A long while...

It has been an eternity since I last posted (Ok, not quite that long but it has been a long time). Last school year was a long, hard and busy year. I was working, schooling and doing Field Education at a local church. I was busy, busy, busy. When school ended in May my being busy didn't. I went from school straight into Clinical Pastoral Education at a local New Jersey Hospital. It was an experience that forced me to grow in amazing ways. Hopefully soon I will post more in depth about my summer experience because it definitely can't be summed up in a few sentences. After CPE was over I studied for my Ordination exams which I took in August. I am also proud to announce I passed all those exams! I also survived my first Hurricane (I spent the time being crafty, see above). Then before I knew it I was back at September again with the start of my third and final year of seminary looming before me (Prof. Kenda Creasey Dean preached at convocation). Needless to say it has been a packed year. Along with all the things mentioned above my mom also came and visited, I got to spend an awesome week in South Carolina, I became a candidate for ministry in the PCUSA and most recently I turned 24! So to inaugurate my return to the blog I found the best way to share what I have been up to is through pictures. Enjoy!

New Year With A Chance Of Snow

Happy New Year!!!

I am not a big New Years person. It seems like a fine holiday but not one that really excites me all that much. I feel like 2011 just kinda appeared. 2010 was not all that exciting for me, frankly it was just another year. I am hoping that 2011 brings some fun adventures and good times, and perhaps turns out to be a little more memorable.

I spent the holidays in P-town. While I was chilling on the West Coast the East Coast got blanketed with snow. By the time I got back it was mostly mush. I was worried that I had missed out on the winter snow, but lucky me the East saved some snow for me. Since I have been back we have had three snowstorms with the latest one bringing a good six to eight inches of snow. It has brought me to conclude that God does answer prayers, just in God's own time. See, I spent the greater part of my childhood praying for snow. I remember promising I would do all my homework if only God would let it snow so we could have a snow day. Growing up where an inch of snow was enough to shut down the city my prayers dripped with the desperate hope of a child longing for a single day of snow fun. Well, I can say that more often than not my prayers were met with nothing more than the dribble,dribble of rain drops. As the winter has progressed here this year I have come to realize that it is not that God was refusing to answer my prayers God was just waiting to answer them when God decided it was a good time. My prayers for snow have been answered. I am surrounded by more snow than any native Pacific Northwestern kid could possible know what to do with.

I think I also know why God waited. When I was a kid I told myself I would never turn into one of those adults that despised snow because rather than seeing it as an opportunity to take a break they saw it as a frustrating obstacle. I think this year I have come close to becoming one of those adults, so focused on getting things done that I forget to stop every once in a while and take a break. So God gave me snow.

Happily snow stuck,

Amanda