First Impressions

I have now been to both of my classes for this semester, and the first thing that comes to mind to say is: oh wow. This will be a…well, an entertaining semester. I’m still deciding whether or not that’s a good thing….

Shakespeare first:
The prof is probably in his early to mid 60’s. He’s been teaching at TSU for 30 years. Shakespeare and Renaissance Lit is his thing. He went over all the non-Shakespeare plays we’re going to be reading and gave us a 5-10 minute synopsis of each. He was pretty funny in his descriptions. He didn’t tell us about any of the Shakespeare, but he did go through the list and ask who had already read what. Of the 13, I’ve read 8. There are 2 to 3 plays assigned every week. We have to read one and just skim the other(s). It’s our choice which one we read/skim. Each week, everyone has to give a 5 minute report over the play they read. I’m not too excited about that part. There are 13 people in the class; that means it's going to take over an hour to get through the reports, and one thing I learned last semester is that a professor can give a time limit for a report/presentation, but no one actually follows it. Everyone (except me) goes longer than they’re supposed to. I’m afraid we’ll be spending the entire class every week just going over reports. That just doesn’t sound interesting to me. I'd rather hear what the prof has to say.

Now for American Novels of the 20’s:
This prof is probably in his late 60’s, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was in his 70’s. I’d say he was in his 80’s, but he doesn’t look or act that old. He doesn’t use a computer if he can help it. Doesn’t do email. He gave us 5 handouts last night that he probably typed on a typewriter years ago. One was the syllabus, one was “Odds & Ends about the USA 1870-1900”, another on “USA in 1900”, “The Best-Selling Novels in America 1911-1920”, & “The Second American Renaissance”. After he did attendance (just attendance…he didn’t do anything to try to actually learn what name went with what face), he started talking. Around 8:00 we had to stop him to ask for a break. We came back from break, and he started talking again until 9:15. It was fascinating. He didn’t even look at any of the handouts, didn’t have any notes, but he was throwing out dates and names and events. He talked about things that happened in the early 1900’s as if he had actually been there. He talked about the authors we’re studying as though he knew them personally. He calls Fitzgerald “Fitz”. He told stories about the writers as though he had been there when it happened. His wife’s sister’s husband grew up with William Faulkner…used to go fishing with him, called him Bill. He has a cousin who has had at least 2 best-selling novels, but he wouldn’t say his cousin’s name. The entire last hour of the class, all I could think was, “This guy should be on Jeopardy. He knows about EVERYTHING.” The entire drive home, all I could think was: Oh. My. Gosh.

I think it's going to be a fun semester. I will definitely be doing a lot of reading.

Jesus is coming again someday...

Could be tomorrow, could be today...

Have you ever wondered what you would do if you knew Jesus was coming back within the next twelve hours? All cynicism and doubt aside...if someone told you that Jesus was coming back today, and you believed it, what would you do?

I don't know if it was the influence of Advent sermons talking about Jesus' return, or if it was the spaghetti and garlic bread I had for dinner last night, or the glass of wine and slice of gingerbread that I had as a late night snack...or a combination of all three...but I had a dream about this last night.

I dreamt that someone told me and everyone else at work that Jesus was coming back that day at 11:30 pm sharp. I thought, "Yes, Jesus is coming back tonight." Everyone else at work believed it, too. We even put it on the calendar: "11:30 pm--Jesus coming back". And then we left work, because work is really the last place you want to spend your last hours before Jesus comes back.

I went home and cleaned my apartment. (Everyone knows that it is imperative to have a clean apartment when Jesus comes back...he might want to come in for a cup of tea.) As I cleaned my apartment, I was also praying: "God, I'd like to see Jesus and all, but it'd be really great if he didn't come back today. I just started dating this really nice guy and I'd really like to see if it's going to go anywhere, and if Jesus comes back, I'm not going to have the chance to do that. So, can't you just wait to come back?"

Then, finally, it was almost 11:30 pm, and I was outside waiting, sitting at a picnic table with my computer in front of me. At 11:35 Jesus still hadn't come, and I was thinking, "HA! He listened to me! He's not coming back tonight after all!" Then I got an email from Lee, asking a question about work (of all things), so I emailed him back the answer and also said, "So I see you're still awake, too.... :)," and I'm still thinking that Jesus isn't coming back. Then I happen to look up at the sky.

And all of a sudden, a light starts growing, and there was Jesus...standing in the sky with pink and gold glory lights streaming around him, and his golden hair curling on his shoulders. His hands were held out at his waist, palms out, and he looked like he was going to step right off the clouds.

I stood up, because you shouldn't be sitting down when Jesus comes back, and my first thought was, "Dang, he came back! So much for having another date." And then I thought, "Wow, it looks just like the Sunday School pictures always showed."

And then I woke up. I looked around and thought, "Huh. Only a dream. I guess Jesus hasn't actually come back. Oh, well."

It's incredibly sacrilegious, I know, but as I was getting ready for work this morning, I couldn't help laughing about it. I think it's one of the funniest dreams I've ever had.

COLD!!

It's cold here! Right now it's 30 degrees, and that's warm compared to last night and earlier this morning! We got to come to work late today, but I'd rather have stayed at home wrapped in blankets.
I finished my finals last night!!!! Class was canceled (it was sleeting), so we just had to email our final to the professor. Mine was awful, but I stopped caring this week. I'm just glad to be done! People keep asking me what I'm going to do with my free time since I'll just be working. They think I'm not going to know what to do with myself. But I've been planning since October what I would do with my break: reading books for fun, writing for fun, renting movies, and maybe even doing some cooking. It's going to be great!

Pledges

Today was Pledge Sunday at church.

I don't like Pledge Sunday much.

It's not that I mind making a pledge...I don't mind at all. Knowing that I've committed to giving so much money to church each month keeps me from spending that money on something else.

What bothers me about Pledge Sunday is the way it's handled. In the couple of years I've been a member at this church, it hasn't bothered me, but this morning it did.

Pastor's sermon started out great. He talked about giving time and talent, giving yourself, etc. And then, towards the end, someone stood up at the back of the church and said, "Excuse me, pastor, but aren't you forgetting someting?" It was totally planned...obvious that he was reading from a script. He proceeded to tell everyone about how we're also supposed to give our money. Maybe it's just me, but the way he said it seemed to nullify everything else pastor had said...as though if we don't give enough money it doesn't matter how much time and talent we give. He said that our faith can be measured by what percentage of our income we give, and he tried to back that up with scripture. I can't remember what scripture he used, but I have a problem with that statement. Does that mean that because I don't give 10% of my income, I don't have enough faith? Does that mean my faith is less than that of someone who does give 10%?

And how do you quantify faith, anyways?

So I put my envelope in the offering plate as it passed, and I made my pledge, and I felt guilty about it. Because it's not 10%. I wish it was. I wish I was able to give 15%, or more. In this matter, it's not my faith that lacks, it's my checkbook.

I left church feeling guilty, judged, and angry. That man asked me to put a dollar amount on my faith. I've been having a conversation with God about this all day, trying to figure out if he is asking me to do more. No answer has been reached yet. I'd like to be able to give more money to church.... I'd like to be able to give money to Camp Lone Star.... I'd also like to get out of debt....

My apartment used to be a home...my haven. It was my place to relax, to live.

Now it's just a place to sleep, shower, and occasionally (but only when absolutely necessary) to do laundry.

Last time I spent a Sunday afternoon at home: October 30.
Last time I cooked: October 22.
Last time I cleaned: October 21. (The only reason I know the date on these last two is because they coincided with the last time I hosted the girl's mentor group from Concordia.)
Last time I spent a Saturday afternoon at home: September 3. (Maybe...that's the most recent Saturday on my calendar that doesn't have anything on it.)
Last time I got home before 9 pm during the week (not counting Fridays): September 15.

I work full time and then some, I travel (which is technically working), I go to school half time, I play the piano about twice a month at church, where I also serve on two boards and just agreed to co-chair the board of communication, and where I'm trying to be active in the young adult group. And once or twice a month I host a group of girls at Concordia who are participating in a new mentor program.

So, what does all this amount to?

I'm busy.

And I don't know how to say no.

But here's the thing...the things I do are things I want to do. I'm enjoying school. Most of the time I love my job. I enjoy traveling, especially when it brings me to, or close to, places where I my friends live. I love playing the piano at church (since I started playing, my mom has stopped reminding me of how many thousands of dollars they spent on my piano lessons). I enjoy being on the youth board and the membership board. And I'm so excited about co-chairing the communication board (my goal is to give the church's website a makeover). I love hosting the mentor group. All of these things challenge me, and feed me. And they're my ministry. I can't say no.