School

This is the first summer in years that I haven't been heading off to school for a week. I miss it. I really liked being around other students and getting to learn all week. Finishing my degree was a great moment and a complete relief; I do not miss having deadlines and papers to write.

I miss the learning. I miss the friendships. I miss the laughter and fun.

I miss having a week where I could relax and be a student again. It was a vacation from real life.

I don't miss it enough to start another degree. I just miss it enough to be a little bit sad today.

I have a friend heading down to Masters next week for his last week of classes. I'm a bit envious. I wish I was going too.

The Trouble with Profs

I've started the last classes for my degree. By the beginning of May, I'll be done everything and ready to graduate (with the caveat that I pass all the classes, including the ones I just finished for which I still don't have final marks). These last two classes have come with some challenges.

One is a practicum in discipleship. The work mostly seems pretty straightforward: read a lot and write about it; listen to a couple sermons and write about them; write a 10-page paper about discipleship, and disciple someone and keep a journal. And then there's this:

"Develop and critically evaluate a program for a discipleship 12 week reproducing training ministry in your own church for men and women"

I'm not really sure what he wants. I like the idea of critically evaluating my own program though. I can tell you already that it's an excellent program that should be used with everyone, everywhere!

My other class is a practicum in missions. The work is much the same: read a lot and write about it; write a 10-page paper about missions using the book of Acts. The problem here is that of the 8 books I'm supposed to read, 3 of them are out of print. Of those 3, I found one used and one that can't be shipped into Canada. The other didn't show up in any of my searches (and I know where to find books). I finally emailed the advisor who spoke with the prof who assigned a different book in place of those three. The nice part is that instead of 8 books I now have 6 books, and instead of 8 reading reports I now have 6 reading reports.

According to Jim, my book guy (he runs a Christian bookstore and attends my church and delivers books to me at church), professors tend to assign books that they used in school, and the older the prof, the more likely the books will be out of print.

Oh, well. I have all the books either here or ordered, and these are the last I need. Only a few more months now.

One Last School Post

A few final notes from Thursday and Friday...

If it’s not Biblical change, it’s not change at all.

The church is the place where people can gather together and worship together and have world peace with each other and peace with God.

Tomorrow is ice cream day in the snack room. It might make up for it being the last day. I really don’t want the week to be over because it’s my last week here and I really, really don’t want to go back to work.

Our knowledge is limited by our event horizon

He’s talking about sex now. We are not anti-sex; we are pro-sex within God’s design. I’m pretending that I’m somewhere else. In the ancient church married couples were encouraged to be celibate. Single people were extra spiritual. I think I’ll agree with that last statement!

So…I was talking about one of the guys in my class on Facebook, and how he can be pretty loud when he talks. I just friended him. I hope he doesn't see that post (or realize that it’s about him)!

Life’s not fair because we’re in exile.

I’m trying to take better notes today since one of the guys asked me to send him my notes (he can’t take notes himself, and his helper guy isn't always here). I’m trying, but it’s Friday and I’m tired! Also, I have some focus issues in general. My brain needs the occasional break, and I do focus well while doing other stuff and less if I’m just listening. For example, right now the prof is talking about covenant of works and covenant of grace and how there is an aversion to any kind of command in some movements because they believe that Jesus has done it all.

I’m still working on my control tendencies. I haven’t checked work email once this week, and it’s been challenging. I want to know what’s going on and make sure everything is under (my) control. At the same time, I’m pleased that they only sent one message looking for advice. There was a message from another director telling me that he had taken care of a couple things at my other centre, but that was more of an update so I know what’s happening (it was the only potential new student enrolling this week). Beyond that, I have to trust my people to know what they’re doing, and ultimately trust God to take care of things and people much better than I can. It is a trust issue, and I am working on it.

The church flourished by advocating a strict exclusivism.

The food isn't as good this year. Tuesday’s supper was leftovers from Tuesday’s lunch, which included leftovers from Monday’s supper. Also, I’m pretty sure the same green Jell-O has been served every day, but that’s just because no one wants green Jell-O. Tuesday was really the worst day. Most people went to a BBQ, and those of us who were left were pretty sure were forgotten (even though we had said we weren't going; one of our former classmates was coming up to visit). There are a couple other groups here, so we think they prepared (leftovers) for the other people and we came in 30 minutes later and got whatever was left. We’re a little concerned about tonight, since they found it necessary to find out how many people were planning to be here for supper (it’s Friday now). It’s either to make sure they have enough food, or to see how little food they have to prepare, or to see what the can get away with.

Spell check keeps trying to get me to fix “it’s” to “its” even though I’m using it correctly. At the same time, it allowed “we’re” when I meant “were.”

Supper wasn't that great. It's the last day of the last week of classes, so I guess we should be happy there was food. The salad was definitely made up of leftovers and there was no dessert. We went for frozen yogurt. Now I'm in the lounge watching the guys play pool and procrastinating on packing.

Wednesday's Random Notes

Because I know you want to hear what goes through my mind when I'm in class, here are more notes (plus, bonus second post today!).

I’ve eaten bacon for breakfast every morning so far. It makes mornings so much better.

You know the song “Deep and Wide” that we sing with kids? The only place that’s found in the Bible is Ezekiel 23:32. It’s about Israel drinking of the cup of iniquity.

Not many people take notes by hand. By my third summer, even I had given in and mostly type notes (although I write some things down, mostly when we get off on rabbit trails and I don’t want random things in my notes). Last summer we had to write our notes for one class, and then type them up after the class. It’s noisier when people are typing than when they are writing.

He’s talking about Proverbs, the “Train up a child verse.” He agrees that it’s properly a warning if translated from Hebrew properly. I finally had something to contribute since I was able to explain what it really means, so now I look smart!

Proverbs 31 is written to men. They are to marry wisdom.

Why is pride wrong? Because the only one high and lifted up is God. When you are proud, you are saying, “I am competing with Jesus for attention.”

Someone’s mowing the lawn, or possibly using a week whacker of some sort. It’s noisy.

The social gospel and the emerging church switch the gospel with the results of the gospel.

My computer is wondering if I want to switch from google.ca to google.com. I won’t even switch the time (I have to remind myself that it’s an hour earlier than it says); I’m certainly not going to switch the search engine.

I haven’t decided if sitting through classes for 4 hours every morning and every afternoon makes me more sympathetic with my 4-hour students or less sympathetic. After all, they have only 1 session a day and they get more breaks, and sometimes they get to throw things.

Men

It’s interesting to watch the men here and compare them to the men at work (well, most of the men at work). Most of the men at work are nice guys (because we don’t generally hire jerks), but they tend to be very, very self-centered and focused on what will make them happiest. They do what needs to be done and don’t worry about helping others unless they are asked (and even then if it doesn’t inconvenience them). Don’t get me wrong: they are relatively harmless and not bad people, and there are a couple notable exceptions to my overall judgment.

But here it’s different. Here the men are quick to help, to offer help (even with little things), and to make sure everyone is cared for. I know that if I asked a small favor, they wouldn’t fuss at all; they would be happy to help. Most of the time I don’t have to ask; they are quick to notice what someone needs or wants or might want. They’re fun and they’re great to have around and there’s always a lot of laughter and then deep talk. They’re tough guys who know that their responsibility is to care for those who are smaller or weaker. And they’re totally gentle when they should be. (Just so no one gets any ideas: they’re also all married.) They’re good guys and I feel safe with them.

There’s this guy I’ve worked with for years. One of our other co-workers has tried to convince me that we should try dating. I always refuse to consider it. He’s a nice guy, funny, maybe a bit too much of a geek, but nice enough. He’s also an atheist, so I refuse to even consider it. My refusal is based on Biblical reasoning: do not be yoked with unbelievers. After this week and my observations and thoughts, I would refuse on pragmatic (and possibly selfish) reasons as well. It will be better for me, and happier for me, to have a man like the men here, and that guy at work is nothing like these guys. They co-worker is a really nice guy and by most standards would be considered a pretty good catch. Compared to what I’m seeing here, though, he is sadly lacking.

I understand that there are some very nice non-Christian guys. I think there are some Christian guys who are jerks (or at least who annoy me). There are also men in the church who aren’t really Christians, or who are barely Christians, or who are so focused on theology that they forget about the parts of the Bible concerning treating others. As a general principle though, I trust the Christian guys more and find them to be better to have around. When I think about the men in my church, they’re the same: good guys, fun, friendly, caring, and completely safe and trust worthy.

Biblical reasons are enough to refuse to become involved with a non-Christian, but my observation is that there are pragmatic reasons as well.

Random Notes from Today's Classes

There were 7 students in my first class yesterday. Now there are 8; the other one is the only other girl. I’m a bit perplexed: where did she come from? My afternoon class only has 3 students. The other 2 are guys. They told me that last week it was all guys in their classes. We need more females in this program.

Okay….she left half way through class (at our break time). Based on overheard conversation, I think she was checking out the program.

The TMC wifi seems to be crashing right now. I’m not sure why it’s suddenly a weak signal that won’t let me do stuff. Okay, it’s fixed. Not that I’m on the internet while sitting in class…I would never do that!

I think the guy in back is trying to type up everything the profs say. He keeps getting them to repeat stuff. I think “typing everything” is not his learning style. He should try listening more and typing less.

Interesting fact: Israel has around 83 political parties. Some are more conservative and claim that there are around 50 major parties. One party is paying parents to have children (sort of like child benefits, only more money compared to their cost of living), up to 7 children (it was 10, but they realized that they couldn’t keep that up forever). So they’re breeding voters and growing their political party.

No one is going to want to serve a god who is just a means to an end. God is not the mean; He is the end. He is glorious.

You will never get the kind of change you really want until they see how great God really is.

They need to provide bigger desks. I’m using three of them (and advantage to small class sizes) and it’s barely enough. I have the one I’m sitting at, then the one in front flipped around so I can put the computer there when I want to write notes or look something up in the Bible. It’s also good because I prefer the computer a bit back when I’m typing, so it rests a bit on the other desk. Then I have the one beside me pulled over to hold my binder and pen when I’m not writing notes, as well as my Bible and drink. My backpack, water bottle, and pencil case are on the seat of that desk. I need a full table, or even a proper desk!

Back at School

The trip to school was very educational. I learned:

If an airline wants to push 14 people to the head of the line going through security because those 14 people arrived at the airport late and might miss their flight, airport security isn't allowed to say no. One of them tried but was told that the airline had the right to move their people up if they were running late.

For the record: they wouldn't have missed their flight. They were right behind me and then moved to the front when I was second in line, and then I saw them by their gate just before their flight was called. Also, they were moved ahead of one couple and me. It wasn't a big jump.

Also: the royal baby is overdue, the RCMP has Bait Cars, and there are vigils or something being held for Trayvan.

And I need to keep an eye on my luggage or bad stuff will happen.

Sitting in the airport for 90 extra minutes because the flight is delayed isn't the end of the world.

Being at school has been more fun! I caught up with a lot of people I only see once a year (and this is my last summer so I don't know when I'll see them again). There has been a lot of talking and laughing, and even some more serious talk. The Biblical Counseling students get more interesting and less annoying every year. They used to be so perky and cheerful and enthusiastic about everything but now they're more steady, sometimes sarcastic, and understand that life isn't always beautiful. Someone theorized that the ones I used to see were all young, and most of the current students that I hang out with are older. That might account for some of it.

I was at Grace Community Church today. It was nice, although I was missing my home church (especially a certain small person who might have been looking for me to give him a candy after church...he's so happy when I appear with a treat for him!). I bought a stack of books for the church library, including several for the younger children. There are a couple new sets that I got one or two of so we can see if the kids enjoy them before purchasing more.

I'm trying very hard to forget about work and to refrain from checking work email this week. I know they can get along without me, but I'm a bit of a control freak! I have to remind my self that I left very good people in charge and one of the main directors will be keeping an eye on a couple things for me as well. And I really, really need a break from the stress; the past 3 weeks almost did me in. So I'm going to rest and learn and enjoy the company of other believers who for whatever reason also thought school was a good plan!

Stuff

I'm trying to learn 2000 years of Christian theology in 6 weeks. It's a bit of a challenge! There are so many names that I'm not sure that I'll ever get them straight. Dr. Thorsell has given us 18 potential exam questions, and we'll have to answer 2. I'm really hoping I'll get ones from the Reformation era. Those I can answer! For the rest...well, I'm doing what I can.

Today I introduced my Sunday School class to the idea that the entire Old Testament teaches about Jesus. Then I cautioned them against trying to allegorize everything so that someone in every story stands for Jesus. They understood that pretty well. They were willing to accept that the Old Testament talks about Jesus since they know specific places (in the prophets) and Jesus Himself said that it's all about Him.

One of the best moments.... One student in particular often answers the question "How do you know?" with "It's in the Bible somewhere." Then I ask him where and he rarely knows. (We talk a lot about being able to back up your claims.) He gets a bit frustrated with me sometimes. Today we were reading 1 Peter 1:17-20. We talked about how God planned salvation before the foundation of the world, which is how the Old Testament can talk about it (and Jesus) even though it hadn't happened. I asked if God was surprised when Jesus was killed, and this student said no. I asked how he knows, and he said, "It's in the Bible somewhere and you're going to ask me where and I don't know where!" Two of us pointed out that it's in the passage we had just read!

Pastor Coates is preaching through Galatians. Today he started chapter 4 (and you should go and listen to his sermon). He was talking about being no longer slaves, but sons. He was talking about the Israelites in the desert and how they found freedom scary. My young friend who sits with me did not understand why freedom was scary and I was trying to explain (although entirely in notes back and forth). She finally grasped that as slaves someone is responsible for you, but as free people we are responsible for ourselves. Then I pointed out that as slaves they felt safe, but now they had to go and fight people who were big like giants and they didn't trust God. She didn't understand why, because God can help people fight. I agreed, but told her that they forgot so they were scared. Her response: "That's stupid!" I agreed and let it go for now. One day she will understand being afraid of freedom and forgetting to trust.

Hey...the power went out as I was typing that last paragraph! What's with that? Shoot....I hope it comes back on soon. I have people coming over and I don't have that many candles around!

One of my babies got married yesterday. She was in my Junior Church class back in Thunder Bay many, many years ago. I watched her grow up, and yet I'm still not sure how she's old enough to be married.

Well, I'm going to go and save this as a Word document until the power is back on and the internet is back up so I can publish it! Sigh. I finally get around to blogging and... never mind. The power just came back on. It was only off for about 10 minutes or so.

Here, for your listening enjoyment, one of the hymns we sang today.

What's Happening

This week I started my new classes. I'm taking Contemporary Issues in Theology (which starts with the church in the second century...it's a new use of "contemporary") and Applied Biblical Studies. It's all interesting so far, but it's a lot of work right now. I think that after the summer sessions it will be easier, with only an exam and then two papers to write. This is my last summer of classes in California; after that, I have a couple independent study courses to take next winter, and a year from now I'll be done!

So far I'm enjoying the reading, although there's a lot of it. I enjoy history, so that part is good, and the book is well written (not too dry and not all about dates). The only problem will be remembering all of it for the exam! I'm reading a couple other books as well and so far they're pretty good. This year I have to read properly rather than just skim (my usual method of getting through textbooks) so it's good that they're interesting.

Of course, I don't spend all my time working. I had a young friend over after school on Friday. He's 8 and he came to play, watch movies, and have dinner. We ordered cheeseburgers, even though (to quote him), "Most places make cheeseburgers by just putting cheese on regular hamburgers." Well, yes, that would be the definition of cheese burger. We watched Lord of the Beans (which, for those of you not in the know, is a VeggieTales parody of Lord of the Rings). My young friend kept correcting it so it matched Lord of the Rings. Is it any wonder I love that child?

I also spend (probably too much) time on the internet watching videos. Here is today's choice of "video that I think everyone should watch" (please note his proper use of "literally").



 Have a great day!

Sunday Update

I think I'm getting somewhere with the school assignments. I have two essays written (well, first drafts, but that's the hardest part) and I'm getting through the reading well. I have one major paper (20 pages) and a shorter paper that is an overview of Romans; most of that is getting written in note form as I read through the book with the commentaries. It helps that work has slowed down some, enough that I'm home most evenings. I have 5 weeks left and I think I can get it done.

I ordered more books on Friday. My landlords gave me a Chapters gift card as a "thank you for being a great tenant" gift and told me that it had to be spent on books for fun, not school (my landlord insists that gifts should be fun). I told myself that when I got the draft of the paper I was working on done, I could order books! I ordered The Lord of the Rings trilogy (the box set also comes with The Hobbit) and the Silmarillion by Tolkien and the Mistborn trilogy by Brandon Sanderson (side note: those of you with children should get them Sanderson's Alcatraz books). Not that I'll have time to read them, but I can use them to reward myself as I finish assignments. 

That's part of how I get through assignments: rewards. I also rely on an infusion of caffeine, Skittles, and Goldfish crackers (or, lacking them, Ritz bits peanut butter sandwiches). I also put in a movie that I know well (musicals work well) or put on a CD, and tell myself that I only have to work until the movie/CD is over. That way it's less overwhelming and I have some nice background noise.

I finished teaching Proverbs to my Sunday School class. We only reached chapter 9, but I basically just wanted to do the "my son" portions (skipping everything on adultery). Next week we are going to start James and discussions of the marks of a true believer.

Sunday Notes

My boys from last week survived sitting in the adult classes this week. They had to take notes as well, which concerned one of them; he just didn't know how to take notes. What should he write? How do you take notes in Sunday School? (His mom told me all this later). He was advised to write down the passages that were mentioned and what was said about them. He was in the marriage class, so he learned to have a godly marriage! The other boy was in the Joshua class, which his dad was teaching this week. He had to behave! Anyway, they both took great notes and I told them that they could come back to class next week.

This afternoon I took a nap and then finished the rough draft of my essay. It's due in six days and then I will be done another class.

What I'm Learning

I'm preparing my discipleship plan for Worship and Wisdom class. Everything I'm reading, from Proverbs, Matthew, and James (and various other parts) only confirms one thing:

We only have 2 choices.

We either follow God or the world, as demonstrated in wisdom or folly.

We want more choices, right? Things that are sort-of okay, or not really wrong. It's not really God's wisdom, but we're certainly not following worldly folly either.

I'm sorry, people, but such a choice does not exist. Furthermore, we have to choose wisdom deliberately: it won't just happen. And every time we are not choosing wisdom, we are by default choosing folly.

Sometimes the hard part is knowing what wisdom is in a certain situation. I think, though, that it isn't always as tough as we think (or as we want it to be so that we might have an excuse for slacking a bit). It takes work, though, and time spent reading and learning Scripture and learning to know God more and more.

Busy, Busy

Work is busy, but only for another week or so and then the kids go back to school.

School is busy, although it's a bit lighter than other years. There's enough to keep me busy but not enough to overwhelm me.

So...since life seems to be manageable starting in September, I've gone and added to it! Because a break would be a bad thing, right?

This year I'm writing my own Sunday School material. It's based on my Worship and Wisdom class so it's not entirely original. Still, it will take some work to turn 5 days of school into 30 lessons. I'm contemplating making worksheets to take home. The advantage is that they will have something to bring home and remember what I taught. The disadvantage is that it means more work for me!

I also made the mistake of admitting to the elder that I have time to read now since I don't have any reading for school. He asked me to write a book review for one of the books I recently read and then handed me another book to read and review again.

The problem is that I most enjoy the Sunday School and book review work, which means that the only stuff I could give up is the stuff I most want to keep!

On the plus side, I can share some of the book review material here and save me the trouble of thinking up original stuff every week.

My Computer

My laptop has been giving me issues for some time now. It crashes now and then and it takes forever to start up. In fact, it's been slow at starting up from the beginning and I'm inclined to blame the friend who helped me get it started. Something he put in from the start messed things up.

Anyway...yesterday was very bad. At the end of classes, when I shut it down, it crashed. Later in the evening I tried turning it on. It got into a "scanning all systems" loop that found errors and then found them again...eventually it started, though. I left it on last night and it ran the virus scan. This morning I found that somehow I had acquired 4 "issues" so I hit the "quarantine" button. The computer crashed again. It gave me a lot of troubles starting up again, and eventually I unplugged it to bring it with me to breakfast. At breakfast, after I tried a couple more times, it eventually started up again. I packed it up (without turning it off) and brought it to the classroom so I could check if the "issues" had been dealt with. By the time I got to the classroom, the battery had died and I had to start it up again. It refused; all I got was a message that the start-up or something was corrupted or not there and the computer could not start.

This was a bit of a problem since at the end of each morning class we have time to type up our notes. The professor was very understanding and at note-typing he allowed me to leave to see if IT could do anything. This was about 11:30 (class ends at 12:30). I finally found the computer services building only to learn that they open at 1:00. Yeah. I used my free time to get some paperwork done at the international student office and then check email and such in the library. Lunch was at 12:30 and at 12:55 I was back looking for an IT guy.

He was a very nice guy who listened to me, looked at my computer, and told me that he didn't know how much he could do but he would try. I understood that it was really broken and old and needed to be replaced, but I only needed it to last a few more days! In the end he was able to get past the "I will not start" page (by pressing buttons and making it beep loudly and in different tones). Then he explained that all he could do was reformat my hard drive (I think that's the right term) and that everything would go back to the original settings. Translations: I would lose everything, but I could use the computer again.

Because of the issues I'd been having, I had backed up most of my church and school notes (as well as several other, random files) onto a separate storage device not long before I left for school. Last night I had also emailed myself most of the notes I had taken this week and I knew that I could get the rest from someone, so I told him to go ahead and do it. He checked with me twice, and again when the computer wanted him to confirm that this was the desired action.

I had to get to class before it was done so I came back during our first break (because they close before we finish classes, and I have wonderful professors; when I explained that I had to go to IT for my computer and might be a couple minutes late getting back, the prof was totally okay with it and just talked with the class until I returned). The IT guy was downloading an anti-virus for me (because of course I lost that too) so that I could get wireless access (the system won't let you in without an approved anti-virus).

And now my computer works again. I'm missing some stuff and I had to download Open Office since I lost Windows, but that's fine. The best part is, whatever was slowing down my computer is also gone! Now I no longer have the world's slowest laptop, so I figure I'll just be thankful for that and the IT guy!

School!

I love being a student! Today was the first day of classes for the summer and already I think the week will be too short.

Details....in the morning I have Worship and Wisdom. There are 9 people registered for the class: 6 guys and 3 girls (and 2 extra guys: one is here to help his brother-in-law, who is disabled and in a wheelchair; the other is just sitting in for at least some of the classes). It's an amazing class and in 4 hours we were given a lot to think about! Dr. Harris gives us only one break, but lets us go 15 minutes early if we want. The class runs from 8:30-12:30. At 11:30 we wrap up and then break into smaller groups for prayer. After that, we type up our notes (he wants us to take notes on paper first, then type them up, to help our retention). There won't be a exam since he just wants us to have the knowledge where we can access it, not necessarily memorize it.

In the afternoon I have Life, Ministry, and Theology of Paul with Dr. Wong. Here we have 6 guys and 2 girls. Dr. Wong spent much of today explaining the other assignments and making sure we were on track. He also gave us the exam questions (I don't think he takes exams very seriously). He also told us that if we listen and take good notes, then we can do well on the exam; after all, we're telling him what he taught us and he won't give himself a poor mark!

Right now I'm so tired!

School

I enrolled for my next classes on Friday. I'm taking Life, Ministry, and Theology of Paul with Dr. Wong and Worship and Wisdom with Dr. Harris.

I'm looking forward to the classes and the learning. I am not looking forward to the amount of work and the deadlines! The list of assignments fills almost 2 index cards (one pre-session work, one post-session work). There's a lot of reading and writing about what I've read and answering questions and then writing papers and a discipleship plan for Worship and Wisdom to put together and then actually use to disciple someone (which is something new and sounds interesting). Tonight I'm going to figure how much needs to be done each week to keep up (except most of the reading since I don't have the books yet).

If I don't write much for a while...well, that won't be anything new, but at least now I have an excuse!

Bits and Pieces

The essays are done and were handed in on time. I think they were okay; at least I liked them and so did my friend who edits them for me. All I really care about right now is that they're done and I can stop now. I've been doing school for almost 4 years with only a week off here and there and I am so ready for a break. I've decided to take the winter off and leave the rest of the independent study classes for now. I'll start school again in March.

It sounds easy, this business of getting a master's degree slowly and through correspondence, but I know three people who have had to stop, at least for a time, because of time constraints. This last year almost did me in, and left me totally tired out, and I don't have a family to care for as some of my classmates do.

I had the first sleepover Friday night. It was for my class, so they were younger girls (grades 3-6), and only 4 of them were able to attend. They're a pretty low key group and not much trouble, although they get very giggly as it gets late! This weekend I will have the junior/senior high girls. It's sort of turning into a youth group activity (Friday is officially a "split youth session" for the group, and I understand the male leaders have plans for the boys). The good news is that the youth group leaders will be here so I won't be the only adult. On the other hand, there are at least 10 people planning to attend, and I have a small apartment! Well, we'll all squeeze in somehow.

Work is beginning to settle down into a regular schedule which means I can settle into a regular schedule. There's still a lot going on, but I'll get to rest as well and catch up on stuff.

Blah

I'm ready to pack it in, essay-wise. I'm tired and I have no idea what to write. In fact, I'm wondering if honesty is the best policy: I don't know why Matthew leaves out a statement that Luke and Mark include! I bet I'd still get an okay mark if I admitted that.

Anyway...instead of working I'm watching YouTube and hoping inspiration will strike. Probably not, but until it does, I'll leave you with something to watch as well.





Well, I don't know about you, but I feel better now!

Almost Done

I have one major paper and one small paper to write. They're due in 10 days. Then the semester is over and I'm done until March.

I've started the major paper and fully intend to write the small one in a day (or a couple hours, depending on how things go). I'm still feeling very unmotivated to actually write. Which is probably why I went to Calgary with friends yesterday instead of working on the paper. The official reason is that there is a used Christian bookstore in Calgary that's closing down and all their books are half price. We picked up 22 books for the church library for $50. We also got a few books for ourselves. And I actually did some work on the drive down (not so much on the drive back because it was dark) and have a very detailed outline of the first 3 sections of the major paper (including notes for which source to use when). I suppose it will get done on time...somehow.

In more amusing news: I have a new cell phone and it has a voicemail-to-text feature. It doesn't always get the voicemail right though.

What my friend said: I feel touched to have such lovely ladies talking to me (or something like that).

What was transcribed: I touch a lovely lady.

Thoughts for You

Here are more thoughts from one of my professors...

On grace:

Grace is God’s intervention in the current situation for your good. Grace is an action, and people who do grace are characterized by grace.

For encouragement:

When Jesus died for our sins, they were all future. As believers, we cannot commit a sin that Jesus has not already died for.

And finally:

The impact of sin and dealing with sin is cosmic.