Monday, August 25, 2008

Jello Salad and a New Backpack

Anne & I have been members at Messiah Lutheran Church since we moved to Red Lodge in early 1995. There is no doubt that our time with this congregation has contributed significantly in my calling to seminary. Life together in this church has been at times joyful, rewarding, frustrating, educational, exhausting and uplifting.

Yesterday was the last Sunday Anne, the kids and I were at worship before leaving for Minnesota. During the morning announcements Shirley, one of the council members, stood up to say that the church had decided to make a $2000 gift towards my tuition and that there would be more to follow. Then during the children's sermon, Pastor Kim called me up to present me with a new backpack to take with me to school this fall. And if that wasn't enough, we were able to celebrate with the whole congregation during a classic Lutheran pot-luck after worship, complete with sloppy joes and jello salad.

It was an emotional day. I know that I am blessed. I know that our congregation will support us as we step out of the boat. I hope they know how much that means to me.

Friday, August 8, 2008

50 Hours

I registered for class for the first time in 16 years.  Now you register online.  It's pretty slick.  I got to read through the course descriptions, follow links to faculty profiles and put together the puzzle of classes required for my first semester at seminary.  Only one problem... there were seven classes I wanted to take but after registering for the fourth and then attempting for my fifth, I got an error message on my screen, "overload."

Overload?  What?  There must be something wrong.  Try again.  Same result, "overload."

I picked up the phone and called the registrar.  "There must be something wrong," I said to the kind voice on the phone.  She said that no, nothing was wrong but in fact I was limited to only 5 full credits each semester.  "But if I only take 5 credits," I argued, "I'll only have class on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays."  "What will I do with the rest of the time?"

"You'll need that for studying, reading and writing," she answered.  "Even though you're only in class for a little while, 5 credits translates to probably 50 hours a week of work."

What will I do with the rest of my time?  Apparently, those in academia are unfamiliar with the work habits of over-achieving restaurateurs.