate, it took four attempts and a very generous extra credit project to fulfill my language requirement.  The exhaustion and sense of overwhelming I have about language followed me to Greek last year.  I remember thinking my second semester that I felt so much at home and joyful about my education.  In hindsight, I realize now that the joy probably came from being out of my first semester when I was pounding Greek flashcards every night.

So this evening, feeling "frustrated", I came home and do something I always do when I'm upset - I cleaned.  I did my dishes, changed my cat's litter for the second time today, emptied my fridge and scrubbed my bathroom sink.  There is something about the work of cleaning that gives me space to think, and quite frankly, calm down.

As I was scrubbing away, I gained a little perspective.  Yes, today was another challenging day in the world of vocab learning.  But that's not all today was.  Today I read a lovely blog written by my dear friend.  Today I was the assisting minister in chapel where my biggest mistake was dropping a microphone (I count that as success!).  Today I had lunch with three friends and had spare time to squeeze in a nap.  By all accounts, it was a really good day.  

Most importantly, when I was feeling overwhelmed in my study group, thinking that Hebrew was my ultimate nemesis, I had three friends there reaffirming me.  Supporting me.  Not thinking it was at all bizarre that I was feeling pressure.  Upholding me in Christian love when that pressure seemed like too much to bear and brought me to tears. 

It can be easy to lose perspective when you are trying so hard to learn something and it isn't going as well as you'd like.  It is in those moments not to lose sight of the forest for the tree, and even when you do, know that the people who love you will support you in the process.