Thanksgiving

We have much to be thankful for. Safe travel to CT for an early Thanksgiving celebration -- a pretty snowfall Thanksgiving morning -- safe travel home and then onto see old friends in NC. Gorgeous weather -- healthy family and fun activities with friends -- safe travel -- who can ask for more?

Still, missing some friends and family, worried about some school projects looming, hopefully will not be too tired for the ride back from NC.

Hosting 2 different professors (2 different occasions) for dinner in December -- should be fun, but not without stress (clean house?). Hoping not to get so wrapped up in Christmas prep that I forget "the reason for the season" -- cliche though it is. My (our?) Christmas cards are mostly done, and some shopping as well. Now need to wisely discern our need to drive all over seeing people on Christmas (family duty visits -- tug-o-war with parents and in-laws -- I jokingly say that one of the best reasons for becoming a pastor is having to work on Christmas!).

Time to bed before a busy beach day (there's an oxymoron!) and drive back home. Have some nice photos to remember this visit by!

God-incidences

This week has been crazy and today -- no exception. Bumped into a pastor on the chapel steps who was visiting from Northern Ireland -- I am a big fan and it was a delight to see him again, so unexpectedly. Sat smiling through all of chapel this morning because I saw him (and I wasn't planning to even go to chapel today -- as usual, I was glad I did, because the sermon met me right where I needed to be -- God at work, again!). Then I bumped into him again on my way to the library! He lives on the other side of the Atlantic and I saw him twice in one day -- not even knowing he was in town. What a gift!

The God-incidence is that, if I hadn't been running by the chapel to drop something off for a friend, I never would have run into him!

Then I went and picked up the hard copies of my ordination exams (previously only the scores were given out), and by doing that I was reminded I needed to move my car from the 2-hour street parking, around to the library where I was headed next. I also saw a classmate (who had missed class this week due to migraines) and reminded her we had no class this coming week, due to the impending Thanksgiving day holiday. Reading over my ordination exam comments affirmed my impression that I had no idea what I was doing; I got 5's on my exegesis (which I thought I had failed) and 3's on my polity (which I thought I had aced). On one question on the theology exam, one reader gave me a 2 and another reader gave me a 4 for the same question. Worship was also all over the map. So very subjective. Really a crap shoot, or divine intervention!

Then I got to hear a wonderful peace speaker, a former PTS grad, just back from 7 weeks in Iraq; she was an inspiration. Saw Cindy Sheehan speak earlier in the week -- another inspiration for me. And then I prayed for patience this afternoon, for two members were coming down from my presbytery to change a video presentation I had spent two weeks preparing (we will show this presentation at a meeting on Monday). I girded myself up to have my ego ripped down, and the afternoon went surprisingly well. Truly an answer to prayer.

After preaching on Deborah in my home church last Sunday, some of this week has been rough, but once again, with God all things are possible. I even made the time this week to enter an essay competition -- a couple of nights up typing/researching at 2 a.m. This weekend involves a little bit of rest, a little bit of paper preparation (ethics paper due Tuesday), and maybe crashing an African wedding!

Ordination Exams

Passed all 4! Found out today! Tears (of relief?) came to my eyes -- and I said a prayer of thanks -- I was not expecting this. Yet another "hoop" jumped through! Feels like divine endorsement. Phew!

Aware that others have not passed, and I remember the feeling last go-round when I did not pass the Hebrew exegesis, so I am not crowing about this "victory." While I am pleased, it is not something I am shouting from the rooftops. Waiting to see my readers' comments -- what they liked and didn't like -- also whether I got 3's or 5's....

Has been a good week academically. Got an A paper back in pastoral counseling, feel good about the Greek exegesis I turned in; feel good also about the reading-critical log I turned in (Empire & Capital: Theological Interpretations), and my professor's promise to read it (instead of the Ph.D. student who is not a member of my fan club!).

From here -- relax (at least a little bit). Paper due next Friday in Christian Social Ethics and another one the following Tuesday. Onward...