Well I didn't do as well as I had hoped on my OT test - a "C" - but hey, I passed. The Hebrew mid-term was much better than previous times, but still I thought I had done better than what I got - another "C" (granted, it was REALLY close to a "B!" I'm thankful that it seems to be going in and maybe slowing down - just a hair - enough to digest a bit more.
I registered for the next trimester's classes - continued OT, continued Hebrew, continued Church history, and NT. Oh boy!
I've been stressing over my grades. On one hand, working so hard and only getting "C's," and on the other hand worrying about the GPA I need to have to keep my scholarship. I was sharing with Kim today that frustration and worry. He reminded me that God has provided up to this point, abundantly, so what makes me think he's going to stop if my GPA falls? Hmmmm, good point.
He also reminded me that I'm supposed to be enjoying this...and I'm trying to, but the stress sometimes overtakes the enjoyment! Living in the tension. How many times did I hear that working at First Pres?!! There's always something that's going on in our lives that makes us have to be intentional about balance and about trusting God. That tension of, "what if?" What if we don't have enough money to pay the bills? What if that medical test shows something bad? What if this relationship goes bad? Couple that with all the other 'stuff' we deal with in life... Seems that it all really boils down to trusting God - in the big and the little things of life...and many times what WE see as big things are really little things that we've blown way out of proportion.
So apparently the theme of this week is, "Trust God in all things, big and small." Do the best you can, try to love like He does, take one day at a time, and look to Him - for all that you need, to give thanks for the many ways He blesses us, to fess up on the things you messed up, and to praise Him for who He is and how He loves us so unconditionally.
I'm sitting on our patio with Charlie (the dog) sitting quite majestically in the chair next to me. The sun is shining (praise God!) and the trees are all colors of yellow, green, red and orange. It smells like leaves and the small breeze keeps the leaves falling continuously. This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Praying I will always be able to say that and see that!
~Sally
The Family - Summer, 2023
Love these people!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Almost over the hump
Well here it is a week later. I'm doing much better since my last post! Actually, I felt much better after writing that and then taking some time in prayer. I figured out why I was struggling so badly...I was trying to do it all on my own. I wasn't talking with God and asking for HIM to provide all that I needed to make it through this. Huh.
I can truthfully say that since I've been intentional about spending time with God each day, I have been able to handle whatever the day brought. Go figure! Ha! Easy lesson learned the hard way, once again.
I got back my Hebrew quiz from last week - 82! Woo hoo!!!! That made my week! I'm getting things, again, slowly. This week has been good because we're reviewing and doing exercises in preparation for the mid-term on Friday. I went to the tutor yesterday, and just continue to work at my vocab flashcards and translating.
Tomorrow is another quiz in OT Books that's a little intimidating, but apparently people do better on this one than the first one. I hope so.
The big kahuna is next week...our first Church History test (late mid-term aka, 3/4-term test). It's over 27 chapters from one book, and another 40 or so readings from another book. I just don't know if my mind can hold that much information! (Well, apparently not because I'm reviewing and not remembering a lot!) Insane for sure. So pray for the next week or so as I study, prepare, and take these tests.
My parents came Friday evening. We had a bunch of students over and I think they had fun getting to know some and visiting. We took them to the seminary and around Pittsburgh at bit. Not loads of sight-seeing as it was cold and rainy. Took them to our favorite bakery though! And Kim took them to Ikea on Sunday while I studied. They left yesterday morning.
We've made our reservations to fly to Denver for Christmas and then take the train to GJ on 12/26. We're excited to see the kids and Rilo, and then go to church on Sunday 12/27! Hopefully there won't be a lot of people out of town.
As I continue this journey (in this far-off land!) I continue to give it all to God praying that He will provide all that we need: rest when we're weary, strength when we're weak, $ when we're broke!, fellowship when we're lonely, and clear eyes and ears to see and hear Him when He's calling us to something. At times it still seems very foreign here, and at other times it seems like we've been here for a long time. I'm thankful for that...and I'm thankful for Facebook - as silly as that seems. It is one thing that keeps me close to those people I love who are so far away. (And cell phones too! Getting random texts, phone calls, pictures and videos from family and friends certainly helps bridge the distance!)
Lord God, thank You for bringing us to this place. Help us to shine Your light in our little corner of it, and to make a difference while we're here. Thank You for Your never-ending provision, Your undeniable love, and Your grace and mercy that covers a multitude of sins. Bless my fellow students and their families as we journey together, bless our teachers and the administrators who help us in so many ways, and bless You, Lord, for bringing us all here together 'for such a time as this.'
In Jesus' Name,
~Sally
I can truthfully say that since I've been intentional about spending time with God each day, I have been able to handle whatever the day brought. Go figure! Ha! Easy lesson learned the hard way, once again.
I got back my Hebrew quiz from last week - 82! Woo hoo!!!! That made my week! I'm getting things, again, slowly. This week has been good because we're reviewing and doing exercises in preparation for the mid-term on Friday. I went to the tutor yesterday, and just continue to work at my vocab flashcards and translating.
Tomorrow is another quiz in OT Books that's a little intimidating, but apparently people do better on this one than the first one. I hope so.
The big kahuna is next week...our first Church History test (late mid-term aka, 3/4-term test). It's over 27 chapters from one book, and another 40 or so readings from another book. I just don't know if my mind can hold that much information! (Well, apparently not because I'm reviewing and not remembering a lot!) Insane for sure. So pray for the next week or so as I study, prepare, and take these tests.
My parents came Friday evening. We had a bunch of students over and I think they had fun getting to know some and visiting. We took them to the seminary and around Pittsburgh at bit. Not loads of sight-seeing as it was cold and rainy. Took them to our favorite bakery though! And Kim took them to Ikea on Sunday while I studied. They left yesterday morning.
We've made our reservations to fly to Denver for Christmas and then take the train to GJ on 12/26. We're excited to see the kids and Rilo, and then go to church on Sunday 12/27! Hopefully there won't be a lot of people out of town.
As I continue this journey (in this far-off land!) I continue to give it all to God praying that He will provide all that we need: rest when we're weary, strength when we're weak, $ when we're broke!, fellowship when we're lonely, and clear eyes and ears to see and hear Him when He's calling us to something. At times it still seems very foreign here, and at other times it seems like we've been here for a long time. I'm thankful for that...and I'm thankful for Facebook - as silly as that seems. It is one thing that keeps me close to those people I love who are so far away. (And cell phones too! Getting random texts, phone calls, pictures and videos from family and friends certainly helps bridge the distance!)
Lord God, thank You for bringing us to this place. Help us to shine Your light in our little corner of it, and to make a difference while we're here. Thank You for Your never-ending provision, Your undeniable love, and Your grace and mercy that covers a multitude of sins. Bless my fellow students and their families as we journey together, bless our teachers and the administrators who help us in so many ways, and bless You, Lord, for bringing us all here together 'for such a time as this.'
In Jesus' Name,
~Sally
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Overwhelmed...
It's been awhile since my last post. School has been crazy. I had two quizzes last week plus a make-up quiz. The one I thought I did well on I got a 75 (OT Books), the Hebrew quiz I felt fairly good about I got a 57! Geez!
The Hebrew IS starting to sink in more, it's just slow going, and then by the time I think I may kind of get it-we get 30 more vocabulary words to add to the pile and another set of weird exceptions to rules in the language! Ahhhhh!!!
I'm not accustomed to working so hard at something and still doing poorly!! And it makes me nervous about the 3.5 GPA I'm supposed to keep for my financial aide...
Kim is SO good to me. Dinner every night, a clean house, still looking for a job, just being there. I know I don't show my appreciation enough.
My folks get here on Friday evening. We'll still have friends over, so they can just jump right in to whatever's going on. We hope to take them to Point State Park downtown as well as the Incline which overlooks the city and both rivers coming together to create the Ohio River. It's quite the view. Then maybe Sunday we'll drive out to the Ikea store so they can see what we've been talking about all this time.
Wondering how I'll fit studying into all of that as well... The Hebrew midterm is a week from Wed., and the Church History midterm is the 28th - it looks scary. Actually, they both do.
I keep thinking during my walks to and from school...God called me here. Ok. So what if I fail? Then what? I know it's not the end of the world, but, what Lord? I just don't get it.
People keep telling me, "you can't read everything!" And yet, we'll get emails from teachers reminding us that we need to have read stuff because we're going to discuss it in class! How to know WHAT to read WHEN???? It's all just an on-going catch-up game. And then you read SO much that there's no way you're going to retain all of it.
How do other people do this?? I know I'm not an idiot, but I'm feeling way over my head these days. I know it's just a phase...like I told Sarah about her having to work and juggle Rilo and home and everything...it's a season. Well, I'm ready for this season to change!
Lord, grant me wisdom to know what to do when, the discipline to do it, and the vision and understanding to grasp all that's going in! I rest in Your peace, knowing that no matter how things pan out, "The Lord Himself goes before you and is with you; He will never leave you, nor forsake you....I will not be afraid, I will not be discouraged!" (Deut. 31:8) Amen.
Phew. Glad that's out. Now back to work.
~Sally
The Hebrew IS starting to sink in more, it's just slow going, and then by the time I think I may kind of get it-we get 30 more vocabulary words to add to the pile and another set of weird exceptions to rules in the language! Ahhhhh!!!
I'm not accustomed to working so hard at something and still doing poorly!! And it makes me nervous about the 3.5 GPA I'm supposed to keep for my financial aide...
Kim is SO good to me. Dinner every night, a clean house, still looking for a job, just being there. I know I don't show my appreciation enough.
My folks get here on Friday evening. We'll still have friends over, so they can just jump right in to whatever's going on. We hope to take them to Point State Park downtown as well as the Incline which overlooks the city and both rivers coming together to create the Ohio River. It's quite the view. Then maybe Sunday we'll drive out to the Ikea store so they can see what we've been talking about all this time.
Wondering how I'll fit studying into all of that as well... The Hebrew midterm is a week from Wed., and the Church History midterm is the 28th - it looks scary. Actually, they both do.
I keep thinking during my walks to and from school...God called me here. Ok. So what if I fail? Then what? I know it's not the end of the world, but, what Lord? I just don't get it.
People keep telling me, "you can't read everything!" And yet, we'll get emails from teachers reminding us that we need to have read stuff because we're going to discuss it in class! How to know WHAT to read WHEN???? It's all just an on-going catch-up game. And then you read SO much that there's no way you're going to retain all of it.
How do other people do this?? I know I'm not an idiot, but I'm feeling way over my head these days. I know it's just a phase...like I told Sarah about her having to work and juggle Rilo and home and everything...it's a season. Well, I'm ready for this season to change!
Lord, grant me wisdom to know what to do when, the discipline to do it, and the vision and understanding to grasp all that's going in! I rest in Your peace, knowing that no matter how things pan out, "The Lord Himself goes before you and is with you; He will never leave you, nor forsake you....I will not be afraid, I will not be discouraged!" (Deut. 31:8) Amen.
Phew. Glad that's out. Now back to work.
~Sally
Sunday, October 4, 2009
A Week of Learning
It's been a long week and hard since Kim's been gone, and he's having all this fun with Sarah, Rob, Rilo, Sean, & Megan in Colorado - and I'm sittin' here getting the pictures and "stuck" with no car. Some days I was walking back and forth to school two and three times to come let Charlie out, and then Tuesday morning came - and things were put in their right place.
We had a treat on Tuesday morning. One of our fellow students in Church History has a moving life story and so Tuesday morning before class she came in and shared her testimony with us. Mihn is from Vietnam and started her story as a young girl of about ten in the early sixties. Soldiers came to her town and around her house and herded people out into the streets. She stood there with her father, her brother and her sister (her other brother and mother were someplace else). Her father was questioned and he was pleading with the officers to leave his children alone, they're just children. The officers had them all get down on their knees and then proceeded to go down the line and shoot them - first her father, then her brother and sister, then her. She was shot in the head, but apparently not seriously. She was able to get up after the soldiers left and was later reunited with her brother - her mother didn't make it.
Mihn and her brother were eventually captured and imprisoned where they spend some years there, working in the day in either rice or corn fields. She liked the corn fields because she could get some kernals of corn and add them to her "soup" for dinner.
Apparently they tried to escape a number of times, and on the third try were finally able to get away. They were able to get to the coast where they became some of the many "boat people" who escaped the insanity of the regime. They saw others in boats get caught and killed by pirates, but they were able to hide and get away and eventually made their way to France where they lived for four years.
Mihn later moved to Australia where she lived for another twenty-five years before coming to the US four years ago. She has dealt with depression and PTSD her entire life being on anti-depressants and other drugs, but in the last few years God has done a huge healing in her and she is no longer on drugs.
Mihn told her story in fifteen minutes, but I felt like I had just gone through an entire lifetime with her. There were tears on both sides of the podium as she shared her life, and I think many of us were stunned that she could actually be standing there with all that she'd been through. You'd think she'd just be a heap of a body with no soul left.
The story of God's pursuit of her and of her questioning His existence in the midst of such evil and suffering made each of us introspective. It made me wonder, "Would I continue to believe in God with such suffering and abuse on a daily basis?"
Hearing Mihn's story put the rest of the day, and actually the rest of the week in perspective. Despite the work that needed done, the activities ahead, and the classes to attend, nothing was overwhelming...or when it started to seem that way, it was easier to put it in the context that it deserved.
God is good. He's using Mihn's story to give others hope who have none, and to encourage us to remember that God is bigger than any situation, He is always with us, will never leave us, and will help to make good things come from bad and evil things...But we need to ask Him.
I'll try to remember this as I struggle with Hebrew, study for my tests this week, and try not to get overwhelmed with life as it is now. Kim is driving through Indiana as I write and should hopefully get home this evening (with lots of Rilo and kid pictures!). I've had enough of singlehood for quite a while.
Continued prayers for school and balance. Prayers of thanksgiving for Friday nights with seminary friends and the blessing that has become for all of us! God IS good, and He continues to pursue me, too, drawing me closer and closer as we journey together through life. I pray that you hear His callings to you as well, and you draw near to be fed with the bread of life. You know, that kind of bread that actually fills you so that you don't hunger any more...
Blessings.
~Sally
We had a treat on Tuesday morning. One of our fellow students in Church History has a moving life story and so Tuesday morning before class she came in and shared her testimony with us. Mihn is from Vietnam and started her story as a young girl of about ten in the early sixties. Soldiers came to her town and around her house and herded people out into the streets. She stood there with her father, her brother and her sister (her other brother and mother were someplace else). Her father was questioned and he was pleading with the officers to leave his children alone, they're just children. The officers had them all get down on their knees and then proceeded to go down the line and shoot them - first her father, then her brother and sister, then her. She was shot in the head, but apparently not seriously. She was able to get up after the soldiers left and was later reunited with her brother - her mother didn't make it.
Mihn and her brother were eventually captured and imprisoned where they spend some years there, working in the day in either rice or corn fields. She liked the corn fields because she could get some kernals of corn and add them to her "soup" for dinner.
Apparently they tried to escape a number of times, and on the third try were finally able to get away. They were able to get to the coast where they became some of the many "boat people" who escaped the insanity of the regime. They saw others in boats get caught and killed by pirates, but they were able to hide and get away and eventually made their way to France where they lived for four years.
Mihn later moved to Australia where she lived for another twenty-five years before coming to the US four years ago. She has dealt with depression and PTSD her entire life being on anti-depressants and other drugs, but in the last few years God has done a huge healing in her and she is no longer on drugs.
Mihn told her story in fifteen minutes, but I felt like I had just gone through an entire lifetime with her. There were tears on both sides of the podium as she shared her life, and I think many of us were stunned that she could actually be standing there with all that she'd been through. You'd think she'd just be a heap of a body with no soul left.
The story of God's pursuit of her and of her questioning His existence in the midst of such evil and suffering made each of us introspective. It made me wonder, "Would I continue to believe in God with such suffering and abuse on a daily basis?"
Hearing Mihn's story put the rest of the day, and actually the rest of the week in perspective. Despite the work that needed done, the activities ahead, and the classes to attend, nothing was overwhelming...or when it started to seem that way, it was easier to put it in the context that it deserved.
God is good. He's using Mihn's story to give others hope who have none, and to encourage us to remember that God is bigger than any situation, He is always with us, will never leave us, and will help to make good things come from bad and evil things...But we need to ask Him.
I'll try to remember this as I struggle with Hebrew, study for my tests this week, and try not to get overwhelmed with life as it is now. Kim is driving through Indiana as I write and should hopefully get home this evening (with lots of Rilo and kid pictures!). I've had enough of singlehood for quite a while.
Continued prayers for school and balance. Prayers of thanksgiving for Friday nights with seminary friends and the blessing that has become for all of us! God IS good, and He continues to pursue me, too, drawing me closer and closer as we journey together through life. I pray that you hear His callings to you as well, and you draw near to be fed with the bread of life. You know, that kind of bread that actually fills you so that you don't hunger any more...
Blessings.
~Sally
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