And there was much rejoicing

I am done! YEAH!!!

I am not allowed to say anything specific about the test, but I felt like I did a decent job. Obviously some questions I know I did much better on than others. I was a little disappointed that my super strong topic was not on the test, but I think I fared alright in spite of that.

I left with about 45 minutes left in the exam so I am still kind of waiting to hear from my friends who were still in the exam. I am hopeful that we will all get together and go out to dinner to celebrate. No matter what, I know that I have 2 five page papers due a week from yesterday, but I am not working on them tonight.

Game On

I am just about out the door to take comprehensive exams. Thanks for all of your prayers!

“Game On” is one of my favorite episodes of the West Wing. Its all about pressure, “go time” and being your absolute best when it counts.

In a wacky twisted view of the world, I would have to say I kind of live for moments like this (think SATs or if you have ever given a major speech). You walk onto the stage, the house lights dim. Your hands are a little clammy, heart beating a bit faster than normal. You fidget with your note cards. The spot light hits you. For a brief moment all knowledge escapes you. You breathe deep, open your mouth and Wow ’em.

That’s today. One part blood curling terror, One part “bring it.”

So with that pre-game analysis, Game On.

revving up for the "day of doom"

“day of doom” is the name I have given to exam day tomorrow. Really it is more in good fun. I don’t think it will be that bad. But, in order to make sure of that, I need to get back to studying. Only a few more tasks….summaries of about 17 books in two sentences or less, a couple outlines to create and memorize and then, well, I don’t know what else, I am probably missing something.

up, Up, and AWAY!

I am off. (well, in 6.5 hours, I am getting picked up to head off) Tomorrow …I mean later today, I am flying to Colorado to visit some friends and check out the area. I also (super exciting!!!) have a job interview on Monday morning there, so if you think of it, I would appreciate your prayers. 10 am Mountain time. Its an “history” type job in a fantastic para-church organization. (If you remember, the one I mentioned briefly in a mid august post, when I initially applied for the job.) Perhaps I will share more later…

I am taking some study material for the plane ride (comps do not disappear even as I enjoy fall break).

Also, I got my “Moses 2.0” paper back. (that is “Jesus as the New Moses as presented in Matthew”) I was very pleased with the grade so, yeah, very encouraging.

Oh, and Yes, I did finish the 455 page book, wrote a summary/write up on it in time for the group study session. Comps…one week from today! Sweet!

alright, Later.

hi

Hello all. Had a great time with my mom over the weekend (she flew out from Washington to visit.)

I finally just finished reading my 455 pages that needed to be “read” so now I am off to try and write some kind of book review/summary thing. I think I will get started on it, go to bed, and get up early to finish it.

Other than that…Go Rockies! (and I am glad Cleveland is up in their series as well)
Night!

Check!

Timeline, Check!
Timeline study time, Check!
Reading for tomorrow, uhm…check in about 30 minutes!
America’s God (455 pg book by Mark Noll) Definitely not checked!

Sleep 30 minutes from now CHECK!

time is a ticking

I am still working on the time line.  I just reached the turn of the century (1900) and I am planning on taking a break to watch House.  So…hopefully this last 100 years will go quick.

Happy Thanksgiving

To all my Canadian Friends, I hope you had a great thanksgiving.  

I am currently in the middle of putting together a timeline that covers major historical people, events, and even ideas of Religion in American Life.   I have been working on this for a good 4 hours so to balance out my complete inundation with all things Americana (I was even listening to the Cleveland/New York game for a while), I am now listening to the Oilers.  Lets Go Boys! We only need one more to tie.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining about studying Religion in American Life.  I am so thankful! (after-all, it is thanksgiving day) Thankful that I only have to be “an expert” on 400 years of religion in American instead of 2000 years of the history of Christianity in the Whole World!  I am thankful that I finally have a large chunk of time to start studying for comps.  (this is the first day I am specifically studying for comps)  I am thankful that I have a group study session on Wednesday so it forces me to have a deadline for this timeline.  Most of all, I am thankful for the privileged of learning about my faith as it relates to the history of America.

An "evil" class

I am taking a class called the Theology and Problem Evil. It is taught by Dr. Henri Blocher and it is Amazing! I am in the middle of writing a book review for a book called “Can God Be Trusted?” by Dr. John Stackhouse. The entire conversation of the class is very complicated and filled with theological and philosophical arguments. The main point: we can still maintain hope in Christ and through Christ and perhaps evil is not intended to be comprehend, rather to be fought.

Sadly, the class is over on Friday. Dr. Blocher lives in France and just comes to town to one month a semester to teach. Happily, that will free up three afternoons a week to study for comps.

One Month

One month from today (Oct 26th) I have comprehensive exams for my Masters program. There are two main things that those in my program and I are doing to prepare. Seven of us are each reading one book off of the study guide reading list. After reading it, we are each supposed to do a write up on it and then make copies to share. We will all meet together in about 2 weeks and discuss our books.

The second thing the Religion in American Life people are doing is we are each creating our own timeline of Religion in American Life, listing what we think are the most significant people, events, or even ideas I suppose. Then we will meet and compare/discuss the timelines that we came up with.

These two things are above and beyond the papers and books I have to get done for class. Plus, there are other activities that are taking place in the next month that will be wonderful, but make life even a little more hectic. My mom is coming to visit and I will be visiting some friends in colorado. I look forward to the next month. It will be wonderful to see how it all gets done. I am fortunate that there are a couple of days at my Financial Aid job in which I will not be working. Plus, I currently have a class that meets Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons. This class will not meet after Oct. 5th.

This means that either, I will not be blogging very often because I have no time, or I will be blogging more because my brain needs a break.
Have a nice night.