Alleluia! Christ is Risen!

We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

-- Romans 6:10-11

Song of the Hour

Not this hour, my love?
It is here too soon.
Please don't let me go.

How do the stars smile?
Fists clench even now
to strike the cheek of my master.

The carpenter's hands that will
dry my tears forever
clench too, in unanswered prayer.

Eyes that won't look away
from my lost soul
will soon see no more.

Lips that told me
everything I've ever done
must be stilled.

Even tonight, those lips sing
a lullaby so sweet that
I cannot believe it is for me.

Those eyes
both unveil and burn away
all my pain.

Only one God
could kneel and wash away
the dust on my feet.

And only you, my love,
would trade a throne of light
for a mantle of blood.

Not so soon, my Lord?
This dark and worthy hour.
Please never let me go.
Never let me go.

The Semester so far....

This is a picture of the desk in my bedroom. It pretty much sums up my life for the past week. Lots of writing. Lots of reading. Lots of quality (and quantity) time with Greek.

This semester is different than the last one. The academics are tougher, both because they're more rigorous and because they are challenging some of my preconceived notions about things. The best part about this is that I'm trying to carve out time to reflect on all of this -- what it's teaching me about God and living for him (and others) day by day. The awe and gratitude I feel for receiving this training far outweighs the stress and weariness that come with seminary. A few times, I've had to slip away after a lecture to be alone with God for a few minutes just to praise him.

Daily life apart from studying has also been good. My fellow students often take breaks by playing board games or watching DVDs. My housemate taught me how to make homemade bread last week, which gave me a great way to work out all of my angst on a big ball of dough! I'm still messing around with my uke -- trying to improve my types of strums right now.

Then, there are the jokes. We got a few inches of snow yesterday, so a group of us walked to a classmate's house last night and began bellowing Christmas carols outside her door. That's just a recent example.

Anyway, that's a snapshot of everyday life. More updates to come.

3 Thanksgivings:

* For the provision that allows me to be here
* For my family
* For homemade bread

3 Prayers:

* For discernment for the prospective students coming here for visitor's weekend this week
* For peace and strength for our seniors as they look for jobs
* For the men and women who come to the homeless drop-in center on Friday mornings