Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Snow & Seminary & Psalms

Life has been rather busy lately but good. I am so thankful for the enriched times I have been having with the Lord and for the many blessings He has lavished upon me.

Last weekend we got 7.5 inches of snow. My roommate, Melissa, and I took advantage of this time off from work (as she got to leave work early and B&BW called and told me not to come in and my babysitting opportunity cancelled). We watched Lost (parts of seasons 2 & 3) for two days straight (sickening I know...but what can I say? We are addicted). We also played in the snow--we made snow angels, built a miniature snowman, I let her bury me in the snow...

Finances are still tight, but the Lord is providing. With this tutoring job where students (aka work) are not guaranteed, I am definitely learning to trust Him more. I am applying for a few scholarships. Please pray that He will provide a way for me to pay for school. I know this is where He wants me...He brought me here and I know He will carry me through.

Speaking of school, I am praying about the degree I am pursuing. I could do a Master of Arts which would allow me to graduate as early as next year or I could continue towards a Master of Divinity (2 more years). The former would be easier (20+ hours less and no Greek or Hebrew), but right now I feel led towards the latter. As crazy as this sounds, I don't think I am ready to be done with seminary in a year. Yet I am at the Lord's disposal, so please pray for direction concerning this as well.

I have been reflecting lately on the wonderful things the Lord has been teaching me in and outside of seminary about Himself as well as my ownself. His Truths are beautiful and pure and right. They are my comfort and delight and I long for them to penetrate every aspect of who I am. When I think of all that I am learning, however, I become a little afraid. The Apostle Paul teaches that "knowledge puffs up" (1 Corinthians 8:1). This has been an underlying fear of mine since I enrolled at SBTS. I know how subtle pride can be and I know how much the Lord hates it. It is my daily prayer that He will keep me in awe of Him as He teaches me such marvelous things.


This month I started reading through the Psalms. My friend Carol told me that you can begin with the Psalm that corresponds with the date and then add 30 to get to the next Psalm and continue to do that until you are at the end of the book (i.e. today is the 11th, so I first read the 11th Psalm, then read Psalms 41, 71, 101, and 131). You will read 5 Psalms total and if you do this every days of the month on days 1-30 you will read every Psalm. For the 31st day of the month, she suggested reading Psalm 119. I am very excited about becoming more familiar with the Psalms and so far reading through them has been such a blessing. It is amazing how each day's Psalms relate to one another or have the same theme. I pray that as I do this, the Psalms will become imbedded in my heart.

Lessons/themes from the Lord this week: living with urgency, marriage, the Treasure of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, the importance and worth of the cross.

1 comment:

Mark said...

The decision to go with the shorter or longer degree is thorny. The story of my decision about it is here.

Hope the perspective may help you.

Mark
Seminary Survival Guide