John Henry was a great man.

It does not seem so long ago that I sat and wrote about Albert Rowen and all the wonderful things I discovered about him as he passed away. Tonight I write again with a new death of another grandfather freshly on my mind. John Henry - my mother's father - passed away tonight. Nobody awoke this morning expecting the day to end without him, but it did.

As I sat in the hospital room with a lot of my family, knowing it was only a matter of a few hours before he would pass - Emily Dickinson flooded my mind. With Albert, death stopped kindly, but with John, it was another poem that struck me. Dickinson wrote a poem called "I heard a fly buzz when I died." In it, the person passing looked around the room at the family all gathered waiting for them to pass. There was that feeling in the room tonight. We could do nothing but wait. We waited in silence, we waited remembering all the wonderful times we had with John, waited while watching the Vikings lose... but mostly waited until his suffering would cease.

Earlier this week I had the blessing to talk to grandpa and the last thing he said to me was that he was glad I was here. Me too. Although it was hard to be there in that hospital room - I knew that there was nowhere else in the world I wanted to be then. He died so peacefully and with so much dignity and respect and love - just as he wanted. His family was there to the end. I'm glad I could be there. He was always so worried that I wouldn't come back home to South Dakota. Everytime I went away he always wanted me to come home - and I have.

Tonight I lost my grandpa - but I look forward to the day when he will have a new body and perhaps he will dance with me.

A Message from the Heartland

Greetings to all! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the new year. Since I am a student, I do not really think of January as the beginning of a new year, but rather September. January is more like the middle of my year - maybe someday that will change.

This Christmas I received a webcam as one of my gifts. I wanted it mainly to chat with a few friends and to be able to "see" my family during the long stretches I am away from home.

I also wanted to leave a message for all of you.

A Quiet Desperation

I was going to wait to post when I was finished with everything. Tonight I realized if I were to wait that long, whatever it was that I would write on here, I could just tell most of you face to face.

People are starting to leave for break. A few of my friends have made the trip to Georgia, to Delaware, to Oklahoma, to New York, to wherever. Those of us left are consumed by the stack of work left to do prior to our own departures. My stack is not really a stack of work, rather it is a stack of books I am using to write my final paper. I have not been stressed at the end of this semester as I have been by other semesters. ( I am primarily thinking of the two: the semester prior to England and my last semester of undergrad.) Apparently I have developed enough self discipline to manage my workload. Most days I feel I have no self discipline because I often watch movies or talk to people on the phone for extended periods of time. However, the end of the semester has come and I only have one paper to finish while my friends with similar class schedules have two papers and finals to complete.

It snowed here on Thursday. While the snow in the trees is lovely, I was a little perturbed by its timing. I was supposed to attend a concert at my church Thursday night featuring one of the church choir members who has an amazing tenor voice. The concert and the potluck before it was canceled due to the weather so instead I drove back to campus in the snow. It was the first time I drove up "the hill" while the road was somewhat slippery and snow-packed. That was an adventure. The road is at a pretty good incline and it curves around the hill. I have a little car so I have to really gun it in order to make it up hills in the snow. The whole way up the hill I alternated between pressing and letting up the gas. Pressing the gas lunged me up the hill while letting up would slightly turn my car around the curve. This technique, while a bit dubious, did get me up the hill.

Today I decided to dig my car out the parking lot so I could make it to church on time tomorrow. Someone told me it was supposed to snow again tonight. Oh well. At least there won't be as much snow on it in the morning.

The paper I am writing is about how the concept of community is connected with the image of God. How people can only truly reflect God when they are in community with him and with other people. We can only be true to ourselves when we define who we are in light of God and in light of those around us.

I am a creation of God Almighty.
I am the daughter of Les and Shirley.
I am the sister to Dan and Machelle.
I am the aunt to Randi, Jacob and Elizabeth.
I am a friend to many.
I am a church secretary to Immanuel Church.
I am a student to the Gordon-Conwell faculty.
The list goes on...

Who are you?

The Inevitable Tunnel

During my correspondence with some of you, I have likened this next period of research to a dark tunnel. I am now about to enter that tunnel, not to see the light until the 18th when I embark on my trip home for Christmas.

I like this imagery for so many reasons. For one - I will be holed up in what amounts to a cave also known as my room (I might try the library which has the affectionate nickname of "the catacombs" around here.) I will submerge myself in a lifestyle of intense reading, thinking, criticizing, praising and writing. Other necessities become secondary in such a lifestyle. I own a movie called "IQ" which is a romantic comedy and one of the characters must pretend to be this great academic - a great thinker. So what does he do? He messes up his hair, doesn't care if his clothes match, uses a rope for a belt, etc. This stereotype comes from the academic stuck in the tunnel. The person who sees no light - who does not feel the warmth of accomplishment and love awaiting them on the outside.

The other reason I love this imagery so much is that Christmas becomes the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, Christmas. On a side (but very interesting note) is that Hanukkah started on Wednesday. Hanukkah is the Jewish festival of lights. Coincidence? I don't think so.

After a long year of toil and separation from the ones you love, Christmas is the light at the end of the tunnel. To look on an even grander scale - the coming of the Christ-child was the light and the end of a very long tunnel for the Jewish nation, and really for the whole world. Advent could be considered the season of the tunnel. The season of advent is a time where we must face the truth - we need a savior. It is as true of us as it was of the Jews in the Old Testament. The difference is our tunnel is lit on both ends. We look back to see the Christ child and we look forward to see the light of the risen Lord who will come again.

This week as I enter this small tunnel of research I am thankful for the light I see at the end. I am thankful for the family and friends who show me love in all kinds of wonderful ways. I am thankful for the education I am receiving and have received. I am thankful for the God, who no matter where I am in life, will never forsake me.

And, on a lighter note. I found a way to post some pictures so here is a closer look at the fun I've had in Boston.

Just a Quick Note

One thing about writing something on the internet is that I really don't know if people are reading it - if they are enjoying it or what. I've decided to do something that might turn out to be very stupid, in which case I will change my mind again. I have made it possible for anyone to comment on my blog and please do so. I would love to know who is following my adventure. So please feel free to leave a little note!

First Snowfall of the Season

For those of you at home in South Dakota, you might think I am a few days late in my posting. However, we, here in MA, got our first real snowfall last night. Needless to say some of the students from southern areas of the country find this experience quite thrilling. The snow is that really wet, really heavy type. I'm happy about that because it will be easy to clean off my car and I could still wear a sweatshirt to class without a coat.

I took some pictures - just so you believe me. Not that anyone would really doubt it, though.

A view from the Kerr Building.



I told you it was that slushy wet kind of snow.



It's melting really fast. Hopefully some of it stays so it isn't a sloppy mess here.

photos and a story

Praise the Lord! I have internet again! Is it wrong to praise the Lord for internet? I am truly thankful for how my internet was restored to me - it involved a long conversation and much overdue conversation with an old friend. Praise the Lord!

Why does my access to the internet have any significance for you? You will now get to see some pictures that I could not post before. I will, by no means, put ALL of my pictures up here - but I will just try to pick out a few of my favorites.

Let the pictures and the stories begin!



This is our couch. The picture is so late and so boring that it is almost not worthy of putting up except that it has really changed my life here. You may think I am shallow and perhaps even a "couch potato" but please don't misunderstand me. Since having the couch, two different visitors have made it their bed, I have hosted a theology discussion group on it, and taken one amazing nap. I love that couch.




When Bridgett came to visit, one of the many fun activities we did was go the Museum of Science in Boston. While there we took in a 3-D show on sharks. Since we both have seen "Honey, I shrunk the audience" we were expecting the sharks to attack us, like Jaws. (In "Honey..." there is a snake that strikes at you.) No such luck - it was an educational video. It was still pretty cool, though. This is us before it began - no doubt blinding 12 elementary students with our flash.



One stop on the freedom trail includes the democratic donkey. We have pictures riding the donkey and cuddling up to the donkey. I decided I would make use of the footprints in front of the donkey that say "Stand in Opposition." They had little elephants in the footprints, even. Well, I wasn't content to just "stand" in opposition - so I went head to head with the animal.



I don't think I could tell you who this is supposed to be a statue of - or if it is supposed to be a statue of anyone in particular. I just really thought Bridgett did an excellent job impersonating the stature of the statue.



Moving to the day known nationwide as "Black Friday." We slept in. Then we went to Newburyport to see what we could see. It was difficult, as you can tell by the picture because it was so bright and windy and cold. We did manage to enjoy ourselves in a few little shops including a bookstore. We all decided if we weren't broke - we would have like to buy new bags at a cute shop there.



If you ever wondered - what does it really look like to walk on the freedom trail in Boston? Wonder no more. Nealy captured this candid moment of Emily and I walking in one of the many parks in Boston on our way to the Bunker Hill Monument. Yes, Emily really takes giant steps and I really do walk leaning over to one side.



We love Boston in the fall. Although they missed the pretty leaves changing color on the trees - Nealy and Emily found plenty of enjoyment in the leaves on the ground. There were some other people in the park while we were doing this - I'm sure they were thinking we were crazy tourists. And they wouldn't be all that wrong. They're pretty smart here actually.



This is sort of a strange picture for the last picture but it makes me laugh. We decided to take some pictures where we weren't smiling - just for something different. These leaves kept us entertained for a good 15 minutes. It's not the history that draws us to Boston - it's the giant maple leaves!

Before I sign off I do have one story. You may recall that I hoped I would have a story, and I got one. While Emily and Nealy and I were in Rockport - a coast town near the seminary we were taking lots of pictures. We found a particularly beautiful view of the coast with bright blue water and rocks and boats. While we were taking pictures of the scenery and of Emily being silly (for lack of a better word) Nealy noticed that there were people in the building behind us watching us. Turns out it was a restaurant. That would be only slightly embarrassing because they are just random people that we will never see again. For Nealy and Emily, that was true. Not true for me. I looked in the window and saw the face of my professor staring back at me. He waved hesitantly and I waved back trying to stifle my laughter.

Tuesday I saw him in class and when I went up to hand in my paper, he says to me, "Hey, I saw you. Well, I guess you saw me too. Hmm." Apparently he recognized me from the back of my head and saw me long before I saw him. Let's just say I'm thankful I was too cold to be too silly right then!

Pray for me to be productive!