i met him! i met him!

I realize I have a tendency to over-exaggerate at times. Drama, yeah, whatever. I come from a family of over-exaggerators, so for this post, I'm gonna let my roots show (no, not my hair)...

I have mentioned a few times this week, Dr. Mark Allan Powell is here on campus from Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Ohio. I'm a huge fan of his book: What do they hear? Bridging the gap between pulpit and pew. Much to my delight, his keynote message yesterday talked about his book and brought some great new ideas for me in the proposal I'm writing. That was cool in itself. What's even cooler: Dr. Powell replied to an e-mail I sent him last week and said he'd be willing to meet up with me to talk about my proposal! The e-mail alone had me flying high. His wealth of biblical knowledge reminds me of Dr. Fretheim. Like a ridiculous groupie, I held out hope that our paths would actually cross.

Naturally, every time I saw him yesterday, people swarmed him, so there was never a good time to interrupt and greet him. Until today!!!! After chapel, I tackled four people, gave one lady a fore-arm shiver, and made my way up to steal him before anyone else could. I have aggression issues, clearly. My wrestling moves paid off. 45 minutes! I got 45 minutes of his time and got to shoot my proposal idea by him, to which he said, and I directly quote: "I think it's a promising idea, and I encourage you to pursue it!" Now, if I can get that quote into my paperwork, that'll be even better!

Enough bragging. I was just so excited after our conversation, and grateful such a well known theologian would take the time to speak to a wee little seminary student like me. I learned a valuable lesson today. Even students--often barely able to articulate a comparably snazzy theology to a well-known scholar--are worth investing 45 minutes in. My deepest thanks to Dr. Mark Allan Powell for his time today, and for his kind words and encouragement.