Almost to Christmas...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another Week, Another Hebrew Quiz...

The score this week is Sally=1, Hebrew=1. I don't think I did very well on my quiz yesterday, and apparently I wasn't the only one. We had a number of vocabulary words along with numerous affixes,suffixes, and prefixes. What I don't get is, how is it you're supposed to recognize the word once it has the affix, suffix or prefix on it (along with all these other vowel changes that occur)! My brain is going to blow!
I started the week thinking I was ahead of the game, and then before I knew it I was scrambling to stay on top of things. I hate how that can happen!!!
Early in the week Kim started talking about how maybe he'd like to drive to Colorado to see the kids. I'm thinkin' yea, whatever...DRIVE to Colorado..we've been here all of like five weeks??!! So then he brought it up again on Wed. so I asked him when, exactly, he was thinking about going? His answer, "Tomorrow!" Ha! OH!! His argument was that when he gets back he'll get a job, and who knows when he'll ever have "vacation" time again. Which, is a pretty good argument.
So Kim left at 5am on Thursday and stopped that evening in Topeka, KS. He made it to Denver around 2:30 on Friday! Impressive! He's going to spend the weekend with Sarah, Rob & Rilo (and go to Rilo's swimming lesson with him today!), and then he, Sarah, and Rilo will drive over to GJ on Monday and probably go back to Denver on Wed. evening. He's gonna have serious car butt.
I had friends over again last night. Eight of us with popcorn, wine, and a birthday cake for our friend Jon. It was really fun.
Didn't get a small group officially started yet, but I'm talking to folks and they're interested, so I'm sure it'll get started when it's supposed to.
I've been chatting with my friend Sarah Tunall in GJ (she's been an intern the last couple of years at FPC and put off seminary this year for another year). She's Methodist and I'm trying to talk her into becoming Presbyterian and coming to PTS. Ha! Not real seriously on the denomination thing (she'd get more financial aid tho as a Presby), but I do think she'd really love it here. So she may be coming out for a visit after Thanksgiving!
My devotional life stinks currently. It's like the last thing I want to do is read anymore if I don't HAVE to...so I don't. At least I have to read Genesis for school, but my prayer life is very sporadic.
I'm so thankful for my church history class where we start each class praying for concerns or praises that people have. It's very real and very good. We also get emails from the Dean of Students for prayers for students which I pray over right then at the computer, but I'm not being very good at just sitting and spending time with God. Definitely something I could use prayer on.
It's a rainy day today unfortunately. I only have my feet or my bike to get around, so I'm not sure I'll be going anywhere anytime soon unless it lets up (but then no guarantee it will stay stopped). Around here it doesn't just rain and then stop - it may rain ALL DAY! So those of you in Colorado, appreciate the awesome weather you have!
I was really hoping to go to an Italian festival nearby in Bloomfield (maybe a couple of miles on the bike), but I'm not sure I want to chance it with the on-again off-again rain. We'll see how adventurous I get later on!
Charlie and I went for a big walk yesterday up the street in Highland Park. It's a HUGE park, and just gorgeous. It made me excited for when the leaves really start changing (they're starting to change some already) - it's gonna be beautiful. Hopefully I can figure out how to load a couple of pictures from our walk (from my phone).
Well, that's about it. I'm holding down the fort! Pray for safe travels for Kim, and a continual prayer for Hebrew (of course). I'm thankful for the new friendships I have and just the atmosphere of this whole community (even outside the seminary). People are NICE. What a blessing. Looking forward to walking to church tomorrow morning!
Thanking God for my many friends praying us through this adventure. Your comments and occasional emails definitely lift me up!
~Sally

Into Week #3 of Seminary + More Adventures

Well I passed my first Hebrew test! I actually did really well, but that's over and we're into other weird stuff now that has me baffled. Apparently that's the norm for Hebrew.
Kim and I did go to the Open Door church just over a week ago. They meet in an old church building and the pews are all taken out. We happened to show up on the second Sunday of the month when they share a meal together and have a short worship service following. We felt a little awkward having not brought any kind of dish, but we were reassured that there is always plenty, so we went ahead and ate.
The congregation was mostly young, white grad students and professionals - probably the oldest being in their mid-thirties. The pastor (co-pastor) was really nice and so were the folks we sat with at the meal. Lots of kids! It was very unique and I went away feeling like I'd like to go back again. Apparently each week is different. I think the next week was going to be prayer stations. They are very committed to building authentic relationships, prayer, discipleship, and mission. I felt like with the meal and prayer time after it (w/ just the 4-6 folks you were sitting with) made NOT connecting virtually impossible. You couldn't have attended and walked away not having met anyone.
Last Friday we had some more students over to hang out. We had munchies and some beer and some of our Colorado wine (which was a big hit) and just hung out and chatted. We put the Pirates game on the tv and it was a really nice time.
I was invited to join the seminary's praise band that plays at the Monday chapel. (We knew that was inevitable, right?) So I'm on the schedule to sing & play every other week which works out nicely...not too much. I fear one of these days I'm going to have to break down and learn how to play bar chords...ugh. I've put it off for thirty years..
Kim and I had a really nice weekend. It wasn't totally filled with studying so we actually spent some time together. Ahhhhh... We may actually get this balance thing down a bit!
Sunday we were going to go to East Liberty Presbyterian Church as they had invited the seminary students to their 11 o'clock service to be recognized and then eat at a potluck lunch served by the church. Saturday night I told Kim the only reason I wanted to go was for the free food, so let's go somewhere else. We decided to go to Eastminster Presbyterian.
Eastminster and East Liberty are about two blocks away from each other (and the seminary) and HUGE, old churches. Apparently the Carnegie family built East Liberty and then at some point there was a split, and Eastminster was started.
Our church history class was invited to Eastminster by our prof, Scott Sunquist, who attends there. This church tries to be intentionally diverse and just two weeks ago switched from having two services (early-contemporary and late-traditional) to one. They felt that their two services were dividing the congregation more than bringing them together - and they didn't need to be having two for space reasons.
So we went to the 10:30 service. It started out with a prelude played by 3-4 violins, a flute and the piano. I couldn't tell you if it was a traditional or contemporary song, just that it was beautiful. Then the praise band let the worship. This African-American woman with one beautiful voice led from the front on an electric piano with two other white singers and a full band. (Really reflected the make-up of the congregation!) They were awesome! By the fourth song we were rockin' and people were swaying and clapping, and folks in the congregation had percussion instruments. It was great.
There was a children's sermon (10 or so kids - but lots of babies in the crowd) followed by the kids singing.
The pastor was this great mix of black and white. (He's a white guy) but in his sermon he'd get worked up a bit and some of the black folks would call out "amen" and "yes, Jesus" and we'd occasionally clap at a really good point. He's the perfect pastor for that church - he could speak to everyone there...just enough energy for the black folks, but not too overboard for the white folks! Ha!
About five minutes into the service I leaned over to Kim and said, "I think we've found our church!" He agreed.
There was still liturgy and the choir sang during the offering, and then we ended with a very energetic rendition of Just a Closer Walk With Thee.
Afterwards we went into the fellowship hall and weren't greeted with handshakes, but with hugs. Ahhhhh.....we're home..! (And it was mostly the black folks who greeted us!)
I really did like the Open Door, but one of the reasons we moved to PA was to experience diversity. We'd much rather be a part of a church that really reflects the neighborhood we live in.
Well, I got ahead enough in my reading that I was able to watch the two-hour season premier of Heroes tonight! Woohoo!! Tomorrow is church history til 10:15, then workstudy from 1-3. We're hoping this week to try and start some sort of small group. A friend of mine from Minneapolis really wants one too. I originally suggested a Bible study group, but she said we do enough studying and maybe a "cell" group that does more "prayer/care/share" would be best. So I'm kind of excited about that. I'm hoping we can put out an invitation to all the new students and then we'll see how many groups we end up creating - as long as there's at least one I'll be happy.
So pray for that, and also continue praying for Hebrew. I have another quiz on Friday and currently I don't feel too confident...but it's only Monday!!! There's still hope!!
Thanks for your prayers and comments of encouragement, I love getting them!
Blessings to you, my friends.
~Sally

Survived Week #1 of Seminary!

Amazing but true! I've survived the first week of classes! Hebrew is definitely going to be tough. But I've made good progress just in the last two days (after three days of freaking out), and we're going to organize a study group tomorrow after class. Whew! It's just SO different, so foreign. There's nothing about it that's similar to anything in my world. Our first quiz is this Wednesday on the alphabet (aleph bet!), and I still have the vowels to get down as well as the various sounds for each of the characters...just when I was feeling on top of things...
My other classes I have no worries about, thank God! Church history (from Jesus to the Reformation) will be awesome. Lots of reading, but a great teacher. Historical books of the O.T. is also a lot of reading but very interesting. And Spiritual Formation has five different books, journaling, and a ten-page paper at the end - but lecture and small group time!
Each class is unique, and Hebrew, OT books, and church history all definitely have some overlap. Yeah! I love that!
Friday evening the Presbyterian Student Assn. went to the President's house for dinner. It was a really nice time with 25-30 of us there with Dr. Carl and his wife Jane. They are SO hospitable and made everyone so welcome. After dinner he had each of us stand and tell our story as to "why PTS?" (and not some other seminary). About halfway thru stories started getting more personal and a little lengthier. It was a great time hearing how God brought all these different people together from all over the world.
Wednesday we go over again, this time it's the married student group (w/ spouses). I'm sure that'll be great fun as well.
Saturday morning we had the last section of our orientation - talking about sexual and racial discrimination, harassment, etc.. It actually turned out to be a really great time with lots of good discussion and role-playing. John Welch, the Dean of Students, said at the end of the time that there has been talk amongst the faculty and staff at the seminary that this particular class is different, unique. That there is something about this class in particular that is setting us apart. Community has come quickly, and people are hungry to have real, authentic relationships. He said he's planning on having more get-togethers throughout the year with us - and including staff and older students - because he feels we have as much to teach them as they do us. Interesting. We'll see what God has planned!
Well, Kim and I are getting ready to go to church. We're going to the 6pm service at the Open Door, a new church development started about five years ago here in the East Liberty area. I hear it's pretty contemporary, very missional and active in the community, and has more young than older folks...so we'll probably bring the average age down tonight! Ha! Will report back later!
Blessings to all, and please pray for Hebrew and this brain of mine!
~Sally

Labor Day Weekend & First Day of Class

We've been overwhelmed with all the socializing in the last few days! We went to a Pirates game Friday night w/ about twenty-five other students and had a great time visiting and watching them lose! Saturday evening we had dinner w/ a couple other students and their families at Doug & Tanya Marshall's house. The other two students are interning at Doug's church, Beulah Presbyterian.
Sunday afternoon we were invited to our next-door neighbor's house where they had a wonderful spread of food, a great mix of friends and relatives, old and young. We were there well into the evening and had such a great time getting to know them better and probably drinking more wine than we should! We did introduce them to Colorado wine, though, and they were duly impressed.
Monday we were the hosts and had about eight students from the seminary over for BBQ brats and chicken (Jan & Steve's recipe!) along with potato salad, fruit, chips, and of course dilly beans! It was really fun and Kim gave everyone an open invite to stop by whenever they felt the need to get off campus or just come socialize. (Ha! Today a guy at school came up to me and said, "I heard you had a ragin' party yesterday! Sorry I couldn't make it!" I had to laugh. Apparently word spreads quickly about get-togethers! Didn't know it was "ragin'!" Ha!)
Today was my first class, Historical Studies (Church history) with Dr. Scott Sunquist. It was awesome to be in a learning institution where we spent the first five minutes praying together. He shared with us that we will always begin class that way, and that IT is probably more important than anything he may ever teach us. Ahhhhhh.....
The more I learn about this school's culture and how they do things, the more I feel affirmed that I am at the right place - which feels wonderful. To hear, as I did at my workplace before I left, that relationships are where it's all at - and loving others, it just feels like God is continuing the class (same subject, different classroom). Love it.
At 11:30 we had chapel with a convocation. The faculty all came in with their fancy robes on and Dr. Carl (the president of the seminary) spoke. His sermon was entitled "I'm Happy to be Alive!" and talked about how we all have those times in our lives when we get run-over by a truck...the trainwrecks that come into our lives and wreak havoc. Dr. Carl reminded us how God is still there during those times, that difficult times will always come, but that God uses them in so many ways - to remind us of His love, to remind us of His presence, to draw us to Him...and sometimes even to lead us down a certain path.
Kim and I sat there, without communicating, thinking about his heart attack just over a year ago that ultimately changed our direction and brought us to this place at this time. Whoduh thunk?
We were once again treated to a great lunch by the seminary and we ran home for a quick break before I had to go back to my first staff meeting with the staff of the WMI, World Mission Institute, where I'll be doing my work study for probably the next three years.
WMI's work at the seminary includes sending seminary students on mission trips across the globe, encourages students to consider a call to missions, encourages and enlightens students about the need for on-going missions and how to incorporate that into their churches and their call as a pastor, and partnering to help establish an indigenous church among an unreached people group in Viet Nam. They hold conferences and lecture series, have a website www.worldmissioninitiative.org/, consult with pastors & missions committees, educate the church about what God is doing in the world, network to help churches reach out to the world, and direct congregations toward greater personalized involvement and support. So it's much more than just sending seminarians on mission trips!
I am considering a trip over spring break to Cairo, Egypt. Dr. Sunquist will be teaching a class at the seminary there and we would go and attend classes, build relationships with seminary students there, learn about ministry in Egypt visiting church leaders, as well as see some of the many sights to be seen there. I would get class credit for it as well. So keep that in your prayers that God might direct my decision-making on that.
I'm finding more and more that Pittsburgh Seminary is one of the few American seminaries very focused on mission - and its importance as a part of a healthy church - and so they make sure their future pastors learn that. After having gone through that transformation and processing at First Pres. GJ it's wonderful to come here and, once again, hear the same message! We must get outside of ourselves continually (since we always default to self-serving), and "GO" as Jesus commands us to do. Where that "GO" takes you will be different for everyone, but sitting comfortably in our pews and couches doesn't cut it...
Ok, enough sermonizing!
I have four chapters to read for Thursday's class (as well as portions from another book that the bookstore is currently out of! Argh!) and then tomorrow holds 9am-Hebrew, 10am-Historical Books of the O.T., and 1:30-4-Spiritual Formation. Woohoo! Full day!
In the meantime I need to give my husband some quality time, so I will go now. Please pray that I can keep a healthy balance with school, spending time with Kim, and spending time in God's word. I know I have slacked on the latter, and I need to dive in - both for my devotional/spiritual health and in preparation for my Bible Content Exam which I will need to take in the next 6-9 months. I feel totally inadequate in that area...a real slacker. So pray God directs me there.
Thank you always for your prayers. I do feel them, and feel so encouraged from my family and so many friends who I know pray for me/us regularly. Thank you.
Blessings to you!
~Sally

Orientation!!

I've just finished Day two of Orientation. I think my brain is going to explode! Way too many names to try to remember, but some of them are starting to stick.
Yesterday was a student serving day and God has such a great sense of humor... I was with a group that went to the Pittsburgh Project. This ministry reaches out to the most vulnerable of the community - the old and the young. Their mission statement comes from a scripture in Zechariah I think that talks about the old sitting on their porches with canes and the young playing in the streets, and just the idea that if the very vulnerable - the old and the young - are good, then the whole community is good. We worked in their community garden and I was hoeing the rows between the crops getting rid of the weeds! Ha! Thought I was done with that dang hoe!!
We then had a financial aide presentation, and a community cookout for all new students, faculty, and families along with an activities fair to learn about all the student groups. That was followed by a dessert gathering for married couples. Phew! End of Day one!
Day two was full of meetings. Much talk about community. Regular communion with God (self-care), community with other seminarians/faculty, and community with the Pittsburgh community (Metro Urban Institute) and world community (World Mission Initiative).
But the two things that made the biggest impression on me were the Welcome Worship service and the talk from the President of the seminary, Dr. Bill Carl.
The worship service was very traditional, but we sang a song that we've sung before in church, "Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore." The chorus says, "O Lord, with Your eyes You have searched me, And, while smiling, have called out my name. Now my boat's left on the shoreline behind me, Now with You I will seek other seas." That line "Now my boat's left on the shoreline behind me" stuck out to me and what I pictured was leaving behind all that GJ is to me and moving forward seeking "new seas." It moved me deeply. I kept thinking of how ten years ago I was just starting back at Mesa State full-time to finish my bachelors degree because I strongly felt God's call to seminary and that's where I needed to start. Since that time the seminary idea has been a part of my reality, for the most part. There were times where I was so happy in my job that I thought - if I never go, I'll still be totally happy with this! But now here I am, and all that thinking and dreaming and talk has become reality. It was surreal, and as I talked with the woman next to me she was in the same place...teary-eyed not believing that she was where she was.
The other thing was the talk that the President gave on community. He talked about the "Four S's" 1) No secrets 2)No surprises 3) No subversion 4) Lots of support.
He talked about no secrets - the need to be transparent and authentic, that a healthy community cannot have gossip and rumors, that conflicts need to be resolved in healthy ways. With no surprises - that people need a "head's up". It's not healthy to blindside people with accusations, demands, or comments in a group without talking with them first. With subversion - don't poison the decision after the vote.. He talked about in a church where decisions are made in a group and then the griping goes on in the parking lot after the meeting - and nothing was brought up in the meeting. When a decision is made, even if you don't agree, once it's made you need to support it. And with support - we all need to be cheerleaders!
It just affirmed for me that I'm at the right place. Dr. Carl just described the community that I came from - that had been transformed from being an unhealthy community into a very healthy one, and I was so excited to hear that that was the kind of community he set out to create when he came to Pittsburgh four years ago. Praise God!!! He also talked about how as future pastors we all need to learn how to live these "Four S's" so that we can live them out for our congregations and model it. I love this place..
Finally, the director of the Metro Urban Institute talked about how the majority of people barely learn about Jesus and many, many learn in very crude and destitute situations. He said, "We need to be asking God, 'Why has God brought us to this privileged place to learn about Him?'" To those who have been given much, much is required... Quite the question..
Tomorrow includes faculty introductions, time with our faculty advisors, registration & ID photos, chapel service led by the contemporary worship team, lunch w/ faculty, and then in the evening we had a choice of going to the Incline, pizza & a movie at the seminary, or a Pirates game. (We chose the Pirates game!) Ten dollar tickets and it's dollar dog night! Woohoo!
We're having dinner with our friends (and former assoc. pastor from 1st Pres. GJ years ago, Doug Marshall) along with two interns/families who are also seminary students at PTS Sat. night. We hope to invite our neighbors who live in the apts in front of us over for a BBQ on Monday.
Missing our baby Rilo boy... Thank God for cells phones with pix/video! (Missing Sean, Megs, Sar & Rob as well...omg and so many more - don't get me started!)
Thanks for your continued prayers, it has made our transition so rich and comforting.
~Sally

Back from our adventure!

Well we've returned from our big trip up north! We left Friday around 9ish and had major rain part of the way up to Erie. Our motel (The Pines at Lake Erie) was in Ripley, NY. It was funny because it's literally 1/2 mile from the NY/PA line, so we were going back and forth between states a lot.
Friday afternoon we drove over to Erie where we found our way to Presque Isle State Park. It's a beautiful peninsula that juts out into the water. There are numerous beaches and hiking/biking trails as well as various monuments and plaques that tell the history of the area. Very interesting and very beautiful. Wish we would've left the dog and taken the bikes. We took some beautiful walks and drives though.
That evening we ate dinner across the street from the motel at a great little restaurant/bar with live music.
Saturday we left for Buffalo and Niagara Falls. We decided to take a scenic route instead of the interstate, and we're glad we did. We followed Hwy 5 along the shore of Lake Erie all the way to Buffalo. There are numerous vineyards in the area as well as other agriculture. It seems that every home has a huge yard with what seems like acres of groomed lawn, and the one's that backed up to Lake Erie were particularly gorgeous! It was a nice leisurely drive.
When we got to Niagara Falls the weather was overcast but fairly warm (70's). It misted here and there and it was hard to tell if it was rain or mist from the Falls blowing onto us.
The whole park area around the falls is beautiful - let alone the falls. The power and energy behind the water is amazing and mezmerizing to watch. We had Charlie with us so we were limited on what we could do (no inside stuff like the big informational movie, and no Maid of the Mist or going down into the caves). It was still amazing.
We were driving back by early afternoon. We made it back and grabbed lunch and went to some wine tasting rooms to check out PA and NY wines compared to our awesome CO wine! Apparently the vineyards in the North East and NY areas are the oldest in the country. We took Charlie to some Lake Erie beaches and walked a bit and then went back to our room to rest.
Saturday evening we went to a really nice restaurant next to the Lake. If it wasn't so windy and cool we would've sat outside, but we did get a short view inside of the sun peaking thru the clouds a little before it went below the horizon. It was bright pink and beautiful.
We drove home this morning, again taking a smaller highway instead of I-79. The rolling hills, forests, fields of corn or potatoes, and lakes and rivers were just gorgeous. We both realized we kept waiting to come over a hill and see something that wasn't that pretty or interesting, but it never happened. It's all so green and beautiful.
Kim's busy starting on his resume so he can turn it in at the seminary. The only opening they had when he went in last Wed. was a preschool aide....huh! He talked with the human resources director and she was so surprised to hear that he would be very interested in the position! Ha! It's around five hours/day, so that'll be a good start for Kim and maybe he'll be able to add hours later (in that dept. or another).
This Wednesday I meet with other students for a student service day in the community. Then Thursday and Friday are filled with orientation and registration activities, and both evenings are BBQs for families. We're excited to be able to meet other seminarians - especially those living close by.
So that's basically the last week. The downstairs is all put together, and there are only a few boxes left upstairs - nothing pressing, thankfully. We have to go get new license plates tomorrow (booohoooo!!) and we'll get new drivers' licenses as well. Waaaaa...all evidence of Colorado is going away!!! I suppose it was inevitable.
Missing family and friends...but doing ok. Seems like it'll be easier when things are busier. Hope so.
~Sal

Still Settling..

Well we almost have all of our furniture put together! We only have one more dining room chair to go. The hutch was a big project, but it's turned out beautiful and holds a lot of kitchen stuff that we didn't have space for. We're so impressed with Ikea furniture! It's time-consuming but fairly simple to assemble things.
I feel like we've been on this huge spending spree, but it was the plan and we're about done - just a few more things to get totally settled.
The produce we bought the other day wasn't too bad. Actually the corn was delicious, but the tomatoes and cukes left a bit to be desired. We'll have to check out some other sources. We did go to Whole Foods today for the first time. It was impressive as well!
I'm typing this on my new MacBook that we bought for me for school. I'm not used to using just the pad without a mouse...grrrrr.. Kim got an IPod with rebate $, so he's busy figuring that out.
I've been fighting a headache the last couple of days and not feeling really hot. I can feel the knot in my neck that it's emanating from. Ugh. It's getting really old.
I think I'm kind of depressed, too. The newness is wearing off and there's just small junk to unpack and I don't have a lot of ambition to do it. I'm kinda cranky or ambivalent with Kim, and I just want to go have coffee with a girlfriend... Anybody interested???
Our landlord invited us to a Greek Food Festival this weekend that his church is hosting so we went last night. I wasn't very adventurous food-wise, but Kim had some spinach/cheese stuff in philo (filo?) pastry, some pasta stuff, and a seasoned rice mixture wrapped in grape leaves that was really tasty.
We watched Greek dancers - they were really cool - and then had a baklava sundae. Highly recommended! Unfortunately we missed seeing our landlord's kids dance.
What I liked best was the "intergenerational-ness" of the evening. Old and young alike were helping with the serving and table clearing. The live Greek band had older and middle-aged men playing and singing. The dance group were all twenty-somethings which I thought was amazing, and then when they opened up the dancing to everyone a bunch of elementary-aged kids went out and started dancing (boys and girls!) and they were joined by some older and some middle-aged folks. It was neat to be in the midst of their community.
We plan on going to Doug & Tanya Marshall's church tomorrow, Beulah Presbyterian.
We've made reservations at "The Pines" for next weekend in New York state. We'll drive north 90 miles to Erie, PA, and then drive east another 30 minutes to The Pines. We'll check out an island that's a nature park in Erie, some vineyards around North East, PA (yep, that's the name of the town), and THEN we're going 60 miles east to Niagara Falls! Woohoo! I'm really excited about that! I went right after I graduated from high school, but Kim's never been there. It's breath-taking. Can't wait.
Oh, our first real mail we received on Thursday was from PC(USA) advising me that I've been awarded a $4000 Presbyterian Study Grant! Yeah, God!! How He's been providing is so amazing...
Well, that's it for now. Praying that God heals my head, and fills my heart that it won't ache so much for the people I miss and love..
~Sally

Starting to get settled...

The last two days have been filled with trips to the Ikea store where we bought numerous pieces of furniture - which some have currently been assembled! (I'm convinced doing building projects with your spouse is good for your marriage!)
We have "built" our bed and bedframe, a tv stand, and a very small kitchen table with stools. We have three more building projects to go!
We found a small veggie/plant market nearby so we were able to pick-up some corn and tomatoes - the test will be tonight at dinner to see how they compare to the wonderful Colorado produce that we're used to! The peaches were too sad looking to even consider. Will definitely need to have Ellen ship us a couple boxes before the season's done. (Oh, and she just told us that they finished picking our orchard for the most part - just the few Elberta's that will come on at the end of the month. Yeah, El!!)
This morning Kim and walked with Charlie a few blocks down the street to a little cafe where we sat outside and had coffee and a danish. The "regulars" were all very nice and welcomed us to Pgh telling us all that it has to offer. It was very fun.
We also bought a small BBQ so we can get back to grilling! I'm so excited since Kim gave our grill to Sean about 6 weeks ago. I've been having withdrawals ever since!
The MOST exciting thing, though, is that I bought some perennials that I'm going to plant in an area that borders our patio - and they were even marked down since August is already half over! Woohoo!
Our landlord Nicholas is such a great guy. His wife died a couple of years ago and he's got two kids at home. I'm hoping we'll be able to have them over for a BBQ soon. He's been so gracious to us.
We're slowly but surely getting the house together. We hope to get it done this week so next week we can play and check out the surrounding areas - maybe even go up north to Lake Erie and check things out.
On that note I'd better get back to work.

Chicagoland...Two days down, one to go!

We made it to Lincoln last night and went out for an awesome steak dinner. We were dead after that!
This morning we got an early start leaving Lincoln and in Omaha hit the worst rain storm I've ever driven through. It rained HARD for half an hour at least all thru the city and rained on and off throughout the morning. We finally drove out of it somewhere in Iowa. Whew!
I love eastern Iowa's rolling green hills, lots and LOTS of cornfields, barns/silos, and trees. Very green.
Went over the Mississippi River and made our way thru Illinois to Tinley Park, south of Chicago.
As I was waiting in the hotel lobby to check in the tv was on and behind the reporter I could see Mt. Garfield!! Obama's in Grand Junction at Central High School doing a town hall meeting. In our room we turned on Fox News and there was our church friend Daniel Russell on the stage and the Prez was shaking his hand as he left the stage!! Crazy!
We'll make it to Pittsburgh tomorrow. Another eight hour day driving. We've reserved a hotel room since we'll get there later and won't have our keys to the house. Monday is move-in day!! (Then as soon as we get things together - off to the IKEA Store!!! Woohoo!!! How exciting!)
Well, time to rest the ole' bod. Eight and a half hours of driving today, my butt's killing me.
Sad I missed the Leadership Summit rebroadcast at the church yesterday and today. I was getting text updates from Janet and DeAnna though!
Janet sent me the best quotes though... (from Bill Hybels, pastor Willow Creek Church) "Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers."
And the best one, "Rough patches force courage and creativity." Isn't THAT the truth!
That's it for now. Today was a good today, tomorrow even better! One more day!!!

On the move...

Well much has transpired since my last blog entry! I think we set the record for goodbye parties! There was the last staff meeting & lunch last Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights were parties at Ellen's with old high school friends, Sunday was the last day at church and my "Bibble Babble" women's Bible study party in the evening. Monday evening we went to the Palisade Brewery with friends + Sean and Megan, and Tuesday evening we were with Sean & Megan again + Mark at Inari's in Palisade.
About 10-12 people showed up Tuesday morning to help us pack the truck. We packed all that could be packed in less than an hour! Thanks be to God! Then we finished up packing stuff in the house, Wednesday morning we go the rest of the truck loaded (right to the edge...it was perfect), and closed on the house at 1pm. We were on the road by 3:30!
The drive went great and Sarah and Rilo met us at our hotel! Then things got sticky...
Jill, our lab, has had aggression trouble before with our other lab Charlie. She'll just lay into her for no reason. Well, out of the car at our hotel was the first attack, then two more in the hotel room. We have tried to deal with this through training and we thought she was doing pretty well. We toiled and toiled. Poor Charlie has cowered in the corner for months and it was getting worse and worse. Jill was the worst on the leash and we knew she was going to have to be on the leash a lot in Pittsburgh because we don't have a fenced yard. We made the excruciating decision to take Jill to the Dumb Friend's League (shelter/adoption). We cried and cried, but we were having to shuttle dogs between the bathroom, the main hotel room, and outside so they wouldn't get in a tangle. We feel we failed Jill miserably.
So we're in the hotel room now, recovering, and trying to actually spend some time with the kids and Rilo instead of stopping dog fights. Ugh, I feel awful.
This is not what I envisioned for our last day with them..
So we'll be leaving tomorrow for the first leg (to Lincoln, NE) with one less dog, and very heavy hearts as we leave our family, friends, and sweet Jilly.
Tomorrow is a new day...I pray God gives us peace in our decision..in some ways I feel we just took the easy way out - a cop out.. The stress just overcame us.
Dear Lord, give us strength...
~Sally

One Week and Counting...

We had a wonderful "goodbye party" at church on Sunday. So many people from church and the community came to wish us well and bless us. I said it Sunday too, everyone should have a party or get-together at least once in their life where people will share what you have been to them in their lives. We don't tell people enough how much we love them and what a difference they have made. It's life-giving!
Our friends and family were very generous and gave us cards of love and encouragement as well as small gifts (we now have a Steelers "terrible towel" - thanks Jensens!)as well as financial gifts. The body of Christ is literally paying for our move. What a gift!
The house looks horrible! We've been without a dining room table for about three weeks now. We also sold the china hutch so the china was on the floor but I finally packed it yesterday. Most of the big and easy stuff is packed, now it's all the yucky stuff - medicine/linen closet, kitchen stuff, office stuff (ugh), and basement leftovers (stuff you have to sort through before you pack).
I started making a list of things we needed to do...it was a page and a half! Ahhhhh!!!!
Today is my sweet Sarah's birthday, she's twenty-seven years old! We were remembering how that was how old Kim's brother was when he passed away from brain cancer. I can't imagine losing a child at that age (at any age). It's been so nice spending more time with Sean too, as he's made a big effort to come over often. I will miss his big bear hugs... Amazing how much we love our kids...and how it can grow even more with grandchildren.
We've been BBQ'g at Ellen's a lot since Kim gave our grill to Sean (prematurely, in my humble opinion!). It's been great to get together so much. She's having a BBQ again this Friday and it sounds like some high school friends that we've reconnected with may drive over from Arvada to join us. Too bad we're only doing it now and not a few years back! Ah well, better late than never.
Well, it's almost 10:30pm and I think I'd better hit the hay. These days seem to be whizzing by with not nearly enough getting done!
I still don't think I've faced it head-on that we're leaving so many people we love. I know I'll be crying my way to Pittsburgh next week - and probably next Sunday evening at our Bibble Babble get-together.
God's been so good to us that we have so many people to love and who love us. Mind-boggling...

We got the house!!!

After much waiting and praying and praying and waiting...our application for the perfect rental house was accepted! Praise God!
The landlord, Nick, is awesome. He's from Greece and has a great accent! He wants us to bring him some peaches when we move...you can bet we will! It will be fun getting to know him better, as well as the neighbors who live in front and beside us.
I took a bunch of pictures inside so we can remember the layout...I'm getting old!
Yesterday, after turning in our application, we drove out to the IKEA store. Impressive!! They are SO family-friendly, and so affordable. We were there for two hours (which included lunch at their cafe). We will definitely go back.
So we're hangin' at the Super 8 tonight by the airport and we fly back to Denver tomorrow at 8:15 a.m.. Then we'll spend a couple days with Sarah, Rob, and the boy! Yeah!!
God has been showing us His power SO much in the past few weeks. Like we discussed at church last night, we don't believe God has the power He has - or we don't believe He'll really USE it in our lives. Well, our life - especially recently - is living proof of God's power at work in very real ways. Amazing love...
~Sally

Praying we get this house...

After looking at MANY houses and getting totally discouraged we returned to the seminary campus Friday afternoon, defeated. I really thought the first house we looked at by the seminary was going to be "the" house, but it wasn't so hot. So we looked, and looked, and LOOKED all over this city...
Saturday we broke down and called a company that advertised on Craigslist - you pay a fee and they will supply you with a list of properties...so we did it. They gave us some property listings both above and below our budget. One listing was a bit higher than what we wanted to pay, but only four blocks from the seminary so we drove by. We called the owner and he met us...it's perfect. It's a little bigger than what we need, but SO close to school, and a really decent place in a beautiful neighborhood! It's truly more than we could ask or imagine (hmmmm....just like that scripture I memorized from Ephesians)!! Go figure.
We turned in our application today (he had others interested, even willing to pay a higher rent, but apparently they wanted a shorter-term lease and weren't as stable - codeword for "older")! Ha!
The owner's checking our credit tomorrow and will call us tomorrow with an answer. We're still shaking our heads that we came upon this house...
We're going to Chris Brown's church tonight (see www.pghupperroom.com). He told me he's preaching on Eph. 3:14-21, just what I've been meditating on and memorized! Like I told Chris, God's doing some crazy stuff these days!! He is so good to us.
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus, throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen."
~Sally

House hunting in Pittsburgh..

Well we made it to Pittsburgh! It was 72 degrees when we landed this afternoon and it's been raining on and off all evening. They say it's been the dryest July on record! Wierd.
We have appointments to look at numerous houses and townhouses tomorrow. It's still wierd just getting used to the city. We drove by one of the houses we're going to see tomorrow. It's a duplex with a tiny yard in front and a front porch. The houses are so close together and the streets are very narrow. I can't even imagine parking our pick-up there, let alone the U-Haul!
I just keep praying that we can find the right place tomorrow so we can spend the rest of the time exploring. We'll see...as long as we find SOME place before we leave!
I've been memorizing scripture with the interns this summer. I've really come to love it! The biggest one I've learned thus far is Eph. 3:16-21, and then this last week I've been working on Col. 3:12-17..."Therefore as God's chosen people holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience..." The one I'm really holding on to though, is the one that we've carried in our checkbook on a now-tattered index card that reads, "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged." Deut. 31:8
I believe we'll continue to keep that in the checkbook...!
~Sally

I have a really good story to tell...

I have a really good story to tell of God's call, His faithfulness, and His provision...
About 17 years ago our associate pastor who was leaving told me, "You should go to seminary!" At the time I didn't even know what seminary was, and was very young in my faith.
Fast-forward 5-6 years when another person told me, "You should go to seminary, Sally." I tucked it away and went on with life raising kids, going to college on and off, and volunteering at church.
Fast-forward another 5-6 years when I was attending the graduation of one of my youth group kids from seminary and her parents said, "Sally, when are you ever going to go to seminary? You really need to go!"
So that summer I prepared to go back to college to finish the last two years I had to complete. In the spring of 2002 I graduated and was ready for a break from school, knowing I still wanted seminary, but waiting for the right time - for God to "give the word."
I was hired at our church where I've worked for the last seven years, learning more than a person ought to in one sitting, watching my good friend and co-worker leave for seminary, wondering when my time would come.
Then Kim had a heart attack last year (May, 08) and it was Kim who brought up the idea that maybe it was time to consider going...
I corresponded with people both in and just out of seminary and made some plans.
So off we went last fall touring seminaries in Pittsburgh and Atlanta. After "just a little" wrestling with God, we decided Pittsburgh was the place to go. We put our former house (then a rental) on the market, and I applied in November and found out I was accepted the week before Christmas. I applied for federal financial aide (and thankfully, being "poor farmers and all," we qualified for much). We closed on the rental house in January.
In the meantime we started sprucing up the Palisade house to get it ready to sell and put it on the market in early March. Later that month I received a call from the seminary that I had been awarded a merit scholarship for $8000/year, renewable for all three years if I keep my grade point average up!
Our church is also going to be contributing to my seminary costs as well as another grant from a very generous person whom I don't even know...
We had two garage sales and sold all sorts of stuff - including most of our furniture - and here it is July 20, 2009, and we just signed a contract with a very generous offer, and will close on August 12th. (God is SO much bigger than the economy.)
Kim and I are flying to Pittsburgh on Thursday (plans made before we had a contract) to go look for a place to live...and despite the butterflies in my stomach, I know God will have prepared the perfect place for us to live there.
I have been blessed by many people. People who I have loved and have loved me enough to be able to "speak into my life" and help guide and grow me in my walk with Christ and my walk with others. For that I am truly thankful.
I am unsure where God will be leading us next beyond just getting to Pittsburgh, but I have no doubt that He will guide and direct us whenever we need to make a turn or slow down/speed up a bit, and He will bless us and help us be a blessing in the process.
Thank you to all those near and far who have been a part of my (our) journey thus far... I am certain that the best is yet to come!!!

Things are moving along...

Our buyer stopped by again last Friday and told us he's writing up the contract tomorrow and didn't think his offer would be much under our asking price. Yeah! We've booked flights to Pittsburgh for this Thursday to look for a place to live. It's been difficult to search online beyond Craigslist since most property management companies seem to deal mostly in apartments.
We did find a couple houses, though, and one is two blocks from the seminary! I keep hoping that we'll see it and it will be perfect and then we can spend the rest of our time really checking out the Pittsburgh area. We'll see.
I started packing at home this weekend - the easy stuff - books. The real fun will be basement and kitchen stuff. I'm going to have to decide when my last day of work will be, too. I'm tempted to end sometime that first week in August so that I have more time to deal with the house. Our buyer said he was aiming to close on August 12th.
I started packing up my office last week...it's so hard to do any work! My head keeps swimming with all that needs to be done that it seems to paralyze me. Ugh... Another reason for ending things at work earlier rather than later.
In the midst of all this thought I got a call this morning telling me of a terrible tragedy - a young girl, daughter/niece/grandchild of good friends, who was killed in a car accident on the way to her uncle's wedding. It invades my thoughts and makes my own concerns and worries seem so small... I can't even imagine the grief.. So my prayers have changed from being so self-centered to more of this family going through this horrible time.
It makes me yearn even more to go see our grandson Rilo and hold him tight. So hug your people today a little longer than usual...tell them you love them...and thank God for the gift that they are.

Reality starting to sink in...

Ok, so......the reality of moving is starting to sink in. Last Thursday I had to say goodbye to the first person, Barb, who I've worked with on and off at the church since 1992! I was nervous! But it was so sweet because over the years we have had our times of conflict, disagreement, and just being in totally different places - theologically and otherwise.
But the beautiful thing is that God was also a part of our relationship, and He did a huge work in both of us over the years. So it was pretty cool to be able to really hug her and love her and acknowledge those not-so-fun times and see how God took them and grew us both.
Much of our furniture is gone. We have no dining room table or chairs, our end tables and coffee tables as well as my gramma's antique desk and shelf and Kim's mom's china hutch are all gone. The china still sits on the dining room floor waiting to be packed.
It's very surreal. I keep trying to imagine where we'll live in Pittsburgh, what kind of house we'll be able to get, and of course it's all just a blurr.
The guy buying the house came over today and met with the electrician to get an estimate on upgrading the house. Then he came over later in the day to show his parents the house - since they'll be the ones living in it. His mom loved it immediately, and his dad liked it but was asking all the pertinent questions like - "Have you seen mold in the basement?"
The guy is aiming to close on the house even before August 15th - which is encouraging and overwhelming all at once. While that IS what we want, the idea that we have LESS than a month to pack up, go to PA and find a house, and get everything out is really mind-boggling! I just need to remember to take one day at a time!
We picked our first peaches on Friday, the Early Red Havens. They are juicy and delicious, even better than previous years. We picked 30 boxes on Friday, 70 on Saturday, and then Ellen and Bob picked another 75 today -- and there will be more in a few more days. The peach madness has begun! But we'll have a bit of a break before the next varieties are ready (although the ERH's were a week or so early!)
So that's about it. It's getting harder and harder to stay busy at work, and I've started gathering boxes to pack all my books and stuff there as well.
Tom has asked me to contribute for about 5 minutes on the sermon August 2nd. It will be our final Sunday of our series on prayer, so I'll give a short overview of my experience with prayer over the last year or so going thru all the various forms of prayer -- wrestling, asking, lamenting, and celebrating -- somehow I'm thinking that won't be too difficult!
Just this evening Kim acknowledged that he found himself after church on Sunday outside going to his car instead of visiting with people after church. He didn't want to start saying goodbye yet. But he realizes that he's going to have to make the time because he won't ever get to everyone in one shot....and we won't even talk about our kids or grandson yet.
God's drawing me to His word though. I've been memorizing scripture and I'm going to continue because He's reminding me over and over again about His love, His provision, His plan for me (us), and His presence...and that He only wants His best for us. So I'm clinging to that with all I have in me...knowing that it will be enough.
~Sally

Just Getting Started...

So I always thought it would be a cool thing to somehow document our story as we leave the Grand Valley to start our seminary adventure in Pittsburgh. God has already done SO much! So this is the beginning, we'll see where it takes us!!