missing CA

I'm going to go ahead and speak the truth: I'd rather be in CA right now. I miss my internship site. I miss the people there. I miss the ocean view. I miss the dolphins (if you haven't yet seen this video, you may want to), I even miss the sea lions (even though I absolutely despised them). Some of my classes rock (senior preaching is right up there), but some of them are a little...dry. I miss the daily support of staff and friends. I miss the regular God moments. They seem to get lost here on campus. Anyone up for a road trip?

I have been marked … rather my transcripts have

Have you taken it yet? Have you even heard of it? Have you cowered in fear?

Yep, I’m talking about the Bible Proficiency Exam (BPE). Yesterday, I took this required test. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you in suspense. I passed.

I have been worried about this test since I first heard about it. I’ve heard Luther’s urban legends about the BPE: “The BPE is impossible.” “I heard that that a student in ’46 didn’t graduate because they couldn’t pass it.” “I hear even the professors have trouble with it.” “Did you hear, they had to make the test easier because students couldn’t pass it!” “Someone once told me birthday cake is not a breakfast food!” Oh, wait, not that last one. But I have heard the rumors and I let them psych me out.

If you’re not familiar with the BPE, legend has it that years ago the professors at Luther were concerned that students graduating into ministry work were lacking in basic Bible knowledge. We can talk about the three parts of the Trinity, sanctification and vocation but what year did the Wilderness Wanderings begin? Students have to take this test after their first year (or 10 completed credits) before being allowed to register for the next semester's classes.

Let me be honest. The test isn’t easy, especially if you haven’t had a strong biblical education or are new to the faith. Before taking the test, I had already taken a number of Old Testament classes, but only one New Testament class on the Gospel of Luke. After the Book of Acts, I’m pretty thin and the test showed that. I never memorized the books of the Bible or Bible verses in Sunday school or confirmation. I don’t learn dates and places well. I understand the themes and overall story of the Bible, but I have trouble memorizing and reciting. No question this test is a “remember and recite” test which made me anxious.

I’m still not sure this is the best format. Luther wants to make sure we have the basics of Scripture before getting deeper into our studies, but it seems an unfair testing metric. Yes, there are systems in place to study and memorize this information, but is it the best way to know it? I passed the test yesterday, but could I do it again or did I just cram that information in my head long enough to pass the test?

In any case, I managed to pass the test (don’t worry, not my first time. Yesterday was my second attempt) and the taunting, bold, red “HOLD” is off my MyLutherNet account.

The test taking process wasn’t without it’s own drama, though. I’m blind as a bat without my glasses. I’m not exaggerating, either. So midway through the test, I’m starting to feel like maybe I might pass; I know the answers to a lot of these questions! And “POP” a screw just falls out of my glasses and the lens falls to my lap. “WHAT?!?!” I scream (in my head; there were other people taking the test). I can’t even see the screen, the screw is in the same place stray socks disappears to and there are no paperclips, bread ties or safety pins in the computer lab. I was going to have to take the BPE looking like a pirate (you know, sqinty-eyed) when I remembered I had my prescription sunglasses with me. So I guess I finished the BPE like a rock-star (wearing my shades inside and passing the test).

Oh, and those rumors? Yeah, when you’re an adult, birthday cake is always a breakfast food!

the rain in spain

Does anyone else have recollection of it raining this much in October in MN? I swear, it smells like spring! For weeks, we've seen buckets upon buckets be poured onto our beautiful campus. I must say, the assortment of colorful umbrellas has been a lovely site to see. Each time the clouds roll in, the leaves shake with fear and fall to the ground. I think we can officially say goodbye to fall.

Opportunity Knocks

Sometimes I am amazed at how God creates opportunity. Last Thursday night, I was responding to a group email circulating with 4 of my friends, and I commented that after a week that felt semi-low key homework wise, I was enjoying a evening of (very nearly) slacking off, but I still had a 12 page paper to write by Monday, a sermon to prepare for Sunday afternoon, and a pastoral care verbatim to write by next Friday.

At that moment, I ruined my ability to slack off. But I digress.

By some crazy twist of fate, my son (who is 5) didn’t have school on Friday, so my wife decided to road trip with the kids. Our nearest shopping mecca is about 90 minutes away, and she likes to head that way when the opportunity knocks. The nice thing for me was that they didn’t leave to come home until about the time that I got home from work.

EMPTY HOUSE!!!!!

HOMEWORK TIME!!!

So I sat down and went to work on my report (due Monday). I got that finished and emailed off to my professor. One big thing knocked off the list. Fast forward through Saturday, because admittedly, I didn’t get much of anything done.

Then Sunday…I head off to church in the morning still wrestling with the potential sermon for Sunday afternoon. Background, I was performing a short worship service at a local mental health care facility. The good news is I can pull out an old sermon if I need to, but I don’t like doing that. The really good news is hearing the pastor’s sermon Sunday morning sparked off my mental status and once my kids went down for naps after lunchtime, I was able to knock out the sermon. Admittedly, it wasn’t one of my best ones, but it was new and fresh. It wasn’t recycled.

There (at the last minute) was number two off my list.

So then I headed off to the facility for the service. I’ve done this particular service twice before and have had positive experiences each time, so I don’t know why I get leery before going, but such is life.

Once again, it was a good time with good conversation with the residents, one in particular turned into a very good conversation. As I wrapped up and left, I realized that it was a total pastoral care moment.

I walked out to my truck with my phone buzzing from a message that my wife had sent me saying that she took the kids to a movie and did I want to join them. This would have been possible as I was only about a mile from the theatre, however, I heard opportunity knocking yet again.

She’s got the kids…the house is empty…I have a subject for a verbatim fresh in my mind.
So I headed home and wrote up my verbatim…posted it, emailed it…done deal. List of big extra things to get done…completed...and there was much rejoicing.

One more terrible thing to waste ....

This year, the seminary has 54 International Students from 22 countries. That’s impressive. According to the Dean’s office, 25 are from Africa, 18 from Asia, 5 from North America, 4 from Europe, and 2 from South America.

Personally, I find this mix very exciting. I am one of those people that will always try to find ways to engage with other cultures. And the privilege of having 22 different countries plus the US represented at the seminary is a terrible thing to waste. Not only is it a preview of where the global village is going. Lets face it, who has not heard that in the next two generation, the demographic make-up of North America will look very different. But this cultural mix is also of great educational value to the seminary as a whole. Hastings Banda, Malawi’s first president coined a phrase that soon became a proverb in Malawi; kuphunzira sim’kalasi mokha, komanso kuyenda. Literally translated, education is not only in the classroom, but also travel. It suggests that education is not only achieved through the classroom learning, but also through travel and exposure to other cultures. What a privilege we have here to get education and exposure at the same time! Yes, it needs patience, and deliberate effort, but it is not something we should waste.

The “Taste of the Global Church” hosted by the GMI gives us all a chance to hear and learn from what God is doing in the wider world. I may have to emphasize here that the “Taste” is not necessarily meant to be gathering of international students, even though that is what it turns out to be. Don’t our American friends want to hear of what the church is going through in Malawi? Burma? Nigeria? South Korea? Believe you me, you would have enjoyed Denis Gelinek last Friday. I still can’t get over his question, “What would Luther say?” [to the German Lutheran church today.]

As an addition, the International Students’ Association at Luther Seminary is now in operation under the leadership of Sekenwa Briska as chairperson. The vice chair is William Obaga. I serve as secretary with the help of Woongdon Joshua Choi. Jacob Kanake is treasurer, and Denis Rakotozafy is the Events Coordinator. We appreaciate Joeivan Kataraia’s help as the Spuoses’ coordinator.

luthober fest

Today the Luther Student Council put on an awesome family event complete with pumpkin painting, food, music, and lots of fun! It was so cute to see kids going up the stairs and peeking out and waiving to their parents below! Thanks to the SC for their hard work and for bringing kids up into Northwestern for an afternoon of energy!

Contextual Education Leaves Me Bloody

Sometimes my contextual work puts me in a situation that makes me appreciate something that I had previously taken for granted. Other times, it leaves me bloodied and bruised…quite literally. This week, I experienced both.

Last night I wrapped up a confirmation class that I’ve been teaching for the last 5 weeks. As the class was completed, I wanted to get the follow up records done right away. This a fairly simple process of going into the file of each student and signing off that they completed the class.

My requirements for passing the class are admittedly pretty simple. If you show up and make at least some attempt to participate in discussion, you are pretty much good to go. If you miss a class, I offer make up work and will give credit for the class period. I try to be understanding that things can come up, so I do allow 1 class period as grace, so out of 5 weeks they need to get credit for 4 of them.

Well, one would think that it would be pretty simple to tabulate who passed and who didn’t, and in retrospect it was pretty easy. However, it took a lot more time than I expected. First I had to go through the attendance sheets and figure out who missed what class, then I had to go into each students folder, which of course are mixed in with all of the confirmation kids (not just the ones taking my class). This whole process took me half an hour, and by the time I wrapped it up, I was one of the last people to leave the church.

This helped me appreciate the work that teachers do outside of class to make sure that everything is in order and accounted for.

Now, on the other subject.

One of the small duties that I do is assist the alter guild with one task. We have a cross in the middle of our narthex. The cross beam is about 15 or 20 feet off the ground and the alter guild likes to hang a drape in whatever color is currently featured in the season of the church. About 2 years ago, I happened to be walking into the church to see my wife at the exact time that they were drawing straws to see who got to put up the drape for the first time.

“Scott, do you mind climbing ladders?”

“Sure, I can do that.”

At that instant, this became my job. So whenever, the vestments on the alter change, I drag out the extension ladder and climb up…hang the drape and climb back down. I’ve been lucky…the color has been green for several months now. I’m out of practice. Side note…Holy Week is a pain from this perspective because the color changes about 2 or 4 times.

Tuesday I was at the church and decided that I would change the drape as Reformation Sunday is coming up this weekend. Time to go red. Keep in mind, I’m out of practice. As I was setting up the ladder, a couple of staff members came out and were talking to me, which distracted me as I lifted it up against the cross. What I failed to notice was that I had it backwards. So when I went to push it up higher (to reach the cross beam) I unlatched the legs and it all came sliding right back down at me.

Now, fortunately I wasn’t on the ladder yet, but I was holding onto it. It slid down and nicked one of my fingers on my right hand (minor, not a big deal), but it caught a pretty good chunk of the same finger on my left hand. I stood there for a moment thinking “That hurt.” The pastor looked at me and asked “Gonna try that again?”

“Nope”

I was a little flustered by the whole thing, not to mention my finger was bleeding like crazy. So decided that I would tackle the drape another day. I bandaged up the end of my finger and headed for home.

The good news…I didn’t quite amputate the whole finger…in actuality I really only skinned a small portion next to my fingernail. The other good news…I managed to put the drape up yesterday without anymore injuries.

rainy days

This weather is really bumming me out. It's been raining all day. The library is full of people huddling for warmth and studying away! Come back fall! COME BACK!!

Community

(Pssst. I have a challenge for you in the last paragraph.)

When I started at Luther, I felt out of place. I was an older student who had spent the previous 10 years in a non-ministry career. I was also a part-time commuter student with three children. I wasn’t on campus much. I didn’t have people to just be with. Every day I asked myself, “Self, what have you gotten into?”

During this time, I applied for (and was hired for) a job on campus. See, my previous 10 years were spent as a graphic designer and I still loved the work (still do, actually. Finding a way to do graphic design and ministry is an entirely different entry!). The Communications Office was looking for a “student with graphic design experience.” It was, I believe, a match literally made in heaven.

You’re probably wondering what this job has to do with anything, right? It has everything to do with my time at Luther. Through this job, I first developed friendships with a few staff and that was my community. Just a few people to start with. Then I started to work with other students at the same time (and even an awesome spouse of a student). Then as I worked on more projects, I had the opportunity to interact with different departments, staff, faculty and students. You know what I found out? Well, yes, a lot of people on campus are a little crazy and seems to have an unhealthy obsession with T.V. and pop culture. But those are beside the point.

I found out that we have the most amazing community of amazing people on this campus. I don’t always fit in with everyone. But I am able to walk across campus and smile at people I know or have worked with. I have people to sit with at lunch. I have a place to go and spend some time on non-theological conversation with theological people.

I also feel that my family is welcomed and embraced by the community here at Luther. Aside from actual campus events where families are welcome, I have made plans with other parents on campus. We share stories of being faithful parents and, um, not so faithful parents. My children come into the office with me and are genuinely welcomed. In fact, my son has moved to a new school this year and his bus stop is near campus. So when I’m in class or at work, I feel comfortable having him hang out on campus. He has been welcomed by those who don’t know him and embraced by those who do. To me, a true test of the welcome-ness of a community is how they treat visiting children. Luther treats visiting children very well.

Did you read this far? I have a challenge for you. See, I want to show my son, Patrick, just how welcoming Luther is. That’s where you come in! On Wednesday and Thursday for the rest of the semester (from about 3:15-4), Patrick hangs out in the OCC cafeteria. I’m inviting anyone in the area to stop by and introduce themselves to Patrick (he’s 13 with brown hair and should be doing homework when you see him! I hear he looks like me, so take a look at my picture up top). When you do this, Patrick will ask your story of how you have been moved by the promise (for the Communications Office, simple stuff!) and he will give you an awesome pen/highlighter to keep (for free!). So, how many new people can Patrick meet this semester?

But don't make your visit too long...He still has homework to do!

Just over a week ago we launched GENERATE Magazine at Christianity 21 and its was so much fun showing off the first issue to new and old friends in Minneapolis. As subscriptions roll in and the excitement builds as folks get their issues in the mail, author, speaker and theologian Tony Jones weighed in with a generous review — very exciting stuff. I think you should listen to him and subscribe today.

a glimpse

I just thought you may enjoy seeing what I saw last night when I looked out the window from a stairwell in Stub Hall. Ah, MINNEAPOLIS! I love this place!

Speaking on Valium

This coming Sunday is of course Reformation Sunday, which doubles as confirmation day at my church. That being said, last night the church hosted 18 high school freshman along with their parents, mentors, and prayer partners, filling a pretty strong portion of the fellowship hall for their confirmation banquet.

A year ago, when I was beginning seminary, I began teaching confirmation and these particular kids were in the first two classes that I taught. Due to that time I spent with them, my supervising pastor thought it would be fitting for me to present the address. He assured me that it didn’t need to be overly extensive. 10-15 minutes mainly aimed at encouraging them as they are confirmed.

So I spent the last week racking my brain trying to come up with something to talk about. Then I remembered 1st Timothy 4:12, “Let no one look down upon you because you are young…” I thought this was pretty fitting considering that once the kids are confirmed, they will be considered full members of the congregation, on equal footing with every other adult in the church. In order to fill out a few minutes, I wanted to share something personal with them, so I shared an example of what happened after confirmation for me as well as my brother and sister. We each took different paths since confirmation and I think that the kids appreciate some personal insight into things.

Well, anyway, I got the address all ready to go last Friday, so by last night I was good to go. I headed out to the church and was very impressed with the way they had the dining room set up. Its tradition for the 8th graders/parents to serve the banquet, and they did a really nice job. I ended up sitting at a table with a family that included a guy from the town close to where I grew up, so we got to talking about the town itself, things that have changed and all that jazz.

Then it was time for me to give the address. I think it went okay, but admittedly, I felt kinda like I was on Valium while I was doing it. I hadn’t slept well the night before and by 7:30 in the evening I was dragging. I guess it went okay though because several parents came up to me after it was over and thanked me for what I had said. Hopefully the Spirit uses it on some of the kids as well. But as my partner pastor says every time we discuss a sermon, you send it out there, but it no longer belongs to you…you have to trust that the person that needs to hear it hears it.

Happy anniversary

This weekend, my husband and I spent the night away from real life and family in honor of our 15^th anniversary. My husband, wanting to make this a special anniversary, booked us a room at the Water Street Inn in Stillwater. I’ve driven through Stillwater, but I’ve never spent time in there. It reminded me why I love living in the Twin Cities.

I’ve lived in the area most of my life. I love the fact that I can get the big concerts, go to major sporting events, see Broadway-quality theater and visit top-notch art galleries without having to drive more than 20 minutes. I can also visit small towns and scenic suburbs and be home the same day (Stillwater is a 40 minute drive from my home near campus).

Today I enjoyed a fantastic breakfast, view of the St. Croix River from our room and a walk down Main Street Stillwater (with a little shopping in the fantastic boutique shops). We jumped in the car and drove around the area for a few hours enjoying the amazing fall scenery in the beautiful St. Croix Valley where we stopped to visit a funky and free outdoor sculpture garden. We had to take a couple self-portrait, similar to one we took 15 years ago on our honeymoon drive.

On our way back from the Taylors Falls area, we stopped to see this amazing view of Stillwater from up the river:

And we were home by 3:30 to pick up the kids and head home for a nap and the usual Saturday-night-before-church preparations.

While autumn has been, well, brief to say the least this year, I love being able to enjoy watching God’s creation as it changes and just driving a short distance from the Twin Cities allows me to see that change in an entirely different light. So while autumn is probably going to be over sometime in the next five minutes, I hope you have had a chance to see how beautiful Minnesota truly can be.

Moved by the Promise!

A huge celebration/revealing happened today at Luther Seminary. For years, we had been using the slogan, "God could use someone like you." It had been changed to "God could abuse someone like you," and many other renditions of that kind. Finally, we have a new slogan and some sweet publications to show off our new identity! It's called, "Moved by the promise!" There was a program this morning in the chapel to reveal it, a video presentation of people answering what it means to be moved by the promise, and the announcement of winners for the "Moved by the promise" photo contest.

Here are the winners:

1st Place: Elly Peterman won a 32 GB ipod touch
2nd Place: Allie Owen won a Nintendo Wii

3rd Place: Amber Marten won a Flip video camera

There were over 1,000 photos entered in the contest, so you can imagine how pumped I was to hear my photo had placed in the top three. Here's what the photos looked like. They are ranked in order of place. Congrats to all the winners! And way to go LADIES on representing the artsy rock stars of Luther Seminary! :)

celebrity sighting!

Were any of you around the OCC around 12:00 this afternoon? I had the sweetest celebrity sighting ON CAMPUS!!! Not only is this celebrity the most upbeat, personable lady I know, but she's famous! A PUBLISHED AUTHOR!

Any guesses yet?

ELLEN ROSCHER!! Author of How Coffee Saved my Life. A recount of her year spent in Lascano, Uruguay.

Ellie graduated from Luther in 2005 with her MA in I managed to sneak a peek of her for the last ten minutes of her presentation to a board room full of fellow students and staff. She was even signing copies of her book. If you missed her, well, sucks to be you! :) Kidding. You can still get copies of her book and I bet she'll even sign them for you!

Thanks for gracing our campus with your presence, Ellie!!

Laughter at my brother's expence

Every once in awhile, its important to put some things on the back burner and just go out and have a touch of fun.

Last night I had that oppurtunity. But first some back ground. My older brother had reconstructive knee surgery about a month ago, and hes been laid up in his house with a cast from his hip to his toes ever since. Needless to say he's going a little stir crazy. Just ask his wife, she'll confirm that for you.

I was talking with him yesterday and he commented that he's going to go a little gaga if he doesn't get something to pass the time. Roughly translated, he was planning on buying a new video game system. I needed to doa touch of shopping for my wife's upcoming birthday, so this was a good excuse to blow off responsibility for a couple horus and hang out with my brother.

The best part of the evening, watching him flop himself into my truck. It was a process, and I'm not ashamed to say that I laughed at his expense. Don't judge me, if the rolls were reversed he would have done the same thing.

After buzzing into town we made a "quick" run through Arby's. By quick I mean extraordinarily slow. I think they had to butcher the cow and grow the potatoes before we finally got our food. But once that was done we went to do our shopping. I made my purchase while he stood there on his crutches. One comment at his expence sparked him to wack me in the leg with a crutch, something I won't soon forget. Once that was completed, it was on to the electronic section for him to decide what game system to buy.

That portion of the evening lasted about 20 minutes. I was trying really hard to stiffle my laughter as he shuffled back and forth between the game cabinet sections, trying to decide what to get. That would have been funny enough to see normally, but then put the crutches into it, and I just had to laugh.

Now I realize that this makes me sound like a terrible person. Here I am laughing at someone because of a medical imparement. Trust that I don't normally act in such ways. But it was my brother, we are able to joke around with each other about things like this. You just wait, someday when I'm laid up due to a procedure of some kind, he'll be the one laughing.

reflections on the Luthermergent gatherings

Last week about 30 folks (some in and out) gathered in Edina, Minnesota as part of Christianity 21. The time was filled with conversation, new friends, old friends, hard questions, prayer and trying to figure out if we should even have a Luthermergent "network." Thursday we gathered together leaders of communities to talk about their contexts and about what they're learning. We asked that difficult and often elusive question, "so why Lutheran?" and noticed how many of our Luthermergent communities are led by folks who are adult converts to Lutheranism. Weird, right? That evening we headed over to celebrate the launch of Sparkhouse and much needed space to just invest in each other. We closed the night with evening prayer and a blessing of the (Spark)house.

On Friday we re-convened and we dwelled in the word — "I believe, help my unbelief." We then took some time to listen broadly to research on emerging churches in the ELCA (a PhD study by my friend Dan Anderson) and we dove into the results of the Luthermergent National Survey from last spring. We tryed to imagine together what this network community might look like, might do and who we might serve. We didn't try to resolve all that.

Much more is to come. If you're interested in continuing the conversations started in Edina, whether you were part of them or not, email me (tksnyder(at)gmail(dot)com) and let's talk. In the weeks ahead we'll evaluate that gathering and we'll try to imagine next steps. There's still a lot of work to do, but I'm overjoyed to see the ways the Spirit is moving. 

communities :: links :: leaders

nadia bolz-weber // house for all sinners & saints (Denver)
mark stenberg // mercy seat (Minneapolis)
yehiel curry // shekinah chapel (Chicago)
russell rathbun // house of mercy (St. Paul)

+++++

Some questions that were asked:

What does "authority" look like in our communities of practice?

How can we document these stories from communities? What are they teaching us?

Who are we as a network? (Most who identify themselves as "luthermergent" are in conventional congregations)

How might we work with a broken denominational system? What might a network contribute that the ELCA can not/is not doing?

How can we better support communities and those working within conventional congregations?

How can we do this in conventional congregations anyways? (honestly, no clue)

coming soon: photo gallery from the annual gathering.

— tks

Waiting for fall (classes) to start

This has been an unusual semester so far. As a part-time student, I don’t ever have as many classes at one time as most of the students on campus do. Last fall I upped the ante and took three classes. My family has begged me to never do that again. “Crabby Mommy” decided to stay for the semester. With two part-time jobs (including a youth group), three kids, a Brownie troop to lead, a husband to love, and a skeletal social life (never mind a full fall T.V. schedule to TiVo), three classes just about killed me.

Things are different this fall. I decided to give up the Brownie troop (but I still help out) and my only classes this semester are a one-week intensive next week and a second six-week class starting the week after. This means I haven’t had any classes yet this fall.

I feel like an outsider when friends ask, “So, how are your classes going?” or “Tough semester?” and all I’ve been doing is reading fiction, keeping up-to-date on my pop culture and becoming addicted to Facebook games. At a place like Luther where community is such an important part of the, uh, Life@Luther, not being here at all makes it feel distant. While I know the class is going to be great, I don’t know that I would schedule my semesters like this again.

I’m excited for next week and my fall semester to finally begin. But I have warned my family that Crabby Mommy will probably come for a visit next week. An intensive is still an intensive.

Maybe I’ll buy a DVD when It’s over as a reward. I hear Transformers 2 comes out next week.

on my way to class...

The unusual sight I saw on my way to class this morning. Welcome Winter!

tree talk

I knew it...I work up this morning to a serious dusting of snow. Only, it stuck. An inch at least...all the trees are crying out for their season to return! Half of them groaning. Half of them have given up. They are spitting their leaves onto the ground in disgust! I have to admit, I felt like groaning too. I had 4 photo shoots scheduled today and two cancelled. Totally understandable. But, dang. What happened to fall? Are we going to lose our wonderful season of change and color? I sure hope not!

Winter again? Ugg

Well, I'm coming face to face with old man winter yet again. In my 30 years, you'd think I'd be used to it by now. But every year, it catches me unprepared again.

Don't get me wrong, I used to love winter...sledding, playing in the snow, snow days. It was great...but then I got a little older. That feeling has changed.

I often say that I hate winter...and this is true. Of the four holidays, it ranks in at #11 (and yes that is possible in Scotty's world). In fact, I hate it so much that it ruins fall for me. Fall is usually a pretty nice season, but I lose out on it because I know that winter is right around the corner.

Here in Northern Iowa, winter is about the same as it is on campus in St. Paul. I tell myself that, then I go to campus in January and we hit minus 30 degrees. I long for the tropics of Iowa. Truth be told though, we get the exact same weather. The snow, the wind, the artic blasts. So what the student experience at school is the same thing that I get here.

The forcast for the weekend was snow on Saturday, clearing through by SUnday, but then more snow Sunday night. What did we do? My wife and I trekked across, Iowa to stay with my sister in the NorthEastern portion of the state. All it did was delay the fury though. I see by some friends facebook posts that the snow hit at home overnight. And as I look out the window to the west here, I see some pretty dark clouds.

Ugg. I'm not ready for this again.

Scrapping windows on the car, shoveling the driveway, having to bundle up in 18 extra layers to go outside. Yuck...all I'm going to say.

But its reality...so I better get my winter groove on.

To quote the Joker (something I'm fond of)...And Here..We...Go

Getting ready for winter ... already.

As the weather gets uncomfortably cold too early for most of us, and the flashes of images of a long cold winter fast approaching scare the living lights out of many of us, I am forced to think again of what it is that I am doing in Minnesota for me to brave the Minnesota Winter again. A few of the new international students are getting worried. They hear a lot about the winter, and they have no idea what to expect. Certainly, the winter here deserves all the credit it gets. But that is just one side of the story. Minnesota Winter is beatable.

Today, I remembered an encouraging conversation I had with one of the professors in January. After going through the academic stuff that I had gone to his office for, I asked him, “How have you managed to survive these winters so far?” With a chuckle, he answered, “I enjoy what I do here, I am confident that I am at the right place at the right time.” And he added, “Three more months, all this will be over.”

I left the office with a refined attitude. There was no way the winter would ruin my stay here. I have my gloves ready. Just like the professor, I enjoy what I am doing here, I am confident I am where I am supposed to be. And true, winter is just for a season. Come March, the snow will begin to disappear and the ice will melt.

It is expected that we will wake to a snowy ground tomorrow. I will make sure I find one of the African students for an “Introduction to Snow.”

Within the week, many of the new international students wondered about the sports frenzy in the Twin Cities. I don’t blame them. I have been here for two years, and still can’t figure American Football out. Neither do I understand baseball. And then there is ice hockey. There are many sports teams here, the Vikings, Gophers, the Wild, the Twins, etc. Only now am I able to figure out which one is which. At least, I know Minnesota Thunder. Thunder plays soccer, (elsewhere called football). If you are like me, and love to watch a bit of soccer once in a while, you will be entertained. Not to mention our own soccer team, The Heretics. You are welcome to join the team during practices, normally on Thursdays at Sandgren.

falling in love with fall!

I have a feeling this is the last post you'll read for the year that will not include some mention of snow. It's coming tomorrow...so my nieces and I took some time outside to play in the leaves and play the fun game of "pick up sticks!" I hope you have a chance to get out and enjoy the cold (but snow-less) weather before we get dumped on!

Let me introduce myself to you…

I’ve always been a regular reader of Life@Luther. I’m excited about the opportunity to share my thoughts on what life is like as a student at Luther Seminary.

I'm sure the main reasons I was asked to write are that I am a Master of Arts (M.A.) student and in the Children, Youth and Family Ministry program (CYF). But I am more than that.

I’m a wife. Next week, my husband Paul and I will celebrate our 15th anniversary. It hasn’t been easy. It hasn’t always been fun. But we’ve stuck it out and I wouldn’t be at Luther if I didn’t have such a wonderful man loving and supporting me.

I’m a mother. I have three children: Patrick, 13, and Hannah and Zoe (identical twins), 9. They are wonderful, frustrating, amazing, noisy examples of God’s creation. They are part of why I wanted to go into children and family ministry.

I’m an “older” student. Don’t ask, I’m not telling. But I did graduate from college in a previous decade. I had two careers before this: I was a newspaper writer right out of college for a while which lead directly to the next career, graphic design, which I have done for over 12 years (and still continue to do and love).

I’m a commuter student. I don’t live on campus which makes for a totally different experience. I’m rarely on campus after 5 p.m. and never on the weekends or holidays (unless I’m working). In fact, when I decided to return to school, my whole family moved in with my parents (intergenerational living is quite vogue right now!). My life does not center around the Luther community.

I’m a part-time student. I’m in the second year of what will probably be a four-year. I’ve had to watch my friends graduate. I have to be here longer and do things slower. My husband and I have to pay for classes mostly ourselves because I made the choice to split between career and family. Being part-time makes me ineligible for most financial aid opportunities.

I hope that I have interesting insights to share in future entries. Thanks for reading this!

door of approval

This is what I stared at today for about 2 minutes of my life. The door to Dr. Lois Malcolm's door. She is my advisor. Today I met with her and her faculty partner for my approval interview. Once you talk with them for about 45 minutes, they send you into the hall and make you wait while they come to their decision about whether or not to approve me. Usually, I'd say, "I don't need your approval!" But today I definitely did. It turned out to be an amazing affirmation of call. They helped me identify my gifts and got me thinking about the future. What a blessing. An interview was a blessing, yes it was. Two faculty who I highly respect and admire about brought me to happy tears. More evidence of the Holy Spirit here at Luther. Spirit sightings have been happening all over the place. Where have you seen the Spirit?

A modified work day

As an online student, I’ve learned to start taking advantage of any opportunity to knock out a little bit of work for class. Yesterday reminded me of that. I was sitting at work about 9 in the morning when my wife called to report that our daughter was running a fever and one of us had to go pick her up. She was sitting in her weekly staff meeting and couldn’t really leave right away. I on the other hand had a pretty low-key day going on at work and so it worked okay for me to jet out for a few hours.

So I forwarded my emails and left work behind me. Which was a nice feeling, but short lived, I knew I’d be coming back. I buzzed out to the day care and grabbed the munchkin who didn’t seem overly bad off, but she was certainly warm. So I took her home, gave her a shot of Tylenol and put her to bed.

The thought went through my head…should I grab a nap? Should I slack and watch tv? Nope, I’m gonna be productive.

So I sat down and start translating some Greek participles. Got a few done, almost half way through the assignment. It took me a couple hours though. The good news is that’s two hours that I didn’t have to spend last night to finish the assignment and get it posted. After dealing with slightly ornery junior high kids at confirmation class, the early I could get done the better.

After that it was back to work for a few more hours, but then I left early anyway. I had to jet out at 3 to pick up my son from school, something that typically gets done by my better half. I got to thinking. Go in at 7, off at 9:15, back at noon till 3 is a pretty nice work day. I could get used to that.

Celebration of Biblical Preaching

What an exciting day on campus. The Center for Biblical Preaching hosted the FIRST annual Celebration of Biblical Preaching here at Luther Seminary. Preachers from all over the country came to town to be a part of this awesome event. I was stuck in class most of the day, so didn't get to take in any workshops, but did get to hear Professor David Lose preach one heck of a sermon this morning! I took one look at Kevin and said, "Yup, that's my teacher!" These conferences are awesome--students get to bop in and out of seminars and get to listen to speakers for FREE! Take advantage of the amazing line-up of speakers this week and be sure to be in chapel tomorrow for Anna Carter Florence and then again tomorrow night to hear Jearlyn & Billy Steele perform!!! Great line-up!

TC Marathon & Ten Mile

What a beautiful day for a run. It was 42 degrees this morning at 7:30. Perfect for a 26.2 mile jog! My fiance and I ran Twin Cities Marathon this morning. I already wrote a whole blog post about it on my other blog, so if you want details, and I mean LOTS of details, click here for a play by play! It turns out, a whole bunch of Luther Seminary folks ran in the race. Hannah Johnson (MDiv Senior) and Matt Maas (MDiv Senior) ran the 10 mile. Kristin Swenson (MDiv Senior), John Kilbride (Seminary Relations), Anne Christ (wife of Peter), and myself (MDiv Senior) all ran the full marathon (along with a whole crew of Luther Seminary alumni). Here's a photo of us the day after the race sporting our sweet shirts. Don't be fooled by our muscles...they were jello at this point! Be sure to get in on the fun next year if you want to race. Registration starts early in the year and space is limited! Way to go runners!!!

Just another wedding, but from a whole new angle

Well today was an interesting experience for me. My sister in law had a vow renewal/family “wedding” today and they asked me to preach the sermon for it. I was of course happy to oblige, but in the process I realized “hey, I’ve never done a wedding sermon before.”

Well, the prep work turned out okay. As it turned out, I was better suited to do it and make it
personal for them anyway as they live in Maryland and the pastors hardly know either of them at all. So in retrospect, maybe it was an okay idea.

The kicker that threw me for a little bit of a loop was that I spent the entire ceremony in the front. I expected to sit in the pews, likely with the kids as my wife was of course in the wedding party, come up for the sermon and then sit back down again.

That’s not what happened. Last night at the rehearsal, the pastor said, “Scott, we will both track around behind the sanctuary and walk in together. We’ll be in the front for the service.”

Umm…okay…I guess I’m in the front. New perspective. I’ve never watched it from that angle before. The cool thing was that it felt like I got front row seats to observe a wedding ceremony. Every other time that I’ve been that close to the action, I was either the best man or the groom. And let’s face it, in those situations; you aren’t really paying attention to how the pastor handles the service.

Long story short, the service went fine and several of my wife’s family members were surprised to see me in that role. I think they all know that I’m in the process of seminary but this was the first experience of seeing me “trying on the stole” if you’ll allow me to say that. The one that made me laugh the most was my in-law’s neighbors. I walked by them at the beginning of the reception and I heard, “Scott, you really surprised me. I mean, I know you have the gift of gab but wow. That was really amazing.”

I’ll take that as a compliment. I was also able to catch up with an old co-worker that I haven’t talked to for awhile and bring her up to speed with my current process of class/life. FYI, her husband is a Catholic youth director who interacts quite a bit with my wife, so we’ve really known the couple for quite a long time. It was good to sit and just talk about what I’m doing and why I’m doing it with someone who is involved with ministry or is married to someone that is. They can relate and that’s a plus.

Good day…but much like my kids who are passed out (finally) I’m ready for bed. Now I just need to get this tux off.

HEY SENIORS!

To all the Luther Seminary Seniors:

Don't forget to turn in your application for graduation!

It's due today! You don't want to miss out on seeing your lovely name written in the program for graduation! Consider this your warning! :)