OK, so this afternoon I will be turning in my first paper as a graduate student. I am kind of nervous. Oh well. Nothing I can do now. I think it's a good paper, maybe not a great paper, but definitely a good paper. One of the best I have written in a while, I think. I'll see how it goes. I have a paper in that class (church history) every week, so I am going to start on the next one this morning. That class, and my New Testament class, are my most difficult. Going into this deal, I knew the workload would increase from my undergrad days, but I had no idea the increase would b by this much. Almost every one of my classes has at least 100 pages of reading each week, plus papers and tests and stuff. But above all of that is that the intesnsity level is so high. Whew. I am trying to stay ahead of the game as much as I can. But, I will be OK.

One of the adjustments I have had to make is to learn the intricisies of the library schedule. At a state school such as the U of M, I never had to worry about the library much; it was just open whenever I needed to be there. On Tuesday, I got an introduction into the seminary way. At 10:50 AM, one of the library employees came up to me to tell me that the library would be closing at 11:00 for chapel services. I said, "Uh, say what? I have work to do." He said, "We will be closing in 10 minutes for chapel services." My thought process for the next 30 seconds or so was something like: "Oh. Uh, OK. Hmmm. What do I do now? Hmmm. OK. Uh, how about some lunch?" So, I ate some lunch, and when I came back the library was open again. I had been in a really good groove, and unfortunately it took me a while to get it back. Anyway, that's how it goes.

A local United Methodist Church is seeking a part-time Director of Youth Ministries, and I applied a few days ago. I decided back some time ago to start working again, knowing that Michelle would eventually have to stop, and I have applied at several places but have not heard anything. So, my fingers are crossed.

On Friday, we have a doctor's appointment at 10:00 for an ultrasound. We should find out if the baby is a boy or a girl. We are so excited. I have been telling Michelle for weeks to just chill, and that there is nothing we can do but wait. But now, the anticipation is getting to me. The next two days cannot pass quickly enough.

A couple of years ago, my brother in law gave me a book he had used in a class, the Mercer University Dictionary of the Bible. It just so happened that I needed a Bible Dictionary at that time, and it quickly became one of my favorite resources. A couple of days ago, I was looking through the list of contributors, and saw my advisor there. I stopped by his office yesterday to ask him which article he had written, and when I walked in his office I noticed that his PC's screen saver was a bunch of Martin guitars. So, we spent the next 15 minutes talking about guitars, and then about 5 minutes talking about his article...LOL. Turns out he owns a 1970 Martin D-18, and wrote the article on creation for the Mercer dictionary. Cool stuff. When I met my advisor for the first time, I had a feeling I would like him, since he has a ponytail down his back and wears hemp sandals. The first thing I thought when I saw him was "He looks like my dad did in 1974." Cool. Turns out he is a member of Nashville Presbytery, and knows my uncle Don.

It's funny that wherever I go, people ask me if I am related to Don Winn. I don't purposely drop names, but people often do it for me...LOL. There are actually very few Cumberland Presbyterian professors here. This semester, I have a professor that is Catholic, one that is Calvinist Presbyterian (different breed than CP's), one that was raised Muslim in Senegal, and one that apparently is non-denomiational. The seminary is ecumenical, which means that it strives to be all-inclusive and embraces people of all Christian traditions. In fact, of all the students that started this semester, I am the ONLY CP in the group. What's funny is that the administration knew there was only one, because ever day someone would come up to me and ask me if I was "the one". So the first week or so I felt like I was wearing a scarlet letter. That's funny.

Anyway, things are going well here. I hope everyone is doing well. I know my friend Mike Clark is still struggling with the loss of his father. I hope he knows that our prayers are with him and his family. It is great that he and Dana got to celebrate the birth of their newest child last Friday. I cannot imagine the emotional roller-coaster he must be on right now. Peace...