multitasking

ah, a spare moment! how few and far between these so quickly become.

the end of september is almost upon us and i find myself wondering where the time has gone. i have two midterms next week. i turn 25 in less than a month. the season has (technically) changed and fall break is only two weeks away.

the pace to get to this point has been frantic. it turns out what they say about second year at Candler is true--it is chaotically busy. and, as with life in general, there are always things that "come up." take last week, for example. i had to drive to and from Charlotte in a 24-hour period. that's eight hours in the car, mind you, some of which were spent listening to the New Testament on cd--a graduate degree cannot be achieved without high expertise in multitasking, if you didn't know.

it was really good to see my mom, though. and i had a great appointment with the UMC conference psychologist for my assessment for ministry. i also went to the DMV and made it out of there in an hour with a renewed license and my wallet $32 lighter. the DMV is such a funny place--strangely equalizing: people from all walks of life sitting in the same sticky chairs, tapping our toes with the same impatience, resting our foreheads against the same eyesight-testing machine.

luckily, the DMV wasn't the highlight of my week,  but i can, indeed, pick the moment that was: this weekend i went on a first Date! and yes, that is Date with a capital 'D'...because he brought me flowers and didn't let go of my hand all night. he took me to a wonderful restaurant and suggested fried green tomatoes as an appetizer (win!). we went to an art museum and he kissed me in an empty elevator. and i am hopeful that this was the first Date of many.

and in between dates and trips home, there is this thing called school. this good thing that can be so overwhelming and so enriching all at once. sometimes it feels like i am jumping through hoops to earn my degree, while other moments bring profound theological insight and soul-defining, ontological clarity. and then sometimes, like tonight, i am reading articles that i just don't know what to do with, because someone is comparing the Holy Spirit to placenta. yes, you read correctly: placenta.

just another day in the life of this seminarian. and tomorrow i get to do it all over again.