Bring on spring

Well, I guess I did actually make it through Greek II. It didn't kill me, but I think I will be glad for a bit of a break from that language for at least a little while. (I will have to translate a few sentences a week during my NT class to keep fresh). I managed to pull an ok grade in it as well, so I guess life is happy. Spring term starts Tuesday, and remarkably enough I'm pretty jazzed to get started. I enjoyed my classes last term, and unlike some of my friends, I don't I really went through much of a burnout period. I really think it helps that I was out of school for about seven years before coming back. While it took me some time to get adjusted to being a student again, it also was nice being refreshed to come in. This semester I'll be taking a NT introduction class, Church History from the reformation age to modern time. I'm taking a mission and evangelism class, and Pastoral Care as well as a Presbyterian Polity class. The polity class may be the only one that I'm not looking forward to that much (let's face it, it's just telling me how to run meetings, and who enters into ministry because they like to attend meetings)? I'm also excited to be able to use my new laptop for classes this semester.
Right now I'm also in the process of applying for an internship position at a church. I don't know how many people are going to be applying for this position, but I don't think there will be all that many that do. It's a different time for a position to be opening, and the church is not all that close, so there would be a bit of a weekly drive if I do indeed get it. It would solve two of my biggest problems if I do get the position though. I would have an avenue to gain some practical experience in a local congregation, and I would have a little bit of an income; both good things.
My question over the past week has gone something like, how does one become less human. Ok, so that's a confusing and loaded way to phrase a question, but it's framed in the manner of how does one battle the sinfulness of human nature that surfaces constantly in our lives. One of my good friends recently graduated from law school. His explanations of school often centered on where people placed in their class (i.e. first, second, top 10 percent). The class literally is designed in a way that people compete with each other to be better then the person who sits next to them. I like seminary in that it's not designed in such a cut-throat manner. It's much easier to try and make sure that as a class mate you help everybody to succeed to their fullest here and it's encouraged. I like that, but at the same time I sometimes wonder if I'm more wired (and society in general) for the law school model. I have a major competitive streak in me. When my friends and I get together, everything is a competition. Shows that I would never watch on TV, I will when they make it into a competition (i.e. Iron Chef, how else can one watch a cooking show?) I look over shoulders to see the grades of friends at times, and get jealous when I see they did better then me. When a friend was recognized by the faculty here recently, I was happy for him, but at the same time jealous. Why wasn't that me? What did I have to do to be better then that friend? I don't like feeling like this.
Of course the answer to my question of how does one quash sinful desires centers on giving them over to God. I did a terrible job of staying disciplined in my prayer and study life over the past semester, and particularly over January. As I came up with this question, I decided it was time to pick up the bible again, and at a friend’s recommendation two months ago, I've started to read in Ecclesiastes. "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity!" (from 1:2) I like this book and its study in wisdom. Most of all I find peace in the message from the first half of the book that it is best to find happiness and contentment in what you are given, then to try and take everything you can.
I'm still far from the most disciplined person I know, but I'm finding satisfaction at working toward being a better person and disciple of Christ.

J-Term musings

January term is here, and I think I have convinced myself that Greek II is going to really and truly kill me. Well, maybe not kill me, but sitting in a classroom for three hours a day translating Greek, followed by another three hours or so translating Greek for homework has convinced me that I am never going to be an academic scholar of the Greek New Testament. I do have an appreciation of the importance of learning Greek to help understand the nuances of scripture, but I'm remembering why I dropped Spanish in high school and then again in college. Foreign languages are just plain difficult, and well, foreign to me.
It's been pretty cold here the last few days, but I guess it has been all over the country. I do love the cold, but I wish I was able to get out a little bit more. Cabin fever has begun to set in, and I'm starting to hang things up on my walls, just to add color to the ever-present white. Beer labels, photos, maps, clothing labels, license plates everything is fair game. In another 4 months I will have to take it all down again and start boxing things up, but I can deal with that.
I'm starting to think about what I need to do to find an internship at a church up here. I met over the break with a counselor who did my psych exam, and he and others are really recommending that I do something over a longer period of time, as opposed to just a summer internship, because of my lack of practical church experience. They think I should stay at a church long enough to get some honest feedback. I agree with what they are saying, so I'm beginning to look. I don't really know what to expect from anything, and some of the positions I'm looking at are a little intimidating, but I guess you only live once. The idea of being in charge of a church for a month while the pastor is on vacation may be challenging though, especially if a member passes away. I guess that's why I should keep praying.
I came into seminary not sure of what type of ministry I would eventually be called to. I still have no clue what my exact future holds for me, but I have really started to have some strong feelings toward family ministry. It was a product Group produces that has led me down this road, and while the product isn't always the strongest, the idea behind it is solid. The idea is that if members of a family all were to study the same scriptures each week, and discuss the same basic topics in ways appropriate to their age, then those ideas can help lead to understanding and discussion in the home. Let's face it; the church is only able to directly influence a person for an hour or two each week, while the family influences its members for at least a few hours each day, probably more. Is it effective for the church to just try and teach a lesson at church each week, without equipping parents, kids, youth and seniors to take those lessons and live them out with each other every day of the week? Can we apply these lessons to real life, and then expect families to work through this daily, instead of only Sundays, or Wednesday night. All this leads to way more questions then anything. How do you get everybody on the same page? Whose responsibility is it, and how do you organize between all the different programs in the church? Is this even feasible? Can you expect more out of people? The questions go on and on and on. I don't have the answers, but I'm really looking at exploring this topic more in depth with some independent studies I think.
On a happy topic, I have my new laptop. I got a nice deal on a Dell Inspiron with a 14 inch screen. I really needed this to help with notes for lectures and studying at the library. My handwriting is very slow and messy, and I think friends were getting a little tired of always lending me their notes they took on their computers. It's amazing that nobody had laptops when I was in my undergrad program just 6 years ago, and now over half of my class uses them. I really am getting old I guess. Oh well, older men just get more distinguished I've been told.
Well, life rolls on in its crazy, sometimes stressful, always fun, avalanche type way. I sometimes feel like I'm being swallowed by the flow, but I always seem to come out on top with God's help. I'm sure this stage of my life is going to be no different.

No place like home.

Sometimes there is no place like home! That goes for both aspects of how I am feeling at the moment. There is no place like Colorado, where I have so many friends, family and just happy memories. There is also nothing like sleeping in your own bed, even if that bed happens to be almost a thousand miles away from where you grew up. It’s good to be back in Iowa.
My trip back to Colorado was definitely needed, and I must say I had quite a few fun adventures while I was there to boot. The drive out was a great time; it’s nice to have a friend along to make the 13 hour commute entertaining. Between some great conversation, music, and episodes of the Office on the Ipod, it was a quick and fun trip. The drive was highlighted by an amazing sunset that I managed to snap a photo of while doing about 85 down the freeway. I love digital cameras.
The second night I was back the youth program at Mountain View put on their annual Live Nativity Scene. Because of the snow (I’ll cover that later) I wasn’t able to spend any more time with the youth group, so this was my only chance to see them all. It was fun for me to get to stop in and say hi to many of the youth. I really do miss being a part of that group on a weekly basis, but I really do enjoy the occasions I have to drop in a say hello. I also question whether I will ever get used to seeing a live camel on church grounds, but I digress.
I had heard that Colorado might get some snow when I was there, but I really didn’t expect quite as much as we got. I have a history of experiencing blizzards when I get together with my friend Angie, so I guess I should have known we were going to get hammered when she called me Wednesday morning with the plea that I was the only friend she had crazy enough to try and get her to the airport to see her dad in Ohio for Christmas. Sure enough, I was crazy enough to try. The normally hour long drive to the airport turned into about a 2 hour drive on the way out with the road to the airport being a complete and total mess. It was about all I could do to stay on the road. Being that her flight was still on when I dropped her off, I decided to drive back home before the roads became too bad. Turning off my phone to save the battery in case I did need the phone on the drive back, I of course missed her calling to say that her flight got cancelled about 5 minutes after I left the airport. She managed to find a different way home, but I feel bad leaving her behind like that. As it was the drive doubled on the way home as it took me over four hours to make it. I found out when I finally got to my friends hotel, er I mean house, that about ten minutes after I made it to the interstate they had closed it behind me. I had to stop twice in the middle of the packed interstate to clear all the ice off my wipers on the way home, but that’s ok because traffic was pretty much at a standstill with it being impossible to tell where the lanes were. It was one adventure I will not soon forget. Overall, this storm dropped about two and a half feet of the white stuff on the Front Range.
On the twenty third, I drove up to Colorado Springs to celebrate Christmas with my Dad’s family. I have always loved having Christmas at my Grandma’s house. Tradition on this side of the family is a basic free for all which really fits my personality. Take forty people, enough snack style food to feed twice that many, and put it in a house that fits only about half that many and you have Christmas at Grandma’s. This year was a truly great year as almost everybody was there. Of her 11 grandchildren, 10 made it; that makes for a truly joyful time, and a happy Grandma. For me the highlight was being able to see my brother who after missing his first flight, made it in from Spokane, Washington. He may be the craziest person I ever meet, but you gotta love the kid. (I will pay someday for calling him that).
My trip back home wasn’t all just for pleasure though. I did get some work done while I was out there as well. Following Christmas as my Dad’s, I met with a pastor at Boulder First Pres for my psych evaluation. I didn’t hear anything that was really unexpected at this time, but it was nice having somebody complete an evaluation that seemed positive toward what I’m trying to accomplish. I know ministry is always going to present challenges, but more and more experiences I have seem to indicate that others think I may have the traits to serve me well at this endeavor. I also was able to meet with the session of Mountain View during the second major snowstorm to hit when I was there. After sitting through probably the most contentious session meeting I have ever attended (budget issues), they asked me a few questions and recommended me unanimously to Presbytery to be enrolled as a Candidate for ministry (from the Inquirer status). I will meet with that committee in May.
Being snowed in so much while I was in Loveland; we spent a lot of time stuck indoors playing video games. I don’t spend a lot of time doing this normally, but its great fun occasionally. It’s even more fun when you have no chance of going anywhere unless you can take a few hours to dig your car out, and the house you are at has no TV setup. It was relaxing to spend upwards of eight hours playing football on the PS2.
The last fun thing I was able to do was attend the Denver Nuggets basketball game on the 31st with Joe, Dave and his girlfriend. I had part of a ten game package last year, and I really have missed being able to hang out with friends at the Pepsi Center this year. It was a chance to watch AI play in Denver, and even though they lost I loved going. It was a tough sports night in Denver, as both the Nuggets and Broncos lost. Losing was put into perspective quickly the next morning though with the murder of one of the Broncos players over New Years. It really made me feel a bit guilty about being upset about the simple loss of a football game.
Like I said it was quite the trip home to Colorado. Like I said, it’s good to be home here in Iowa.