Fall classes are in full swing

Our family took this picture on a beautiful night in the
Quad Cities while we waited for the Rend Collective
concert to start. It was part of our 17th wedding
anniversary celebration over Labor Day weekend.

Today marked the end of the third week of classes for fall semester, so it's high time that I write an update! To be honest, I've been somewhat overwhelmed at getting into the groove of a routine that works with work, home, and school, so I haven't even thought about blogging (well, I've thought about it, but realize it's actually not the thought that counts).

First things first, here are some things I'm learning, one item for each class:

1. People, particularly theologians, can learn about God by looking around. We can see God revealed in nature, in people, and in cultures (though church people often throw culture under the bus trying to be "in the world but not of the world"). One of my classes is Theology and Film where we talk about how to put movies into dialogue with our faith and vice versa. Movies have a lot of "common grace" or "general revelation", that is, they allow us to see goodness and we believe there is no goodness apart from God.
2. The New Testament is written from a variety of viewpoints. In Intro to New Testament we are looking at the Gospels right now and began by talking about the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) and the issue of how they are so similar, and yet often different and how to deal with that "synoptic problem". One theory is that Mark was written first and then Matthew and Luke used Mark as a source along with another source (called Q) and each their own other sources too. They each record things a little differently (and sometimes quite differently or omit things all together) for several reasons, but one being they had different intended audiences. The differences seem more troublesome to us modern readers because we don't like conflicting stories, we want to know the truth. Ancient readers were less concerned with accurate details and more concerned with the stories conveying the general message of the person they were writing about. The Jesus represented in each of the gospels together represent the real Jesus, and they're all important for us to understand God and God's kingdom so I'm thankful for all of them.
3. In my Disciple Formation class I've been able to practice several forms of prayer that I hadn't before. We are reading Richard Foster's book Prayer. We also have used meditation during walks and while coloring to help us spend time in God's presence. 

If you're interested in what a typical week in seminary looks like for me, I'll tell you (and if you're not interested, I'll tell you anyway, or you can just skip the rest): Tue-Fri I work in the mornings and in the afternoons/evenings I read, read, read, read and then write or watch lectures online (of course, I also cook, do laundry, go to ball games, church meetings, rehearsals, etc). I set aside some time on the weekend for myself and family and Sunday worship, but it hasn't been much time so far, with school work needing to be done by the end of the weekend. 

Mondays are my favorite: I get up and leave Tipton around 6:35ish to arrive on campus around 8:00 for fellowship. Then we have morning prayer at 8:30. At 9:00 I go to New Testament, followed by chapel and then lunch (the lunch is provided by staff, professors, etc or someone, I should find out who feeds us...). After lunch is Film and Theology and then Disciple Formation. The end of the day is a brief blessing and sending service (5-10 minutes) around 4:30 and then I go to the library for awhile to create a list of my assignments and schedule for home/work/school for the upcoming week. I get back to Tipton around 7:00.

I appreciate your prayers for me and Ryan and the girls. Please continue to pray for us as we journey together. You're a blessing to me! Experience the love of God today and then share it with someone.