Well guys, after today my blog might have a new feature. While waiting for our flight today at the Knoxville airport, the roommate and I decided to record a vlog and well, we kind of loved it. So it might be a reoccurring thing if we can agree on a name and a topic.
But for now, we are basically just following suit in this thing that has been going around called an Accent Vlog. I first heard about it over on The Nomad’s blog and well, the rest is history. So, I hope you enjoy this little addition to honesty box. ..cause we sure had fun making it.
I’ll be posting the questions and words here in case you decide to make one too, cause it’s kinda fun. And if you do .. send me a link.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOTAjA4f-lY?hl=en&fs=1]
Questions and words:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you change the TV channel with?
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught
I thought I had you figured out
…or why I like second year of seminary more than first year…
Community takes time. It takes investment, it takes patience and it takes continuity. It’s almost impossible to be able to say to someone, “You don’t seem like yourself today,” if you’ve only known them for a week. Which is why, even in an intense community situation as seminary is, I repeat myself – Community takes time.
This second year of seminary comes with a lot more responsibility on my shoulders. Not to mention I’ve traveled/am traveling quite a bit which means that although I’m in week 4 of classes, I have yet to have a full week of class and yet to find a rhythm. I know that a lot of people say that ministry is a lot like this, which is true, but there comes a point where I think to myself that maybe I’ve taken a little too much on this year.
So when I woke up this morning feeling less than great the thought crossed my mind that maybe I could miss class to get better. However, I missed this class last week, so I pulled myself out of bed, got it together and went to class. Now, this particular class is probably on of my favorites to date here at NPTS, but this morning the two and a half hours of lecture and switching between Greek and Hebrew was giving me a massive headache. I knew that I wasn’t participating the way that I should be but I could barely keep up with discussion must less add in my ideas. At the end of class, as I was packing up, I glanced up and made eye contact with my professor. He softly asked me if I was doing alright.
Now this particular professor is one of the most pastoral minded people I have ever met. He has this way of checking in with you that is so consistent and caring without being too intrusive or annoying. So when he asks if I’m doing alright, I know that the facade I tried to put on this morning was unsuccessful. This professor knows the things I’m involved with in the seminary community, knows that I was out of town last week and knows that usually I am much more vocal than I was today. He followed up to ask me if I was getting caught up okay to which I simply replied that I was working on it. He made the observation that I was a bit more low key than usual today.
In a conversation that lasted a total of about 20 seconds he expressed so much care and concern for my well being that I walked into the hall feeling a tad bit better. This is the product of taking the time to build community. He takes the time to get to know the lives of his students well enough to know exactly when to ask and when to push.
The thing that is so great about our community here is that all our teachers are like this. They all take the time to invest in us, to teach us, to pray for us and to be involved in our lives. They learn the details of our lives in order to figure out how to teach us better, how to care for us better. It’s an amazing thing that happens after you’ve spent a year in class with them and enter into your second year. I can’t imagine what third year will bring next year.
So what’s our response to this care and compassion shown to us by these faculty and staff members? The obvious is to do our homework and pay attention in class. The less obvious is to live in a way that it shows that we have been taught well. To go into ministry fighting for the things that matter and standing on the foundation of the Gospel. To invest in ourselves and our education.
All this to say, the first year of seminary is great too, but second year…yeah, second year is good.
let the good times roll
Before I start I need everyone reading this to know that this entry is only about 15% for real…the remainder 85% is an exaggeration of my true feelings.
Because I have had way too many “serious” thoughts on here lately and frankly too many in my head as well, I thought I’d write a little bit about the art of “loving your team”.
I don’t know if you know this about me but I’m a Broncos fan and I have been for the entire 26 years of my life. To say that my family bleeds blue and orange may be an understatement..case in point? My family has had season tickets to the Broncos for over 30 years, including the 11 years that we spent living in New Jersey. The tickets originated in my grandfather’s name, then were divided between one of my uncles and my dad. Thus, for the entirety of my own life we have owned two seats in the old Mile High Stadium, then the Invesco at Mile High Stadium and now the Sports Authority at Mile High Stadium.
Currently the tickets are managed and paid for by my older brother with the understanding that when I am in town I have the rights to the seats. Because I live out of town it’s easy for us to manage who goes to what games, usually I come waltzing into town and get the two seats for myself and whoever I may want to take with me. Now before you get all defensive for my brother, I’m usually only in town for 2 or 3 games, he gets the rest all to himself.
The only game that we fight over is the one game a year that means the most to both of us. It’s the Raiders game. Growing up a Broncos fan means growing up a Raiders Hater. It’s probably our most intense rivalry (second being the Cheifs in case you were wondering.) So before I moved away from Denver the Brother and I had a deal that when that one game came around, we’d go together because it was the only fair way of doing it.
This year the Raiders game fell on opening weekend on Monday Night. Now, if you follow Football even the smallest amount you know that’s kind of a big deal. Right?? Right. So that older brother of mind decided to be awesome and flew me in for the weekend to attend this coveted game with him. (yep, I’ll keep him, he’s a great guy).
So last night found me 10th row in the corner of the North Endzone cheering on my boys. Decked out in orange and even with a little face paint on. The game was going great, however, it started raining. At first it was a sprinkle but then it just started dumping on us. So there I was, in jeans and a jersey, my coat in the car, getting drenched. But did I leave the stands? NO WAY.
See, dedication as a fan means sticking through it in the good and bad. That means weather too. Not every game can be a 2:15 game with the sun shining and the temperature hovering at 70. No, no, somedays you get rain, others you might get snow, still others bring hail or just the freezing cold wind of Denver. But you stay in your seats and you take it because the players are and it’s all about solidarity right?
I should probably stop to mention that this whole fan thing is pretty easy when you’re team has the ability to go undefeated or make the play offs at least. I mean you can get really drenched for a team that is kicking their rivals butts…but what does that solidarity look like when you’re a Broncos fan and your team is … well, to be frank, a little challenged in the scoring department.
Now, I’m not saying I’m a better fan than most just because my team has had a few rough gos and I haven’t jumped ship…but … oh, wait, I might be.
Just kidding. (sort of). I will say this. As much trash I talked about a certain quarterback last night who seemed to forget that his ONE job is to get the ball over the goal line… I love all my Broncos.
And loving them means flying halfway across the country to go to their opening game. It means painting my face (only a little, a girl has her standards) and yelling really loud and high fiving everyone around me at the game. It means missing two days of class and spending an entire weekend getting about a week behind in school just for the chance to sit in my favorite seats, next to my favorite game watcher and watch my boys play live.
But loving them also means calling them out on being the kind of dumb dumbs that throw interceptions, get sacked and drop the ball from time to time. I mean, iron sharpens iron right?