Think I'll sit down here for a bit... (3)

DaRev said:

I did marry the GF after college (no shotgun necessary) but three kids and 7 years later, she decided that being a wife and mother just wasn't her bag.

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I didn't marry the B/F, which I have to say was one of my few intelligent decisions at that time, and I dumped the next B/F after that when he had issues with me returning to school when I finally did.

For me, I am glad I waited until I was a little older to get married (26). There's no way I could have done it any younger than that.

DaRev said:

My BS was through an adult degree completion program (remind me sometime to tell you about how I got into seminary... the Spirit at work!) through a local Weslyan College. One night per week for four hours plus a LOT of home work and projects... in 18 months.

And I did it raising three kids by myself. I have a whole new perspective on how single mothers (even married ones!) can juggle raising kids, keeping a home, having a fulltime job, and studying for a degree all at the same time. Some think that men don't get it, but this one sure does!

...and then pack everything up for a full-time seminary formation program and masters level study. I don't know how I survived!


.... wait... yes, I do. The Holy Spirit!

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I am not worthy of your greatness!!!! That's pretty darn cool.


Please share how you got in. Let me pop some popcorn first.

Flipper said:

I am not worthy of your greatness!!!! That's pretty darn cool.


Please share how you got in. Let me pop some popcorn first.

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Well, here goes...

I start this with a profound truth: "A coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous."


After I got out of college and the turmoil of the following years, my student loan went into default, which meant that I was no longer eligible for any other educational financing.

A few years ago my brother, who was in his late 40's at the time, went back to school at the local Community College and got a two year degree in Computer Science and eventually landed a great job with Adelphia Communications. He encouraged me to do the same thing, but when I applied, I couldn't get any financing because of the default on my record. So school was not an option.

Then something very strange happened. Shortly after this time, the firm that was handling my default attempted to take several thousand dollars out of my checking account, which only had about $300 in it. Needless to say my account was "slightly" overdrawn. This led to an arrangement for me to make payments on my default balance, which in turn led to my eligibility for student aid to be reinstated.

It was about this time that I began to think about seminary, but I only had a two year degree and needed a Bachelors to enter the sem program. After thinking about it for a bit it became extremely obvious that it would be near impossible to go back to school for two years to earn a BS or BA.

One day, while driving home from work, I was sitting at a red light. I looked up at this huge billboard advertising an adult degree completion program through the local Weslyan College. (I had stopped at that light almost every day and had never noticed that advertisement before.) The program was for adults who had a two year degree and had classes one night per week running 18 months to earn a BS in Management. So I looked into it and enrolled.

When I told my pastor that I was considering seminary and wanted to go to Fort Wayne (it was closer to home, besides I was not to keen on going into a mojor metropolitan city like St. Louis) he encouraged me to apply to both Ft Wayne and St Louis. He thought my being divorced would be an issue with Ft Wayne.

I was accepted at both, and still wanted to go to Ft Wayne, but they had no on campus housing. St Louis offered me an on campus apartment, but I couldn't afford the $500 security deposit, besides I hadn't decided that I was even going to go there.

The kids and I visited both campuses. Our reception at Ft Wayne was very cold (I never got to even see the admissions counselor), and the housing costs were too high for us. At St Louis our welcome was cery warm and we were informed that despite my not paying the security deposit, we still had an apartment reserved. We even got to tour our new digs while we visited the campus.

Wasn's a hard decision as to which seminary to go to. And we had a place to move into right away.

I leaned to love St Louis and I would go back there if I ever have the chance. (My oldest son still lives there.)

When time came to move, I wasn't sure how I was going to pay for the moving expense. But one night, at about 3am, my daughter woke me up and said she heard water running. I went out into the kitchen and found the water line that connect to the ice maker in the freezer had broken and flooded the kitchen and ruined the floor and much of the livingroom carpet. My dad held a homeowner policy on my house (which I didn't know about) and the settlement not only paid for the repairs, but there was enough left over to cover most of the moving cost. The church and our youth group had fundraisers to help us raise the rest.

The rest, as they say, is history.


Coincidences? I think not.

seajoy said:

Awesome story of our Lord's taking care of His own. You followed where He led. Thanks for sharing, Rev!

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And that's the condensed version.

What an awesome story!!

I love walking around the STL campus - it's so pretty and peaceful.

seajoy said:

When's the book coming out?

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Well... I'll have to wait and see what other "coincidences" the Lord has planned.
The story may not be over, yet.

Flipper said:

I love walking around the STL campus - it's so pretty and peaceful.

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Yeah. That was my home for three years. In a lot of ways I miss it.


Well, I need to go find my pillow and lay my head upon it.

Dobru Noc.

Well, got back from my weekend plus away. We returned to the last congregation my husband served for their 100th anniversary. It was very interesting. You see, those 10 years there were good and bad. There were people there stirring up troubles and seemed to have the thought that if they had a different Pastor, things would be better. Wrong!! I guess things got worse for a while. People left. (usually things that had little to do with our salvation).

The Pastor there now has been there around 2 years. It seems to be good for him. We understand that things are settling down. It was interesting hearing about the other Pastor's experiences there, the good and the bad. You see, this was the place where when hubby got a call, that he knew it was time to serve God better in another place.

Now, it was fun seeing people we had not seen in 8 years. Talking and catching up. It also felt weird being there, kind of like going home. (well it is the longest we had lived anywhere) There are many great people there and we know that God used everyone for His purpose while we were there.

So, my last few days was a trip down memory lane. Now I have to finish getting ready for graduation as it is Sunday.

Can anyone tell me why it's necessary for a seminary student to have a Bachelor's degree? Especially since the school seemingly, couldn't care less what that degree is in???

If you'll forgive me, it sounds like academic snobbery.

I have posted a few photos of our drive home today. You can find them here: http://jmberg.blogspot.com

ctay said:

The Pope, Billy Graham, and Oral Roberts were in a three-way plane crash over the Pacific Ocean. They all died and went to heaven together.

"Oh, this is terrible," exclaims St. Peter, "I know you guys think we summoned you here, but this is just one of those coincidences that happen. Since we weren't expecting you, your quarters just aren't ready... We can't take you in and we can't send you back...."
Then he got an idea. He picked up the phone, "Lucifer, this is Pete. Hey, I got these three guys up here. They're ours, but we weren't expecting them, and we gotta fix the place up for 'em. I was hoping you could put them up for a while. It'll only be a couple of days. What d'ya say?"
Reluctantly, the Devil agreed.
However, two days later, St. Peter got a call. "Pete, Lu. Hey, you gotta come get these three clowns.
This Pope fellow is forgiving everybody,
the Graham guy is saving everybody,
and that Oral Roberts has raised enough money to buy air conditioning."

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Wonderful! Thankyou for a very badly needed laugh!

seajoy said:

Kinda wet. Sure is crazy weather.

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Yeah, three weeks ago it was in the upper seventies here. Then two weeks ago we had rain and snow on the ridge (about 1k feet above my house). Last week we got Noah's deluge, now it's eighty and thunderstorms. Very strange indeed.

The river was beautiful this afternoon. I turned onto the frontage road and stopped at the salmon viewing circle. The river is channeled there by a diversion dam. The water was running in the spillway at a rate of about six feet high, water the colour of pale jade wreathed in foam. Spectacular. Wished I had a digi camera. Funny how something can be so beautiful and a little scary at the same time.

Yeah, writing a story can take a real chunk of time. One that I sat down for, took me two sessions of eighteen hours each. I had to finish it before forgetting the storyline. See, it had come to me in a dream. Still didn't get the ending right and I really need to flesh out the story. Maybe someday I'll finish it... To hone my skills, I started looking around for a venue. What I came across was Mugglenet. It's the website for the Harry Potter fans (yes, yes, I know...), not my first choice, but what the hey? I gave it a try and ended up being blacklisted for Hermione teaching Dudley Dursley to pray the Lord's prayer. My what a stink! Still, they taught me a lot about dialog and grammattical structure. After a while though, I felt that Harry was taking way too much of my time. After the tome I was writing hit six hundred pages (and still not done) I felt that Harry's time was up. That's when I found this site. Now my time is much better spent.

halfway done with the week!! i am so happy...i need the sleep of this weekend, lol