Thanks-living Brake

**Deep exhale** Phew, finally time for Thanksgiving break (or brake...if you, like me, want things to slow down for a bit)! So now I have some time to sit down and reflect on the past week, and it was quite the week!

Teaching Ministry Interview. So, firstly the thing I am second most excited about (the first being Advent)--teaching ministry. Here at PTSem we have a program under the field education department called "Teaching Ministry." It is basically a church placement with an emphasis on education--usually in the form of a Bible/book study. I applied about two weeks ago, and I got selected for an interview! Yay! They only select ten people for each year's cohort, so I still have to make it through the interview. One of the coolest things about Teaching Ministry is that you get to choose a faculty adviser to help guide you along the way! Princeton Seminary is pretty awesome!

CPE Interviews. I am about to be swamped with interviews! Ahh! As soon as I return from Thanksgiving break, I have two interviews with CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) sites (plus the Teaching Ministry interview)! One of them is very near to my home--Geisinger, and the other is in North Dakota! I am also hoping to hear from a hospital outside of Norfolk, VA. Whatever happens, I fully plan on doing my CPE this summer! Who knows where it will be at this point?!

Hebrew Test. If you've been loosely following this blog, you probably know that I am in a Biblical Hebrew class. It is probably my most challenging class, but at the same time, it is easily my favorite class! Anyway, I had another Midterm on Monday and spent much of the weekend preparing for it! Turns out, I did pretty darn well! Yay! ...oh and special thanks to all of those wonderful people back at First Pres WC that ensured I was riding a sugar high all weekend while studying (haha)!

Thanksgiving. Finally, onto turkey day! I am sorry to say that I am going to miss West Chester's interfaith service tomorrow night (good luck David Pickett and all else who are involved); I really enjoyed it last year. Unfortunately, my car broke, so I am relying on my dear brother for transportation! The week should be fun, though. I am a little nervous about leaving this Christian bubble, but I am anticipating that it will actually be refreshing! Plus, I get to see a lot of amazing people that I have not seen in a long while, including: my parents, my brothers, my best buddy, my church family, my high school basketball coach, my hockey friends, and my pets!

So, today I depart for a bit of a rest and a deep breath before the last two weeks of the semester and Advent! I am super excited for Advent and Christmas! I am planning on doing some kind of Advent study, probably this one: http://www.journeythischristmas.com/chapter.html. Last year, I did a devotional series that could be found here: http://www.d365.org/followingthestar/ (I highly recommend it). Finally, I would suggest that all of you watch this, it is a very thought provoking video about Advent/Christmas in our American culture: http://adventconspiracy.org/ (video top right).

All the best to each of you! May your Thanksgiving also be a time of thanks-living.