21 April 2007

Thinking and Reading

I have been reading a very interesting book lately called "Making Peace with a Dangerous God: Wrestling with What We Don't Understand" by Linda Clare and Kristen Johnson Ingram. It really is thought-provoking and I recommend it to anyone. Linda and Kris take a dialog approach to their questions about God from a position of faith and belief. I particularly identified with Kris in her wildness and passion. There was one piece in particular, titled Balancing Act, that really has gotten me thinking about how I structure my life in relation to my relationship with God. I need to do more thinking and writing, but I feel drawn back to a passionate, less controlled life... Recently passion has been absent and control more prevalent than I feel is good for me.

This reading came close on the heels of Blue Like Jazz, a book which did not live up to the incredible recommendations and reviews that were passed my way. Miller had some interesting observations, but I struggled to accept his voice, it grated on me and the nuggets seemed to be hidden in a great deal of narcissism. That said, I am very interested in the emergent church movement and what it means for church-goers and Christians in my generation..... More on that later, when I have more time:-)

05 April 2007

The most recent update

Tuesday Sara and I began our apartment hunt. We found an interesting prospect in an interesting neighborhood, but I don’t think the agent thought we were serious. When I called her back for specifics and asked to see the property again Wednesday, she suddenly became much more helpful. I didn’t know that we would take the apartment, but it has everything that we said we wanted: small bedrooms, large shared living space, large windows, interesting neighborhood, room for a studio/office, close to public transportation, and rent that is mostly within our range. Next step was to see how the utilities ran and if the space really was adequate for our needs. Unfortunately (or perhaps, fortunately?), the place rented yesterday and we are left to look again.

In this whole process I struggle more than Sara in making the decision. Rent is a big obligation and I don’t want to make any hasty choices. I would like to see more properties, but in the end, I know it is highly likely that we will take something that we saw early in our search. That is how it usually goes:-P

Yesterday I am met with Dr. Pamela Caughie, head of the Loyola English Graduate Studies Department. It didn't result in any better chance of getting in, but I couldn’t resist the opportunity, since we stayed less than .5 miles from the Loyola campus with our friend Dr. Rosie de Rosset. Rosie has been a fabulous blessing to us and there is no way to ever truly thank her for her hospitality and encouragement. Still single at 58, she is a testament to hope and dealing gracefully with the realities of life. She makes life-long singleness seem possible when it is everything that I can do to make it through another day!

But, another word about Loyola--as of now I am not accepted and even a recommendation from the English graduate studies department would only result in a possible chance at the waiting list. So, no grad school for me this year:-( I am not sure exactly what that means.... God must know something that I do not.

It has been a while since I last posted....

30 March 07

When it rains it pours…. Quite literally, really. It was pouring down on my way to Hopkinsville today and driving on the highway in a deluge is not exactly my idea of a fun time. But this is just one small cloudburst compared to the rest of life. I can't really complain... Compared to some of my friends, I just have a few minor troubles. However, they always seem bigger to me and there are times that I am convinced that Rebecca Wells's quote from "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" could be easily translated for the present: "There is the truth of history and there is the truth of what a person remembers." In application to my life it might read: There is the truth of one's situation and there is the truth of what one sees.

I spent part of the last two days following up on my last two applications for grad school: Loyola and UIC. I had expected a response earlier, so I thought some follow up would be in line. Just heard today from UIC--they sent their response letters out late this year, but, oh yeah, I was NOT accepted. When it came to Loyola, I got an email from the graduate school application coordinator stating that they had not yet received my GRE scores. After working out that little catastrophe, I found that they are now looking at my application. It was put on the bottom of the pile as incomplete because I did not have the GRE English subject exam, although I included a letter explaining the absence. Oy Vey! This is so complicated!