Professor McDuffee is, and I quote, "the proprietor of a t-shirt shop in Katmandu" in his mind. He went on to explain that he takes his controversial opinions and loaded thoughts and puts them on a t-shirt inside his head - sometimes "selling" them, (again this is all within the boundary of his brain), to those who could benefit from their advertised truths. "They're not hurting any one's feelings" he shrugged. HAHA! I'm reminded, at least three times a week, how uniquely brilliant the people I get to learn from really are. If we're all a little crazy, this man is my kind of crazy.
My former professor, current employer, and dear respected mentor, Dr. Sauer, has cancer. This might seem like a stark transition from the previous light-hearted surprise; however he is anything but heavy in spirit. This may not have been this 64year-old man's prediction or wish, but he is unshaken and challengingly hopeful. As someone who has taken to calling me "Ann" and greeting me with: "Are you persevering, my child?", I am encouraged even in one of his weakest hours. I prayerfully look forward to the ways this will deepen his dependence and grow our relationship.
I get the opportunity to have a second interview for a 2011-2012 RA position. This has been an unexpectedly exciting process. The application and first interview have already challenged me to look into a metaphorical mirror. Who do people see me as vs who do I want to be? Who am I presently vs. who am I created to be? How do I react to circumstances X, Y, and Z vs. how should I react? What do I like? What makes me angry? Why do I bother? It has provoked some discovery and I'm hopeful of what's to come.
Showing posts with label Professors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Professors. Show all posts
February 12, 2011
February 9, 2011
get to the point
I'm in a writing class this semester under a professor that I very much respect... but her class is kicking my butt a little bit.
I got to sit down with her one-on-one today and walk through the first paper I submitted. When I received it back I felt guilty - as though I owed her 13 cents - because I'm fairly certain an unfair amount of red ink was used on my paper. It was actually quite comical.
And call me a nerd, but I grew eager with the challenge. I love writing. I knew I wasn't great, but I had no idea how much room I have for improvement.
My greatest grammatical weaknesses: redundancy, vagueness, unnecessarily dramatic transitions, and adjective over-use. Today my professor took entire groups of sentences in my paper and summed them up in one noun or verb. It was beautiful to watch her do this.
Far be it from my expectations, it helped to emphasize what was supposed to be emphasized and maintained readability and creativity.
She says all I need is practice.
We both hope she's right :P.
I got to sit down with her one-on-one today and walk through the first paper I submitted. When I received it back I felt guilty - as though I owed her 13 cents - because I'm fairly certain an unfair amount of red ink was used on my paper. It was actually quite comical.
And call me a nerd, but I grew eager with the challenge. I love writing. I knew I wasn't great, but I had no idea how much room I have for improvement.
My greatest grammatical weaknesses: redundancy, vagueness, unnecessarily dramatic transitions, and adjective over-use. Today my professor took entire groups of sentences in my paper and summed them up in one noun or verb. It was beautiful to watch her do this.
Far be it from my expectations, it helped to emphasize what was supposed to be emphasized and maintained readability and creativity.
She says all I need is practice.
We both hope she's right :P.
September 4, 2010
A Total UN-Eclipse of the Heart
Phew! So honestly, these past couple nights are really the first time I've had time & space to process the past few weeks. And quite frankly, they haven't been super easy. In fact, many aspects of "my world" have experienced a sort of paradigm shift, if they've not been flipped completely upside down.
Back in May, I began to allow myself into the darker parts of my heart as a renovation began to take place. I was unpleasantly surprised to find that I have cultivated wickedness and harvested a thriving crop of sins. I have eaten the fruit of lies. (Hosea 10:12-13). Yet as that journey began, I was also assured that I was safe. "I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green; all your fruit comes from me.” - Hosea 14:8
Admittedly however, I've felt anything but safe starting out the semester this fall. I've been challenged and surprised; relationally, vocationally, financially, academically, physically, spiritually, etc.
When I'm honest, I can confess that my biggest human character flaw is inconsistency. Too often I've suffered from a mind of fear, or been seemingly paralyzed by a hesitant heart. It's the difference between able and willing. This past summer was one during which I learned how very capable I am. In the midst of some colorful trials of mind, body, and spirit; I was shown more and more of who God says I am - who He created me to be. And now that I've walked through that, it's a new chapter of answering will I?s instead of can I?s.
As if to obliterate any potential misunderstanding, ideas like these have recurrently appeared in my life recently.
A professor of mine, Professor Craigen, was speaking in class this past week and it gave me chills. He was raising the idea that so often we sit and debate what kind of light we are, instead of just going to be one. We ask 'am I evangelical, protestant, baptist, pentacostal, etc, etc'. Are we missing the point? We want to know more and more; hear more sermons and read more books. We subscribe to podcasts and keep up on blogs. Isn't it more important that we put what we're learning into practice. He challenged us to take one idea, one thing, from each Sunday we attend church and live it, expecting nothing less than for our life and those around us to radically change.
During chapel in the first week of school, one of the speakers quoted a chinese proverb that reads something like "we spend so much time cursing the darkness instead of lighting a candle". I sit and study theology instead of going out and getting uncomfortable. I make excuses because displacing myself is messy. When the reality is we weren't meant to merely survive the world, we were meant to change it. However, that requires an uncircumstancial willingness and selflessness. I hope and pray that those qualities grow in me. I don’t want to just go through the motions of life. I know I won’t be satisfied looking back if I haven’t written a story worth reading.
So I raise my metaphorical glass to stretching myself. I've seen but a glimpse of the challenges to come, but I've also only had a mere peek at the joy to come. My own heart is becoming more and more visible to me. As my faith and trust is tested, my expectancy grows. This semester already has been, and will most likely continue to be, one that pushes me to the very edge of everything I believe, think, or know. Hello to a new chapter of learning, refining my faith, renovating my heart, deepening relationships, standing in the rain, challenging my everything, and praying unceasingly through it all.
Thanks for journeying with me.
Back in May, I began to allow myself into the darker parts of my heart as a renovation began to take place. I was unpleasantly surprised to find that I have cultivated wickedness and harvested a thriving crop of sins. I have eaten the fruit of lies. (Hosea 10:12-13). Yet as that journey began, I was also assured that I was safe. "I am the one who answers your prayers and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green; all your fruit comes from me.” - Hosea 14:8
Admittedly however, I've felt anything but safe starting out the semester this fall. I've been challenged and surprised; relationally, vocationally, financially, academically, physically, spiritually, etc.
When I'm honest, I can confess that my biggest human character flaw is inconsistency. Too often I've suffered from a mind of fear, or been seemingly paralyzed by a hesitant heart. It's the difference between able and willing. This past summer was one during which I learned how very capable I am. In the midst of some colorful trials of mind, body, and spirit; I was shown more and more of who God says I am - who He created me to be. And now that I've walked through that, it's a new chapter of answering will I?s instead of can I?s.
As if to obliterate any potential misunderstanding, ideas like these have recurrently appeared in my life recently.
A professor of mine, Professor Craigen, was speaking in class this past week and it gave me chills. He was raising the idea that so often we sit and debate what kind of light we are, instead of just going to be one. We ask 'am I evangelical, protestant, baptist, pentacostal, etc, etc'. Are we missing the point? We want to know more and more; hear more sermons and read more books. We subscribe to podcasts and keep up on blogs. Isn't it more important that we put what we're learning into practice. He challenged us to take one idea, one thing, from each Sunday we attend church and live it, expecting nothing less than for our life and those around us to radically change.
During chapel in the first week of school, one of the speakers quoted a chinese proverb that reads something like "we spend so much time cursing the darkness instead of lighting a candle". I sit and study theology instead of going out and getting uncomfortable. I make excuses because displacing myself is messy. When the reality is we weren't meant to merely survive the world, we were meant to change it. However, that requires an uncircumstancial willingness and selflessness. I hope and pray that those qualities grow in me. I don’t want to just go through the motions of life. I know I won’t be satisfied looking back if I haven’t written a story worth reading.
So I raise my metaphorical glass to stretching myself. I've seen but a glimpse of the challenges to come, but I've also only had a mere peek at the joy to come. My own heart is becoming more and more visible to me. As my faith and trust is tested, my expectancy grows. This semester already has been, and will most likely continue to be, one that pushes me to the very edge of everything I believe, think, or know. Hello to a new chapter of learning, refining my faith, renovating my heart, deepening relationships, standing in the rain, challenging my everything, and praying unceasingly through it all.
Thanks for journeying with me.
January 15, 2010
Time Flys When You're Having Fun... No Really, It Does!
My new Roomie (Sarah/SJ) and I!
I have completed my first week at MBI, and what an adventure it’s been! I visited a new church, experienced the infamous Argo Tea, enjoyed the “ghetto” McDonalds twice, drove a couple girls and I to Target (through downtown Chicago), lost all of my Moody keys only to have them returned to me within 24 hours (hah), attended a seminar on how to get a job, learned the dos and don’ts as far as eating in the cafeteria goes, and mysteriously had my printer poop out on me. This was all besides attending classes, going to Chapels, doing homework, sleeping (a little), doing laundry, and exercising once (if not twice) a day!!!! PHEW!
My very first train ride, with Kia
Argo Tea with Chelsea!
Crazy birds under the heater at the train station, haha
I can tell that I’m really going to enjoy my time here. I already see my time filling with golden opportunities. It’s actually been incredibly difficult to pick and choose only some things. I plan to try out for the volleyball team, and that starts in a week or so! I’ve been physically working hard, and I’m nervous but hopeful… so we’ll see how that goes. I also want to join a group on campus called “Puente”; a Hispanic student group. They do some expected Spanish-student-group activities, but also service projects and missions, etc. This semester they plan on targeting a primarily Mexican group in South Chicago through different outreaches. We (MBI students) also received our Practical Christian Ministry (PCM) assignments this week. This is a pass/fail credit for each student on campus, requiring us to go out and serve each week. I’ll be taking part in an organization called Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF). I am thrilled about this. It is, more or less, a chance for me to teach publicly-schooled kids (in an after-school program) about their Creator. It’s once a week for two hours, and is treated similar to a year-long VBS. On top of all this, I should really apply for some jobs. Chicago offers a unique variety of places to be employed, so I’ve got to scope out my options a little first!
I have six classes for the semester: 1) Christian Missions, 2) Christianity & Western Culture I, 3) Bible Intro, 4) New Testament Survey, 5) History and Theology of Urban I, and 6) Understanding the City. My favorite classes will probably be Bible Intro and History and Theology of Urban. The professor for Bible Intro is perhaps one of the most entertaining men I have ever met; Dr. Sauer. He holds a sense of intensity that I can’t even put into words. Dr. Sauer has translated much of the bible himself, and so in class we use the SIV (Sauer Inspired Version). His plethora of knowledge is incredible, his life experience is humbling, his pursuit of God is encouraging, and his humongous heart for his students makes you feel like you’re one of his own. The latter of the two is a class that has my other favorite professor: Clive Craigen. This man will not only be the professor for many of my classes, but my academic advisor as well. (My major here is interdisciplinary, with a focus on Urban Ministry and a sub-focus on International Ministry). Clive is the advisor of all Urban Majors. I couldn’t feel more pleased. His theology is solid and similar to mine; he holds a go-with-the-flow policy, values experience over textbooks, and I know I’ll learn a lot through him. Like Dr. Sauer his personal life experience already wows me. In general the professors here are incomparable. I feel so blessed. They want and love to be here to pour into, pray for, and even learn from us. They each bring unique experiences and radical life stories to share. They make Moody a refreshing place to learn, challenge, and grow as broken humans. I’ve only experienced five of them so far, but I appreciate them so much. Who knew bible school would be such an amazing change? (Okay… I’ll admit… I kind of thought it might be! But- it has blown the roof off my, even high, expectations.)
Marah is coming for the weekend from Kentucky to stay with me over my birthday. I can’t wait until she arrives tonight =). I just have so many reasons to be joyful, I don’t even know what to do with myself.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)