Thought for the day...

The greatest challenge is living your wounds through instead of thinking them through. It is better to cry than to worry, better to feel your wounds deeply than to understand them, better to enter into your silence than to talk about them.... You need to let your wounds go down to your heart. Then you can live through them and discover that they will not destroy you. Your heart is greater than your wounds. ~Henri Nouwen

No Shirt...No Shoes...No Service...

So I learned something new this week. You're thinking, well I hope so--you are a student, aren't you and you're paying enough to learn stuff. But this was something I didn't learn in the classroom.

Taking your shoes off when you go inside is a Canadian (or at least a Canadian prairie) thing!

First of all, I went for a massage this week. I walked into the office and took of my shoes at the door because it was a fairly sloppy day outside and I was also wearing my winter boots, so it just seemed like the right thing to do. The lady at the front desk seemed surprised and told me I didn't have to take my shoes off. Then my massage therapist came out and also told me that I didn't have to take my shoes off. She, too, seemed shocked that I was exposing socked feet in public. I mentioned to her that I had worked at a chiro. office and almost everyone took off their shoes when they walked in the door, especially in winter. We also got to talking and I found out that the "indoor shoes/outdoor shoes" policy that we had at our elementary and high schools while I was growing up was not a universal school policy. I went home and told my roommate about the weird reaction I had received for having stepped out of my boots in public.

The next day we had someone from the seminary over for lunch. We invited him in and he began taking off his shoes while commenting that he has known a few Canadian students over the years and he had noticed that all of them take off their shoes when they enter a house. He said he really liked the custom because there was a certain informality that is created by walking around in sock feet. My roommate and I just looked at each other and grinned. What just seemed so practical--taking off outdoor shoes to keep floors clean--is actually a cultural norm.

Love and indulgences...

Last night I went to a post-Valentines day ladies evening. The idea for the event was sparked in the imagination of my friends following Friday's chapel which was all about personal well-being and self-care. Our invitation asked us to bring two things. (1) An insight that we have learned about ourselves or life, particularly in terms of self-care, and (2) an indulgence. It was a really great way to learn more about some of the ladies of AMBS. I found the indulgences that people shared really interesting, such as:

• popcorn
• stuffed animals
• crayons and colouring sheets
• inspiring quotes
• face masks
• sweatpants
• roses
  
• wine
• chocolate
• a playing card collection

It was really good to be forced to think about self-care and what I do to treat myself.

Springtime of the soul...

Something that I've noticed lately is how closely my inner life mirrors the weather. God is so present in nature that I don't think that I can help but be changed by the changes occurring out of doors. An internal shift coincides with a seasonal shift. As I wrote in a post a while back, wintertime for me is a time for contemplation. With the rising temperatures and melting snow last week I noticed that I was slipping into my internal springtime reality or way of being. When I met with my spiritual director last week I mentioned this to her and she asked, but what if it snows or gets cold again? How will that affect your inner being? So long as it doesn't snow 2' or go down to -20 it is spring in my world, I replied.

So what does this internal shift from winter to spring look like? I've never really paid as much attention to this aspect of my soul as I am this year so I have been thinking back to the forms it has taken in the past. Some common themes are celebration and creativity. A few words that I have been contemplating over the last few weeks are mystery, creativity, restlessness, honesty, and witness. My spiritual director asked me if I often have words come to me like this and when I think back on it, usually the words come to me following an insight or major shift, not before. I'm not sure where God is leading me exactly. I continue this period of waiting, which I think to some extent lasts a lifetime, but I anticipate new discoveries in this season of spring.

The Decadent...

I just got home from a lunch meeting with the Canadian development office associate and a couple of other Canadian students. She works in Ontario but was here on campus for a few days and wanted to hear some of our stories so that she could relay them back to donors in Canada. We had a good meeting and at the end what did she pull out of her bag but a bag of Presidents Choice Decadent Chocolate Chunk cookies! Funny thing is I was craving these a few weeks back and Carrie went and bought some chocolate chip cookies but they just weren't the same. There's nothing like the Decadent. A fellow Canadian student and I each stuffed a napkin full of cookies for the road. Good ol' PC.

Frugality is a virtue...

This weekend Carrie's parents are here visiting. On Friday evening we introduced them to family style dining at the Essenhaus. Yesterday we went out for Chinese and my fortune cookie said something to the effect of "You will need to be careful with your money. Frugality is a virtue." Now, I absolutely love a good deal. I don't know who doesn't love a good deal, but today I was able to practice the virtue of frugality, or at least, spending less.

This afternoon we took a trip to Michigan City which is about an hour away. There are 100 shoppes in their outlet mall. I headed straight to one of my favorite stores, Eddie Bauer, and found myself two turtlenecks, 2 long sleeved shirts, and 3 sweaters all for only $82.33. Had I paid full price for all of that, I would have paid $200.01! Had I paid full-price for all of that in a Canadian store it would have been even more! I also found a pair of Ecco shoes, regularly $100.00, down to $49.95. Carrie and I also went to the Crocs store. I couldn't believe how many different styles of Crocs there were in one store and Carrie found herself a brand new pair of purple Crocs for $15.00 less than the usual asking price. Frugality (or shopping at an outlet mall) really pays off.

It's all Greek to me...

Yup...that's right...this evening I have to learn the Greek alphabet and tomorrow in class my prof is going to make me read out loud in Greek! I am one of the few fortunate M.Div. students who does not have to take the Greek and Hebrew courses (those in the Pastoral Care and Counseling track get off a little easier, at least in this regard). Instead I have to take a course called Intro to Bible Study Tools where they teach us how to pronounce Greek and Hebrew so we can read it out loud but then we learn how to use a computer program for translation and interpretation. Well, back to the books.