Seminary Life

As I sit comfortably (and safely) on our couch, watching the blizzard unfold outside, I can't help but reflect on our experiences here at seminary. I wrote a large portion of this post last Summer but it was never finished, so forgive me if the time references are confusing. For the record, we moved to Gordon-Conwell July 1, 2013. Adam is now half way (3 semesters) through a three year Masters of Divinity program.

I've often heard people talk about their time spent at seminary in the same way they talk about their time spent at college. They use phrases like "sweet memories," "lifelong friendships," "I wish I could go back," etc. Now that we've been here a year, I think I can say that Adam and I will likely use similar phrases in the future. In this year, we have made many sweet memories and have developed friendships that I anticipate will last a lifetime.

But like anything in life, seminary has also had its challenges. When we first moved to Gordon-Conwell (although I'm thankful we had a relatively easy transition), I felt distanced from God, alone in my spiritual journey, and spiritually, somewhat depressed. A friend shared with me something that someone shared with her when she first moved here: Sometimes when one experiences change in so many areas of life at once (regional change, relational change, etc), your spiritual growth can be sort of stunted. This was comforting to me and I have finally begun to come out of the fog in the past couple of months. Adam also experienced a difficult transitional phase when his Fall semester classes were... well, the semester as a whole left a lot to be desired. There was a lot of fear and unrest that accompanied those feelings.

Seminary is also a blessing in many ways. I mentioned the friendships we have developed - many of those are from our apartment building and the one next to ours. Living on campus is a huge blessing financially, but also culturally. We live alongside like minded people who understand the lifestyle we've chosen because they've chosen one similar. Another blessing is Adam's growth and learning. During the Spring semester, Adam said he felt more academically challenged than he had ever felt before. It's not secret that my husband LOVES learning and seminary provides him amazing opportunities to do just that.

Blessings and challenges. I suppose the sentiment applies to most areas of life, but this is how we've seen them at seminary. God is continuously faithful and we are thankful for His constant presence as we walk through this journey.

Becoming Anglican

When we first visited Christ The Redeemer Anglican Church (CTR), I remember telling Adam, "I don't know if I could do this every week." The service felt much like a Catholic service - Priests, vestments, kneeling, bells, etc. This type of worship was new to me. I was so worried about whether I was supposed to be kneeling or standing, speaking aloud or listening, so distracted by the "bells and smells" that I couldn't worship.

As the certificate above shows, I figured it out :) After that first service, we were invited to the church picnic, but we chose not to attend. Then Adam chatted with Father Tim (the head priest) one day on campus and we visited CTR again. We were then invited to Father Tim's home for a "Get-to-Know CTR" gathering. It was at this gathering that God first began to change my heart regarding the idea of attending Christ the Redeemer. I ended up in a discussion with a small group of women and as they talked, the conversation turned to CTR services. The phrase "You encounter God every week" stirred my heart and I found the idea of walking away from a conversation like that and NOT attending their church very difficult.

So we began attending. Adam was head over heels for the Anglican order of worship, but I found myself still hesitant. Although I learned quickly when to stand and kneel, speak aloud and listen, I still felt isolated from the richness of worship that I heard others speak of. It took a long time... But as time passed, I slowly began to understand and God continued the work of softening my heart toward the Anglicans. I learned how our process for receiving communion reflected the story of salvation. I began to appreciate saying the Nicene Creed every week, renewing our belief in God. I learned that the bells remind us of celebrating the resurrection. I began to appreciate the rich theology of work and calling. I learned that the asperging of water reminds us of our baptism. I finally began to worship well with the Anglicans.

So here we are! Today, Adam and I were confirmed. In short, confirmation is a laying on of hands, an ordination for the lay person. The bishop prayed for each of us and then for our marriage, commissioning us to do the work of the Lord in our every day lives. It was awesome! We are blessed to be a part of this church and blessed to be a part of the service of the Lord. Peace be with you.

Every Day Life: November 7, 2014

The alarm on my phone goes off at 5:13 a.m. I shut it off, knowing that another one will sound in seven minutes. The second alarm goes off at 5:20 a.m. I press snooze without really thinking about it. Another alarm sounds and I hit snooze again. I don't HAVE to be up right now... And it's Friday, so I can wear jeans anyways. Why the idea of wearing jeans is synonymous with getting ready in less time, I can't really explain. Finally, I'm up at 5:38 a.m.

For the next hour and twenty minutes, I shower and dress, pack my lunch (tuna, crackers, cheese, carrots w/ ranch, & a granola bar for snack), eat a bowl of cereal, and head out the door. Oh, I also move Adam's phone to beside the bed and check that he has an alarm set. He stayed up late the night before and left it in the living room.

On the way to work, I listen to K-Love. It takes me around 20 minutes to get to work in the mornings and I arrive at 7:25. At 7:35, I meet with several other upper school faculty members for morning prayer. I haven't been to morning prayer for one reason or another this week, so I make a point to go this morning. Homeroom begins at 7:55. It's amazing to me how awake and talkative 13-year-olds are before 8 a.m. The students comment that many of us are wearing the same t-shirt (We wear Spirit Wear every Friday). My colleague and I get distracted catching up with students, so we skip our usual devotional and he says a quick prayer over the students' day.

I teach Algebra 1 during first period today. My lesson feels disjointed. I find myself frustrated that students need help with an assignment. When students are almost finished, I realize that I've misread the question and given them poor directions. They were still able to practice finding the slope of a line, so I decide not to fix my misreading and try to move on to the next thing. We finish the lesson a smidge early and play a game called "Rule" for the last three or four minutes.

I have second period free and then teach different levels of Geometry during third and fourth period. My students tell me they don't like Geometry, but they like my class - I'll take that as a compliment :) They also like folding and cutting, so I try to trick them into learning as often as possible. One minute they're cutting up paper and the next minute, they prove that the interior angles of a triangle have a sum of 180 degrees. This is one thing I enjoy about teaching Geometry - it's easier to find hands-on things for my students to do.

I'll stop here for now because this post is becoming rather lengthy. Why do I tell you about my day in this much detail? Do you really care what I listen to on the radio every morning or when my Geometry classes meet on Friday? Maybe not, but this is normal life for me. This is the day in and day out. There are days (like Tuesday) when I allow my frustration from first period to carry into the rest of my day, when I come home questioning my career choice, when I'm emotionally vulnerable because all I can think about is my soul friend's new baby 1,000 miles away... But there are also days like November 7 that begin with prayer, days when my students recognize community because we're all wearing the same t-shirt, and when my frustration from first period is eclipsed by success a couple of periods later. Days like these are the days worth remembering.

Praying for the Persecuted

I don't understand persecution. I wonder if anyone living within the United States really can. One of the most important things we can do for the persecuted preach is pray... At least that's what I've heard. My head knows that this is true - that praying is the right answer to the anguish we feel for our brothers and sisters in Christ right now. But I'll be honest - sometimes my heart doesn't feel like praying can really help. Thankfully our God is gracious and He hears me despite my lack of faith.

I believe that the Holy Spirit takes my doubts and weakness and turns them into something beautiful. But it's powerful when someone takes your anguish and your confusion and puts words to it. That's what happened to me on Sunday. Our Archbishop (remember that Adam and I are attending an Anglican church) has called the Anglican community to pray and support our brothers and sisters in Christ (especially in Iraq and Syria). Our clergy wore red in recognition of the martyrs and we prayed special prayers for those persecuted. I've been using these prayers on my own this week and I've found them extremely helpful, so I thought someone else might as well. The opening prayer is written below. If you'd like to see the call to prayer from our Archbishop or if you'd like to have a copy of all the prayers we prayed on Sunday, you can visit the website for the Anglican Church in North America.

Heavenly Father, we bring before you today the people of Syria and Iraq, asking you to be their defender and help in their time of need. Walk with them in their suffering and loss, and give them strength to face the days ahead. We pray for release of the captives, and freedom for those held hostage. We pray that you would intervene against the violence and evil your people suffer. We pray for your provision for the hungry, the homeless, and the bereaved. We pray you to aid your people who are called by your Name, Jesus' Name, and is is in his Name we ask these things. Amen.

Stop, Continue, Start: 2014-2015 School Year Goals

It's that time of year again! Teachers begin in-service on August 25th and the first day of school will be September 3rd. It's been a great Summer, but I'm excited to see my kids and to get back into a daily routine! I'm again using the "Stop, Continue, Start" method for thinking through my school year goals. (You can read last year's goals here.) One thing I love (and hate!) about teaching is that you will never "arrive." There is always room to grow! So here we go...

Stop

• Allowing my students to give less than their best - specifically regarding their academics and behavior in class.
• Working from home. Well... at least not as much!

Continue

• Writing "main idea notes" on the white board and practice problems on the Smart board. I started doing this at the very end of last year. My purpose is that I want students to know where to look for certain types of information. There are certain things that I expect them to write in their notes word-for-word, so I want these things on the white board so that they are visible throughout the entire lesson.
• Math Games/Activities ... I do my best to keep our lessons as interesting as possible! This might include doing math on note cards posted around the room, Vocabulary Spin game, Round Robin practice, Math Toss, etc.

Start

• Unit Planning ... I am a lesson-by-lesson girl right now, but it has come back to bite me more than once. I don't expect that I'll plan every lesson from a unit before it starts, but I want to do a better job of looking at the big picture before diving in.
• Focusing each prep period on ONE thing. I'm working on assigning each prep period a task. There will always be fires to put out throughout the day, but I'm hoping that I can manage my time better by having these goals in place.

My classroom will be ready on Monday (we had renters all Summer and they've cleaned our floors), so I'm excited to put it back together and start decorating!

Why I want to Be a Runner

Earlier this Summer my sister, Kayla, sent me a text. It read something like "Download the 'Get Running' app now! Start running with me." My response was along the lines of "Uhh... Have you met me?!" I have never been a runner... Ever. I never even ran the typical mile in my middle or high school years. But, alas, what's one to do when her sister (who is quite literally a thousand miles away) asks for a partner and encourager? Well, in my case, you download the app and start running of course! The app talks you through a Couch to 5K program - three workouts every week. There's a wonderful British woman who tells you when to warm up, run, walk, etc. She even tells you when the halfway point is so that you can turn around if necessary. And she's awesome! Did I mention she's British?! So we started off week 1 with eight runs - 1 minute a piece with walking in between each one. Now I've completed week 5 which ended this morning with a 20 minute run - no walking in between. I'm really excited as this was a huge step for me!

As I've been going through each week, I started thinking about whether I even wanted to run or not. There are other ways to exercise, so was this really how I wanted to spend my time? Here are the reasons that I think I want to be a runner...

1. I want to be in shape.
2. It's cheap! -> Until it gets cold, I can run outside with no cost. Score!
3. My muscle tone is improving.
4. I can spice it up. -> There are a TON of trails and paths around here. And although I run close to home most of the time, running is a sport that can have virtually any scenery.
5. I can run almost anywhere. -> Visiting family?  Weekend away? No problem. I can still run.
6. I want to run with others. -> I've typically wanted to hide when I thought someone might ask me to run with them! I have always been afraid that someone could figure out how weak I was (notice the past tense ;)).
7. I want to BE a RUNNER. -> I know that sounds silly, but there's a certain respect that I've had for runners. I'm sure that respect is partially due to the fact that I felt like I couldn't run, but even still. It's a reason for me.

Writing out this post and thinking through these reasons is positive motivation for me. I can think about these things when the workouts get tough or the couch threatens to pull me back. Adam and I have learned a lot over the past few months about how our bodies and minds work together - either for good or for evil - so I hope I'm putting that into practice by completing this post. Week 6, bring it on!

#summerloving

There are just over two weeks until teachers return to CCA, which means my Summer is almost over! I can hardly believe it! Adam encouraged me to take the Summer completely off (i.e. not to take a part time job), so here's what I've been up to...

• Boston Outings: One day we rented bikes to ride along the Charles river. Another day we rented bikes again and rode to the Arnold Arboretum and Forest Hills cemetery. Then last week we visited the Museum of Fine Arts (free on Wednesdays after 4 p.m. -> score!).

• Trips: We met our Gosnell family in IN/IL to see extended family over 4th of July weekend. I also traveled to TN to help throw one of my best friend's bridal shower. I'm thankful to have been able to see both families this Summer and I'm already looking forward to seeing everyone again at Christmas! (Also, I'll be back to TN in September for the WEDDING!)

• Crafting (all for school, haha): I recovered several canisters for storage, made a poster for birthdays, and I'm working on a door decoration. I'll probably take pictures of everything once I get my classroom set up!

• Running: Kayla asked me to start running "with" her, so we're doing the same program from afar :) It's the "Get Running" app (literally the only app I've ever paid for) which follows the Couch to 5K program. I've completed the first four weeks and week 5 begins today.

• School-related: During June, I attended a week-long math conference. And one week in July, I taught part of a Summer class for a few of our incoming 9th graders. I've also planned the first couple of days of school, updated most of my 10-month plans, and created my syllabi. I've also worked on some changes to my lesson plan template,  HW policy, and grading.

• Reading: I haven't done as much reading as I probably should have. I finished "The Picture of Dorian Gray," by Oscar Wilde today and I'm hoping to finish "Adopted for Life," by Russell Moore before school starts.

Overall, it's been a great Summer! When all my activities are listed like this it makes me feel like I've accomplished something :)