Whew!

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I just finished a 31-question final exam in under 40 minutes (it was timed). It was part multiple-choice, part fill-in-the-blank, plus a short essay question. I’ve never typed so fast in my life. Boy, am I glad that’s over!

I do believe I shall have a glass or three of wine now.

Seder meal

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Earlier this month, we got into a conversation at Life group about Easter, Passover and the traditional Seder meal celebrated in the Jewish faith. Only one or two people in the room had ever participated, so we decided to do one together. It has been several years since I participated in a Seder meal, and I’ve never led one myself before now, but I enjoyed the chance to re-learn the various components of the ceremonial meal and share the experience with the group.

The Seder meal is a traditional, ceremonial dinner that Moses instructed the Israelites to conduct in remembrance of the Passover every year (see Exodus 12). Each part of the meal is symbolic, from the vegetable dipped in salt water to represent the Israelites’ tears while they were in slavery to the lamb that represents blood sacrifice for sin.

Our rendition of the meal was less formal than a traditional Seder probably would be, but it went over well, and everyone seemed to appreciate the history/cultural/spiritual lessons woven throughout. We ended our meal with communion together, which was a nice way to wrap up our time together and celebrate our risen savior.

New look?

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I thought a new theme might fix the squished text problem that I’ve been having lately. This one seems to work just fine. Any feedback? I was going for something clean & relatively easy on the eyes.

Tornado drill

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Kids have a tendency to be a bit on the melodramatic side, don’t they? A squabble with a sibling turns into, “Nobody likes me!” Getting grounded from tv for a day turns into, “I’ll never get to watch tv ever again!” (Please tell me mine aren’t the only ones who overreact.)

The skies have been threatening to rain since the weekend, and finally yesterday, it looked like the clouds were rolling in. Baseball was cancelled; tutoring ministry ended early, and we went on about our bedtime routine, as usual. Then, close to 9pm, the city alarm started blaring. Television shows were interrupted with tornado warnings, and I received a text, voice message AND automated phone call from the university advising everyone to seek shelter.

The little three weren’t quite asleep yet (the older two were about to go to bed), so I rounded up everyone and sent them to one of the master bedroom closets. It’s a walk-in, but when everyone piled in there with pillows and a couple of blankets, it got verrrry cozy very quickly. It wasn’t too bad, though. They heaped together like a litter of puppies and started sharing imaginative stories about what it would be like if a tornado hit.

Meanwhile, the tv news that we were listening to on loud volume from the bedroom described the major intersection closest to our house as being a danger zone for potential tornado activity. Yeah.Two of the boys volunteered to pray. (To my chagrin, I didn’t think of it first … I was on autopilot trying to keep everyone calm … five kids in a confined space is a recipe for chaos, natural disaster notwithstanding!) The youngest asked God briefly to protect us and keep us safe. The oldest offered a heartfelt prayer for the storm to pass over us, but if a tornado did land, please let it not harm us — or at the worst, only give us minor bruises. (It was all I could do not to giggle; he was so sincere and concerned.)

While we waited for the all-clear, I fielded questions & comments like these:

  • “Mom – How can someone die in a tornado? Wouldn’t it just spin you round & round?”
  • “Tornadoes form over the water; hurricanes form over the land.” (<<insert correction & explanation of waterspouts, etc.)
  • “Tornadoes sound like trains, only without whistles.”

I left the closet to fetch a couple of more pillows, and when I returned, Nos. 2 & 5 were huddled together, and No. 2 said, “It’s ok if we die, Mom.” I asked what in the world he was talking about, and he explained that if the tornado came, it’s ok if we die, because we’ll go to heaven and get to be with Jesus. The others piped up and added more people’s names, angels, etc. I didn’t know what to say; I was taken aback by his blunt remark. I told them that I was glad they trusted God and weren’t scared, but I hoped that we would all live a long life and die when we’re nice and old. I reassured them that we have a sturdy house and hopefully this would just be a drill, after all. They changed the subject to something else, and it didn’t come up again.

Still, it makes me wonder … as adults, is our faith so clearly and readily articulated? When we are faced with the unknown – something that scares us – are we so promptly willing to put our lives in the Father’s hands?

The sirens continued off and on for about a half hour or more, then I received the all-clear email/text/call, and the news showed that the system was heading out of our area. The monkey boys went back to bed, and – thankfully! – no one had nightmares.

I lost an evening of much-needed study time last night, but it was unavoidable, and even though I’m sure the story of the tornado drill will warp like a fish tale over time, times like last night are what family memories are made of. Times like last night are also a reminder to me of what faith looks like.

Aiming for publication

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I hesitate to say anything just yet because nothing is set in stone, but I’m so excited about the prospect, I can barely stand it. One of my scholarly heroes – an academician and all-around fantastic person who I fondly consider both a mentor and friend – might co-author a paper with me.

We will talk about it in more detail in the next couple of weeks (after finals!) and begin to hone in on a topic of mutual interest. What is so fantastic about this project – besides the chance to work alongside one of my favorite people – is that it tremendously boosts the clout, so to speak, for my work. The odds of getting published in an academic journal as a grad student writing solo are less than if you were to collaborate with a faculty member. (Ok, so I don’t have the stats handy, but I’m pretty sure the odds are slim. Someone should do a study on that, LOL!)

I shared some preliminary thoughts earlier this semester about my dissertation, and that general topic still interests me very much, but if we’re able to publish something in this new endeavor, then it may very well sway my dissertation plans. That’s all good, though … it’s still plenty early to mull things over and explore various topics.

The one thing two things that I want to keep in mind, regardless of the topic I choose, come from a critical comment that I read not too long ago about Public Administration as a concentration within Political Science, in general:

1) The field is under-researched.

2) Research must add knowledge to the discipline, not just rehash previous work.

I aim to accomplish both goals. Presenting at the conference last week was my first step toward Goal #1, and hopefully this collaborative paper will make strides toward both goals.

Seatbelts on … here we go!