We're just finishing up the third week of Term II already! I did well last term, considering the laments of my previous blogs, with a B in Hebrew and Church History, and a C in Old Testament (and a Pass in Spiritual Formation). Not the 3.5 GPA I wanted, but I'll take it!
This term I have continued Hebrew, Church History (the Reformation), Prophets & Psalms, and added New Testament. They're all pretty good classes, and thankfully, it doesn't seem as overwhelming as last term. I don't know if I'm just getting acclimated or if there really is less reading than last term!
The readings on Luther have actually been very interesting, and I've read 1 Kings, Amos, & Mark with 2 Kings, Hosea, Matthew, & Luke on the reading list for the break. Thankfully they haven't loaded us up too much over the break.
We're counting the days til we leave for Colorado! We leave the morning of the 20th and fly to Denver to stay near Sarah, Rob, and Rilo through Christmas. Sean and Megan will be coming over the mountains to see her mom and Tom in Colorado Springs, and then they'll stay in Denver Christmas Eve so we can all be together on Christmas! Yeah!!! Then they're driving back to GJ in the afternoon to be with Megan's dad for Christmas dinner.
Kim and I hop the train on Saturday morning the 26th and ride it to GJ where we'll stay with my sister Ellen til the 30th when we ride it back to Denver and fly back on New Year's Eve. Seems long, but I know it's going to go way too quick - and I can already see that we're going to want more time with Rilo after the GJ portion!! But we'll take what we can get.
Three of my girlfriends and I sang in a Christmas program a couple of weeks ago. It was so neat because it was hosted by the NIA group at the seminary (I believe the word means "diversity") and the program had us 4 white girls (actually, one Asian!), an older student who played a really mean recorder (yep, recorder, and I'm serious!), three different African-American groups - one a rockin' gospel church choir, another more of a praise band (but not like I'VE ever seen in church!), and a youth group that did interpretive dance/rap. It was awesome. About as diverse as you can get, and everyone just really enjoyed it and appreciated each other so much! THAT'S why we came to the city!
Last Saturday night our church had its annual "Light Up Night" where they had a parade with marching band, bagpipers, horse and carriage w/Mary, Joseph & baby Jesus, and camels! Then the family came and were in the stable with other farm animals, there were stands with free kettle corn and frito pies. Inside was the Urban Impact choir (probably 75 youth) doing some really rockin' Christmas songs, cookies and goodies, a prayer station, and Christmas trees decorated by country (probably 8-10 of them). It was only from 6-8pm, but it was amazing and they had a huge crowd. It's one of their larger outreaches to the community. I was an angel by the stable and at first handed out candy canes and later free new testaments. It was really impressive, and thankfully it didn't snow or rain.
The next morning was the rain, and then it froze, and churches all over were closed! Luckily most of our folks are local so we were all there. I tried walking (since Kim had to work - and got there before it even rained), but it was WAY too slick. My girlfriend picked me up and we drove the 4 blocks to church very slowly! Ha! I now understand about ice storms! With all the hills and bridges around here, when they happen everything just stops.
Last Friday we had a gift exchange at the house with all the Friday night folks...I've posted our group shot here in the upper right corner. What a bunch of great kids - and some not kids! It was such an awesome evening. Not just a big group, but real connecting with each other throughout the evening. I've printed out the group shot on an 8x10 to frame it. They truly are our Pittsburgh family.
Kim is making more connections as well and has started meeting weekly with one of the guys and just talked with another about meeting with him weekly as well. I think maybe he's finding out one of the reasons HE's here. These guys want mentors in a bad way, and they've come and asked Kim to share his life with them. Pretty cool. Kim is honored, and so are they...a good combination.
Our friend Brian, a single dad with four kids (ages 2, 3, 10 & 12) will be staying here while we're gone, to watch Charlie. He and the kids are really excited...I hope Charlie survives! I feel bad that it's going to be such a drastic lifestyle change for her. I'm sure she'll make it though.
Well, two more days of school then it's break time!! (Kind of!) Can't wait to see our kids, grandson, and many GJ friends and family. We are blessed.
I pray this is a time when the love of Christ is very really for you. For us it certainly has been. Blessings to you this Christmas.
~Sally
The Family - Summer, 2023
Love these people!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
We survived finals!
As I re-read my last post I'm amazed at how far I've come and how much I studied since then! Finals are done, my paper written, and I'm officially on Thanksgiving break! Yeah!!!
Finals went really well I think. Church history was a bear, but I wrote for two hours and did it. OT was much better than all the previous tests, praise God! I got an "A" on the Hebrew vocabulary test and aced the final, minus the last page that was a lot of new stuff (that I hear she's weighting less than the rest of the test...again, praise God!) The ten-page paper I had to write for spiritual formation came easy as I wrote about when I was diagnosed with lupus way back in 1995, and how God transformed me during that time. It was a great reminder of how God uses everything to grow us and draw us nearer to Him.
It's really hard to believe this term is over. It's kind of scary thinking about next term because I'll have NT instead of spiritual formation, which was a class that was easy to blow-off a bit. So this term will be where the rubber meets the road.
For Thanksgiving Kim and I will be home alone, which is fine. For a few days there it wasn't ok, but the more I've thought about it the more I'm looking forward to cooking together and just spending the day together. I had asked a bunch of people looking for anyone who might be without family for the holiday, but most were headed home or hooked up with other local folks. We're really missing the kids and Rilo a lot and we're counting the days til we go home for Christmas!
I'm working on balancing having friends over and spending good time with Kim. It was definitely skewed for awhile there, but I think it's getting better as time goes on. It's a hard one for me though.
We're excited for our friend Sarah Tunall to come visit on Dec. 5th! She's going to stay with us and visit the seminary. I'm excited that Sarah might decide to come here next year! Pray for her discernment process!
Well, I'm making Christmas presents this week and hope to do a little baking before school starts up - so it should be a really fun week!
I pray the Lord continues to open my eyes to His will as we continue on this journey together. My biggest prayer is that I can find the time and discipline to have regular time in God's word and in conversation with Him. I pray that He blesses us as we spend time together this Thanksgiving, and that He blesses you as well.
Happy Thanksgiving!
~Sally
Finals went really well I think. Church history was a bear, but I wrote for two hours and did it. OT was much better than all the previous tests, praise God! I got an "A" on the Hebrew vocabulary test and aced the final, minus the last page that was a lot of new stuff (that I hear she's weighting less than the rest of the test...again, praise God!) The ten-page paper I had to write for spiritual formation came easy as I wrote about when I was diagnosed with lupus way back in 1995, and how God transformed me during that time. It was a great reminder of how God uses everything to grow us and draw us nearer to Him.
It's really hard to believe this term is over. It's kind of scary thinking about next term because I'll have NT instead of spiritual formation, which was a class that was easy to blow-off a bit. So this term will be where the rubber meets the road.
For Thanksgiving Kim and I will be home alone, which is fine. For a few days there it wasn't ok, but the more I've thought about it the more I'm looking forward to cooking together and just spending the day together. I had asked a bunch of people looking for anyone who might be without family for the holiday, but most were headed home or hooked up with other local folks. We're really missing the kids and Rilo a lot and we're counting the days til we go home for Christmas!
I'm working on balancing having friends over and spending good time with Kim. It was definitely skewed for awhile there, but I think it's getting better as time goes on. It's a hard one for me though.
We're excited for our friend Sarah Tunall to come visit on Dec. 5th! She's going to stay with us and visit the seminary. I'm excited that Sarah might decide to come here next year! Pray for her discernment process!
Well, I'm making Christmas presents this week and hope to do a little baking before school starts up - so it should be a really fun week!
I pray the Lord continues to open my eyes to His will as we continue on this journey together. My biggest prayer is that I can find the time and discipline to have regular time in God's word and in conversation with Him. I pray that He blesses us as we spend time together this Thanksgiving, and that He blesses you as well.
Happy Thanksgiving!
~Sally
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Can she make it???
Well, I'm feeling like one of those lost souls that gets tossed about by the waves depending on the circumstances. I hate that! Last week I was feeling pretty good because I did well on a Hebrew quiz and there was a touch of a lull (a false sense of thinking I had things together, I think!). Then I went to Hebrew this morning where we went over a verb exercise we did for homework and I had almost every one wrong -- and we only went thru half of them!!! That was followed by our last quiz in OT, and I think almost everyone felt like that was not the test they expected. I think many studied the bigger ideas, and he tested more on Bible content. Ugh. That's when I start thinking, once again, what do I think I'm doing here??!!!
I have some friends coming over tonight to go over our nine questions that we have to prepare and memorize for our church history final next Tuesday. I pray that it will be productive time together - we can't afford for it not to be.
My friend Mel got a bunch of women together Monday night for our first small group (care, prayer, share group). What a wonderful mix of women! My Vietnamese friend Mihn (she and I are the oldest), Mel (who's a very beautiful and young-looking 31), Tai & Katie (late 20's?), Anna (young mother/student/spouse-of-student), and Kristen (another young married). We may have another couple women joining us too. It was wonderful to share our lives, our small group experiences, our struggles, and then pray for each other in very real ways. I can tell I'm going to be living each week to go to our group.
Kim started work at Border's yesterday. He said it was ok. He does get 33% off though, plus any drink at the Seattle's Best coffee place for .30 - w/ his own cup!) They've scheduled him a lot more than part-time, which is good and bad. I think Kim would've liked to gradually gone into it, but God knows we can use the income.
Sarah sends me videos of Rilo eating out of a spoon and sticking out his tongue and blowing (what DO you call that??). I miss them all so much.
I'm looking forward to the Thanksgiving break, but right now that looks so far away... In some ways I want to be SO done with all this, and then I think of what I've learned thus far and wish there were a few more weeks that I could actually just take what we've learned and discuss it more to the point where it would really go in - and stay in - because I really understood it fully. It would be really nice to remember all this, but I know much of it will fall away when the next trimester starts. Just doesn't seem right somehow.
How I'd love to be in God's word just to be in it and not just to check off the reading list, but I'm having a hard time in that area. My prayer life is better, but I think I just need to pull out an old devotional to work through - or start memorizing some scripture again like this summer. Loved that - and God really brought it alive and to fruition on so many levels. Yep, that's what I'll do (we'd talked about doing that anyway in our small group).
Well, my friends will be here in a little bit.
Lord Jesus, guide me and direct me in the coming days. Help me to use my time wisely. Help me to take time to do meaningful things/spend meaningful time with Kim. Help me to show him love so he feels even more valued. Bless my dear friends both near and far, and let all we do show You how much we love You. Amen.
~Sally
I have some friends coming over tonight to go over our nine questions that we have to prepare and memorize for our church history final next Tuesday. I pray that it will be productive time together - we can't afford for it not to be.
My friend Mel got a bunch of women together Monday night for our first small group (care, prayer, share group). What a wonderful mix of women! My Vietnamese friend Mihn (she and I are the oldest), Mel (who's a very beautiful and young-looking 31), Tai & Katie (late 20's?), Anna (young mother/student/spouse-of-student), and Kristen (another young married). We may have another couple women joining us too. It was wonderful to share our lives, our small group experiences, our struggles, and then pray for each other in very real ways. I can tell I'm going to be living each week to go to our group.
Kim started work at Border's yesterday. He said it was ok. He does get 33% off though, plus any drink at the Seattle's Best coffee place for .30 - w/ his own cup!) They've scheduled him a lot more than part-time, which is good and bad. I think Kim would've liked to gradually gone into it, but God knows we can use the income.
Sarah sends me videos of Rilo eating out of a spoon and sticking out his tongue and blowing (what DO you call that??). I miss them all so much.
I'm looking forward to the Thanksgiving break, but right now that looks so far away... In some ways I want to be SO done with all this, and then I think of what I've learned thus far and wish there were a few more weeks that I could actually just take what we've learned and discuss it more to the point where it would really go in - and stay in - because I really understood it fully. It would be really nice to remember all this, but I know much of it will fall away when the next trimester starts. Just doesn't seem right somehow.
How I'd love to be in God's word just to be in it and not just to check off the reading list, but I'm having a hard time in that area. My prayer life is better, but I think I just need to pull out an old devotional to work through - or start memorizing some scripture again like this summer. Loved that - and God really brought it alive and to fruition on so many levels. Yep, that's what I'll do (we'd talked about doing that anyway in our small group).
Well, my friends will be here in a little bit.
Lord Jesus, guide me and direct me in the coming days. Help me to use my time wisely. Help me to take time to do meaningful things/spend meaningful time with Kim. Help me to show him love so he feels even more valued. Bless my dear friends both near and far, and let all we do show You how much we love You. Amen.
~Sally
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
In the home stretch!
This has been a good week! Yeah!!!!! Late last week I wasn't feeling so hot so we cancelled our Friday night get-together and just stayed home. As it turned out, our neighbors (in the big mansion w/apts) had a little Halloween porch decorating party so we walked over and visited with them for a little bit. It was fun getting to know them all a bit more.
The weekend was filled with homework and doing a few errands together - and then watching the Broncos lose to Baltimore. Boo! But it was nice to be able to watch it on and off.
The highlight of the week thus far was Tuesday. We were getting our midterms back in Church History. I felt, after I took it, that I did horribly so I was not looking forward to seeing my test. The professor even prefaced the handing out of tests with a speech about how a couple people did fail the test, so talk with him if you did poorly and you can have your midterm and final weighted differently if you choose. What grace. I was certain that was going to be me. Then, by the grace of God, I got my test and had 25 out of 30! Woohoo!!! I was truly surprised, and so grateful to God! I know it was soley by His grace that I did it.
That class is so crazy. On one hand, it's my favorite because we start each class sharing prayer requests and praying for each other with heartfelt prayers. On the other hand, so much of church history eludes me and it's so frustrating! The various writers in history and their thoughts on Christology make me feel like an idiot. It also makes me question myself and if I'm truly in the right place because many times I just really don't care what they thought! I feel like I SHOULD, but all the debating and arguing over the divinity/humanity of Jesus drives me crazy. I guess because I know what I believe and don't need to go into great detail about it... I'm just so NOT an academic...
It's my friend Mel's birthday today. She's one of the first people I met at seminary. We've both wanted to start some sort of small group and she has finally taken the initiative to gather some women to see what & how we want to do it. Yeah! I love Mel because she's one of those people who spends lots of time in prayer and just hanging out with Jesus. I just admire that so much. She inspires me to do more than I do, be more obedient, just hang with Jesus in very real ways. It just drips out of her.
I love how God brings people into our lives who help steer us in the direction He wants us to go...and I love how it's this young woman doing that in my life.
I took a Hebrew quiz today and I know I aced the translation portion - not as good on identifying the parts of speech - but a great improvement! I just have one more quiz - next week in OT and then it's all finals. Hebrew vocab test Friday, Church History Tuesday 11/17, OT Wed. 11/18, Hebrew Friday 11/20, and the Spiritual Formation paper due Monday 11/23. A full couple weeks.
Only by God's grace have I made it thus far and will I make it to the end. Please pray that I finish well.
I'll end with the two prayers that our Church History professor shared with us on Tuesday:
Morning Prayer, from St. Thomas Aquinas:
Most loving Lord, grant me a steadfast heart which no unworthy desire may drag downwards;
an unconquered heart which no hardship may wear out;
an upright heart which no worthless purpose may ensnare.
Impart to me also, O God, the understanding to know you,
the diligence to seek you,
a way of life to please you,
and a faithfulness that may embrace you,
through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Another prayer of Thomas Aquinas:
Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you.
May that always be my prayer.
~Sally
The weekend was filled with homework and doing a few errands together - and then watching the Broncos lose to Baltimore. Boo! But it was nice to be able to watch it on and off.
The highlight of the week thus far was Tuesday. We were getting our midterms back in Church History. I felt, after I took it, that I did horribly so I was not looking forward to seeing my test. The professor even prefaced the handing out of tests with a speech about how a couple people did fail the test, so talk with him if you did poorly and you can have your midterm and final weighted differently if you choose. What grace. I was certain that was going to be me. Then, by the grace of God, I got my test and had 25 out of 30! Woohoo!!! I was truly surprised, and so grateful to God! I know it was soley by His grace that I did it.
That class is so crazy. On one hand, it's my favorite because we start each class sharing prayer requests and praying for each other with heartfelt prayers. On the other hand, so much of church history eludes me and it's so frustrating! The various writers in history and their thoughts on Christology make me feel like an idiot. It also makes me question myself and if I'm truly in the right place because many times I just really don't care what they thought! I feel like I SHOULD, but all the debating and arguing over the divinity/humanity of Jesus drives me crazy. I guess because I know what I believe and don't need to go into great detail about it... I'm just so NOT an academic...
It's my friend Mel's birthday today. She's one of the first people I met at seminary. We've both wanted to start some sort of small group and she has finally taken the initiative to gather some women to see what & how we want to do it. Yeah! I love Mel because she's one of those people who spends lots of time in prayer and just hanging out with Jesus. I just admire that so much. She inspires me to do more than I do, be more obedient, just hang with Jesus in very real ways. It just drips out of her.
I love how God brings people into our lives who help steer us in the direction He wants us to go...and I love how it's this young woman doing that in my life.
I took a Hebrew quiz today and I know I aced the translation portion - not as good on identifying the parts of speech - but a great improvement! I just have one more quiz - next week in OT and then it's all finals. Hebrew vocab test Friday, Church History Tuesday 11/17, OT Wed. 11/18, Hebrew Friday 11/20, and the Spiritual Formation paper due Monday 11/23. A full couple weeks.
Only by God's grace have I made it thus far and will I make it to the end. Please pray that I finish well.
I'll end with the two prayers that our Church History professor shared with us on Tuesday:
Morning Prayer, from St. Thomas Aquinas:
Most loving Lord, grant me a steadfast heart which no unworthy desire may drag downwards;
an unconquered heart which no hardship may wear out;
an upright heart which no worthless purpose may ensnare.
Impart to me also, O God, the understanding to know you,
the diligence to seek you,
a way of life to please you,
and a faithfulness that may embrace you,
through Jesus Christ, my Lord. Amen.
Another prayer of Thomas Aquinas:
Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know you, a heart to seek you, wisdom to find you, conduct pleasing to you, faithful perseverance in waiting for you, and a hope of finally embracing you.
May that always be my prayer.
~Sally
Monday, October 26, 2009
Two down, one to go...
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
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
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
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