Well, Its Done!

Well, it's done! My Master's Degree is complete. I turned my last paper in Thursday after my final final exam. I got my grades back and they passed me. I'm just waiting on the diploma.

Now what? I have 4 weeks off and then I get a real job. I am going to use that time to develop a business plan to open a private practice with a friend and fellow graduate and start my life.

My final GPA: 3.328.

Ghetto Quoteboard

For those of you who remember, here they are. For those of you who don't, I'm not going to explain it. In no particular order, with comments as necessary for prosperity (punctuation as on the quoteboard)...

"You guys live in the ghetto!" -Katie Wisniewski (originator of the Ghetto)

"Kick 'em in the nuts and walk away." - Denae

"Good Ghandi" - Denae

"I feel so bad. You guys shouldn't have to live here." - DC Maintenance man

"Wow, you look big from here" - Kelly to Carol, 1.5 inches away.

"I need to move my Bible out of the middle of the floor — its being a stumbling block" - Sarah W

"Will you leave my mouth alone?" - Carol Hiner

"The garbage disposal is vomiting!!!" - Denae Wittmeier

"Our insides match!" - Sarah when she discovered the similarity between Carol's and her dress

"I have to get out of this chair: its making me dizzy!" Sarah

"Where do they expect you to sleep?" - Dad Wisniewski

"I wanna be a girl!!!" - Kelly

"This place isn't so bad. I wouldn't live there, but it's not so bad." - Anonymous

"Yay God!" - Denae after small and large demonstrations of God's greatness

"...Thingie..." - Sarah about anything.

"Most of us were not us for most of our life. Were you-you? I wasn't me!" said by Carol as Sarah shakes her head

"Do you have smoke detectors?" - Mom Helms

"Oh shit! This hurts like the Devil." - Denae when getting her finger caught in the garage door

"Its the ghetto~I can't take a shower in the ghetto!" - Kelly

"Let's go for it baby...I need some orange juice!" - Denae t-ed off (BIG TIME)

"I'm such a spaz" - Denae

"Now is not the time to be conservative, you're wearing a bed sheet!" - Kelly Helms

"Sioux Center has a ghetto?!" - Dr Veenstra

"For the next time you girls burn something on the stove" - Mom Helms

"I'm talking to myself and I don't know how I'm going to respond!!!" - Kelly panicking about working too much; upon being informed that the leak would be fixed

"What just happened here?" - Carol. "An act of God" - Denae.

"That person got bit by two penguins! How lucky can one person get?!" - Sarah W. Who else?

"Look at us - all sitting around crocheting and reading like a bunch of old maids. We could be the Golden Girls!" (i.e. us when we're 90). - Denae

"Who needs TV for entertainment? We have Kelly!" - Carol

"The ghetto doesn't have ghetto sauce? I'm confused" - Kelly

"They expect you guys to live here??" - Dad Wisniewski

"That's ridiculous!" - Carol and Denae on boys

"Dial 8! Dial 8!" - Carol waking up to a fire next door (Sept 11, 2001; approx. 45 minutes before the towers were hit)

"In the ghetto, we need all the safety measures we can get." - Kelly

"I'm scared to use your bathroom. I've been holding it all morning." - Mom Wittmeier

"Oh goodness, I just made some trouble." - Denae breaking the blinds

"You guys live on the wrong side of the tracks." - Josiah Murphy

"You know you've made yourself at home when you can bring over the tea kettle" - Sarah

"Wanna hear a funny story?" - Denae

"Hey check this out!" - Kelly; "I don't wanna check that out!" - Carol (about a strap/strapless bra)

"We're paying how much for this?" - Carol

"I'm a bad influence on myself" - Kelly in a struck tone

"I can't tell what persons are anymore!" - Carol how you can tell she's been proofreading too much

"I've lost my owner's manual. I don't know how to operate myself!" - Sarah (she did find it moments later)

"Oh Denae changed her head." - Kelly

"Fire! Fire! What do I do? - Kelly reacting to the pan melting on the stove

"I actually feel clean today! I took a shower in the other apartment." - Sarah

"I just wanna be the syrup" - Denae

"I find philosophy really easy. you make some statement that you don't fully understand and everyone else does then, five minutes later, you get it." - Kelly

"Oh I guess your hair does feel jelly" - Kelly to David Hjelle after Denae put gel in his hair

"No offense, but your apartment is kinda crappy." - Matt Hilbelink

"Did you steal all the sleep I didn't get?" - Sarah

"There's a shortage of perfect breasts in the world. T'would be a pity to damage yours." Wesley; Princess Bride.

There you go. In memory of all the good times and in forgetting all Manicotti.

Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance is the concept in which there are two thought pattens that do not coincide and yet one is working to replace a dysfunctional one with a more functional one. Such as a juvenile offender moving towards a life without crime: there is a dissonance between the thoughts he once had and the ones he needs to have to reform.

So I'm experiencing that. I have 12 days left and once again my college/university days will be behind me. I'm ambivalent. But I'm also having a bit of trouble figuring out why people talk as if getting a Masters is sort of an exclusive club. I understand that it takes work to achieve this level of education, but really, they talk about it as if it's like the honor roll. I've never been smart enough or able enough to actually be listed on any sort of honor roll!

Grad School (let's specify my Masters), my Master's Program, felt easier than college. If you look at my grades, you would agree with me. I graduated college with a 2.89GPA and as it sits, one semester shy of completion, my Masters GPA is 3.12 (I am expecting two A's, one C+, and a B I think this semester so it should go up a bit). And to boot, I have also achieved the Dean's List one semester. How does that happen? I hardly seemed to break a sweat most semesters (we'll all not count Fall Semester 2009...we're just thankful that is over) and I actually did ALL my reading except the reserves for Systematic Theology 1 and 3. I also read at least one extra book (one not counted in anyway for my Masters), generally speaking a novel but some non-fictions, a semester for the past three or four terms (I read two this semester: Screwtape Letters and The Count of Monte Cristo).

Its not to say that I'm not proud of myself or anything like that but many of my fb-friends have expressed how proud of me they are and although I'm extremely grateful to have friends that encourage the crap out of me (thanks Denae, you were probably the one that got me through that Fall Semester...remember the 12 papers, 12 reading assignments, 1 presentation, 3 -or 4- exams, one final project, and 30 days to do it?) I'm just not sure all the pomp-and-circumstance is not overkill. I just want to say, it didn't take that much work. I, for the first time in my life, not only breezed through school, I also thoroughly enjoyed it and don't want it to stop.

So for all of my wonderful cheerleaders out there: THANK YOU SO MUCH!! In 12 days, I graduate and my free advice stops. (Sorry, my prof told me that was a liability.)

Pumpkin Pie and Shell...From Pumpkin, NOT A Can

My first Thanksgiving in Fiji (about two or three weeks after I arrived) was definitely one of thankfulness. I had been warmly received, had started budding new friendships, and had found out that no one else except me (and one other American I had met) had EVER tasted turkey. It was time for Thanksgiving. My one American friend knew how to cook a turkey and make great stuffing and I had brought with me a cookbook called "Cooking from Scratch Overseas" which had all the other ingredients and recipes for the rest of the meal (along with ketchup, laundry detergent, play doh, deodorant, and shampoo among other things). Mind you, the recipes were written for those who have very few modern convenient kitchen things and it may seem like its the 'long way around', I've let you know what I did in diversion from the recipe. So here goes: the recipe to Kelly's very first pumpkin pie, from a real, fresh pumpkin and not a can.

Pie Crust (if you don't have one already):

2.5 c flour

3/4 c shortening

1 tsp salt (I generally skip this)

*5 tbsp cold water (if flour is heavy, it may take more water, I recently ended up using seven or eight tbsp).

Mix flour and salt. Cut shortening with two knives or food processor using plastic blade until mixture forms pea-sized lumps. Sprinkle water a tablespoon at a time over the flour; mix with a knife until lumps begin to stick together. Press the mixture into a ball. do not knead dough. Put on slightly floured board. Flatten ball and roll out. Makes 1 two-crust pie, 9 inch (I used it as a 1 - one crust pie crust and it was fine)

3- Step Pumpkin Pie (and mind you, this is the best pumpkin pie recipe I have ever had; ** to ** means I diverted from the recipe and this is what I did):

1.5 c cooked pumpkin (instructions below)

3/4 c sugar

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt (I skipped this and it was fine)

3 eggs

1.25 c milk

1 (6oz) can evaporated milk OR 3/4 c rich top milk

1 unbaked pie shell (above)

Preheat oven to 400 F

FIRST STEP: Wash pieces of fresh pumpkin (scrape out seeds and soft pumpkin around seeds) or squash and place, unreeled, in pressure cooker with rack in the bottom. Put in water even with the rack and pressure for 10-12 minutes. it is much easier to peel cooked pumpkin or hard squash after cooking. **I do not have a pressure cooker nor have ever used one, I used a large/deep pot, cut up the pumpkin into smaller pieces and cooked it like a potato: boiled it until it was soft and tender, drained it, put it in a strainer mashed it with a potato masher after peeling it (I don't think it would be wise to use a hand mixer, it takes little effort to mash it), and then measured it out. I got 4 pies out of my pumpkin.**

SECOND STEP: Place cooked pumpkin in a colander to drain and cool. Drain mashed pumpkin in a colander for several hours. Excess liquid drains out and you will be left with a thick pumpkin puree perfect for any pie or pudding recipe. The drained-out liquid and add it to soups and stews or use it as the liquid in baked goods, since it should be rich in vitamins. Peel the pieces and cut into smaller sizes to press into a measuring cup. Put the milks, measured pumpkin, sugar, salt, and spices into the blender jar and turn on to "mix" for a few minutes. Open the lid and add the unbeaten eggs; blend everything together well. **Instead of waiting several hours, when I mashed the pumpkin into the puree, it naturally drained. I had peeled off the skin of the pumpkin with a knife (it was too hot to do it by hand) and by the time I had finished that and mashed it, it was fine. This works just the same if you do not have the time/desire to wait several hours**

STEP THREE: Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 400 F about 50 minutes or until a knife blade inserted into the center comes out without the mixture sticking to it. The pie may seem a little soft, but it will set as it cools. This makes a deep pie with plenty of custard or larger more shallow one. Serve with toppings if desired!

Fresh pumpkin can also be cut in half and baked in the oven at 325 F for about an hour or until insides are soft. scrape out the pulp and put in the blender with the other ingredients. You could cook it in the microwave oven too.

The color of the pie is lighter than if you use a canned pumpkin - just to warn you, you didn't do it wrong, it just looks a little different. I hope you enjoy it all!!

Nostalgia

I went through some old mementos from my days at YFC (both WOO — World Outreach Office — and YFCGR — Youth for Christ Grand Rapids) and I ran across my stack of letters.

My stack of letters is roughly 4 to 5 inches tall sorted by the girl who wrote them and year. Stuffed into the mix were "LifeChange" one-page blurbs about how a girls life had change through the ministry and were meant to be posted at fundraisers. I am still in awe about how God has worked.

So many girls.

After briefly looking at certain ones, I laid on the floor to do my sit-ups (all 240 of them, working all abdominal muscles in rotating fashion...upper, side, lower and then girly push-ups incase you're wondering) and I realized that God had shown mercy on me when He prompted me to pull these out for the first time tonight...nearly two years later.

I don't think they conveyed the impact all those donor-dollars (nearly $180,000 in the five years with YFC). I read them now and I am privileged to not be so close to the situation that I can understand it from an outsider's perspective and yet I still have vivid memories of the day I was fortunate enough to receive those letters. I see both sides of the story.

There is incredible intensity in the words of those letters. I sit here and absorb it and lingering next to these memories is the day I cried in the Cornerstone Library over the loss of never receiving another one. I literally wept while chatting on Facebook to a friend who could have been a million miles away but was close enough to put her hand on my shoulders and say, "I hope everything is okay" as she clung to her backpack and walked out the door. Thank you Rita for sitting in Ithica, NY speaking to me and thank you to the unnamed CU student for walking out the library at just that moment. That was the moment, I was mercifully blinded to the intensity of those words in the letters until now.

God has shielded us from most of the intensity of the balance the lives around us. This is intensity captured also in one letter a donor wrote to me days after surgery where he was shown the mercy of being able to receive life from another. Intensity captured by a young girl on the humble shores of a distant island who was shown greatness in the ordinary. Intensity being revealed in an office across town to a woman to whom she trusted in God to heal, and he did. Intensity brought on by a life in crisis that is unfolding in an uncontrollable and unpredictable pattern that most likely will lead to abandonment.

We cannot sit knowing what we know, fellow Christians, and if there is one thing that I want to impress upon you, is that this intensity that we see is, in actuality, only a twinkle of the intensity we cannot see.

Expectations

My pastor tells a story of expectations. He preached in a small church in South Dakota before he came to us and the community at one point had been going through a drought. They had called together a prayer service in order to call upon God to send rains. He tells that story with a bit of regret saying that he should have been the first to bring an umbrella. No one brought an umbrella.

Why do we continue to pray for rain but lack the sense to bring an umbrella? Do we really think that God would not send us his blessing? Perhaps he doesn't because we are not expecting him to. He therefore, would not be disappointing us, we disappoint ourselves.

I am no better. I have continued to struggle with the whole aspect of prayer: praying with the un-hope hope this world so generously gives instead of the hope that God has already fulfilled. I need to pray with the expectation that the rain has already fallen, that the earth has already flourished: not that it will come, or that it is well on its way, I need to pray that the things that are not are in deed already.

Anything less is not prayer. Anything less is talking to a hole in the wall.

That is the blind seeing, the deaf hearing, the lame walking, and the dead living.

That is courage. That is prayer.

Good-Bye Letters

Those of you who know (perhaps intimately) what I do, know and understand that I do not have the emotional energy or the time to write everyone I say good-bye to a little note of encouragement, inspiration, or just tacky and polite well wishes (the later being ones that seem fake and are often insensitive). Needless to say, I have a lot of hellos and goodbyes in both my lines of work.

But I took the time and, in recent months, the energy to write one this past weekend. ...Recent months because it is then that the energy gets built up because it is then that warrants notes of this caliber to be written.

I didn't sign it. That was the collaboration of years of building up. See I once took credit for the impact I made in someones life and for the 18 to 24 months that passed after that moment in time, I was miserable. In fact, all people around me were probably miserable with me and as a life-long lingering affect, one of those people no longer speak to me...9 years later. (I can now name several people who are thinking about this point in my life...I'll give you a moment to ponder).

So this luck recipient of this nameless good-bye letter approached me, in a joking manner, and I humored that attitude of gratitude with the response that it may be nice now and iconic later, but the words that were shared in that letter did not warrant a name being attributed to it. That one day, years down the road they hopefully will not be my words but will be left as a mark in the life of this person by the ONE who could care more than I could, and the ONE that would (hopefully) be a relationship this person maintains infinitely longer than I could ever imagine being in that persons life.

Therefore, I left it nameless. I can no longer take credit for things I do not do, words I do not have, and wisdom that is far beyond my ability to comprehend, understand, or dole out. It is nameless, at least, left without my name, in the hope that if this person would keep that letter for years, decades, to come, the Author would be notably thanked countless times daily and that I could go on, nameless, creditless, and in everlasting debt only.

...

Words of Truth

Sin sucks.

Ha Ha...And You Think That Will Reassure Me?

A quote from an Associated Press article on the Health Effects of the Gulf Spill on those working to clean it up and at the safety of the seafood to those who love their fishes:

Q: How about the seafood? Is it safe to eat?

A: The president thinks so. Barack Obama ate Gulf seafood during his last visit to Mississippi. He declared that seafood from the region is safe, and also announced stepped-up inspections.

President Obama telling me whatever food is safe/not safe for me (or anyone to eat) is about as reassuring as me telling a cancer patient how to treat the cancer. I'm sorry, I am unqualified to make that assessment. President Obama is unqualified to tell anyone whether food is safe/not safe for anyone to eat.

One more thing President Obama is NOT QUALIFIED to do. There is a running list...

LOVE-ing the New Mac

I recently went from a PC to a Mac. "Mac-Daddy" is really what I want to shout for some reason (ha ha ha).

I was pretty ambitious too the day I converted, I also abandoned Microsoft Office for the Mac version of iWorks. I thought I had bit off more than I thought I could chew (but when have I ever not been that way???).

So I like it. Its been one week and one day since my rebirth of sorts and I'm getting to know the tricks and shortcuts of iWorks that I knew in Office, a few I have yet to learn, and I've found that the Mac is helping me be more focused than the PC. Here's how:

Mac does not come with Freecell, Spider Solitaire, Hearts, Pinball, Solitaire, etc... except Chess and Chess, as we all know, is the game of kings, warriors, and any person in a place of strategy and skill (all components of focus).

Mac (well, more specifically the web browser Safari) has a feature that previews recently/frequently used websites and it lays out all options together (games and academic sites) that face me with my choices and priorities.

Mac, I believe, uses monitor space more efficiently. I have a 13" for two reasons: it was significantly cheaper than the 15" and I like the smallness of it. So space at that rate, is prime.

Mac's keyboard is quieter as you hit the keys. Really nice for the Tetris aspect of my class time.

Nuf said. Mac you've won me over and it took 8 days.

Wondering If Anyone Reads This Anymore...

Yeah but I'll probably be still blogging even if no one reads it. ha ha ha

So I encountered computer problems on day two of my ten day class. Grrr.... All over, well, mostly over. I won't be going into detail about that.

I have mixed feelings on how that class ended (Marriage and Family Therapy). On the one hand I'm simply amazed at the B that I ended with. On the other hand I'm disappointed it wasn't an A. Here's why: Entering the final exam, I was at an A. Exiting the final exam, I was at a B. That's right...flat-out failed it - by miles! Can you even believe that??? Hence the reason I'm amazed that I got a B. It is just about as thrilling as that B I got in NT Biblical Theology.

Nuf about the final grade...this is how that failing grade arrived on that final. In the two week duration of the class I did this: wrote a 10 page paper, read 433 of 500 pages of the collateral reading, got an A on the midterm, celebrated my 4 year anniversary, and visited the ER 4 times. That is simply why I had no energy to study the night(s) before the exam.

That is about all I have. Pray that I find my flash drive and that I get about two more clients for my internship. THANK YOU!!

New Testament Biblical Theology Class Last Night

Last night in my NT Biblical Theology class the question was posed about Paul's reaction to today's statistic that 60% of Christians believe that Jesus sinned while he was on earth as a result of today's church leaders not teaching the biblical truth. So if that is true, 60% of Christians believe that Jesus did, in fact, sin, I wonder if they have eternal salvation.

Lets look at the facts:

1. All through the OT, God's people looked forward to the perfect sacrifice (Jesus) to free them from sin. In looking forward to that, they sacrificed spotless lambs
2. The bible says, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice, not giving into temptation and living a sinless life.
3. If Jesus did sin, then how is his death different than mine?

I'm sure there are other truths to look at but if we just take these three, can that 60% still be saved if they believe that, even tho Jesus sinned, he still died for the sin of the world. Is that possible?

Comments welcome.

Anxiety

Like most of Americans, I have anxiety.

I have anxiety over not being able to help my clients, repaying loans, commitment and decisions. I have anxiety over homework and getting things done before on time, picking out the right things. I have anxiety over anxiety sometimes. I have anxiety over the things my friends and family go through and I have anxiety about getting enough sleep on the weekends (although, I will admit that one is subsiding). I have anxiety, probably the most anxiety, over house shopping - the more we, the more serious we get and that creates anxiety in me.

I have anxiety about not being a good therapist. Which is absolutely ridiculous at this point in my life as I have been seeing people for exactly 3 months and 2 days. Of course I'm not good at it. And this is okay, I'm not expected to be great three months into the job! Good gravy!

Well, I work in a therapists office, you would think that I would just take my anxiety to them...well, there probably is a bit of anxiety over that too...somewhere.

Thinking About Specs and Planks

A while back a friend came over to visit. He had been struggling with things for a while and I asked him, "Why don't you just do something about that? ...There are options you know." He (humbly maybe) said, "Well, others have it worse than me and I can live with this."

I have been thinking about that statement for the five months since that conversation because I too, have just been living with stuff.

I have learned, in "my years of counseling experience" (go ahead, laugh) that we as human beings love to just not change. We love to live in our dysfunctional way of being even though there may be a gazillion ways to improve our way of life. But is that really what we ought to do?

Yes, there is a lot to be said for being content and satisfied with the place and ways God has ordained things but I believe that He loves us too much to leave us in our dysfunction.

I couldn't say much to the comment he made. I think I said something like, "Well, one thing I have learned mentoring kids is that even though this is not the worse thing in the world and that people do go through worse things than you are experiencing, this may be the worst thing for you and you only have certain experiences."

So to point out the ginormous plank in my eye, I do settle for less than God's best for me. I sit with anxiety with opportunities for others to help me day after day. I have squandered opportunities to grow countless times before. And as one of my girls said to me a few months ago, "I want to change now and I don't know where to start! I realize I have done what I needed to do to go forward and get through things, and now I don't know where to start! ..."

Diet Starts Tomorrow

All of you are going to cringe when you read this: For dinner tonight, I had fries, fried green beans, strawberry cheese cake, and ice cream with caramel, chocolate, and whipped cream. It's a pretty darn good thing that birthdays only come along once a year!

For the rest of the day, I had animal crackers and a kit kat, coffee, and a water bottle of cherry pomegranate crystal light.

Change I Can Believe In

Those who know their American history can probably recall something called the Boston Tea Party. No, they didn't sit around and drink their tea and crumpets. Instead, they rebelled against taxation and dumped tea into the Boston Harbor. Well, the Tea Party is back! ...And if there is one thing I learned in Fiji, it was to enjoy my TEA!

I have recently been thinking more and more about the whole movement. It's a bipartisan group that is wants to regain control of the government and put back in the people's hands: by the people, for the people. It's goals are that there is fiscal responsibility, limited government, and free market. They want to preserve the economic future for our children, work for a return to the principles that govern our constitution, support the individual's rights and property, and also to provide a platform for like minded people to have a voice. Check out the website of my local chapter: www.teapartyofwmi.org or the national organization's website at: www.teapartypatriots.org. I think it's change that we can believe in, without hidden agendas, price tags, spreading of wealth, "transparency", deem and pass, or any of that other Washington bullshit.

Oh yeah, they also have a petition to 'Repeal the Bill' referring to the ObamaCare go to either of the websites above to sign. The goal is a million signatures. You can also do this through facebook, my facebook wall.

I don't want to have to be forced to buy things I don't necessarily want to have.

12 Days Later

I'm finally over that whole...7 or 8 bazillion hours of class time.

So Tuesdays I have five clients. Wow...is this really what the real world is like? Tons easier than Grad School!! ...So can't wait to be earning money!

Haven't Done This One In A While

So today, I did something I haven't done in almost 11 years: I was in class for nearly 8 hours.

OMG! I don't know how I ever went years - literally YEARS - having to go day, after day, after day, or even ONE day being in class for that long!

And even then, starting school at 8:00am and getting out at 3:00 isn't even 8 hours...not to mention your morning recess, lunch recess, and your afternoon recess. That boils it down to what...6 hours? then, in the later years, you're in class for 45 minutes and you get a five minute break. Good gravy, I've NEVER been in class for 8 hours straight!

So here is how today went:
10:00-11:55 Practicum Class
12:00-2:50 (minus two ten minute breaks) Research Methodology
3:00-6:00 (minus 15 minutes of break) Ethics and Issues
7:30 minutes of class!

How did I ever survive?! When I'm committed to something for that long at least I get a lunch break and a paycheck! Do you know how much today cost me? Nearly $300! That's like almost 2 weeks worth of work at my part time job! This better be SO worth it.

Ta for now!

Ha Ha, Real Funny

Don ordered us a pizza last night. Rather, Don bought the pizza and had ME order it (he does orders like that over the phone often enough to make me think he's allergic to it).

This is how the phone conversation went starting from where I finished the order:

Pizza Guy (PG): "4475..."

Me (shocked): "$44.75 for one large pizza!!?"

PG: "No, that's your address"

I apologized.

Insane Winter Sports

So there are a few winter sports that are insane. ...And they are exactly the ones I would love to be good at:

Luge: Honestly, it's illegal to go 90mph on the highway...who would want to do it on two pieces of medal on ice with nothing but a helmet for protection?

Bobsledding: same reason, only add sides to the sled.

Curling: not dangerous but allows you to be relatively out of shape, it's the coolest dorky sport in the world, and really, who wouldn't want to slide rocks on ice?

Pairs Ice Skating: (only girly sport on the list) Do you see how close those ice-skate blades come to the other guy? Do you have a death wish?

Biatholon: Legally mixing guns and skiis for the sake of a piece of medal to hang around your neck? Who wouldn't go for that? Besides, I have a great eye!

Moguls: either you hate your knees or there is some nerve damage that allows you not to feel pain. I would say that moguls must be the experience you get crossing the luge on Michigan roads.

Downhill Skiing: this is a sport strictly for the speed junkie in anyone. Crazy-as-ever

Ski Jumping: How do you land that?

Speed Skating: Again, you wipe out with that, especially if you take someone else out, and you cut an artery like a hot knife through butter. That one guy, last year, almost bled to death before they got him off the ice! Really!?! How can this be legal?

Ice Hockey: Can we say legalized international assault? We all know the Russians got together with the Knucks and came up with this one, the Americans have too much pent-up emotions, and we use the sport as an excuse to beat others up over a medal.

Smack-Talking: Okay, raise your hand if you hate the announcers!

Any I missed? Add a comment and let me know!

In the Words of Forest Gump...Shit Happens

I hate it when shit happens.

Torn, Oh So Torn

I signed up for this. I fully admit this. But I'm nonetheless torn.

I decided on GRTS (Grand Rapids Theological Seminary: grts.cornerstone.edu) because I didn't have very many (only two) Bible/Theology classes in my undergrad (Dordt College: www.dordt.edu) and I felt that in working with people to the extent and intensity as you do in counseling, I would be best off getting my license from a godly institution.

Just over half way through my program, I constantly question that decision. Do I really want to endure (choosing that word over others) through my Bible and theology classes when I can skate by without them at another institution?

I enjoy them. Yes, I know, that statement sort of contradicts my previous one but I do. I learn a lot and they put so much life into Sunday Sermons (really!?!). And in doing the papers and readings (and somewhat the studying - cramming - for exams) I learn so much.

But I cannot stand sitting through them sometimes. And, being a counseling student, I don't see the practical use of it to the extent that the other (MDiv) students do. I'm thankful that in this seminary, the two are set side by side because Pastors definitely need the assets that the counseling major adds but I don't think that is reciprocated except by breadth and only to some extent depth. So I struggle in taking them.

I'm torn because I do see value in them as it helps me develop my own personal stance as a therapist and my own ethical conclusions. So I want to take them.

Could I just audit???

Hello Again

Hello again all! ...And Happy New Year a week late.

I am excited for this semester, even though it won't be starting for another two weeks (Monday). I just finished with a J-Term class in Boston called Juvenile Delinquency and it's Contributing Factors. It was a really great class and I am continually amazed at the variety of people that show up to these things. Five of us have been to all four classes so far, in this class there were two pediatricians, 8 members of various (and rival) national gangs, one assistant to the US Prosecuting Attorney who prosecutes criminal mob activity, one man from the Roman Catholic Church, a retired teacher, several street workers with Straight Ahead Ministries (www.straightahead.org) who hosts the class, and Juvenile Detention Center Chaplains. All of us, among our differences, have this two things in common, two things that allows all of us - enemies and friends - to be able to sit in that class for four and a half days in peace and that is the love we have for God and the love God has therefore given us for those young people caught up in the justice system. Class was really good but as I expected, it was super easy for me to sleep all day in preparation for the third shift I have tonight!

Don and I finally have health and dental insurance. For those of you who don't know, we've not had it since I left YFC in the middle of December 2008. We are happy, praising God for his faithfulness and sustaining us for the past year. We do still look forward to and depend on his continued sustaining us each and every day.

Don is finished with his schooling and is now working with Mel Trotter full time. He started with them last summer as an intern. At the end of that, they hired him part time for the summer and school semester and then hired him full time after his finals which ended December 17. We are really thankful for that.

I will be doing the first of three classes that give me practice with real clients and their very real problems. I am working with Tri-City Ministry Counseling in Grand Haven (www.tcmcounseling.org). They do counseling with children, teens, adults, married couples, groups, divorce recovery, grief recovery, and all other areas of counseling. I am hoping that in working with them, God will give me direction as to what He has planned for me after school. I feel sort of directionless at this point but I am resting in the confidence that I don't have to know today and that when I do, He will have planned out a way for me to go. I do have the opportunity to work with TCM for the other two parts of my hands-on learning (my two internships) following this semester's practicum requirements.

So Don and I are very much looking forward to 2010. We again hope that this year we will have the resources to go back to Fiji. We are in a better position, probably the best position of our married life, to make this a reality. Last year we put some money away in a CD and though it had little interest through the course of the year, it helped us keep our hands off it. We actually forget that it's there so it's a pleasant surprise when we actually remember. Currently, we are nearly there if you include that CD that will mature in a couple months. We are really excited about this.

We feel like 2010 is the year we're finally getting settled and are starting to work on the goals that we have so far, just been able to talk about. Thank you for your friendship and prayers during the difficult days of the year and years that God has blessed us with and thank you for also being there rejoicing in our joys.

Don and Kelly