my journey contines

it’s a little bit hard to engage and really get into classes when you don’t have actual CLASSES. when it’s online? harder… not impossible. anyways, we had our first in-class class today for our “Relief & Mitigation” course. it’s really interesting. now that we HAVE had class, it’s kinda like ok get going on your homework!!! so tonight i’m working on a test that’s due Friday and then tomorrow i’ll do some work on our microfinance assignments (also due Friday).

tonight faith made delicious dinner and apple crisp - it’s always nice to get treated. and soooooooooooooo nice to NOT have to wash dishes! hahaha… yea umm not my favourite thing in the world. yup and janell cut the apples. lol

i may do an updated list of some of the cohort lingo and jokes - the list has certainly grown a lot since the last post i made about that!! but i think that’ll be by suggestions. lol… when you’re just sitting there it’s harder to think of everything. PG rated

one more thing, lorna, can you email me your blog address or post it as a link in a comment? when my computer died i lost all of my blog links and had to get them again. thanks!!

well back to the books. thanks for reading!
shannon

i started to read “the ragamuffin gospel” by brennan manning. some good quotes so far

“Luther suddenly broke through to the insight that the ‘righteousness of God’ that Paul spoke of in this passage was not the righteousness by which God was righteous in himself (that would be passive righteousness) but the righteousness by which, for the sake of Jesus Christ, God made sinners righteous (that is, active righteousness) through the forgiveness os sins in justification. When he discovered that, Luther said it was as though the very gates of Paradise had been opened to him.” (p. 20)

“And Grace calls out, You are not just a disillusioned old man who may die soon, a middle-aged woman stuck in a job and desperately wanting to get out, a young person feeling the fire in the belly begin to grow cold. You may be insecure, inadequate, mistaken, or potbellied. Death, panic, depression, and disillusionment may be near you. But you are not just that. You are accepted. Never confuse your perception of yourself with the mystery that you are really accepted.”

“In essence, there is only one thing God asks for us - to be men and women of prayer, people who live close to God, peopole for whom God is everything and for whom God is enough. That is the root of peace. We have that peace when the gracious God is all we seek. When we start seeking something besides Him, we lose it…. ‘That is his call to us - simply to be people who are content to live close to him and to renew the kind of life in which the closeness is felt and experienced.’”

If you haven’t read Brennan Manning before I’d suggest you pick up any one of his books. This one imparticular is great, but I’ve heard they all are. It’s just encouraging and refreshing as it refocuses our minds on God’s grace, how awesome that truly is, and how little it has to do with us. It’s so easy to always bring things down to our level. The world is SO MUCH BIGGER!! And God’s grace, the fact that we even have the choice to accept or reject him, the fact that we are alive and can think and debate and learn and etc. it goes on and on. It’s really just so amazing.

did you think i forgot to blog? haha my friends tease me about blogging but ahh well. what can i say.

these first 2 weeks have been difficult to get back into “school mode”. it’s summer. it’s hot. 90 degrees today… when i checked and converted it at one point it was about 30 C… for those of you that are like me and can’t convert it. and in case those aren’t equal temperatures, i checked it at different times of the day. haha…

my computer also crashed. let me tell you, computers are GREAT… when they work. note: BACK UP your files people!! (and note to self… )

but my courses are so interesting. “Introduction to Microfinance” and “Relief & Mitigation”… short time period though, they’ll be over in a month. lots of papers to write.

i’ve had a few interviews and it seems promising! although of course i don’t know yet. i want to share more but won’t until i hear anything definitive. just keep praying that the right doors open and that i go where God wants me to go.

also a lot of people have left the dorms for the summer. it’s really quiet. you can sit around for hours and not hear anybody. i miss jacob. and mary. gretchen is taking off to ecuador - lucky! to learn spanish. peter is in indonesia visiting his brother, sister-in-law and newborn nephew. even within my cohort a lot of people have left this past week since we haven’t had in-class classes. it’s sooo quiet. i’ve found some great radio stations. music is WONDERFUL!!!

other than those things, life is going well. God is continuing to show me the importance of relying FULLY on him. not just in the big, emotion-filled moments, but in the simple day-to-day things. nothing is too small or too big to bring to God.

feel free to comment. i still enjoy them. i could even repost the “how to post a comment” blog.

thanks for reading!
Shannon

after going to bed at approximately 3am, i woke up at 7am to get ready to go on a hike. Stan organized it and a bunch of people set off to go hiking near the appalachian trail. my legs were still really stiff today (didn’t blog about that one. joined a gym nearby, first day workout used my free personal trainer session, he pushed me so hard and my legs = jello.) so i wasn’t sure at first, but i’m so glad i went.

i’ve never done anything like that before and it was just beautiful!!!

here are pics - enjoy!:

Rebecca & Me

Grace & John

Hangin’ Out

Rosa & Rebecca

Matt & Stan

Melissa

Group Shot - Hiking May ‘07

break is over already and i got back in Philadelphia around 7:15… ready to jump right in tomorrow! 9am class tomorrow - Introduction to Microfinance.

this semester is shorter though - middle of may to the end of june.

in store: lots of reading, more papers, volleyball, live music, possible road trip to David Letterman… etc

and i got my marks! hard work pays off. yay.

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

so if you have been reading my posts you may have heard me mention my friend Jacob. he’s here living in the dorms as well and attending the seminary. we’ve shared a lot of stories, experiences and advice. he’s got some GREAT stories.

done and done!! group project was finished around 3:30am last night/this morning. go team go!!! it’s such a great feeling! we did a community disaster-preparedness project, whipped up a proposal, etc. it looks AWESOME - could really be submitted.