The Checklist

Question: What do you do when you've completed everything on your long-term "to do" checklist? 

My "To Do" List:

1. Take a graduate course. CHECK

2. Study for the GRE. CHECK

3. Take the GRE. CHECK

4. Get good enough scores on the GRE. CHECK

5. Get two letters of recommendation. CHECK

6. Complete and submit application to graduate school. CHECK

7. Wait. CHECK

8. Wait some more... CHECK?

Well, I'll tell you what I have been doing: seeing friends, hanging with the hubs, reading, laundry, and watching a lot of TV. Oh, yeah, and now I've moved on to obsessive cleaning. It all sounds pretty normal (maybe not the cleaning), except for some reason, it doesn't feel normal. It feels like I'm missing something. Like now that my class is over, Christmas break came and went, and I'm done getting everything in order for school, I don't have a purpose. Sure, I still work 40 hours a week, but work has been slow lately, and I don't have a lot that is challenging my mind. I got in a really good rhythm of balancing work and my class, while still having plenty of time for fun -- and I miss that!

It's so weird, because up until a few months ago, this WAS my rhythm. Work was my main responsibility, and it felt sufficient. I'm guessing that living ten minutes from work and having an extra 1.25 hours in my day has something to do with this feeling, but there must be more to it. Why do I feel so antsy? Any ideas of how I can NOT feel guilty for having nothing to do at night?

That's all for now. And hey, I blogged, so that's something fairly productive I did today (...or is it?). :-]

H

Lawdy: The Vespers

As previously mentioned, I've gotten into the band The Vespers lately. They released this video a few months ago, and I wasn't sure at first how I felt about it. Now, after listening a few times, I've decided I really like the song and it is worth sharing.

Enjoy.

Being Homeless

Okay, so we're not literally homeless, and no, this is not a post about homeless people (but it did catch your attention, right?). What I'm talking about is being spiritually homeless, or rather, churchless.

Since moving to Minnesota, I have attended/visited 9 different churches. Two of those we attended for at least a year each, and the rest range from 1 week to 3 months. And right now, we have still not officially decided to commit to a certain church. We really have legitimate explanations for leaving the churches - especially the two that we attended longterm - but, now I just can't help but feel homeless. 

I know that we need to just choose one and understand that no church is going to be perfect, but for some reason we are having a really hard time deciding. There seem to be major flaws with every place we visit. I guess it doesn't help that we would really like a church in our community, and our home happens to be in a Protestant desert. Apparently, all of the evangelicals decided to focus on every other area of the city except our own. :(

I've joked about starting a home church, but my husband doesn't seem too keen on that idea. I suppose it might be a tad difficult with everyone we know living on the other side of town (20 miles at the minimum), but wouldn't that solve our problem of not being content? When you make all the decisions yourself, you can't blame other people for your problems, right? Oh well, maybe in another decade...

We're visiting a new church tonight, and I am fairly optimistic about it. Toby attended this church during seminary and stopped attending because of the distance, but now we are close by again. Maybe it is "the one." Or maybe we are too picky (make that definitely). But how do you lower your expectations, and how do you prioritize church qualities? Aside from statement of faith, are all qualities the same in God's eyes? Didn't He write a book about that? Oh, yeah, that's right. But the Book tells me to cover my head in church...is there anything translated to the 21st century? Am I offending some people? Are you sick of my questions?

Okay, I'm done. That's enough food for thought today. Speaking of food...I'm going to eat lunch. As always, I leave you with a song.

H