Quarter Done…Almost

Today, I had all of my tests.  I’m pretty sure I aced everything.  There is no reason I shouldn’t get at least an A or an A- in all of my classes.  Wait.  I still have to finish writing a paper for my class, Luther’s Theology in Survey, due Monday.  Argh!  I did all of the reading for it that I wanted to do, but I still feel like this is really anticlimactic.  Here I am, wasting time, though.  I can relax after I turn it in.  I’d like to finish my report by Sunday, that way I don’t have to rush around Monday to wrap things up while I’m worrying about getting from work to the vet, etc.  However, the Colts are playing the Patriots on Sunday Night Football–the game of the year for us (until the playoffs, at least).

I feel really tired and relaxed right now.  It’ll be pretty amazing to see what I can get done tonight.  I might have to drink some more beer to get my juices going again.  I had a nice IPA at Gemuetlichkeit today, but not enough to get a buzz.  I have a good Oktoberfest in my refrigerator from Spaten.  It’s really tasty.  It has a nice, rich color, it is full of flavor after it warms up a touch, and has a very smooth finish.  It’s almost surprising to me when it’s gone.  It’s unexpectedly good for an import.  It seems like I’ve had bad luck with some imports being too old, but this is really great.

Well, I think I better get started.  Maybe some rock will help…

Last Week!

This is the last week of the quarter!  I’m very excited to finish things up.  I had seventeen credits this quarter, and the workload was obviously pretty heavy.  I managed to get things done by neglecting my wife, with whom I am excited to spend some time once the break begins.  I do have a paper due a week from today, but I hope to start writing it tomorrow.  Next quarter, I have sixteen credit hours, but I think it will be easy to work ahead.  We have a break after only three weeks of class, and I’m hoping to use that break time to work ahead.  I really want to have most of my stuff done when the baby arrives in February, so I can enjoy being a dad.

We went to Kokomo this weekend to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with my Grandma and Grandpa Waltenberger.  They go to Florida for the Winter, so it was nice to see them before they go.  Next time I see them, Baby Mac will have been born!  It was nice also to visit with my mom, brother, and his girlfriend.  I miss seeing them on a more regular basis.

I think that’s all for now.  I need to get to my afternoon classes!

Reboot

It’s been a while since my last blog update.  I took the summer off, because not my new was going on.  I worked at the library, tutored a student in Greek, and served as chapel sacristan for the second half of the summer.  It was a nice break–not the most relaxing break I’ve ever had, but good nonetheless.  I was able to read some of Luther’s writings this summer.  I think I’m finally becoming an actual Lutheran!  I’m currently in a class that reads only Luther’s writings from the American Edition of his works (because no one reads Latin or German anymore, of course).

But the biggest news since my last update is that Andrea is, of course, pregnant.  I’m willing wager you knew that already.  She’s 25 weeks along already.  We’ve begun to move my stuff out of the man room and transform it into a baby room.  Letting go of it was not as hard as I thought it would be.  I think it’s a good trade.  I’m really looking forward to meeting Baby Mac when Baby Mac arrives.  No, we’re not finding out the sex of the child until after it’s born.

I think that’s all I will do for now.  I need to ease myself back in, after all!

Ancient Israel

So, I’m preaching for the first time a week from tomorrow.  I met with my pastor to go over my sermon, and he made a few suggestions on what I had.  I hope to start preparing my delivery this weekend.  In case you’re curious, the sermon is based on Numbers 21:4-9, the account of the fiery serpents and the bronze serpent in the wilderness.  This is the text that Jesus refers to in John 3.

It’s funny how I feel like that right about now.  In that text, the Israelites are tired and hungry and begin to grumble.  It’s only the second week of the quarter, and I’m tired.  I’m really glad that Andrea and I have each other.  Otherwise, I think I’d grumble a little bit more.  I have a lot of work on my plate already.  I spent a good portion of last weekend relaxing with Andrea, and I probably should have tried to get more work done.  I’m glad I did, though.  It’s nice to just spend time with your wife.  It really gives me a chance to recharge my batteries.  I sometimes tell Andrea that one of the ways I can tell that I loved her is that I don’t crave alone time anymore like I use to.  I remember in college that I absolutely loved having my dorm room to myself.  It was great to do what I wanted in that space.  Now, I feel a bit antsy if I spend too much time by myself.

This quarter, I’m probably going to have to really buckle down early to get work done.  I think most of my stuff is due earlier in the quarter rather than later.  This will help me keep up on my reading late, I hope.  It should also force me to spend more time on Hebrew, which will be completed this quarter!

Andrea was recently elected president of the Student Wives’ Association (SWA).  She’s starting to get everything in order.  She’s going to be really busy with that, in addition to her school work.  I know that she’ll do a great job.  She’s able to work with some of the ladies that she’s friends with here, which is really nice.

I think that’s all for now.  Sorry it’s been so long since the last update.  Seminary is hard!!!

Stay classy.

Finally Finals FWeek

Well, I just couldn’t help but have three Fs in the title.  Fweek may or may not be a word.  Probably not.  So yeah, I’ve finally made it to the end of the quarter.  It’s been a long ride, that’s for sure.  I’ve already bought my books for next quarter, and I’m looking forward to my new classes.

Next week, I’m going to relax.  Well, I hope to.  I’m working at the library, and I want to work on my sermon and on Hebrew.  So, I hope that it is all at a nice relaxed pace.

Gosh, it’s been a while since I wrote in my blog, but I just don’t have that much more to say.  If I think of something, I’ll add it.

Jordan

Winding Down?

Well, as the question mark suggests, things are not quite winding down yet.  I still have a paper due and a test this week.  I also have a sermon due next week (I think), and I just found out that I have ANOTHER test next week.  The more I think about it, the less I’m excited about working during break.  I think I’m going to try to spread out the hours that I work a little more evenly than I did between the fall and winter quarters so I can get some rest from everything.  Andrea’s been a great cheerleader for me recently, and that’s just one more of the things on the long list of things that I love about her.

Hebrew is a mighty struggle for me.  I feel like I’m working as hard as I possibly can, but I’m not getting much out of it.  I think this must be what it feels like to try to earn forgiveness of sins.  You just work and work and work but end up with nothing but yourself.  That reminds me, I heard an interesting thing about Mother Theresa.  Apparently, she struggled quite a bit with whether or not she’d done enough good in the world to get to heaven.  That really brings into focus how precious God’s FREE gift of salvation really is.  Now, if I could get that to help my Hebrew grade…

I have learned quite a bit this year at seminary, both theologically and about myself.  On one hand, I feel like I’m gaining more freedom somehow, but at the same time, I realize how little I actually know.  I really think that I need to be placed in a smaller congregation, at least at first.  I think I knew this about myself, but I’m realizing more and more how difficult it is for me to adjust to newer situations.  I’m pretty good with meeting new people and that kind of thing, but I’m such a creature of habit that it takes time for me to break old habits and start newer ones.  This is one of the reasons I scoff at New Year’s resolutions.

Anyway, I hope everyone back home (and everywhere else) is doing well!  Drop me a line sometime or comment on my blog!

By the way, I’m preaching at my field work church Wednesday, March 25, for one of the last midweek Lenten services.  It would be great if there were some familiar faces around!

Stay classy.

Working Hard, Not Hardly Working

This quarter is not coming easy.  Here’s a quick run down of how it’s set up, and maybe you can start to get the idea as to why.  We started the winter quarter right after Thanksgiving.  We went to school for three weeks.  We had the last day of school cancelled due to snow, and then our three week Christmas break began early.  During the last ten days of that break, I went to California with the Kantorei.  We flew back on the red eye from San Francisco via North Carolina (go figure) and arrived back in Fort Wayne in the afternoon of the first day classes after break.  Needless to say, I was exhausted from the trip, and I feel like I might still be recovering.  The second week back was Symposia (which is basically a conference at the seminary where scholars come and present papers on various theological and historical topics–many of our classes don’t meet so we can attend the lectures), and we’ve had about a handful of weather-related cancellations.  And now, we’re at week seven of the quarter.

So, that wasn’t a very quick run down, but you get the idea.  It’s been really difficult to get into the quarter.  I heard that the administration was trying to shorten Christmas break.  I think that it would be an amazing idea.  That would give us more of a break between winter and spring quarters.  But apparently, some of my fellow students did not like the idea, because they liked “having the same break as their kids’ schools.”  I think that’s dumb.  All the schools around here, INCLUDING THE LUTHERAN SCHOOLS, went back a week before us.  I think the administration polled the wrong group.  They just need to make the decision that they think is best.  That’s what an administration does.  Makes decisions and those under them live with the decision (this is not a commentary on politics–I promise!).  Anyway, I’m just finding something to get mad about, I guess.  I’m just ready for this quarter to be over.  I really need a fresh start.

In other news, I’m finally getting healthy again.  I got sick in California, started to get better, and last week, I got really sick again.  I think I’m pretty much fully healthy again.  Andrea, on the other hand, has missed the better part of the last two days of school.  Please pray for her recovery (and my sanity as this quarter wears on).  Oh!  I’m preaching during the mid-week Lenten service on March 25 at my field work church.  I’m really excited!!!  That’s all for now.  I need to go study.

Stay classy.

A Clean Cell Phone Is NOT A Happy Cell Phone

So, as you probably gathered from my title, my cell phone went through the washing machine.  I don’t think that it will work anymore.  I’ve been without it since Saturday, so if you’ve tried to call me, that’s why you haven’t been able to reach me.  I think I’m going to just have to use my old one.  Unfortunately, I can only find Andrea’s broken one.  I need to do a little bit of digging.  I really hate junk drawers.  They seem to be a necessary evil, though.  What would we do without them?  How would we keep that seemingly useless stuff that turns out to be very useful later (i.e. old cell phones)?

Things have been pretty fast paced around here.  I’m glad to be back from California, but I’ve run into my fair share of problems upon my return.  First of all, Hebrew.  I just don’t get it.  I’m not able to spend the time with it that I was with Greek, and it’s totally showing.  I do pretty well on quizzes that cover basic things like vocabulary, but I can’t translate at all, and we’ve got our second test on Friday.  Yikes.  Second, my NEW computer bit the dust after I got back.  It contained my only copy of my Gospels II paper that I had pretty much finished over break.  Since it was new, I wasn’t feeling the need to back things up yet.  Now, I have a slightly different attitude.  Third, I don’t know Hebrew.  Fourth, I washed my cell phone.  So, if I learn Hebrew, it seems like most of my problems will evaporate.

I’m glad to finally be able to write a real blog entry, although my ulterior motives are clear.  If you need to reach me, you have to e-mail me until further notice.  That being said, I’m going to work on my sermon that is due tomorrow and study some Hebrew.

Stay classy.

 

***New Update: I just got an old phone activated.  You can call me again.  *Whew*

25 Random Things About Me

I got this from my brother over Facebook.  Obviously, just disregard the directions.  Here we go!

Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you.

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page, paste these instructions in the body of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the right hand corner of the app) then click post.)

1. I’ve been married since June 30, 2007.

2. My middle name is the same as my dad’s and his dad’s.  I plan on passing it on to my first born son, should the Lord provide us with one.

3. My wife’s middle name was spelled incorrectly on her birth certificate.  I think it was spelled Chrsitine instead of Christine.

4. I have every Nintendo console that they ever released.

5. When I was growing up, I wanted to be Indiana Jones.

6. I really like to study languages.

7. Sometimes I will speak English, Greek, and German all in one sentence.

8. I am a Cubs fan.

9. I’m really excited that I’m getting preaching experience so early in my seminary career.

10. I’m amazed that God would have me be a pastor in His Church.

11. I enjoy trying new kinds of beer, but my favorite style is Oktoberfest.

12. Cheese is the best food ever.  Ever.

13. I still have my mom’s home phone number in my cell phone, even though she doesn’t have a home phone any more.

14. I miss my Grandpa Forrest.

15. I wish that I had time to blog more frequently to keep my family up to date.

16. My favorite movie is Shawshank Redemption.

17. My favorite book is The Hobbit.

18. My favorite author is J.R.R. Tolkien, but Stephen King is pretty high up there, too.

19. My wife is an amazing cook.

20. I’m hoping to start to learn Latin while at the seminary.

21. I still can’t believe the Colts won Super Bowl XLI.  It was amazing.

22. That being said, I think the best sporting event I have ever watched was Ball State’s last home football game of 2008.  I got to rush the field after the game.

23. I have been going to Wrigley at least once a year since 2003.

24. When the Cubs go to the World Series, I’m going to Chicago, even if I have to stand on the street during the game.

25. God gave me an amazing wife.

California, Here I Come

Well, actually, I’m in California already.  So far, we’ve had a really great time, and it’s been nice to bond with the guys.  Here’s a brief outline of what we’ve done so far:

We drove down to Indianapolis Friday January 2nd and stayed at the Radisson.  I woke up about an hour late, so I didn’t really have any time to take a relaxing shower or anything.  We barely made it through security in time to make it onto the plane.  Needless to say, since we had to leave so early, I was pretty tired on the plane.  We landed in Philly in time to catch the next flight and then flew to LA from there.  I slept for a good bit of the flight, but I forgot how long the flight across the country is.

We braved the LA airport traffic and drove about 120 miles to out first performance.  We sang, went to stay at our host homes and then had three more performances Sunday.  Let me tell you, it was tough!  Fortunately, Monday through through Friday, we have one performance a night.  We saw some nice mountains.  It’s been so nice since we’ve been out here.  They say it’s been unseasonably cold, but it feels like spring or fall.  The leaves on the deciduous trees are even just now changing colors.

I think that’s all I have for now.  I need to vest up for tonight.

Keep it classy.