January 21, 2009 · 4:08 pm

I’m In!

I think most of you who are around me know that I have applied for the MDiv program at North Park Theological Seminary.

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The application process is way more involved than just sending in transcripts and an application.  There are several references, a couple of essays to write and then telephone interviews.  I started the process back in late November so all those things have been happening over the past couple of months.

On Monday, I had a telephone interview.

When I checked my messages last night, I had a message to call them.

This morning, I called and was congratulated on being accepted to the MDiv program.

So now it starts.  I’m going to be busy but it will be good.  Well, it is underway with my Greek class already but this is sort of official and serious…..and a bit scarey.  It will mean some hard work study wise.  Hope my brain doesn’t turn to mush!

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January 18, 2009 · 2:39 pm

A Push From The Almighty

It was a beautiful morning as I left home just before sunrise this morning.  The sky was one of those amazing shades of pinky orange and I had a few extra minutes before I was due at the church for worship music practice.  I had my camera in my purse and on the spur of the moment decided to take a short detour in order to get a better picture of the sky.

You know what that means – short detours have a way of taking you  places you had NO intention of ending up. 

I thought that the road leading down to the sewage treatment plant, just on the edge of town, a few minutes from the street I take to get to church anyway, would give me the view I wanted – lots of sky and trees on one side, river on the other.

I didn’t think I was driving that close to the side of the road.  But it was way softer than I anticipated and my front right wheel got caught in the soft snow on the shoulder.  It was as if an irresistible force took hold of that wheel and pulled me right down there into the ditch. 

So, there I was.  At the bottom of a deep ditch in soft snow.  My spare minutes for photography were all of a sudden used up and I was not exactly at the church. 

I think I got a good dose of my father’s stubbornness.  I flashed back to one of those times when we, the whole family in the car, were hopelessly stuck in some mud hole on a dirt road that he had thought worthy of exploration.  We would all end up having to push or walk to the nearest farm to get help.  I swore I would never be like that! 

At least, I was alone.  Stupid maybe, but alone with my stupidity.  My stubbornness showed up about then and I decided that I would just drive out.  After all, I have a 4 wheel drive vehicle.  Well, maybe not meant for off-roading but 4 wheel drive should be good for something.  And, I was not stuck.  I mean the vehicle could move – parallel to the road in the ditch – quite freely. 

We did it, that CRV and me.  And maybe the Almighty gave me a small push between his guffaws of laughter at this silly woman who he loves too much to imagine, this daughter of another one of his beloved children.  Maybe they both had a good laugh.

I was only ten minutes late for practice.  It was a particularly good and joyful morning as I had a good laugh at myself too.

No pictures though.  The orange of the sky had disappeared.

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January 17, 2009 · 11:21 pm

It’s a dog’s life

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but as for me, I was in another corner of the room close to the fireplace,   dscn1903

studying.dscn19052

It was a great day, in terms of getting things done.  Groceries, studying, a walk on the river (check out an ice shot on Click) and even a very short nap.  I did not make much headway on getting all the rest of my Christmas decorations down and put away.  Tomorrow.

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January 16, 2009 · 10:00 am

In the middle

I like doing a preparation for a crown like this.  It is in the middle of the mouth(not at the far distant reaches of the mouth), on top(no tongue in the way), mouth is clean and healthy(gums are not bleeding all over the place), and the patient is pleasant.

We are about half way into the procedure; at one of those spots where I let my assistant take over for a few minutes.  That lets me have coffee or blog you see.

But I like these procedures that demand precision and finesse and let me use my “artist” side, matching shades and hues to get a beautiful crown; using my handpiece more like an artist’s pen than a cutting tool.  I’m happy and the patient is happy.

It is just a good way to end the week.

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January 15, 2009 · 9:04 am

Just….

Some days I just wish I could stay at home.  I think I need time to let parts of me (that are always busy and rushing to something coming up next) settle down and let me catch up with myself.

My heart does not always seem to be where my body is required to be for reasons of work or home needs.  It leaves me feeling weirdly disjointed and unsettled.

There are days – like today – when it would be fun to have no demands, when it would be fun to invite Zaka over so we could watch Treehouse or look at a book or go for a walk in the cold and snow.  I’d like to pull him in our improvised sleigh and swing him around and watch his eyes sparkle.  Or play a game of hockey on my kitchen floor or crash cars with him for awhile.

With no unfinished quizzes to be concerned about, no bills to pay, no deadlines for anything, just the day to spend enjoying him.

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January 13, 2009 · 10:51 pm

Change

I’ve just come home from my last council meeting. I’ve served enough time they are letting me go free. I guess it has been almost ten years now, some under the old board system and now a couple of terms under the new council one.

They have been good years. Sometimes the meetings were hard; for me a non-administrative type, quite hard in those first years when I was trying to follow the acceptable procedure of drawing up proper agendas, making motions, trying to follow the correct protocol. It is good that we had a pastor leader who helped us learn to lead in more of a style that was suitable for us non-CEO types, who helped us focus on the important work of the church without getting stuck on protocol. Goodness knows there were enough people around who would straighten us out on the protocol if we forgot it. It is good to have those consultants around too, you know, when the situations needing protocol and such arise.

Today, I have begun the mourning process for this loss of function. I was reflecting on what a gift it has been to work for the church in its leadership, what a growing experience it has been to be so involved. The growth has occurred both because I have given myself to the tasks needing to be done and because I have been able to work closely with others who shared this same spirit of devotion and commitment, both to God and to the body of believers that we call Gateway. I am going to miss this level of involvement.

But of course there are new days ahead. There are new ways to serve and I am pretty sure that with a bit of effort, I’ll find my place, a bit of a new place perhaps. Maybe I will try some new ways of being part of these people I worship with. Right now it is a bit hard and there are tears of separation down inside kind of welling up making this screen blurry.

And since it is late, perhaps I had better go to sleep.

There are some people I want to spend some time praying for in the morning. 

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January 13, 2009 · 12:47 pm

Week of Prayer

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The week of prayer at our church has become an important marker in our church year.  We usually do this just before Advent starts although our denomination marks the month of January for this emphasis.  This year things were just too full of events, besides just getting used to functionning without a pastor, to arrange a week for it so we chose the first week in January to set up our stations of prayer.

They went up on Sunday Jan 4 and came down on the 10th.  Pictures of what we did at those stations can be seen and followed on Flikr and on Resonate Stories.

This is some of the work I love to do most in the church – hoping that others will experience some of the relationship with God that is so good.  Walking around the church with the best friend who loves me and doesn’t mind if I come back and walk this path many times, telling him my same old stories, listening to my concerns and sometimes letting me catch glimpses of what he is like.  It is a good week no matter what time of the year we set it up.

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January 11, 2009 · 10:35 pm

So much to do and so little time.

Words have been sort of few and far between these days.

I guess most of my time has been spent learning things  these days – or at least trying to.  Both my Greek studies and my Bass practicing have demanded a lot of time lately.  It is hard to sit and write a post or even have any thoughts of consequence when I just don’t have much time to sit and ruminate.

I guess I hang onto my morning quiet time and that is when I think.  But go to work time  seems to come so quickly that there is little time to put any of my thoughts into words before I have to head out the door.

And then there is night time.  But look I really should be in bed already.

So life goes these days.

If I keep up the constant practice with the Greek and with the bass, I suspect I will be happy since I can actually see that constant practice pays off.

Oh, yeah.  We had our week of prayer at the church and I did take some pictures – which I will post when I get them downloaded.

So much to do and so little time.

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January 8, 2009 · 1:31 pm

Lessons

Compassion

This morning during my private talk with God in the quiet of my living room, I told him about this patient that I was dreading. Last time he was so arrogant, called me “girl” as if I was of no importance at all. The world revolved around him after all and I was just a female figure that he would use to get what he wanted – which was a new crown for his broken one – at my expense, I think. I believe he was trying to intimidate and manipulate me so that if I responded out of sympathy for his situation, he could then disappear and have his crown for free.

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January 5, 2009 · 10:16 pm

Things Accomplished

I undecorated the tree. It sits wrapped in plastic on the front deck. Wonder how long we will ignore it’s existance before we haul it off?

Zaka informed me by phone that he peed on the potty. I guess the Spiderman gitch were a good present from Santa.

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