Greetings! It's been quite a wonderful weekend here in Princeton. I mostly did homework and hung out with friends, but I also did some serious paper writing and basketball playing! I'm slowly but surely wrapping up my semester here, and hopefully I will be able to put a nice bow on top of it with two long papers due at the end of finals week and a NT exam. I am beginning to get really excited about summer time and all of the fun it will entail!
How many weeks? I have a bit of a confession to make to many of my friends from First Pres WC: I have not worshiped in a Presbyterian Church in six weeks (unless you count the Bridge). I have been all over the place. Here and there and everywhere! The Lutherans, Methodists, and Episcopalians have been consuming my Sundays for a month and a half now! It has actually been quite a marvelous experience. Finally, today I went to Pennington Pres! Wow, what a refresher! Nothing against these other traditions (I enjoy them as a matter of fact), but I was really missing the Presbys! AND on top of the wonderfulness of Presbyterians, there was also a drama of the Exodus story put on by youth and children choirs, which was absolutely fantastic! Go kids!
Hymnal Collection. Since I have been in a number of different traditions recently, I have been singing from a number of different hymnals (plus the three we use in chapel). I really like hymnals! They're awesome! I have added about five to my book-buying list. On the top of this list is probably the ELW--Lutheran Hymnal... it's pretty sweet! You should check it out! I'm beginning to form a really nice collection, and soon I will be able to add the new Presbyterian Hymnal that is coming out next year! Wooo Hooo!
Sermon Podcasts. One thing that has kept me close to the Presbys is sermon podcasts. That's right. I listen to sermon podcasts: in the morning, in the car, at the gym, when I'm writing papers, etc. Someone once told me, "If you want to be a good preacher, listen to good preachers." Well, that's exactly what I am doing. If you would like some recommendations, feel free to shoot me an email, and I will be happy to send you a link. =)
Well, it's been quite a wonderful day for me. I hope yours was great as well. Peace. =)
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Backpacks
I was scrolling through my pictures on my phone the other day, and I realized that I took this picture awhile ago with the intent of writing a post about it! Clearly, I forgot about it until now! So here goes:
Leave it at the door. Here at Princeton Seminary we have chapel every weekday (with Communion on Fridays). Everyday when we walk into chapel, we leave our backpacks at the door. For many reasons we don't bring our bags in with us. It's symbolic as well as practical (try having every student with their backpack fit into our chapel). Look closely and you will see:
Come, Bring Your Burdens to God. Chapel is a place for anything on a full spectrum of emotions. Sometimes we have sing-y days, other days we have liturgy days, most days it includes a meditation of some sort. We have such a wide array of chapel services because each one is planned by the MDiv senior preaching that day (or the chapel office if there is not meditation). Through all these types of services, it is always a place to bring your burdens to God (as we sang the other day) because there is always (ALWAYS!) a time for prayer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgSHi1OsIXk
Leave it at the door. Here at Princeton Seminary we have chapel every weekday (with Communion on Fridays). Everyday when we walk into chapel, we leave our backpacks at the door. For many reasons we don't bring our bags in with us. It's symbolic as well as practical (try having every student with their backpack fit into our chapel). Look closely and you will see:
Matthew 11:28-30. This was one of my memory verses from a while ago, and I love it! "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
I continue to keep all of you in my prayers. If you have a prayer request, feel free to email it to me! Take care! =)
I continue to keep all of you in my prayers. If you have a prayer request, feel free to email it to me! Take care! =)
Friday, March 23, 2012
200 Years in the Making
When Princeton does something, they do it big! And as a student, it is impossible to forget when any particular "big event" is because they plaster posters everywhere, send emails, give you cool looking stamped coins, remind you orally, make announcements during the lunch hour, and find every single method imaginable to make sure that you will not forget the time and place. And so it is for the Bicentennial Celebration. We also have these gi-normous signs all over campus:
Bicentennial. 200 years! Hooray! PTS has been around the block in existence for 200 years now! Yep, that's right--200 years! That's a looooong time! So we celebrated with an hour long...*ahem ahem* actually 2 hours long worship service, which started with ringing the bell on top of my dorm 200 times! I didn't even know the darn thing was able to ring at all?! Why don't we ring it more often? I mean, 200 times everyday would be overkill, but bells are cool. Ring them once a day when chapel begins--that would be neat. Anyway, it was a pretty good service. The choir was AMAZING! Seriously--incredible.The liturgy focused on remembering... which eerily reminded me of Sept 11 and MLK day sermons. I wish I could see people walking around in choir robes everyday:
Rereading books. Only three weeks left in the semester! Knock on wood, but I seem to be just a tad ahead on everything academic (let's see if that lasts through Holy Week)! Since I am feeling comfortable with my to-do list, I've been reading and rereading pleasure books. I don't know what it is about reading a book more than once (a concept that I used to think was ridiculous), but it's always better the second time, and even better times after that. Other than the Bible and Harry Potter, I have read very few books more than once! Just recently, however, I reread When Bad Things Happen to Good People. It's a very insightful book that I would recommend--and even better the second time! =) This idea of rereading books is growing on me in my old age! It's something I am going to try to do more often, which does not mean I am going to stop reading books I've never read before. THAT would be devastating!
Well everything is going wonderfully here in Princeton! I hope all is well with each of you. =) Blessings.
Bicentennial. 200 years! Hooray! PTS has been around the block in existence for 200 years now! Yep, that's right--200 years! That's a looooong time! So we celebrated with an hour long...*ahem ahem* actually 2 hours long worship service, which started with ringing the bell on top of my dorm 200 times! I didn't even know the darn thing was able to ring at all?! Why don't we ring it more often? I mean, 200 times everyday would be overkill, but bells are cool. Ring them once a day when chapel begins--that would be neat. Anyway, it was a pretty good service. The choir was AMAZING! Seriously--incredible.The liturgy focused on remembering... which eerily reminded me of Sept 11 and MLK day sermons. I wish I could see people walking around in choir robes everyday:
Rereading books. Only three weeks left in the semester! Knock on wood, but I seem to be just a tad ahead on everything academic (let's see if that lasts through Holy Week)! Since I am feeling comfortable with my to-do list, I've been reading and rereading pleasure books. I don't know what it is about reading a book more than once (a concept that I used to think was ridiculous), but it's always better the second time, and even better times after that. Other than the Bible and Harry Potter, I have read very few books more than once! Just recently, however, I reread When Bad Things Happen to Good People. It's a very insightful book that I would recommend--and even better the second time! =) This idea of rereading books is growing on me in my old age! It's something I am going to try to do more often, which does not mean I am going to stop reading books I've never read before. THAT would be devastating!
Well everything is going wonderfully here in Princeton! I hope all is well with each of you. =) Blessings.
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Kan-Jam
Welcome to Spring! Woo Hoo! I know it has only technically been Spring for about 21 hours, but it's felt like Spring here in Princeton for at least a good week! This weather has been quite wonderful! The quad has been more lively, everyone is bustin' out the shorts and flip flops, and now ice cream is an acceptable (even encouraged) reason to walk up into town. I hope you all are taking as much advantage of this weather as I am, that is, if you are in a warm climate.
Kan-Jam. Do you want to hear about an awesome game? Well, it's called Kan-Jam, and it's a marvelous frisbee game. It comes with these two large, round, garbage can-looking things. You play on teams like in horse shoes, and the point of the game is to get the frisbee into the can. 1 pt if your partner swats the frisbees and it touches the outside of the kan, 2 points if it touches the outside of the kan unassisted, 3 points if your teammate swats it into the kan, and instant winner if you get it into the kan unassisted. Teams play to 21 (exactly 21)! It's a really cool game. I played several rounds throughout the week and did not get bored for a single moment!
5Ks, Hockey, and Basketball! Talk about active! I may have signed up for a tad too many activities of fitness in the upcoming weeks. And to be quite honest, I don't even know if my schedule will allow me to participate in all of them. At least all the charities already have my money, so they don't really need my presence. I have three 5Ks in the month of April, a hockey tournament, a three-on-three outdoor basketball benefit, and a basketball tournament. This does not include training for the 5Ks, pick-up games at the gym, or hockey meetings for coaching and reffing. Ahhhh! Call me crazy, but April is also the month of Holy Week and Finals week! I'll be quite busy! =)
Visitors. Several of my friends have had visitors come to campus either just to hang out or check it out. They have all been quite fun and have given us reasons to avoid studying here and there to go do something fun! This brings up two thoughts in my brain: one--outsiders break the seminary-bubble phenomenon in a good way, and two--come visit! Now, I know that I literally just said that my April is busy, but what the heck, come visit while the weather is nice. I could spare a day or two to entertain! It's quite fun around here, and I have some quite hilarious friends! =) Oh, and Princeton is b-e-a-utiful!
I must say I have noticed that when I don't plan my blogs, they don't get written as often... and then I forget some fun and interesting things that happened. I will work on this to post a little bit more often. Remember, suggestions are welcome! Anyway, enjoy the new season of Spring, and I hope your season of Lent is treating you well! The Lord be with you. =)
Kan-Jam. Do you want to hear about an awesome game? Well, it's called Kan-Jam, and it's a marvelous frisbee game. It comes with these two large, round, garbage can-looking things. You play on teams like in horse shoes, and the point of the game is to get the frisbee into the can. 1 pt if your partner swats the frisbees and it touches the outside of the kan, 2 points if it touches the outside of the kan unassisted, 3 points if your teammate swats it into the kan, and instant winner if you get it into the kan unassisted. Teams play to 21 (exactly 21)! It's a really cool game. I played several rounds throughout the week and did not get bored for a single moment!
Visitors. Several of my friends have had visitors come to campus either just to hang out or check it out. They have all been quite fun and have given us reasons to avoid studying here and there to go do something fun! This brings up two thoughts in my brain: one--outsiders break the seminary-bubble phenomenon in a good way, and two--come visit! Now, I know that I literally just said that my April is busy, but what the heck, come visit while the weather is nice. I could spare a day or two to entertain! It's quite fun around here, and I have some quite hilarious friends! =) Oh, and Princeton is b-e-a-utiful!
I must say I have noticed that when I don't plan my blogs, they don't get written as often... and then I forget some fun and interesting things that happened. I will work on this to post a little bit more often. Remember, suggestions are welcome! Anyway, enjoy the new season of Spring, and I hope your season of Lent is treating you well! The Lord be with you. =)
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Theologiggle 2012
Greetings friends! It's been a wonderful week here in Princeton, and I hope that your week has been good as well. The weather up here in the Northeast part of the country has been beautiful! Hello springtime! =) Anyway, the end of the semester is in sight, but there is a lot to be accomplished before then! Only four weeks remain in the long term, then finals week, then May-term, then a real break and summer! I really can't wait for summer, my favorite season of the year! In the meantime, what is a person to do for a little fun around here? ...attend theologiggle 2012!
Theologiggle? So you might be thinking, "What the heck is this theologiggle?" It is a series of acts/skits put on by members of the seminary kind of poking fun at Princeton Seminary, theology, all things biblical, etc etc. All the money raised goes to charities in Trenton, NJ, and it's good to be able to laugh at yourself every once in a while. After all, most of the skits are making fun of ourselves and our community. For those of you who may be worried about the sanctity of God's Holy Word, don't worry, it wasn't heretical or distasteful humor.
Skits. There were a lot of good ones: OT Dating Game with Adam, Abraham, and King David; Seminary President after Seminary, Rap Songs "Super Bass," "Forget You," and "Who We Are" presented as poetry by a (real) NT scholar; Lose Yourself in the Sermon (to the tune of Eminem's "Lose Yourself"); Cats of the Apostles; Jesus is Bad with Names discussing the humor of name changes in the Bible; and finally a song to our beloved Minister of the Chapel. Previous years' recorded videos can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z2ULkg0M8g, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6OgmiqFZbQ.
No way! So, what does one do after a fantastic Friday full of fun and laughter?! Oh, I don't know.... play telephone pictionary (after theologiggle)! And here is just a sample:
Theologiggle? So you might be thinking, "What the heck is this theologiggle?" It is a series of acts/skits put on by members of the seminary kind of poking fun at Princeton Seminary, theology, all things biblical, etc etc. All the money raised goes to charities in Trenton, NJ, and it's good to be able to laugh at yourself every once in a while. After all, most of the skits are making fun of ourselves and our community. For those of you who may be worried about the sanctity of God's Holy Word, don't worry, it wasn't heretical or distasteful humor.
Skits. There were a lot of good ones: OT Dating Game with Adam, Abraham, and King David; Seminary President after Seminary, Rap Songs "Super Bass," "Forget You," and "Who We Are" presented as poetry by a (real) NT scholar; Lose Yourself in the Sermon (to the tune of Eminem's "Lose Yourself"); Cats of the Apostles; Jesus is Bad with Names discussing the humor of name changes in the Bible; and finally a song to our beloved Minister of the Chapel. Previous years' recorded videos can be found at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z2ULkg0M8g, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6OgmiqFZbQ.
No way! So, what does one do after a fantastic Friday full of fun and laughter?! Oh, I don't know.... play telephone pictionary (after theologiggle)! And here is just a sample:
"No way, YAHWEH!"
I hope that you all are enjoying the simplicity of Lent! Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and Easter are only a few weeks away! Peace be with you. =)
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Before I came to Seminary: Conclusion
Hello friends! I have stretched my memory as far as it can go, so I will now be wrapping up my seminary series. I hope you all have enjoyed it! If you have any suggestions for future topics, please send them to me. Keep in mind that this whole series was someone else's idea, not mine! The best ideas come from my friends, not me!
Life lessons. During my many years, I have learned so many life lessons--some the easy way, some the hard way. My experience has shaped who I am and who I am becoming. I have countless people to thank, but time and space would fail me if I were to try to include them all here. For a nice list of lessons I have learned recently or refined over the years, please reference: 2011: An Awesome Year and What I've Really Learned. The most important life lesson I have learned in the importance and necessity for love. As Paul says, "If I speak in tongues of mortals and angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." Love.
Dominoes. Looking back over the years has been an interesting endeavor for me. Things make more sense in hindsight. Such observations remind me of a scene from my favorite movie V for Vendetta:
Finch (character): The problem is, he knows us better than we know ourselves. And when I was there, I suddenly had this feeling that everything was connected. It's like I could see the whole thing, one long chain of events that stretched all the way back. I felt like I could see everything that happened, and everything that is going to happen. It was like a perfect pattern laid out in front of me. And I realised that we are all a part of it, all trapped by it.
Symbol. "A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract." I have a bunch of these... little mementos of sorts. For instance, on my hockey helmet I have stickers of certain initials and numbers of beloved friends of mine (who I played hockey with) who are no longer with us. These stickers represent their memory. On a more religious note, I used to have a stone from a "community Ebezener." It is a tangible way to remember that God is always with us, always. Anyway, I see my BA degrees and my eventual MDiv in a similar light. They're symbols and they have nothing to do with me--despite the fact that they have my name on them. They show support, and advice, and caring, and help, and community, and others' sacrifices, and hope, and faith, and most of all... love. These degrees really belong to other people--my friends, my family, my community, my church, etc etc etc.
So that's how I got to seminary. God's plan, not mine. Step by step, not making much sense to me along the way, but moving forward with faith and trust. "Here I am, LORD, send me."
Peace and blessings. =)
Life lessons. During my many years, I have learned so many life lessons--some the easy way, some the hard way. My experience has shaped who I am and who I am becoming. I have countless people to thank, but time and space would fail me if I were to try to include them all here. For a nice list of lessons I have learned recently or refined over the years, please reference: 2011: An Awesome Year and What I've Really Learned. The most important life lesson I have learned in the importance and necessity for love. As Paul says, "If I speak in tongues of mortals and angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have faith so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing." Love.
Dominoes. Looking back over the years has been an interesting endeavor for me. Things make more sense in hindsight. Such observations remind me of a scene from my favorite movie V for Vendetta:
Finch (character): The problem is, he knows us better than we know ourselves. And when I was there, I suddenly had this feeling that everything was connected. It's like I could see the whole thing, one long chain of events that stretched all the way back. I felt like I could see everything that happened, and everything that is going to happen. It was like a perfect pattern laid out in front of me. And I realised that we are all a part of it, all trapped by it.
Symbol. "A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object representing something abstract." I have a bunch of these... little mementos of sorts. For instance, on my hockey helmet I have stickers of certain initials and numbers of beloved friends of mine (who I played hockey with) who are no longer with us. These stickers represent their memory. On a more religious note, I used to have a stone from a "community Ebezener." It is a tangible way to remember that God is always with us, always. Anyway, I see my BA degrees and my eventual MDiv in a similar light. They're symbols and they have nothing to do with me--despite the fact that they have my name on them. They show support, and advice, and caring, and help, and community, and others' sacrifices, and hope, and faith, and most of all... love. These degrees really belong to other people--my friends, my family, my community, my church, etc etc etc.
So that's how I got to seminary. God's plan, not mine. Step by step, not making much sense to me along the way, but moving forward with faith and trust. "Here I am, LORD, send me."
Peace and blessings. =)
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Before I came to Seminary: Hand-dipped Drumsticks
Greetings beloved! I'm wrapping up my seminary series today with a final post about my younger years! I sure hope that you have enjoyed learning about how I got to this point in my life. I have received several emails regarding the series, so I encourage you to continue shooting the emails my way if you have a question or comment. I truly welcome such feedback! Before I came to seminary:
Softball*. The first sport I have ever played in my life is softball. I don't even remember the age in which I started playing, but it was really young. Being the skinny little thing that I was at the time, I was rather fragile and constantly came home with scrapes, bruises, sprains, etc etc. I loved it though. And for some reason being a part of a team was very appealing to me. To wear the same jersey as everyone else and really feel part of something bigger than myself made me an incredibly happy little girl. When I was first learning how to play softball, I was always more interested in chatting with fellow players than working on my individual game. This drove my coaches crazy because oftentimes I was talking over them. I was a social butterfly before I was ever an athlete.
Songs. Oh did we ever have some good cheer songs! They were incredibly witty and cheery, and I loved loved loved to sing sing sing them all game long. Now many of you know that I don't have a very good singing voice, but that doesn't matter on a girls' softball team. The only thing that matters is that you are as loud as humanly possible, and preferably louder than the other team!
Victory Ice-Cream! Most of the time during ASA (American Softball Association) I would play catcher (which may have been influential in my knee injury). This would make me easily the scummiest player on the team. Some of the girls didn't enjoy getting their jerseys all dirty, but for me--the more dirt the better! Anyway, after our victories (most games because we were pretty good for several years running), we would go to Ocean's Ice Cream and get a cold treat! I would always get their homemade hand-dipped drumsticks! Yum yum yum! Oh what great memories! The parents would normally chat together, and the team would do some serious team bonding--mostly just talking about the awesome plays of the game and praising one another.
How this helps: Team-spirit, socializing, singing, friendships.
Next Post: Conclusion
Peace be with you. =)
*I could not find any digital pictures! Ugh!
Softball*. The first sport I have ever played in my life is softball. I don't even remember the age in which I started playing, but it was really young. Being the skinny little thing that I was at the time, I was rather fragile and constantly came home with scrapes, bruises, sprains, etc etc. I loved it though. And for some reason being a part of a team was very appealing to me. To wear the same jersey as everyone else and really feel part of something bigger than myself made me an incredibly happy little girl. When I was first learning how to play softball, I was always more interested in chatting with fellow players than working on my individual game. This drove my coaches crazy because oftentimes I was talking over them. I was a social butterfly before I was ever an athlete.
Songs. Oh did we ever have some good cheer songs! They were incredibly witty and cheery, and I loved loved loved to sing sing sing them all game long. Now many of you know that I don't have a very good singing voice, but that doesn't matter on a girls' softball team. The only thing that matters is that you are as loud as humanly possible, and preferably louder than the other team!
Victory Ice-Cream! Most of the time during ASA (American Softball Association) I would play catcher (which may have been influential in my knee injury). This would make me easily the scummiest player on the team. Some of the girls didn't enjoy getting their jerseys all dirty, but for me--the more dirt the better! Anyway, after our victories (most games because we were pretty good for several years running), we would go to Ocean's Ice Cream and get a cold treat! I would always get their homemade hand-dipped drumsticks! Yum yum yum! Oh what great memories! The parents would normally chat together, and the team would do some serious team bonding--mostly just talking about the awesome plays of the game and praising one another.
How this helps: Team-spirit, socializing, singing, friendships.
Next Post: Conclusion
Peace be with you. =)
*I could not find any digital pictures! Ugh!
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