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.