Eschatology...Sort of

Tonight was the last time I worked at Walther Library.  It's probably the last time I'll ever work at a library, actually.  I never really thought of myself as a library person.  I mean, I studied their occasionally in elementary/middle school/high school.  I studied at the Ball State library pretty frequently in college (it was also a GREAT place to take a nap before I lived in an air-conditioned dorm room).  But then, after Andrea and I got married and we moved back to Muncie, I got a job working at the Muncie Public Library's Maring-Hunt branch.  I held a variety of jobs there, but I really learned that I loved to work at the library.  I haven't had that many jobs in my life, and I've liked most of them, but I honestly loved working at the library.  When we moved back to Fort Wayne so I could start at the seminary, I applied to work at the campus library (come to think of it, I also tried to apply at the Allen County Public Library, but they weren't hiring).  Anyway, long story short, I also loved working at Walther Library.  We're back where we started: Tonight was the last time I worked at Walther Library.

The circulation desk at close

This is my desk.  We liked to put weird/funny stuff on the wall.

So, what is eschatology?  Eschatology is a theological term that means the study of the end times (literally, words about the last things).  Recently, I've been thinking quite a bit about last things.  You know when you were in high school, and you celebrated all of those last things that you did?  Swim meets, track meets, cross country meets, plays, dances, etc.  I'm doing that all over again at the seminary.  Last day of classes, last time to sing "A Might Fortress is Our God" in chapel, last time to receive the Lord's Supper at the chapel altar.  What it all comes down to is this: I'm already getting a little homesick for the seminary.  We're also making final visits to family and friends.  I'm homesick more for Naomi and Baby Mac 2.0 as far as that goes, but it's hard to know that we're possibly leaving them behind for quite some time.

Not all of my entries will be this melancholy, I promise.  I really am excited to get out to Colorado.  It's just difficult to leave every body and every thing behind.

***Point of clarification***Andrea and the babies are coming to Colorado.  That line about me feeling homesick for them was more that they won't see extended family as often as I got to when I was growing up.  (Thanks, Grandma!)

The Inside

Yesterday, I posted some pictures of the exterior of the house. Today, I'll post a few of the inside. The "stuff" in the pictures belongs to the lady we're renting from. In order to respect her privacy, I won't post all of the pictures. I'll post some more when we actually get there. Come to think of it, I can probably post a video tour of the house. For now, here's the kitchen and the three bedrooms:

New Blog, New Home, New Adventure

We are about to embark on a new adventure. Sure, you could call this blog a new adventure, but what I'm really getting at is uprooting a growing family of Hoosiers and transplanting them to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, about 7,500 feet above sea level.

Why would such a family leave their beloved Hoosier State, friends, and family for the mountains? I'm starting my vicarage. What's that? It's an internship of sorts. I think it's more closely related to student teaching, but I think you get the idea. In most Christian traditions, a vicar is basically a parish pastor. However, in the Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod, a vicar is a ministerial student. That year of vicarage is supposed to be a time of formation as a pastor wherein the student gets field experience. He should be under a supervising pastor, sometimes called a bishop, to learn how to be a pastor. This includes preaching, teaching, visiting church members, and other administrative tasks.

So, in order to keep this from rambling too much longer, I'll start to show you around a little. We don't leave for Pagosa Springs until early July, but I have some picture of the house we're going to rent for a while. Enjoy!