Ok, Rachel, you're right

Wow, I think this is the worst I've been at communication in my whole life. Well, maybe. Maybe not. But it HAS been almost 1 1/2 months since I blogged and that's ridiculous. It's kind of like when I stopped by Mrs. Van Dine's office the other day (our registrar and in-school grandma). She said that it had been too long since I talked to her, but I told her that I had been waiting till just the right time because I knew it was going to be a long talk when I actually DID get around to talking to her. So, this will probably be a long entry. Or maybe I should just write a bunch of entries consecutively to catch you up. :P

In any case, well, yes, I am back at school. I was busy last year. I was busy this summer. But over these past couple of months I have felt unrealistically busy. I don't even know where to start. Hmm...

Well, the first couple of weeks, I was an emotional basketcase because my classes were rearranged at least three times, which was frustrating, one of the boys from home I care about was hurt in a bad car wreck, one of my best friends from school here was struggling with some real issues emotionally, I was trying to slide back into routine and it wasn't happening, I was trying to catch up with everyone and we were all trying to fit back into each others' lives again...and it was just crazy.

After about a month of classes, things finally fell into routine, and I'm feeling very settled and thankful now. What a blessing! The tough thing is that practically every moment of every day of my week is scheduled for me...and if you know me well, you know that structure is a challenge for me. Sure, some is fine, but this is borderline control-freakishness. (I mean that my schedule is being the control freak.) So at times I just want to burst out and go away somewhere like a sandy beach in Peru where no one can tell me where to be at what time or for what reason. :) I'm managing alright, though...the Lord is giving me grace for each day.

So, as far as classes go, I love all of mine this year. Some of you know that I was planning to work toward getting my BS in 3 years instead of 4. Well, after a week of thinking that was going to happen this semester, I nearly cracked mentally and I realized I couldn't press myself like that. Not having a summer break from classes and jumping right back into 19.5 hours of schoolwork was too much. So I dropped two classes and am at 15.5 credit hours for the semester. That has been a blessing, truly. The workload is just perfect. Enough that I still get this feeling of "Ah! I can't do it!" and have to run back to the Lord, but not so much that I'm already feeling like there's no way I'll get everything done.

I am taking Methods in TESOL I, Intro to Missions, and Hermeneutics (science of Bible study) on Mon/Wed/Fri and I'm taking Life of David and Cultural Anthropology on T/Th. I'm learning a lot about Bible study in both Life of David and Hermeneutics - a lot of practical things that should serve me well for the rest of my life. Then, in Intro to Missions and Cultural Anthropology I'm learning so much about cultures, mission work, and a lot of spiritual things I've never considered, or never knew much about. For instance, how does God reveal His glory through cultures, how do I experience God's leading and direction, how do you deal with cultural things in Scripture like slavery and holy kisses, etc. Really cool stuff. Methods in TESOL is a very practical class, and we're talking about how to teach English grammar. I need to find a tutoring position and do some hours of observation and teaching in ESL classes around Dubuque, so if you would pray with me about those details, I'd appreciate it.

It's good to be back with the people here at school and church in Dubuque. The Lord has given me a lot of service opportunities and I'm thankful for that. When I say service, I mean practical service...cleaning here at school, helping moms with their kids, helping people in practical ways. I'm learning a lot.

So, yes, now I can continue to blog in a more timely fashion, perhaps. That is, if I still have any readers...I know it's been so long! :D God bless, all!

PS Phyllis, I don't have your email, otherwise I would have written before. Can you give it to me? Or, mine is lizabeth.hannah@gmail.com.