Tomorrow is the Big Day.

Class here at Seminary starts tomorrow. I'm only taking one, because I'm doing CPE now, too. I'm taking "Ages of Faith and Reform." I believe it's a history class. What I'm most excited about, though, is the fact that there is chapel every weekday. I really like worshiping here. During J-term, I think they only do chapel on Wednesday afternoons. I went this past Wednesday, and it was cool. They are using the new "cranberry" hymnal. I went to worship today at a nearby church with two new friends, and that church also uses the new hymnal. I'm not very familiar with it yet, but it's nice. When I went to chapel Wednesday, I opened the book and noticed in the very front that there was a sticker or something that said something along the lines of, "Given from ILC, MyHomeChurchTown, Illinois; a partner in the Gospel." I knew we donated new hymnals, but I just thought it was cool that the very first time I sat down for chapel, I got to use one that my church donated. :)

In other news, for some odd reason, right now I am feeling similar to the way I felt on my first day of kindergarten 19 years ago. I wish I still had my little bookbag which was not like any of the other kids' bookbags. It was like a little briefcase that did not go on my back, but that I carried with two handles. It had school buses on it. I hated it back then, but now I remember it fondly. I feel kind of scared, but also very hopeful and excited that pretty soon I'm going to be making lots of friends, and getting to hang out and do fun community-type activities with people that I will get to know and love. I'm eagerly anticipating the day when I can consider this place to be a home of sorts. Right now, I don't call it home. I say, "It took me x amount of time to get back to Seminary the other day." I'm not saying, "It took me x amount of time to get home the other day." But I suspect that will change. My home will always be my home, but I hope that I can consider this place my home away from home. Also, whenever I hear about people who have gone here, I notice that they speak of it in incredibly fond ways. I want that kind of bond with this place, and the people who live here. So, I say as I am about to begin my first day, "Bring it on. I'm ready to dive in." It is my prayer and fervent hope that I can grow into my role as a seminarian. Quite befitting to this feeling is a song we sang during worship at the CPE house the other day. It is hymn # 814 in Evangelical Lutheran Worship.

"Take, oh, take me as I am;
summon out what I shall be;
set your seal upon my heart and live in me."