Claimed, gathered and sent

is where will you live when you graduate from seminary? Where will you be ordained? Will you be in New England, New York (insert area)? The answer is, I really don't know right now. On the evening of Feb. 22, Ash Wednesday, the senior class of LTSG will be given regional assignments, from which there will be a synod assignment, followed by a church to pastor. Here's a link to a map of the regions. Of course, we keep wondering. In less than a week, I'll know the region. In the meantime, a song and a promise to God from many years ago keeps running through my head. As we seniors wait and wonder where God and the bishops will place us I hope the response of my heart is: I’ll go where You want me to go, dear Lord, O’er mountain, or plain, or sea; I’ll say what You want me to say, dear Lord, I’ll be what You want me to be. Timeless Truths  Google Images

Kathryn wrote: The Season You're In - Friday Five Headquarters for me is the northeast of the United States. Here school is getting back in session, the tease of autumn is in the air (or the hope for the tease of autumn is in the air) and church life is gearing up to full throttle. One thing I've learned with blogging and social media is that the where I live is not necessarily where you live. And so I want to know what September means to you, in your place of the world and time in your life. This week's Friday Five is: What are 5 things that the beginning of September mean to you? Bonus: What's one thing you could do without?   So...here are my responses:   1. School--this is my last year of seminary!!!! My grown daughter is returning to school and my granddaughter is starting 2nd grade as well. 2. Cooler temperatures--In the mornings it's now starting to feel like fall. 3. New beginnings--New program year at church a...

Well, it's time for an update. We've been back in Gettysburg for  a month. It wasn't that long ago that we were surrounded by boxes and could hardly find a place to sit. We're all settled now except for a couple of boxes in the den. A few days after our arrival, I had a planned surgery on my ankle and Achilles tendon. I was sporting a hot pink cast and making my way around with a Roll-A-Bout . This has obviously limited what I've been able to do around the house. Yesterday had a follow up visit with the surgeon. Now I am sans one hot pink cast. Yeah! And the Roll-A-Bout will be packed up and shipped back. I have a boot that I wear now and use a regular walker to get around. Slowly I am working my way up to weight bearing as tolerated. The best part is that I can now shower! Ray, my husband, has been amazing during the time of my convalescence. He keeps saying he's been "domesticated." He has been cooking, unpacking, and doing virtually everything...

"Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints" (Eph 6:18 NRS). As a second year student, I am among those who have been blessed by the prayers of the faithful people of Zion Lutheran Church.  Shortly after my classmates and I began our seminary journey we heard that these folks would like to pray for us. We each have a specific person who has been praying for each of us over the nearly two years we've been here. Last year they came to visit us here at the seminary and today we had the opportunity to visit and worship with them. It was such a blessing. My prayer partner was unable to join the group that visited us last year. Today I had the privilege of meeting her and thanking her for her prayers. It makes such a difference to know their support and faithfulness as they carry our needs to God. Today, as we gathered together we were refreshed and nourished in...

My first year of seminary is complete!!! The last class was Wednesday. Seniors graduated yesterday and I am no longer a first year student. I am now officially a second year student (middler in seminary parlance). In August, as we were struggling through the two week intensive Summer Greek, we wondered if we would ever survive even that, let alone our first year. Teaching Parish was a formative experience for us. We have made friends with whom we have laughed and cried together. We have formed traditions, like going out together on Friday nights for dinner. We have had silly times like the peeps diorama contest and decorating the Martin Luther statue like a beloved prof. There have been flag football competitions and croquet tournaments, struggling with translating scripture and moments when the lightbulb in our heads has gone on. The year has been a wonderful growing experience for us all. We are not the same people we were in August. In many ways it has been a difficult year for this...

Week after week the workload in seminary seems undo able. I haven't posted anything lately because I, like others, have hardly come up for air from the piles on our desks of books and papers. Week after week I am stressed about whether or not I will get everything done that must be done. I'm not always sure (well, yeah I am) how everything gets done, but it does. This time I even tried to work ahead to no avail in preparation for guests. My daughter and granddaughter visited this weekend from Rochester, NY. There was tons to be done, but I was determined to be as present and in the moment with them as possible. I did have to do some work for teaching parish, but most of my time was spent with them. And it's a good thing because they arrived sick and needing lots of TLC. Sunday they were totally out of it, so Ray stayed home and gave them lots of love while I went to Rural Lutheran. They had perked up a bit while I was gone, but were still pretty out of it. I am so gra...

and it's not an oncoming train! This is the last week of the semester and I have one thing left...study for and take one exam!!! Then I have two weeks off! We are going to spend one of them in Rochester with my daughter, granddaughter, and friends. So, Christmas we'll be there. Then we'll go to RI for the New Year to be with Ray's family and our friends there. We absolutely love it here at Gburg, but I am ready for a break from the studies. When we return, I will not be the only one in school. Ray will be starting the Certificate of Theological Studies program, about which we're very excited. flickr picture

Corporate prayer is one of the great joys of seminary life. Along with worship, it is at the heart of why we're here, what we do, and how we are empowered for service. One of our favorite prayer times is compline or evening prayer. Each night at 10:00 we gather in the courtyard for this student led prayer service. For the Lutherans, it begins on p. 320 in the ELW. Whether spoken or sung, it never fails to move me. It's like God is tucking me in for the night. Tonight was my turn to lead compline. At 9:45, Abby stood up in our apartment and looked at me. Her expression was, "Mom, it's time to go now." Normally her sense of time revolves around meals and snacks. But tonight it was for prayer time. She enjoys it because she gets to see people that love and pay attention to her. But it was still amazing to me that she has the timing down now for compline. Thanks be to God to have such a sweet reminder. Flickr picture.

Since our arrival on campus, Abby, my husband's Seeing Eye Dog, has been making friends. I have been walking with Ray around campus so he and Abby can learn the way. The plan was for Ray to meet me after class, to attend chapel and lunch. We did not know ahead of time that the class time would run much later than anticipated and that it would be followed by chapel. I called Ray and told him and he and Abby set out, unassisted, to make their way to chapel to join me. Ray said that Abby got so excited when she realized that they were going for a walk that she started to bounce, almost skipping along the way to chapel. She was in her glory as a Seeing Eye Dog, helping Ray get around campus. At the evening picnic, she was "off duty" and could be petted by any and all. She loved it. She even made friends with another student's pug, Bella. The difference in size didn't bother either one of them as they sniffed, licked, tails wagging the whole time. Perhaps we ha ve some...

Yesterday we began the cruise of Summer Greek, our prof's analogy for this intensive two week course. We even have an activities director! Not only will we work together, but we will also pray and play together. We worshiped in chapel, had a picnic last night (which Abby particularly enjoyed), worship Sunday, miniature golf next Saturday, etc. Despite our fear and trepidation of a quiz on the first day of class, we all survived and even had some fun. The first session was introductory, the quiz, and work. After the break, we met in a large room in a circle to introduce ourselves in 4 minutes to our classmates and others. We each had to give our name, tell where we were from, what church/denomination, how God got us, and why we were at Gettysburg. Everyone's story was different, yet there were recurring themes that resonated with each of us: a sense of God's leading, circumstances, "It just felt right." We are of various ages, from varied locations and backgrounds...

We are grateful to family, friends, and Garmin for a successful move from RI to G ettysburg. The packing and preparing for the trip were a nightmare. If it wasn't for our family, we wouldn't have gotten on the road on time. We didn't have everything done when the movers arrived!!!!! Talk about stress. There is nothing like the love of good friends to help you along the way. We were totally spent last Friday night and were privileged to spend it with some special friends. They made us sit down and relax and wonderfully took care of us. That was the first night I slept well in a very long time. After a few errands, we were on the road Saturday, Aug. 2, which was our 5th wedding anniversary. Due to Garmin, the gps system, the trip was relaxing. She told us where, when, and onto which roads to turn. I could concentrate more on driving than looking for the next turn. It was a relaxing drive to our halfway point. After checking in to the hotel, we went out for a nice dinner. Sund...

Psalm 121:7-8 (Today's New International Version) 7 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; 8 the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Tomorrow the moving van arrives between 8 and 9 in the morning. I will say good-bye to the apartment that has been my home for the last 5 years. We will spend the night with friends so we can be rested for the drive to Gettysburg. Consequently, I will be away from the computer for the next few days as we travel and get settled. There is still a lot of packing to be done, but once we're on the road, I will relax. Our faithful God has brought us this far. Even 6 years ago, I could not have imagined this as the next scenario in my faith journey. Now, within a couple of short weeks my seminary career will begin with Summer Greek . I am in awe of God's grace and care for us. As Martin Luther wrote in his Small Catechism : I believe that I cannot by my own understanding ...

There was a letter on the LTSG website from the professor of Summer Greek, which will be my first seminary course. Think of the tune to "The Twelve Days of Christmas." "On the first day of Summer Greek the professor's giving us, a quiz on the Greek alphabet." But that's only the beginning. This is quoted from the letter: "The assignment to be completed prior to the first class session is: Read Lesson 1 in Croy and the Introduction in Lamerson. Memorize the Greek alphabet (small case letters only) Memorize Greek vowels, diphthongs, breathing marks, punctuation The quiz on Friday morning will be on the alphabet, vowels, diphthongs, breathing marks, and punctuation. Do not worry about the rules for Greek accents (pp. 3-4 in Croy). We will cover this material at a later point but not on the first day." OK, I'm officially nervous. Somehow in my mind I thought those first couple weeks on campus before...

Yesterday, I read on the Lutheran Zephyr's blog ( http://www.lutheranzephyr.com/main/ ) about a Journal of Lutheran Ethics article that is thought provoking. The title is "Spiritual Reinvention and the Andrew Greeley Principle." It is sobering, calling us to deeper relationship with the God who loves is. The link is: http://www.elca.org/jle/article.asp?k=769 .