Well I figured it’s time for a general update, seeing as my first semester of seminary is drawing… no, more like reeling, hurling, speeding… to a close (eek!).
Yeah, deep breath. Jumping in to full-time school after 5 years of 9-5ing it is not a task for the faint of heart. When I was in college papers were more like 5 pages (not 10-20) and if you missed class you could somehow BS your way to an “A”. Grad school= different ballgame.
And then there is all this business of pre-assumed knowledge. Like, say… that you were born knowing what “the canon” is, or what “soteriology” means, etc. Being a blonde at seminary is a whole new ballpark and a whole new league. This is where I’d like to announce:
BLONDE MOMENT HIGHLIGHTS OF THE SEMESTER (so far):
1. See previous post on Acts 29 and the existence (or not) thereof
2. Thomas A Kempis, NOT Thomas Aquinas. Yes, they are two different people and try doing an Amazon search for the latter and you tell me how daunting it would be to try to find the title of a book he actually didn’t write…
3. I was reading about David Hume and while doing so came across the word “posthumously”. Thinking there must obviously be some correlation between “Hume” and “humously” I made an innocent inquiry as to that possibility… and… yeah. For those of you who’ve picked up on this, ha ha yourself, and for those who haven’t, take a gander at the correct definition and pronunciation
So there you have it. I am here purely to learn. And learning I am (clearly, it can only go up from here). Not just vocab, but so much more. When people ask me “so, tell me what you’re learning” it’s like asking a library “so tell me what your books are about?” UM… let’s just say that after 2 hours in DA Carson’s class my brain feels like a balloon that’s been blown up to the point that you think it might pop, and I’m afraid if I sneeze all the knowledge I’ve just inhaled will come sputtering out as if you let that balloon go… but I LOVE IT. and I’d love to tell you EVERYTHING. But it feels like… EVERYTHING. Because then I go to Greek class and have to know like 100 different forms of 100 different words and then later I’m quizzed on what happened in 2 Samuel 7 the significance of 1 Corinthians 15 and how Hosea 11:1 is fulfilled in Matthew 2 and then I’m wondering what the heck reformed epistemology has to do with sharing the Gospel and how to answer the problem of evil… and… sorry I was like a tea kettle letting off steam there, but you get the point.
And somehow in the next 3 weeks i have to remember all of that EVERYTHING and prove it over the course of four final exams and two papers… so… a deep breath, indeed.
While all of this information is swarming around in my blonde head there have been other things: I’ve gone from sporting flip-flops to zipping up boots, roommates have changed, and now degrees are changing.
Yep, you heard (read?) right. I have “officially” decided to change degrees from the MDiv to an MA in Christian Studies. Reason? Well, I never really had a particular calling, just an overwhelming desire to learn and an invitation from Big G to do so, and after reviewing things from financial, practical and academic standpoints, it’s pretty obvious that an MA will be sufficient to accomplish what I set out to do in half the time for half the money and half the angst. A Masters degree is just the right fit for what I want and what I need. The MDiv is a TOUGH degree, and I have the utmost respect for those who respond in obedience to a call to complete it. But I don’t have the academic endurance or the financial means to pursue something I don’t feel called to, and it took coming here and giving it a try to figure that out. Coming to seminary was one of the best decisions, if not the best decision I’ve ever made, and I’m so thrilled to be here and to embrace whatever the experience entails.
I guess it also it helps that I’ve fallen in love with a church AND an amazing man (I know, I know… juicy details are on the way! But I’ve got to have a ploy to keep you all coming back for more)… and you know, I’ve also grown to love Chicago as well. Sans the traffic, she ain’t a bad city. I was so vehemently opposed to ever moving back here due to the unsightly, sprawling flatness of strip malls, home depots and subdivisions… but I’ve been surprised at my change of heart. As I become reacquainted with the place I knew so well in childhood, I am seeing it through the eyes of pleasant memory and now, hopeful future. To be so close to my family has been a blessing far greater than I guessed, and to have found a church (and a man) here makes it truly home.
Life is good, and I promise to never verify that with a bumper sticker. But in all seriousness, God has blessed me in abundance, without warrant or merit, but out of pure grace and love. And I couldn’t be more thankful!
Who are you taking theology with next semester? I’m signed up for McCall’s class (I’ve posted my schedule here).
The Mormon husband and I are really loving the area. The traffic sucks and things are more expensive than they were in either Washington state or Utah, but everything else we love. The church I’m attending is threatening to become my favorite church ever and possibly a permanent home denomination. I’m also hopeful that my new church home is having a positive effect on my husband’s religious status, but shh! Don’t tell him that.
Grats again on the church home, and grats on the new beau. I look forward to details!