A Brief Update

My friends have been constantly reminding me that my blog hasn't been updated in quite some time, so here's an overview.

First, I am now a quarter of a century old. We waited until the weekend after my birthday to have the big party - we went to the beach for a bonfire/cookout. You'll have to wait and see pictures though, because I don't have them on my computer yet. Or if you don't want to wait you can check out Sophie's blog (sophiemarian.blogspot.com) because she already has a few pictures up (it's the post titled "Happy Birthday Pocket").

On my actual birthday though, I went with my girls to Bodega (a wonderful wine bar in Pasadena) for drinks and dinner. Here are a few pictures from that evening you might enjoy.




And I have also been reminded by my friends that I promised to post more pictures from the weekend Robin and her daughter Alyssa were here, so here are a few more pictures for your enjoyment.






The main reason I haven't been diligent about posting on my blog is the sheer amount of school work I have - I have 11 assignments left and then I'm done. I can't wait to graduate.

So, for now I'm going to list the things I've been doing (and I would promise to give more details later, but it make be awhile before that happens)
- I'm learning a lot at my church internship at San Marino Community Church
- we've been having lots of parties!!! My birthday party, an engagement party for Steve and Christina. And upcoming parties includes Christina's bachelorette party, a going away party for Sophie, Megan's 30th birthday party (May has literally been filled with parties!)
- I am officially going to become a California resident once I navigate my way through all the DMV paperwork
- did I mention the school work? I'm taking Exegesis with Psalms with one of the hardest professors ever (and one of the best), two preaching practicums with Dr. Shuster, and a church history IDL (distance learning class).
- I watched Season 3 of Grey's Anatomy in it's entirety when I was so tired from doing school work that I just needed a break

That's the brief update so I could get my friends to stop pestering me about not having an update.

Update

I was doing so well at keep my blog updated, and then well, didn't do so well. But here's the last couple weeks in a very quick summary.

--Winter Quarter ended, with my passing of my Intensive Hebrew class--now that is a feeling SHALOM.
--Easter was a day of mixed emotions as we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus Christ the same morning that one of our church custodians tragically died.
--On the first day of Spring Break I was super excited to get the news that I passed all of my ordination exams. I was shocked and very, very relieved to never have to deal with those tests again.
--Robin and Alyssa Sturgis came into town for four days during Spring Break to visit and see me preach. I had a wonderful time with them!
--I preached for the first time on March 30th at San Marino. Despite feeling like a nervous wreck, in the actual preaching time I felt immense peace and really enjoyed the experience. What a gift to preach to my church family.
--The next day began my second to last quarter ever at Fuller. And it didn't take me very long to discover, it is my hardest academic quarter at Fuller. Which brings me to this point... It is already week 4, time is flying by. This quarter is intensely filled with schoolwork, lots of internship stuff at church, and lots of social events.

It has been an eventful couple of weeks as you can tell, with some really happy moments and some tragic moments. But nonetheless, life is certainly moving quickly... I'll try and do a better job of keeping you guys posted on all that's going on. For now here's a picture of Robin, Alyssa, and I and a picture of me with the marquee when I preached. Enjoy!

Shalom: Winter 2008 in a Nutshell

My catch phrase this quarter was "Shalom," partly because it continues to be one of the few Hebrew words I know, and partly because this quarter was so full, busy, and stressful at times, that saying Shalom helped. All in all, it was a very productive quarter, but I am thankful to be at the end of it. I thought that this was a fun way to reflect and summarize my quarter...

1 fun visitor, yay for a Spider reunion with Kristen who came in from Wisconsin
3 long, but helpful ordination exam study session; plus countless more hours studying the Book of Order, Book of Confessions, and making flashcards
64 hours sitting in Hebrew class...
2 Children's Sermon's given- always an interesting experience, particularly when there aren't any children in church
1 new dog friend Shadow, an old, yet very sweet black lab that I have dog sit a few times this quarter
5 Committee meetings, maybe more--I could have lost count, but nonetheless, an essential part of the church I've learned
2 Chinese American church groups visited. For my Ethnicity and the Church class I was assigned to visit 2 Chinese American churches. Both times were super interesting.
3 Bodega trips, a wonderful wine bar that is great for relaxing after a long week
10 Hebrew study sessions, which is how I survived Hebrew--both emotionally and academically, I think we became a support group for each other.
1 Chik Fil A trip--such a luxury to go to in SoCal
3 drives to Azusa to meet with my Presbytery liason to prepare for Candidacy
1 Session, CPM, and Presbytery meeting all in which I officially became a Candidate (hooray!)
12 hours in ordination exam testing, and many many more writing my exegesis ordination exam on Revelation
3 visits to Arcadia Methodist to dine with my chaplain friends still working there
4 coffee shops: Beantown, Zephry, Starbucks, Vromans, that gave me a place to study besides the Fuller library. Favorite: Beantown
1 swanky alumni cocktail reception with the UR President
2 calls to Triple A; silly ignition that broke
1 visit to Hrant--my trust auto mechanic, he keeps the Focus going
1 lovely Valentine's dinner/show with my girls. The Color Purple is wonderful
2 Hebrew tutoring sessions, the other way that I made it through Hebrew
5 CPK meals, it's just so good, and a good place for meetings...
4 good movies seen in the theatre: Juno, Definitely Maybe, 27 Dresses, The Other Bolyn Girl
2 books enjoyed for classes: Divided by Faith by Michael Emerson; The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb by Eric Law
1 crazy case of Senioritis, without Christina and I babysitting each other, I may not have done any homework this quarter.

And I'm sure there's more, but for now... Shalom!

"It's not enough, but it's something..."

During CPE we adopted our motto from the above quote from John Goldingay, a Fuller professor. As we reflected on our interactions with patients and families in group time we were frequently struck by the enormous task that we were doing as chaplains. We were entering in people's lives in their darkest and most stressful moments. In group time we would evaluate how past patient visits had gone, critiquing ourselves and each other, identifying times that went really well and other times that well, really bombed. In feeling the anxiety and pressure surrounding our job, we kept coming back to, "it's not enough, but it's something." For me, I found much comfort in knowing that I was not alone in ministering to patient's but that God was right their with me, was there before I was there, and continued to be there once I was long away from the hospital room. The pressure and anxiety was relieved, that in my human mind that what I did was the "end all be all" really was not. No matter how great of a chaplain I was, I could not make the pain and suffering go away from that person's life, what I did was "not enough but it was something..." I was a tiny little part of the magnificantly huge plan that God had in that person's life.

Somehow over the last quarter I had forgotten about that quote, that lesson that I learned last quarter. Each worship leadership task I was given this quarter caused me worries and nervousness. Performance anxiety some might call it... And now as I'm preparing my sermon to preach in two weeks that anxiety has reached it's peak. But as I sat in the library this morning that phrase came back into my head... "it's not enough, but it's something." Preaching God's word is an awe inspiring and terrifying task but I was reminded today that whatever I say on the 30th... it won't be enough, but it will be something, and that's all I can do.