I always wish I had a catchy title on the tip of my tongue, and try to think of one, and then realize that by the time I do that I could be done writing and on to other worthwhile endeavours, and move on. Like now.
So, yesterday, I did something very exciting and uncharacteristic. I decided I wanted to go see my parents (exciting, but not uncharacteristic). Then decided that it was very foolish with gas prices the way they are to drive James to Burlington for work, drive to Brantford, then go back to Burlington to pick him up. So, I asked him to call his parents to see if they had a free car. No answer. So. I got changed, packed up my stuff, and hopped on my bike. Yep, I biked to Brantford. Which, isn't really THAT big of a deal, it's about 30km, there are much larger feats, but, considering I am not all that fit, and hadn't gone on a bike ride in a long time, it was pretty ambitious. It took my almost three hours, which was slightly embarassing, but, I did it. I'm not even sore today (which means tomorrow could be awful)! It was pretty rewarding.
(sidenote - I think it's really strange that the spellchecker on here picks up Brantford, but Burlington is ok)
Also rewarding - I handed in my last assignments today! And got back an essay that I did really well on. Now I'm only two exams away from freedom. It feels sooooo good.
I kind of wish I had a plan for when I'm done (which is in December). People keep asking me what I want to do when I graduate and I really have no clue. There are lots of things I want to do, but I don't really have a timeline for any of them. There is a dreamjob opening up, but I have no idea if I would be considered for it. I would like to go to seminary and do a master's, but I don't know if I want to do it right away, or if it's financially an option, or if it would work if James was in school at the same time (it is his turn, after all). I would like to complete my RCM piano stuff, and maybe teach music lessons. I would like to have kids. I wouldn't mind maybe working in the field I've been studying in...but I have no idea which of these things are dreams, and which are worth acting on; or, if all of them are worthwhile, in which order I should go about attaining them.
On the seminary topic, I've been kind of worried what would happen if I academically pursued my passion for the Bible. See, I've encountered a few people over the course of my university career who I really respect, who started their academic careers as Christians, and spent time in seminary, and got to the other end of it and couldn't honestly be believers. I really don't want that to happen to me. On the other hand, I know a lot of people, probably more, who have spent a lot of time academically pursuing the study of scripture and have very deep faith, but there's still this lingering worry that if I really look closely at things, I might have to let go of things that are really important to me. Anyway, I was listening to some music while driving to school today, and one of the songs said "The voice of truth tells me a different story; the voice of truth says 'do not be afraid.' The voice of truth says 'this is for my glory.' I will choose to listen and believe the voice of truth." And it just really resonated with me regarding this issue. It was an encouragement.
Well. The sun is shining, my windchimes are clanging, my flowers are budding, my cat is sitting in the window looking rather picturesque, my dog is sitting at my feet. All very good.
On the other hand, my laundry needs folding, my table needs to be cleared of the ridiculous amounts of paper and books covering it, my floor needs vacuuming, and my husband will need feeding. I should probably get to it!
my 2 cents on seminary:
ReplyDeleteIf you let seminary take over your life your faith probably will suffer. In my experience it's important to make sure you have some things in your life that remind you of what all this stuff you study is really about...doing ministry with people who don't care about your academic credentials, having a small group that is vulnerable and prayerful, something like the job you have now.
The other thing is to make a point of finding among the students or faculty some people with whom you can talk sincerely about the personal meaning of all this knowledge. There are a couple profs at Mac Div who I think are great at this. And avoid getting caught up in the discussions about academic minutiae too often, those who do are losing focus. there are a lot of people at seminary who I can't imagine being even mediocre ministers, but there are always a few really excellent people to find if you keep your eyes open.