Prayer

As you read our comments about moving and all of the various things God did (and is still doing) to make all of this work, I hope you realize how much prayer is a part of this. Ruth Ann wrote about our tire problems - nothing but prayer got us through that night. As I read a classmates blog:HERE I STAND: Pray Without Ceasing, I thought even more about prayer.

A friend recently emailed me and asked to pray for a friend (not uncommon). I replied that I would gladly do so, and then thought about it. Do people ask us to pray because they think seminarians know a better way to pray? Or is it because they think we need the practice? Or is their prayer life just not up to praying for someone else? David brings up a good point, in talking about Luther and his instructions to his friend the barber. Maybe as people ask us to pray, we should not only agree, but also offer instruction on how to pray for themselves.

Another thought about prayer is the question of "Does it really do any good?" or "Does God answer prayers?" A story to answer these questions. On Monday morning, we were enjoying our first day off as new interns. We were sitting down to breakfast, and I was thinking about all of the service requests we had put in. For almost a week, we had been trying to get our phone installed and working - without any success. We had put several maintenance request in with the apartment management - with no response. The final straw came Sunday night when our upstairs neighbor had problems with his washing machine, and we had water streaming down the hallway walls, out of light fixtures, etc. I called the emergency maintenance number (on my cell phone, since our land-line did not work) and tried to get them to come and clean up - no such luck.

So Monday, I was thinking about having to call the phone company, and the apartment manager, and how I was going to have to threaten them in order to get something done, when I thought - no, wait. Let's just pray about this and see what happens. I prayed for maintenance, and patience, and before I finished my breakfast, the phone man came and fixed our phone. Mid-morning, the pest control man came (not one I had called, but always a good idea). Then, by mid-afternoon, one of the apartment maintenance staff appeared, and fixed all of our known problems. So in response to the question of does prayer work, the answer is yes! Why the extra guy? Just to make a point. When asked about coincidence, one of our professors had remarked that once was coincidence, twice was something more, three times was a definite pattern. So the pest control guy was just to make sure that there was no question about my prayer having been answered.

Pray without ceasing, then give thanks that your prayer has been heard.

Thanks be to God!

Arrived

Just as God led the people out of the wilderness to the promised land, so he brought us through packing, loading, long miles of driving and heavy rain, to our new home. I am reminded that when we pray the Lord's prayer, among other things, we pray for our daily bread and protection from evil, not an accumulation of goods or an easy journey!! This journey has NOT been uneventful, but God did bring us here safely! As an illustration, I'll tell a story about our travels.

We stopped at a rest area between Augusta and Atlanta to stretch and eat a picnic supper. When I got back in my car and pulled onto the highway, I realized that the car had suddenly developed a 'wobble' and was pulling to one side. We pulled over on the side of road to check the tires. I was fully expecting to see one completely flat, but they all appeared to be okay. It was already growing dark and we had about 100 miles to go before we would reach our destination for the night, so we pulled back onto the highway to continue on.

The wobble seemed to lessen as we reached highway speed. But I remained very conscious that there was likely a problem with a tire, so I kept both hands firmly on the steering wheel for the rest of our evening's journey and prayed fervently for safe travels.

We arrived at our hotel late that night. (We had made reservations in advance at a hotel that would accept our pet and traveling companion, Smokey.) In the process of parking the truck and shuttling us and our bags to our room, Ray drove the car briefly and decided that there was something seriously wrong - we wouldn't be able to continue in the morning until we had it repaired. So we both went to bed wondering how serious the problem was...

In the morning, after breakfast, Ray went back outside to look at the car, and in the daylight, he was able to see the problem with one of the front tires - the steel belt was coming loose. Fortunately, there was a tire shop nearby, so this was a relatively quick and inexpensive repair. But if the tire had blown while I was driving, it could have easily been disastrous.

So, I was reminded again of how God cares for us, and leads us on our journey. He didn't miraculously fix the tire, but I am certain that he intervened, holding that tire together as I drove, until we could have it repaired.

Of course, there are many more stories about our trip and unpacking that could be told. Ask one of us about the multiple rainstorms visible from the top of the bridge as we entered Mobile, or driving the truck in city traffic in the pouring rain, or the leaking bathroom sink, or the water pouring down from the ceiling shortly after we moved into our apartment...

Yes, I'm sensing a water theme in many of these experiences, but I'll have to consider them more before I can write about them!!

Good news, Bad news

It's Saturday night. We are supposed to have most of our stuff loaded onto the truck, with Sunday afternoon being a finish-up time - take our bed apart and take the computer desk apart, and some cleaning. Instead, we only have a few items loaded.

Our hope for help in loading the truck seems to have been in vain. Our son was the only help that showed up. No one from campus, no one of the many other people who knew we were moving, no one. Then a big thunderstorm hit and it rained for hours. We needed the rain - we need a lot of rain, so I hate to complain about the rain, but loading furniture in a thunderstorm just doesn't work too well.

The good news is that we got rain, the truck that I have to drive several hundred miles is a great truck, and we know we will have more help Sunday afternoon. After another email to everyone on campus, there are already a couple of volunteers, plus Rusty, Lisa, Rhonda, and Chris will all be here. If the weather cooperates, we should be fine. It just means we have a lot more work to do tomorrow than we had planned, which means most of the cleaning gets moved to Monday morning. We HAVE to be on the road by noon - that deadline cannot shift by much or we don't get to our destination in time on Tuesday and we don't get unloaded and have any time to unpack. Internship begins with a Thursday morning meeting at 10:00 a.m. - whether we can find our clothes or not.

The very best news is that our house is rented! A new student, who is getting married soon, is renting the house. It will be their first home together. We are happy for them, and happy that the house will be taken care of. Thanks to everyone for all of your prayers and support during this long waiting period. It has certainly taken time, but everything is coming together, just as we knew it would.

God is good! Amen!!!

Reckless faith?

A favorite quote of mine is one I discovered just before Ray and I began Summer Greek two years ago: "I love the recklessness of faith; first you leap and then you sprout wings." (William Sloane Coffin)

That quote describes so many steps on this journey. Quitting work to attend Greek, selling a house and moving near campus, taking out student loans to finance our education, volunteering on the Gulf coast last winter, and now packing up to move into an apartment we have not even seen...

Add to that the financial concerns of not having our house rented out, not knowing if we should leave extra 'stuff' here or move it into storage, etc. As we wrote in a recent email to many of our friends and family, and have discussed with one of our classmates here on campus, this uncertainty - or rather, the willingness to proceed in spite of the uncertainty - seems to be a major component of the internship experience and the whole seminary process. Sort of a test of your resolve - first you leave home and come to campus, then you leave campus and venture into the unknown again - knowing that you will be returning again in a year. Just the sheer logistics of moving repeatedly are enough to deter the faint-hearted!

So is it recklessness that brings us to this point, or is it faith? When should a sane, sensible person say "Enough!"? Or does faith enable us to leap and simply trust that the necessary wings will indeed sprout? How much are we responsible for and how much should we leave in God's hands?

Yesterday in worship, as the gospel was read and preached (the feeding of the 5,000 from John 6: 1-15), I was reminded again that the God who created the heavens and the earth, led his people through the wilderness, and sent his own Son to feed and heal and redeem - this same almighty God will lead us through our wildernesses and feed us and provide for us here on earth AND bring us to eternal life.

So, by the not-so-recklessness of faith, I'm back to packing boxes with a calm spirit, preparing for the move by doing the part that I can and awaiting God's action to take care of the rest.

Packing Blues

This past week has been spent packing and moving things to storage. It has been hot (95 - 100 each day), so we have been moving during the mornings and packing in the afternoon and evening, as well as running errands and working on campus. It seems that no matter how much we pack, there is still at least that much more to do.

The heat is making it difficult to get enough done each day, so how are we going to be ready to move in another week? Somehow, it will happen. Rusty and Lisa were a big help today, and more help will appear as the week goes on. The bigger concern is that we still have not rented our house.

We have prayed for a renter, and many of you have joined us in those prayers. The problem with prayer is that God answers in his time, not ours. We are never patient enough, we want everything to happen now, on our timetable. These words come to mind:

Colossians 1:11-12 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

So we keep praying, and packing, and in 8 days, we get in the truck and drive off to internship. God's time, not ours. God's will, not ours.

Being 2 places at one time

It has been a busy summer, with many opportunities for preaching and assisting at various churches. We have been to our home church, helped with the campground ministry out at the lake, been to our seminary partnership congregation, and preached a few times as supply while a pastor was on vacation.

The interesting part of this, as a couple that are both in seminary, is that we don't mind getting double-booked for a weekend. We do enjoy leading worship together when we can, but it is also interesting to do it separately - especially since we do it differently.

Quite often, when we are together, one of us will do the liturgy and the other will preach; sometimes we split it differently. On one occasion this summer, Ruth Ann sat and watched while I did everything (of course, she is going back to that same church this weekend by herself, which is why I did everything last time).

Our most interesting Sunday so far this summer might have been last Sunday. I had been asked to supply preach at a church way out in the country (by a classmate who had filled in there before, but was booked for last weekend elsewhere) and Ruth Ann was preaching out at the lake. I had never been to this church, and had only sort of met the pastor at a funeral, so I really did not expect anyone to know me, nor did I know what to expect. Turned out to be a wonderful congregation and a joy to be with. The real surprise was the email from the pastor after she returned from vacation, telling me how wonderful her worship committee thought I was, and then going on to tell me that she spent her vacation Sunday, at the lake, on a boat, listening to Ruth Ann preach!

The church is a small world; that is no surprise, but it still surprises us sometimes to find out just how small it is.

Sermon Writing

I have been working on my sermon for Sunday and it is just not "gelling." Now, it's only Thursday morning - there is still plenty of time, so there is no reason to worry - yet. But I can't help thinking about why it won't gel.

Could it be because the gospel text for this Sunday is Mark chapter 6, verses 30-34 and 53-56? This gospel tells about the 12 apostles returning to gather with Jesus after being sent out to do ministry and their profound need for rest. Then it tells about the crowds following Jesus, seeking healing. What, you may ask, happened to verses 35-52? Good question! The left-out section in the middle is the Mark's telling of the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus' walking on water and calming the storm. Two (or three) major miracle stories, probably kept to be told as separate gospel stories, on another day.

But what are we to make of these bits put together for today? I don't think I miss the story in the middle as much as I struggle for a cohesive meaning for the assembled text. There are so many possible directions to go with this text... our need for rest, our need to get together and tell the stories of what we have done and experienced, Jesus' compassion for the hungry and ailing multitude, or his tremendous power - those who simply touched the fringe of his cloak were healed (Mark 6:56).

Since I've just finished reading a book on 'a Sabbath way of life for those who serve God, the church, and the world,' The Sense of the Call, by Marva Dawn, the sermon will probably focus on our need to rest and be refreshed in order to be sent out again to work and witness. But the reality of our need to go to Jesus in prayer to tell him all we "have done and taught" (Mark 6:30) and to gather together to tell each other those stories is very powerful as well.

Guess that's what led me to this entry. May we each take time today to talk with Jesus AND to talk with each other about our lives - our work, our experiences, our needs, our hopes, and our dreams. That is the way we can help build up the community of believers, the church, the body of Christ.

Sabbath Time

This summer has been a sort of sabbath or sabbatical for us - a blessed time. Don't get me wrong, we have been plenty busy, but it has been a different pace. For example, we have rarely set the alarm clock - instead allowing ourselves to catch up on much needed rest.

Lest you think I've been lounging around all day eating bon-bons, I should explain that I have been working some each week at the campus library. I've also spent some time reading several books that I checked out from the library earlier in the year. My goal is to finish and return them BEFORE we move. Most of these are non-fiction, either theological or spiritual, but typically not quite as deep as most of our assigned textbooks this past couple of years!

We have also had the time to catch up some long-postponed chores. For me, that included spending a couple of days doing nothing but mending. (After Ray helped me clean and oil the much-neglected sewing machine!) Some of the items in the mending pile had been there a LONG time!! I've also pulled out my knitting and worked on a couple of projects that have been partially completed for a long time. I still have to put the fringe on a shawl and sew a zipper into a sweater before they are finished, but they are much closer to complete than they were. Finishing up some of these things provides a restful but productive way to spend the hot summer days and provides a tremendous sense of accomplishment!

In a complete change of pace from our usual class schedules or our previous business experience, our plans this summer typically revolve around our weekend plans - specifically where we will be worshipping, assisting, preaching. We have worshipped in several different churches the past few weeks, in North and South Carolina, Tennessee, and Illinois. It is great to be able to worship in so many different settings, yet know they are all part of the same church - the body of Christ.

Praying that each of you can experience some of this sabbath rest that God wills for each of us...

Home Again

After two week of traveling and visiting, it is great to be home again and to sleep in our own bed. Even Smokey seemed happy to go for a walk around our own neighborhood.

Being home also means catching up. We both have sermons to prepare for this Sunday, a pile of mail to go through, and tons of emails to sort and read. Reading emails this morning brought up an interesting subject.

Please don't be offended by what I am going to say here, but do think about it. There seem to be a lot of emails circulating these days with the basic message of "Pass it on ... or else." Some of these play on basic superstitions, some play on Mark 8:38 (Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.").

Of course, those that quote Mark usually truncate the passage, so that it is no longer in context. Even out of context, though, this should not carry the message that failure to forward an email means that you are ashamed to say that you are Christian, or that you believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. Not forwarding an email may mean that you have already seen it 100 times; it may mean that you do not believe in forwarding emails which deliver an ultimatum. It may mean that you just don't forward most emails.

The ones that I think bother me the most are the ones that promise that dire things will happen if you don't forward them. I take my faith much more seriously than I do these superstitious threats. Quoting Paul, (Romans 8:38-39) "For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." This is much stronger than any perceived threat contained in an email.

For those who forward emails like this to us, don't be offended but know that we are not likely to forward them or to respond. Occasionally, if there is something in an email that is really good, I will edit the "bad" out of it and then pass it on. Maybe this is an idea that we can all take on - edit this superstitious stuff out of emails then forward them and see if they come back later in the form we started. Replace the threat with this quote from Paul, or this one from John 13:34 "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another." No threat attached, just the love of Christ, as it is given to us.

In the meantime, please keep in touch, and keep us in your prayers as we begin the packing process. In the next 3 weeks, we have to pack and be ready to move for internship. Please also pray for someone to rent our house. We have talked with several seminary students about this, but so far, we do not have a renter. I don't even want to think of the financial impact this will have on us. It could mean not being able to go on internship, but I believe that God has a plan and that this will be resolved. Your prayers will help!

Now, which box was I working on...

Resting; gearing up

We ended the semester exhausted. (And the end was delayed because we had extended deadlines on some papers.) But I think after about ten days of no alarm clocks, we have finally caught up on our sleep!

Those ten days were also filled with driving and visiting. We didn't catch up with everyone we wanted to during our stay in Illinois, but we did see quite a few old friends and extended family members. (If we missed you, we're sorry - call us or send us an email, we would love to be in touch!) It was good to have a chance to visit - especially since we haven't been there in about three years and are pretty sure we won't make it during the next two, because of our school and internship schedule.

I'm glad we took the time to rest up, because we are back at home with a flurry of activity on weekends as we will be supply preaching at several churches in the next few weeks, and it is now time to begin the HUGE task of sorting and packing for our move. So we need to get busy again!

Happy 4th of July!

We are spending the 4th with family and friends, a little relaxing before we begin the big packing adventure. We hope all of you are enjoying a day off as well. For those of you traveling, drive safely.

Plans for Mobile continue - we have been told we have office furniture and a dinner meeting with out internship committees on Saturday night after our arrival on Tuesday. A couple of days to unpack, then we get started.

Peace be with you.

"Stick a fork in it"

Yes, that was the profound advice we recently received from our Pastoral Care professor. We've been working on the project paper for a contract course based on our Mississippi trip with LDR. And working, and working, with no apparent stopping place. You see, everywhere we turn, there is new information being published or posted on-line about disaster response, hurricane recovery, and the questions of "WIGIAT - where is God in all this?" Our professor knows we want to keep looking at the new material, but he also - wisely - knew that we needed to get the project to a stopping point!

For two good examples of this information on-line, check out this link to a photo essay by the NY Times - which just happens to feature Bayou la Batre, where we will be working for the next year AND Ocean Springs, which is where we spent January! I hope there will be more of these photo essays available as they travel further across Route 90 toward New Orleans.
http://ROAD_FEATURE

Or check out this blog from Drew Genszler, Director for Domestic Policy from the LOGA (Lutheran Office of Governmental Affairs) in Washington, DC. He is currently touring the Gulf coast, beginning in New Orleans, and providing a great faith-based look at the situation. http://www.elca.org/advocacy/how/blog.html

Yet another example is the upcoming Bible study, written by Faith and Terence Freithem in the Lutheran Woman Today magazine entitled "Hope in God in Times of Suffering." The introductory article appears in the July/August 2006 issue - the study will appear in the next 10 issues.

At any rate, the difficulty for us has been where, when, and how to stop writing this paper. Following his sage advice, we have finished, printed it out, stuck a plastic fork inside the binder cover, and delivered it to the professor for his review.

In the meantime, new info keeps coming to our attention... Clearly, the paper may be done, but the work on the Gulf continues, just as our internship looms ahead!

BTW, if you want any suggestions on materials to read on this subject, let us know - we have a whole list of great resources!!

Matthew 6:31 Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?'

This verse is one we so often overlook. Many of us tend to believe that God needs our help - that we need to worry at least a little. The reality is, God does provide - just not on our timetable.

A few weeks ago, we were winding down the semester and beginning to look at things that needed to happen before internship. One of those things was that the condo we own was currently empty. (Yes, we would love to sell it, but have not been able to.) Our last renter had moved out and we had made the switch to the leasing manager who handled most of the development. We had really been too busy to think about it, but as we began to look at budget for the summer, and for internship, we realized that if we did not have a renter, we were soon going to be in financial difficulty.

One of the problems with being an older, married couple who are both going to seminary, and on internship, is that the stipend provided is really based on either a young single person with very little in the way of expenses, or a married couple where the other spouse is working. Two of us - on internship, with a mortgage (actually, 2), a couple of car payments, etc., and suddenly the financial picture does not look very good. So we prayed. And prayed, and prayed. And a few days later, we received a phone call from the leasing agent saying that he had just signed a lease for our unit! And then, a couple of weeks later, we received another phone call - the one and only scholarship for which either of us was eligible while on internship had come through.

We will still be poor seminarians, just like our classmates, but God has seen to it that our basic needs will be met. We will be able to eat, and drink, and put gas in the car, and have clothes to wear. God has made sure of that. Whatever it is that you need, God will also make sure that you have that as well - maybe not on the timetable you would like, but when you need it - God will see that it is there.

Busy Times Continue

Sorry it has been awhile since our last entry, but we have been busy. (Yes, we ARE still working on papers!) I was concerned that I would really miss daily chapel on campus when the semester ended. And I have; but we have been able to participate in worship in a variety of settings that have been really wonderful, too.

For example, we were invited to the Lutheran retirement home where I did my CPE chaplaincy last summer to talk about our experiences on the Gulf coast. So we went for a midweek chapel service; I was able to share the good news about the great things taking place on the coast, and renew some aquaintances from last summer as well.

We also attended an ecumenical worship service at our field church on Ascension. It is truly a great feeling to sing God's praises and share communion with a large group of believers from a variety of denominations! I appreciate the opportunity to celebrate the things we have in common rather than dwell on the differences.

We have also been helping with the campground ministry and lakefront worship at a nearby congregation again this summer. So on Saturday afternoons, we put on our walking shoes and sunscreen and go visit with campers at the state park, distributing flyers and inviting them to worship. Then on Sunday morning, we help lead worship in an open air chapel on the lakeshore. Some people come into the chapel area, others sit in lawn chairs or in their cars, still others stay on their boats. With the help of a tremendous sound system, we are all able to worship together. (There is also a later service in the air-conditioned sanctuary - and by mid-morning, the cool air feels really wonderful!)

The weekend (well, Thursday-Saturday), we attended synod assembly, which is always a good chance to see people from all over the state - both old friends and new. Worship there was also wonderful. We used materials from the new soon-to-be-published ELW (Evangelical Lutheran Worship) and Renewing Worship materials and got to experience all the seasons of the entire church year. Thursday afternoon was Reformation, Thursday evening was Advent, Friday morning was Christmas and so on ... ending with Pentecost Saturday morning at the close of assembly. Tremendous preachers, glorious music, and God's presence in Holy Communion - everything worship should be!

It really has been a busy and inspirational time for us. We are also filling up our calendars with more worship services - we are already scheduled to preach and lead worship several times this summer. Now we are trying to get the last papers finished quickly, so that we can have some vacation time before we pack for our move to Alabama. The end of July will be here before we know it!

... and Going!

Ever wonder if the Energizer Bunny wishes that someone would turn him off so he can rest? By this time last year, Ray and I had escaped to a quiet spot in the mountains, where we both slept for nearly a week, because we were so tired.

This year, we are still going, in spite of being equally exhausted. We helped to celebrate commencement and the end of the seminary's 175th anniversary last week. We are both in the choir and I have been playing handbells, so we were involved in the special worship services for both events.

I'm not sure if I will ever be brave enough to play handbells again; it has been a real stretch for me. I don't seem to be coordinated enough to maintain a different rhythm with each hand, but I did improve as the year progressed. Wish I had learned to play piano as a kid - I'm sure that would help! Playing handbells also serves as another reminder that I'm getting old - it is very difficult to keep the music in focus! In choir I can just move the music, but with handbells you have to rely on the proper position of the music stand, since your hands are full. (Could the notes be getting smaller, is it dark in here, or do I just need to get my eyes checked?)

We both attended a two day internship conference here on campus this week. So now we have actually met the pastor who will be our internship supervisor and have a better idea what our internship in Mobile will look like, between activities at St. Paul's Lutheran and Lutheran Disaster Response. We are looking forward to this opportunity and should be starting our year there around August 1st.

Now we need to finish the last of our papers for which we received extensions. Then we can consider the semester really finished, and settle in for some rest before the next adventure begins!

and going...

Well, classes are over for the semester except for one small group session tomorrow morning. Unfortunately, the papers are not done! We have each turned in four this week. At least I think it's four - I'm starting to lose track. We still have five to go (about forty pages total for each of us) on a variety of topics; plus four exams (2 written, 1 oral, and one seminar).

Factor into the schedule research for the papers, studying for the finals, chapel services, choir practice, and some year end activities and you will understand why we are getting really tired!

I've got to get back to work! More soon...

Still going...

If you have been checking for updates, we are in the final couple of weeks of classes. One paper has been turned in, one more due this week, and then about 3 more due next week. Then finals. For the next several days, we have no plans but to write, study, and maybe catch a little sleep now and then. We'll try and get some more updates posted once all the papers are finished and turned in. In the meantime, we are still going, but very busy.

Easter Greetings

How do seminarians spend a week of Spring Break that coincides with Holy Week? Well, we stayed pretty close to home. We have been able to shut off the alarm clock and catch up on our sleep, spend time in the campus library doing research for at least some of the papers due before the end of the semester, mow the lawn and trim bushes, run errands like dropping off winter clothes at the dry cleaner, getting the oil changed in the car and having it inspected. Fun stuff.

We also both got haircuts. For Ray that was getting a serious trim; for me it was a more substantial change. I've been letting my hair grow out for about the last three years, with the goal of donating to Locks of Love again. Locks of Love uses donated hair to make wigs for children with long term hair loss. (See www.locksoflove.org for more info on this worthwhile charity.) My hair just recently grew long enough that I was able to have 12" pigtails cut off that I will send in. So I am now sporting a new, bobbed 'do! Our thanks to our friend Gwyn, who graciously provides free haircuts to her poor seminarian friends!

Most importantly, we have been able to observe Holy Week. We worshipped at noon on Maundy Thursday at our field church, Good Shepherd. We were able to attend the Tenebrae Service at our home church on Friday evening, where we experienced the biblical Stations of the Cross - a very moving experience. Then back to campus for the Easter Vigil service in Christ Chapel last night. This is an incredible (but lengthy) service, beginning quietly in darkness at 10 pm for a retelling of salvation history and concluding festively after midnight in great light with a Eucharist service to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. This morning, we returned to Good Shepherd for contemporary worship. It has been a beautiful week of worship - an opportunity to remember the suffering Jesus experienced for our sake and a chance to celebrate the good news that his resurrection gives us the promise of eternal life.

Christ is Risen! Alleluia! Christ is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
May you each experience the joy of Easter with your loved ones.

Big News - Our Internship Assignment

The seminary made Internship assignments public on Friday afternoon. We did get an email sent out Friday night, but then a flu bug hit (for those of you who listen to Garrison Keillor, it was the "60 second flu bug" that he described a couple of weeks ago. It has to do with how fast it hits, not how long it last.) and we did not get the news posted here. Now it is Sunday and we are both feeling somewhat better, so here is the promised news.

Internship assignments, as you have seen from previous posts, are very much beyond our control. We, unlike many of our classmates, have known for a couple of weeks what site was being considered for us, but we could not talk about it. Below is the main part of the email we sent, with more explanation.

We began the process knowing that our only real input was asking to be placed somewhere near each other so that we could live together, but knowing that we would probably be at different churches, possibly in different towns, and that there were a couple of commonly used sites for married clergy couples that met these specifications. We had very little anxiety, because we knew there was just not much we could do about it and therefore, no reason to fret.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, we were called into the Contextual Education office to discuss a special situation that had come up. It seemed that a congregation had been working on becoming an internship site where the intern would be shared between the congregation and Lutheran Disaster Response. The hitch - it was only one site. We were recommended by the seminary internship committee because of our experience on the Gulf Coast in January. We were excited about the possibilities, but very concerned about the fact that it was only one site. You see, internship is paid (sort of). The intern receives, in most cases, a housing allowance and a monthly stipend. Under many circumstances, the stipend covers your living expenses, and if you are single or your spouse is working, life is pretty good. When both of you are students and you look at a budget living off one stipend, life suddenly looks pretty dismal. We wanted to go, but were afraid of financial disaster. So, we spent an entire weekend worrying, praying, talking, avoiding, and praying some more. On Monday morning, we said Yes, but we will have to have more income so can one of us work part time, or can we supply-preach in the area, or something? Two days later, we were told that the site had found additional funding to cover the second stipend!

Now, after all that, where is this place? It is St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Mobile, Alabama. The site is a shared site between St. Paul's and Lutheran Disaster Response. We (both of us at the same place) will be working within the congregation and working for LDR in the area - which means the Gulf coast - very near where we were in January. Now you may want to know how did we managed that, but we didn't. Read the paragraph above again - this site wasn't a possibility when we went to Mississippi or even when we first came back. The only part we played in this was to say 'Yes' to an idea that was being pulled together.

Today it is official, and we can tell you all about it. As we find more details, we will post them on the blog. For now, we praise God that we have been assigned somewhere, with an exciting mission ahead of us.

Now, to answer a couple of questions that we have already received from our email: How long? Internship assignments are normally 1 year, roughly running from Aug 1 to July 31. Since this is a new site, they will not be ready for us until Aug 1, so our plans will be to move down there the end of July. Other questions: What will we be doing? Like most interns (or vicars, as many churches call them), we will be assisting the pastor at St. Paul's with normal things such as Sunday worship, Sunday School, and other parts of parish life. In addition, we will be working with LDR in the area with case work, visiting, preaching are area churches, and so on. Some of this is still being defined. Stay tuned for more, as we find out.

Waiting...

What Ray is not-so-subtly hinting at with his last entry about "Big news coming on April 7" is that our internship assignments for next year will be announced Friday afternoon. Right now, we - and all our classmates - are anxiously awaiting those announcements.

When you start seminary, you know that you face two years of classes, a year of internship in a congregation, then another year in classes. What you don't realize is how quickly those first two years will pass! It is hard to believe that we are now almost ready for internship. (I say almost because there are another four weeks of classes - and several papers and final exams - before this semester is completed.)

Last fall, we filled out internship applications and were interviewed by members of a placement committee on campus. Of course, we told them that we would prefer to remain here in town, so we wouldn't have to move. But the reality is that there are very few sites available within commuting distance, and those will go to our classmates who have pressing reasons to remain here - spouse's job, children finishing high school, etc. We can rent out our house, pack up, and move; and we expect to need to do so. Our situation is special, of course, because both of us are students. Fortunately, we have been promised that they can find us two congregations close together, so that we can live together and commute reasonable distances to work and worship. We know that they found appropriate sites for THREE couples in last year's intern class, so we have been very confident that they would locate ONE this year - since we are the only couple in our class.

We expected to have assignments by the end of March, but it seems it has been difficult to secure enough sites for everyone in our class, so the announcement was delayed until April 7. In the meantime, the placement committee works to match interns to congregations based on their applications and interviews - selecting the type of congregation and supervisor that will be the best match for each student.

Lest you think all the locations are in North and South Carolina, last year there were students from Southern Seminary on internship in a number of other places, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Texas, and Pennsylvania. Now the tension is increasing dramatically for our entire class as we wait for the news.

So Ray is right: A big announcement is coming on Friday, April 7!