The weather has finally cooled off in Colorado. Mornings are crisp and clean smelling and the colors of the season are striking in sharp contrasts of reds, yellows, browns, and greens. Every fall I feel this overwhelming urge to pack up and move to the mountains. I have realized of course the futility of doing so. If I move to the mountains I will no longer be able to see the mountains and so must content myself with admiring from afar.
Lots of changes are on the horizon. Declan is finally walking and now getting into everything. (He's trying to climb a stack of boxes in the kitchen as I write.) Words are taking on more form and are somewhat intelligible. "Thank you" is "deet-do" but that's about all I can make out so far. He loves animal crackers, mac and cheese, goldfish, and bananas. I am still trying to accustom to feeding a child who can eat pretty much anything he wants to; such a drastic change from the strict dietary regime we continuously follow with Naomi. Declan seems determined not to ween, which is becoming quite the taxation for me. Although last night he drank a fair amount of whole milk. That was a first for him - he usually takes a sip and then dribbles it down his chest, making a huge mess. I hate to get my hopes up, and I know I will miss the bonding moments with him but I think its time to nudge him forward a bit. I am determined not to be an enabler for him, making sure he matures sufficiently to succeed in life.
Naomi is loving 2nd grade. I am not enjoying it so much. This is the first year I have seriously contemplated homeschooling. I love all the opportunities for her to participate in extracurricular activities like choir, and drum line but feel she is suffering in academics. Hopefully this is an issue we can tactfully address in a parent/teacher conference. I do not want to hurt anyone's feelings but I do not think Naomi is being taught adequately at school. She keeps coming home with homework she has no idea how to complete. I am not one of those parents always siding with my child but I know what she is and is not capable of grasping and these things do not fall into that category. So if any teachers out there have some advice, I would love to hear it.
The holidays are approaching and schedules are filling up quick. Denise will be back from Guam for a few weeks and will have time to visit both Dawn (in VA) and me (in CO) while she is stateside. I cannot wait! I miss my little sis. It sounds like my parents are going to be here a fair amount of time through Thanksgiving and Christmas. I am looking forward to being able to spend some quality time with them before they head off to Brazil.
School is going well for me. I am learning so much in such a short period of time. I lament not being able to just sit and soak a lot of this in at a deeper level but realize the necessity of getting through the material. My favorite classes thus far are Church History and Apologetics. I have always enjoyed history and find it easy to absorb the information we study in class. Apologetics took me entirely by surprise. I love the thinking involved in formulating arguments. I am not however motivated by the quick battering wit of debate and so do not think I have a calling in that area but the research aspect of the discipline has great appeal. Greek is ... well it is Greek. All the languages I have learned so far are best tackled through speech. Since Koine Greek is a dead language I am finding it quite the challenge to remain motivated. Hermeneutics is also a bit dry yet I realize the necessity in it and have already identified several of my "bad habits" in interpretation. I love spiritual insight and having my 'aha' moments but there is not much appreciation for it when it comes to the assignments. It is, however, teaching me to stay on task and not become sidetracked on rabbit trails. Intercultural Ministry is proving to be much more involved than I anticipated. I figured since I was raised on the mission field the class would be somewhat routine. I am learning that much of my perception of missions is outdated and even slightly tainted with theological inconsistencies. I am shocked yet relieved that much of my disdain for missions has been a result of something wrong in my perception and not really anything faulty about it, in and of itself. I am looking forward to applying my new-found knowledge to missions tasks in the future. And last, but most assuredly not least, is Christian Formation (aka mentoring) which I am getting antsy about starting. I have chosen my mentors already and am working on deepening my relationships with those individuals and am really looking forward to gaining some ministerial clarity through the process.
I have a lot of new ideas for blogs but may not get to them until after midterms. I have requests so far for blogs on Meekness, Being Unequally Yoked, Gnosticism's Return, Women and Teaching, and a few others. If there is anything in particular you would like me to study and write on, please let me know and I will add it to the list. Please keep me in prayer as I struggle to maintain momentum in my many tasks this year.
