Fuller Week #1

Hello friends,

Nothing like a Sunday morning email a day after the Dodgers get into the playoffs. I must say the Lord is blessing us like we couldn't imagine. Just thought I'd write a few words (about 2,000 give or take) regarding my first week of classes, how we're adjusting to So.Cal life and so on.

So the first week of school is always exciting, and seminary is no exception. I got my outfit picked out and ready to go, lunch packed, new notebook and pens, messenger bag and my Bible, ready to take on the world of seminary education. To my surprise, most of my profs told the class we were already behind on the reading and needed to get cracking. That wasn't very Christian of them. Here's a look at my class schedule for this quarter (10 weeks): Greek 1A, New Testament 2 (Acts-Revelation), Christian Ethics, and a Formation class (primarily a small group within the M.Div program).

To my surprise, Greek is actually very interesting and our class has already started reading the Greek NT in class. I'm still working on the pronunciation but everything else is fine. We have a vocab quiz on Monday so I'll be studying later today and tomorrow morning.

NT2 might be my toughest class. We have a map quiz on Tues. (it's a map of and around the Mediterranean, consisting of 50 cities, numerous empires/rivers/islands, etc.) Other then the massive map memorization, the rest of the class should be very interesting. I took this from the course catalogue since it seems to be worded better then anything I would use to describe the class:

"At the end of this course, students will have a fundamental knowledge of the contents of Acts-Revelation, will see more clearly the nature of the Bible as both human word and Holy Scripture, and will appreciate the ways that the authors of these texts expressed beliefs about God, Christ, and the church. Students will gain proficiency in interpreting the New Testament by understanding how the literary, historical, and cultural contexts illuminate the theology of the texts studied in this course."

....so yeah, that's NT2. On the first day of class I was already behind 100 pages of reading. Good to know that "catching up" becomes part of your vocab very early in your seminary experience.

As for Christian ethics, my prof is amazing. She throws out tough questions and the class just sits there dumbfounded because no one has ever thought of this before. If I could come up with an example I would, but it's Sunday morning and my brain isn't quite on yet. This class is going to look at the Sermon on the Mount and Isaiah as our primary texts for ethics. Our book is titled, "Kingdom Ethics" and is authored by a current ethics prof. (Glen Stassen) and a Fuller Alum (David Gushee).

Formations class is "During two quarters the course will interweave the topics of congregational formation, spiritual formation, and missional formation." (You can wikipedia any of these words if you want a cleared definition). Best put, it's a 3 hour class that meets once a week but for 2 quarters. The first 75 minutes the class is lecture format, the last 90+ minutes you meet in your small group and discuss the topics from the reading/lecture. My small group is fairly diverse in all aspects of the word, so I think it should be interesting to get a broader understanding of the church in the world today.

As for non-school stuff, I am most likely going to become the good looking pool-boy in the greater Pasadena area to help supplement my wife's income. A friend going to Fresno State is from Pasadena and her dad owns a pool cleaning business. I went out on Friday with him and it was pretty fun. He's very flexible with my school schedule and most pools are going to be within a few blocks of each other. He said I could take my ipod and listen to music/lectures or bring a friend with me to help out if I needed to get be done in a hurry.

We are feeling pretty good about the Warehouse (i.e. 4th service of Lake Ave. Church) and plan on attending tonight. We met the pastor last week and told him about our desire to serve in the community and were excited to know that opportunities are available.

So...when I'm not reading for class, doing Greek homework or working, I'm listening to the Dodgers come back from (insert your favorite comeback within the last 2 weeks here) and make it to the playoffs. I think it's sad that we don't have any playoff tixs, but $50 a pop is pretty pricy, especially when you drop $350 on books for classes, and 1 quarter of tuition costs over $4k. With that in mind, please feel free to sell your cars or any other possessions like the early church (read acts 2 if you need a refresher) and send your $$ this way. :)

Sorry if this reflection is a little choppy, but you can always call if you want the "live" version. Hope everything in the 'No, Canada and beyond is going well. Sara and I will attempt to come up either the 21st or 28th of Oct, so we'll keep you posted.

Dodgers 4 Life,

-Matt (and Sara)

P.S. For those of you not yet on Myspace, here is a blog that Sara made regarding our transition to Pasadena:

Matt and I have had an exciting summer. In July we picked up and moved down to Pasadena (literally in one weekend. It was crazy!! But with the help of family and dedicated friends, we moved.) We stayed in town ('in town' being Fresno) for a few more weeks and then came home, to Pasadena

*um, one of our shelves we put up, just fell down—dropping books, picture and willow tree figurines. Weird. Don't worry, no one got hurt. I almost screamed tho.*

In August, Matt and I traveled the world to good ole Canada. We visited Oma and Opa, Heidi and Joseph and Aunt Lydia. It was a lot of fun!! I also had minor surgery in Canada. It was gross!! I had an abscess on the inner part of my right thigh. Over the course of our time in Canada, it got bigger and bigger. Heidi and Joe came over on Thursday and I showed them my ant hill and asked what we should do. We decided to go to a clinic and get it checked out. By this time, my leg hurt so bad because of all the pressure. Friday morning we went to the clinic. Oma and Opa had no idea. I didn't want to tell them and freak them out. So, we didn't tell them. And they still don't know. Shhhh. At the clinic, the dr. said "mmm, we're going to have to cut that open and drain it." WHAT?!?! Are you F-in' crazy?? But really, I was relieved. It only cost $45. I love the Canadian health care system. Matt didn't think he was gonna be able to handle the whole cutting my leg open and draining blood and guts out, so he left to get Heidi. I love my sister-in-law. She's amazing. Heidi held my hand as the dr. cut my leg open, drain the blood and guts, and put sterile cotton IN my leg. That part hurt the most. Oh my goodness, it hurt so bad!!!! But I have decided that if Matt can't be in the delivery room—when we decide to have lots and lots of babies--, Heidi is a good replacement. After that, my leg has held incredibly well! I freaked my parents out, though. Not good. I'll show you the scar if you want. It's not nearly as nasty as it was.

The day after we got back from Canada, it was Labor Day. And the day after that… work for me started. It was quite the interesting week. I can't say much about it. I enjoy working there. But I really miss my old school, the kids and especially my friend Holly. There are a lot of spoiled rich kids that attend La Canada High School. Most are ok. It's weird going through high school again. My student tried to add me to his friends on myspace. Funny, huh. said "mm, not so much. Maybe when you graduate." I do enjoy what I do. But I have to fight a lot of what I want and for my student. Some teachers are just so clueless!! He's just deaf. That's it. He's not special ed. Just deaf. (not deaTH—just deaF!!! ) One of the teachers has been learning some signs via the internet. I think he's my favorite teacher.

Matt starts school on Monday. He's excited. This past week has been full of activities. Which was nice because we were lonely. We have a few friends on our floor. Emily and Donovan- they're from Oregon, newly married and really sweet. Donovan and Matt both have duel citizenship in Canada. *thought you'd enjoy that fact* Another couple, George and Lauren, are from Oklahoma. George at first reminded us of Justin (Lyndsey's) husband. George is in the army and has a shaved head. Justin is also in the army. I think Justin is a lot taller than George. Random. I know. The couple we'll be hanging out with after church tonight are DJ, Mara and baby Eli. They are from Alabama. Mara is one of my favorite people here. And her accent is awesome! They're pretty freakin' awesome! Baby Eli is 8 mos and a chunker! Ohhh, he's so cute! The other couple we've hung out with are Cody and Anna. For those of you who've read Blue Like Jazz, Cody reminds me of the cussing pastor. Cody and Anna are also from Oregon. We like them. Anna's a teacher in Monrovia, so it's easy for me to relate to her. We've met many single people, too. But the ones that are my favorite are, of course our CC Danielle! Then Libby and Anna. They're amazing! I love those ladies!! Libby is a fellow snorter—not crack!! When she laughs! duh.

We've kinda found a church. It's called The Warehouse. Reminds us a lot of the Avenue. It's Sunday nights at 6pm. This will be our second time going.

I love Pasadena. It's been hard, with the transition and all. I miss my friends. I miss being part of the interpreting and deaf community. I miss my family and the babies. God is here, just in case you were wondering. He's here. He said HI to me the other day. I was on my way to work and was stopped at a stop light. A big yellow school bus was to my left, so I looked up and this beautiful little black girl waved to me. I smiled and waved back. I looked back down and checked my sidekick (my best friend had IMed me). The light turned green and the cars started to go. I looked back up, the little girl was still there, and waved again. I waved, too and smiled. It made my day.

Not sure what else to update on. Tim, Jameson and the drummer from Until April came to visit Matt the other weekend. I was in Fresno, though, so I didn't get to see them. But I wouldn't mind if you came to visit. It'd be nice to see a familiar face. Really nice. It's not like we're lonely here. Just miss our friends. Starting over is hard. But worth it.