Be Still

The Romans conference started today here at PTS, so I have even less free time than normal. This being said, I shall make this post relatively short because I have somewhere to be in 20 minutes. Oh, and this conference is absolutely wonderful thus far! Anyway, a pervasive theme that seems to have infiltrated my life recently is stillness. So this is what I leave you with...


Psalm 46:10 "Be still, and know that I am God."


"Still." A Song by Hillsong. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXywFuTf65I

Hide me now

Under Your wings
Cover me
Within Your mighty hand

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with You above the storm
Father you are King over the flood
I will be still and know You are God
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/h/hillsong_united/still.html ]
Find rest my soul
In Christ alone
Know His power
In quietness and trust

When the oceans rise and thunders roar
I will soar with You above the storm
Father You are king over the flood
I will be still and know You are God

"Be Still." A Song by The Fray. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nUuBjz4Vhc

Be still and know that I'm with you
Be still and know that I am here
Be still and know that I'm with you
Be still, be still, and know

When darkness comes upon you
And covers you with fear and shame
Be still and know that I'm with you
And I will say your name

If terror falls upon your bed
And sleep no longer comes
Remember all the words I said
Be still, be still, and know

And when you go through the valley
And the shadow comes down from the hill
If morning never comes to be
Be still, be still, be still

If you forget the way to go
And lose where you came from
If no one is standing beside you
Be still and know I am

Be still and know that I'm with you
Be still and know I am

Blessings and Peace. =)

Praying Paul

Greetings dear friends! It's been a wonderful week here at PTS, and the weather is being as inconsistent as ever. I'm cool with it, though, because it means that there is a rare nice day here and there--nice enough to have Hebrew Exegesis class on the Chapel steps last Thursday! Anyway, we have entered the Lenten season, which means we have about seven weeks until Easter Sunday! Woo Hoo!

Lent Discipline. To many people, Lent has been a season of giving something up--chocolate, coffee, cookies, cursing, whatever... Less often, I see people endeavoring into the realms of new disciplines. Both of these observations have inspired my plan for Lent. Now now now, having a background in Psychology means that I read a lot of studies about such endeavors: taking on too much too fast usually ends in failure, temptation gets stronger the longer it persists, and it takes about 60 days to develop a new habit. All this considered, I have decided to give up three of my dining-hall weaknesses: cookies (which are consequently on NW's top ten list of awesome things in America), ice cream (which kinda stinks now that they got rid of all that cherry ice cream and replaced it with my two favorites--choco mint chip and cookies and cream), and granola (which you can eat as slow as you want because it practically never goes soggy)! So, wish me luck with all that! The far more interesting part of my Lenten plan is my new discipline: Praying Paul. This might not be the most accurate description of what I am actually doing, but my plan is to memorize an awesome section of Paul's letters everyday. Sometimes this is a single verse, sometimes it's five or six. The point is that I will be memorizing even more Scripture than I already do, and to be quite honest, I have been obsessing with the Prophets and Psalms a little bit too much lately, so this should jazz up my rememorizing a bit! I'm getting most of my suggestions for passages from my brain, my friends, and a nice little book titled A Still More Excellent Way. 


Psalm Sing. I foreshadowed the Psalter celebration two posts ago, but man o man it was pretty darn cool! There was a reception with tasty snacks, lively people, and a book signing. We all then ventured over to the Chapel to sing a little bit. It was quite a fun and uplifting night. Check out the first page of my Psalter:

You know, I really love the Psalms. What a wonderful book! You should go read a few! They're short, and there is one for every occasion. Also, I will be sure to have my Psalter with me as I travel to West Chester and Weatherly over Spring Break if any of you want to look at the pure dead brilliance contained on the pages of this incredible collection of Psalms!

Palm Sunday. First Pres WC is having a Palm Sunday 5K run/2k walk that you should all try to attend. I am currently training for the distance of 10K, which includes five days of gym time and at least four evenings icing knees. So, if you are a seminiarian reading this, I encourage you to join me in my training. If not, you should go to about.com and get a good training schedule for yourself. More details can be found at: http://www.firstpreswc.com/palm-sunday-5k

I hope all is well with each of you, and I hope to see you soon (whoever you are)! The LORD be with you! =)

"Determination is what you need right now!"

Good day everyone! I think I can officially say that I am beginning to get sick-and-tired of Hebrew. Hebrew this, Hebrew that, Hebrew everything! Good news for me, however, is that I just totally rocked that 2nd midterm, AND now I get a three day weekend. By Tuesday, I should be adequately un-sick-and-tired of Hebrew! Hooray! Keeping in mind that I still have the other half of class in about 20 minutes where our Rabbi friend is back for a special visit with our class (more on that later this weekend), I will instead write about other occurrences this week.

ASL class. Wooo Hoo, an official ASL class here at PTS! This is going to be awesome! It will begin in the spring semester and be a one hour a week not-for-credit class. A few friends and I have managed to pick up some ASL here and there from those around us very skilled in ASL (Noah, Nelson, Jacob), and I would argue that we could hold our own in a conversation.... BUT, now with a class, we'll get even better! Yay! Yesterday, a few of us even had a whole conversation at lunch using only ASL! Oh, the wonderful sounds of silence!

Frailty of Life. For me, January has been a lesson all about this. Several of my very dear friends have been in the hospital, others have had severe illnesses, it seems like everyone is getting sick, anxiety and depression are in season, prayer requests for healing and recovery have hit me like a tidal wave of emotion, and now my beloved brother is in ICU. I have been lucky enough to avoid any of this stuff happening to me, but it's almost worse in a way because many around me are suffering, and there is very little I can do about it. I suppose that's the nature of health issues, though. I'm persistently praying and in the meantime I am here to listen, to pray with and for others, and hopefully to provide social support that may be needed. Hopefully, February brings with it more than just a new semester. Anyway, look at my fortune:

Determination is right! =)

Well, I am very near to being late for the lecture half of my Hebrew class this morning! I wish all the best to each of you, and humbly ask for your prayers for all of my friends mentioned above and also my brother. God Bless!

"How do you Hiphil that?"

Good morning friends! It's has been far too long since I updated this blog! Ugh, what a loooong week! I returned to PTS just six days ago, but it feels like I've been back for an eternity! Since J-term started less than 12 hours after I returned, I practically had no time to catch up with friends about their breaks, except for passing conversations here and there that were far too short in my estimation. Finally after a week, I feel like we're all caught up. =)

Hebrew. This week went pretty well. The class is split up in such a way that I don't get antsy in the three hours of Hebrew every morning. Precept has been quite fun: my preceptor is an awesome teacher, we're learning new things, there is a nice sense of community, and we've been doing straight-from-the-Bible translating. This week alone we've worked on passages from Genesis, I Samuel, Ruth, and Psalms. Many of us have been studying in groups which is extremely helpful... and we get a lot of laughs from statements like, "How do you Hiphil that?"* On the other hand, the test yesterday was hard! I'm convinced that my brain hurt afterward, and the professor kept saying, "I know your brains are fried, so... [we'll have an easy lecture]." My attitude for next week: bring it week two!

 

I found this picture online, but it says something like: "And it came to pass after the death of Moses, servant of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun minister of Moses saying..."**

YAAD. Just a quick update on my YAAD (Young Adult Advisory Delegate) application. I received an email from the Presbytery confirming that they got my application, the endorsement from my session, and my written statement of faith. Yay! On 24 January 2012, Presbytery will vote on recommendations, so I should know shortly after that if I get to go to GA (General Assembly) this year in Pittsburgh! =)

Please continue to pray with me for my dear friends in the hospital! I hope to post again soon, but that is only Hebrew-willing. All the best, God Bless!

*Hiphil is a verb form in Hebrew. Saying this is like saying, "How do you gerund that?" in English.
**My translation. Text sounds/looks like it's from the book of Joshua.

Hold My Heart

And so it has begun! J-term Hebrew. Some of us are beginning to get a little crazy after just two days, but it's no wonder! 3 hrs of class every day--half precept, half lecture. It all starts with a quiz (everyday) or test (on Fridays), then going over homework, going through the new lesson, trying to remember yesterday's lesson, going to lecture, speeding through that lesson, translating for an hour.... then go to lunch and spend the rest of the day jamming 20-30 new vocab words in your brain, new grammar to learn, new forms and idioms to shove in there too, the next chapter to read and understand, and on top of all that-homework! In total, it has been equating to about 8 hours of Hebrew a day! Sounds fun, right? ...in a slightly geeky way, I kinda like it. =)

Hold My Heart. I was at the gym this afternoon (physical activity boosts mental activity--that's my justification) and my iPod was on shuffle. For some reason, my iPod loves Tenth Avenue North... seriously loves them! I have two of their albums, but I also have over 3,000 songs; every time I put the thing on shuffle, within ten songs, I will have a Tenth Avenue North song. It's quite astonishing. Anyway, today at the gym, my iPod chose for me to listen to a song entitled Hold My Heart by Tenth Avenue North (first song this time). It's lyrics are really good:

One tear in a driving rain

One voice in a sea of pain

Could the Maker of the stars, 

hear the sound of my breaking heart?

One life, that's all I am

Right now I can barely stand

If you're everything you say you are, 

would you come close and hold my heart

To me, it sounds like a desperate prayer. Have you ever prayed with such desperation? It also got me to thinking about the title of the song, Hold My Heart. Sometimes hearts hurt, hearts need God, and hearts need holding. Really, it's incredible that your heart even fits in your chest with everything it holds! Anyway, it's a great song, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry6udsW9leA.

Prayer Request. Two of my very dear friends are having serious surgeries this week (one tomorrow and one on Thursday), so if you could pray for them and their families, that would be greatly appreciated! 

Well, friends, it's about time I get back to Hebrew! I hope you all had wonderful Christmases and New Year's celebrations! All the best and God Bless!

Glory to God in the Highest

Greetings! Less than one day until Christmas Eve, and I am overly excited! It is going to be a wonderful day! I'm definitely ready! All of this waiting during Advent has all led up to tomorrow evening! It is by far my favorite day of the year--the most holy night with the best news in the world:

"And the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy for all the people: For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased." Luke 2:10-14

Praying the "O Antiphons." I got a lovely email on Monday inviting me into a week of specialized prayer with other members of the Presbytery. Considering my particular love for advent, I especially appreciate this time of prayer. The "O Antiphons" are seven titles for Jesus, originally in Latin: Sapientia (Wisdom), Adonai (Lord), Radix Jesse (Root of Jesse), Clavis David (Key of David), Oriens (Dayspring), Rex Gentium (King of Nations), and Emmanuel. The emails are complete devotions with art, examples, thoughts, prayers, and questions for reflection. I have really enjoyed it thus far and plan on saving the emails to return to this time next year. If you'd like a copy, I'd be glad to forward them to you.

Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is going to be incredible, I can feel it! I love celebrating Christmas and am blessed enough to spend it at my wonderful church. The schedule is full, but it's going to be something else! 

     3:00pm Unrehearsed Christmas Pageant

     5:00pm Family Service

     7:00pm Traditional Service

     9:00pm Traditional Service

     10:30pm Communion Service

The 5:00pm Family Service is looking especially exciting this year. Our praise band is playing in the sanctuary! I am looking forward to it.

When one sound board won't do it... bring the other one over! My prime seat for the 5:00pm service!

This Christmas Eve should have a nice mix of little children running around, contemporary music, traditional hymns, and spiritual moments. There is nothing like the communion service--you really feel God's presence! Anyway, I'll be there for all services, and I sure hope to see you there! First Pres WC knows what Christmas is all about. =) Glory to God in the highest! Merry Christmas!