New Beginnings

The first week of the new semester has come and gone. We here at Seminary started our regular semester of class on Monday, and ended the week on Thursday. I am taking 15 credit hours this semester; a common course load. I only have one class on Wednesdays, but I'm thinking this will help me to stay on top of my coursework. I want to do much more of the reading this semester than I've done in semesters past.

I'm already excited about one of our assignments for Preaching class. We have to tell a story about ourself that lasts about four or five minutes. I love telling stories and enjoy finding ways to make the stories more interesting and engaging for the hearers. My main problem with this assignment is trying to figure out what kind of story I want to tell. Do I want to be my usual funny self (I really AM a funny person, not that you can tell much by reading this blog. I admit, it's a fairly depressing place), or do I want to be sappy, or do I want to reveal a bit of myself that most of my classmates don't know about? (At least I don't THINK they know about). Being vulnerable in face to face situations is often very difficult to me, but I'm realizing that some of the crud I've had to live through can be seen as a gift to others who might be now, or in the future having to deal with similar things. How am I going to be able to help them if they have no idea that I can be a resource for them? But, at the same time, how do I get myself to a place where I am comfortable being vulnerable in a group of classmates? For the most part, I like all my classmates, but that doesn't mean that I want all of them to know about this, that, or the other thing going on. So, I'm just trying to decide where I want to take them in my storytelling. Once deciding on that, it will be much easier to decide what story I want to tell.

Anyway, other than that... I'm just chilling. I need to be reading for class and or working on a sermon for next week. I'm preaching at my home church next Sunday, and another neighboring church the Sunday after that. I hope things with you are well.