Even the Wind and the Waves

OK, I'll be perfectly honest... Doing these preparations for seminary without keeping a steady income going feels... weird. And I have my moments when I wonder how things are going to work out financially, time spent with my family, etc., etc.
I came across this sermon today, written by Pastor William Cwirla. A very challenging and encouraging reminder that we can trust our Lord Jesus in all things, no matter how difficult the situation. Enjoy!

http://www.htlcms.org/sermons/sermon/the_wind_and_waves_obey_him

Getting started at the sem

Slowly but surely I'm getting things ready for starting classes in the fall. I got my student ID card - at least the photo looks better than the one for my Indiana driver's license. I've completed some additional paperwork, and I bought a few supplies at the bookstore. Bought my Greek textbook back in February, and I have been reviewing vocabulary words for the first 10 chapters, at the recommendation of several "battle hardened" summer Greek students. I am so very grateful for my assistant pastor back home for doing some tutoring with me. It has helped tremendously.

I also bought a new laptop computer, and as my first official act as a student, I logged into the seminary network and took a shot at the Old Testament "Intro" exam, to see if I could quiz out. 100 multiple-choice questions with a 1 hour time limit. I passed on the first attempt! (It wasn't exactly a stellar score, but I passed.) Overall, the exam was a little harder than I expected... About 40 questions were fairly easy, about 25 or so required a little thinking, and the rest were what I would call really tough.
Next up: see if I can quiz out of the New Testament Intro course. Hope to take that next week.
UPDATE: I passed the New Testament exam today, with much rejoycing. I also enjoyed my first "Gemutlichkeit" at the seminary, immediately following the completion of my exam. (That's the "fellowship-with-students-and-professors-to-discuss-theology-over-a-Lutheran-beverage" that happens each Friday afternoon. It's a long-standing tradition at the sem.

Elise Turns 14

Last week on Thursday, July 16, I turned 14! I got cards and a gift from my family, and later that evening we went to the church's ice cream social to eat supper. That evening, Mom and Dad and I watched Hitchcock's Vertigo. It was a good day and I am very blessed to have such a great family!

Changes

Several months back Stan announced that when we moved to Indiana, he wanted me to buzz his hair. New career, new haircut. I was relieved that I didn't mess it up. Here he is with his handsome new buzz, handing his (no longer needed) hairbrush over to John.
Besides this change, here are a some others that I find interesting:
1. There is a light pole at the back of our driveway. The back of my van met up with it the first time I went to town alone. Thankfully, the sun popped the small dent out of the back hatch. Whew. I thought light poles were in the grass....
2. We couldn't smile (according to Indiana law) when we had our driver's license pictures taken. I'm glad I can't scan those pictures onto the blog....
3. The announcer on the local radio station reads all the traffic tickets given out in our area...good thing he didn't see me back into the lamp post, or he might have read it on the news.
4. We only have to walk about 50 steps to get to church, which is nice.
-Dana

More Pictures of Our Home...

In this batch we have the kids' rooms (we found Elise's comforter set free at the clothing co-op at the seminary. It looks great with her 4 post bed!). We also have Lindsay's desk that she made out of a flat box, complete with drawers, made with no assistance from us. The younger girls have had a blast with the boxes, which are on the side of their room not in the picture. I tried taking pictures of their other creations (such as a clubhouse), but the pictures just didn't do them justice. Lindsay wanted to let everyone know that she made a telescope holder for the clubhouse.
The whole house was repainted a nice neutral color before we moved in, so we are trying to be conservative about how many pictures we hang, since we will only be here a couple of years. We are so thankful to be here, and it feels like home now that the pictures are hung and boxes are either unpacked or stashed away!

The Long-Awaited Pictures of Our Home

One of my favorite things about this house is the kitchen. It is brand new except the stove, which is newer than what we had in our previous house. The cabinets are actually a medium wood tone, but it is cloudy today, so they look darker. Another favorite is the "game room" at the top of the stairs. Enough room for a card table, and the linen closet is big enough for linens AND games, blocks, train set...with the help of a few wire shelves. Also in this batch of pix is our room (we ended up taking a smaller room downstairs, since our queen size box springs wouldn't fit up the staircase-why did we get rid of that antique full-size bed 5 years ago?), dining room, and living room. There is new carpet downstairs, and hardwood floors upstairs. -Dana

Ice Cream...and pie!

We had a great time at the ice cream social...so much that this is the ONLY picture we took. Elise remembered to take a picture right before we left. Bethany was happy because she had such a big bowl of ice cream. The food was delicious (besides the meal and ice cream, they were serving pie!!) We also enjoyed visiting with people, and the church raised $2300 for the African mission.