The beginning of the end...

Well, we're into the second week of my final semester at AMBS. According to Carrie's countdown we're 100 days from the end!

We started off the semester with a snow day last week which was kind of nice, but prolonged "getting into the swing of things." My seemingly "light" schedule doesn't help with establishing a routine. I'm actually only regularly in class one morning/week (the course is called "Thinking Ethically"). I have a seminar course that meets one afternoon/week, but only on some weeks (Growth in Ministry). I have a weekend class that meets once/month (Book of the Twelve) and I'm also taking an independent study (Luke-Acts).

The semester has been off to a busy start with the rewriting of my senior integration paper. I submitted my completely rewritten paper this week and it was well received by my growth in ministry group so I think it will only be minor revisions from this point forward, which is good since the paper is due in less than 1 month. My first draft focused on a theology of naming, though it was not terribly comprehensive, therefore instead of revising that paper to be more general, I decided to refocus my entire project and take it in a more practical direction. The title of my paper is: Naming as a Universal Rite: Spiritual Care Following the Prenatal or Perinatal Death of an Infant in an Interfaith Context. Essentially I'm suggesting that an infant naming and blessing ceremony is both a theologically and pastorally appropriate response to a miscarriage, stillbirth, or early infant death, particularly in a hospital chaplaincy setting. This paper will be the basis of my senior interview at the end of March.

My next major project is a paper that I am writing for my independent study and that will be presented at a conference here at AMBS in March. The conference is called "My Spirit Rejoices in God my Savior: Mary in Anabaptist Dress." I'm looking forward to that writing process. Unfortunately I won't be able to present the paper myself because this conference overlaps with my GPC training out in Pennsylvania but I have a friend who has graciously agreed to be my proxy.

In addition to school, I continue to work on campus. I spend a few hours/week cleaning for maintenance, and also serve as the Church and Ministry department assistant. I do appreciate the change of pace from studying and writing.

So that's a bit of what the beginning of the end is looking like for me.