Hey, That Religion Degree Might Come In Handy After All....

DaySpring has a ministry that visits the Ridgecrest Retirement Center in Waco once a month. Different communities of faith trade out duties in order to "be church" to our home bound brothers and sisters literally next door. Some time ago, I mentioned to Amber Essick (who happens to be on the leadership team w/Ridgecrest) that I had, A. been in Toastmasters for a while, and B. Had my undergraduate degree in Religion. In fact, as a part of my "Women in the Bible" class taught by Dr. Michelle Tooley, I had the opportunity to preach a sermon in chapel while still @ Belmont. The really short story is that about 6 weeks ago Amber asked if I would be willing to preach on the 5th Sunday of September. Of course, I opened my fat mouth and said a resounding "yes".

At first I was very excited about the opportunity. Not to say I'm not excited about it now. But, the excitement factor has really gotten closer to terror. Over the past year or so, I've given 10-12 prepared speeches in front of my peers @ Toastmasters. I've been called on the floor to deliver various reports and impromptu talks in business venues. I don't recall any trepidation or anxiety about any of those. This is different!

Despite being Baptist, we ascribe to the lectionary and choose the text for services based on the church calendar. I had several choices, but decided on Psalm 91 for this weekend. I am mulling around different ideas and have yet to pin down the primary point of this sermon. The psalmist has created a beautiful poem that stirs up feelings of divine protection and safety. God is painted as both the nurturing protector of the faithful (warm and fuzzy God), but also a fierce, warlike aggressor against the wicked(rough and tumble God). In fact, Psalm 91 has sometimes been called the "Soldier's Prayer". My head is spinning right now, but I am sure by Sunday morning all will be well.

Anatomy and Physiology

I finally got a chance last night to go up to the school during my "off" hours and do some work in the lab. I dont have any official lab assignments, per se....But it is absolutely necessary to get your hands on each of the models in order to know all the required structures. One of my misconceptions with this class was that it was just a matter of will in memorizing names of bones, muscles, organs and so forth. And that is true, to a point. But the good news for me is that I have to spend just as much time in the lab "hands on" in order to understand function and location.

Some people are auditory learners. They can listen to a lecture and "get" the required information necessary to be successful in the classroom. Some folks are visual learners. They can read and look at diagrams and understand the text and scope of the class. Then there are the tactile or kinesthetic learners. That would be me. I find it very helpful, if not absolutely a requirement to touch and feel out the structure...play with it. Break it. Put it back together. (hopefully with the same number of parts as before I got my hands on it!) Learning anatomy and physiology has become more of a delight than drudgery.

The test is next week. I feel pretty good about it right now...but we will see how the week progresses. Did I mention we will be in Dallas over the weekend? Some dear friends from church are treating us to a Rangers baseball game. I am looking forward to spending some time with Karen while we travel northward.

Snausages

80. Ive had surgery on my shoulder. 3 times. Some days, it still aches.

81. When I was about 2 or 3, I somehow stuffed a piece of foam rubber up my nose and couldn't get it out. Several weeks went by. My mother started to notice that I smelled funny. She bathed me, washed my hair. Nothing helped. Finally she took me to the doctor. Mold spores had grown into my sinus cavity and got infected. The ENT had to perform surgery. I recall coming out of the anesthesia and thinking I heard Darth Vader talking to me. I suspect it was just the nurse, but I'm still not sure. To this day, I still get queasy thinking about it. And then I decide to marry a Star Wars geek. Go figure.

82. My maternal grandmother was a member of the British Royal Air Force in WWII.

83. My maternal grandmother was also a champion ballroom dancer.

84. My maternal great grandmother (on my grandfather's side) was full blooded Cherokee Indian. Winnie Rose Reynolds.

85. When I was a kid, instead of a lemonade stand, I tried selling pine cones. I didn't make much money. In fact, I don't recall making any money at all. The law of supply and demand was a difficult one for young Jennifer.

86. Before my mother realized she was pregnant, she had hundreds of x-rays, tests and a serious bladder surgery. The doctor recommended that she have an abortion since the fetus was probably damaged by all the toxins and radioactive materials in her system. Fortunately for me, she decided against it. I don't think I have any congenital birth defects. Well, other than glowing in the dark.

87. I can float in a (relatively) still body of water for hours without the assistance of water wings or a turtle floaty ring.

88. When we first moved to Washington state, Mom and Paul got us two kittens. Despite using all my charm, I couldn't convince anyone of the name "Kelly". (My favorite color was green.) Instead, they named the pets "Tar Baby" and "Angel Face". Eventually we also had a cat named "Sugarfoot". For us kids, coming up with good names for animals was a pleasant past time.

89. Evidently, Jason and I ran out of naming inspiration when we got to having turtles around the house. By the time I left home for college, we had gone thru Scooter I, Scooter II, Scooter III, Scooter IV, Scooter V and Scooter VI. After I left, I am not sure if there were any more turtles or how many more Scooters there might have been.

90. Did I ever mention that early on I wasn't really all that excited about my first name? I used to hope that I could change my name to something a little more exotic. From the time I started Kindergarten, I was usually one of 2 or 3 Jennifers in any given class. I never wanted to be called Jenny, either. That sounded too diminutive. The only person I ever let call me by that name was my grandmother. I wanted a cool nickname, tho. But nothing ever stuck. I take that back. When my sisters were little, they couldn't pronounce "Jennifer". Instead, I became "Jing Jing". So there you have it. Jing Jing's Junket. You have finally discovered my secret. But I still wish I had a cool nick name. Like T-bone or J-Dawg.

Back to School

Being back in the classroom is wonderful. I feel really alive and curious. I had forgotten how much my spiritual self could flourish in such a static, empirical environment. We were discussing how different systems in the body work individually and collectively. I am struck by the divine in the design of our bodies. How miraculous it is that babies are born! It sounds kinda silly, but I was almost moved to tears about the body's complexity.

Not that A&P is navel gazing, by any means! There is so much memory work necessary. I think that is the part that intimidates me the most. I can deal with new ideas and systems, but all the new vocabulary is a little overwhelming. I have decided to make flash cards to help me remember terms and locations of bones, tissues and other structures. I feel like I am in high school again. The good news tho....I love words and have taken Greek in the past and have spent some time with Latin to understand most of the root words. Mostly it is connecting the dots and matching up the name of the structure with its function.

My professor is a pretty interesting fella. He has been teaching biology for a long time. He knows his lectures like the back of his hand. He wears shorts and running sandals to class and makes stupid jokes while going thru the notes. I love it. I get his sense of humor. I find myself looking forward to every class meeting.

A couple of days ago, after class 2 young ladies approached me about forming a study group. I learn best in this model, so of course I agreed. They both said they came to me because it seemed by the questions that I asked that I "got it". They were pseudo complaining about how some of the "younger" folks in class seem to only be interested in feverishly writing down everything the professor says, word for word and not pausing to ask questions to understand or integrate the information into real life. After a few minutes of getting to know these women, we agreed on our study group and I then asked them how old they were........ Yep. One answered 23. The other, 21. I decided against sharing my age. Ill let them keep thinking I am just a few years older. :)

As of right now, my first exam will be on the 25th. I am working a little on my notes every day. This amount of knowledge is too great to cram at the last minute.

Back to work.....

A Few of My Favorite Words

I love words. Short words. Skinny words. Fat words. Words that roll off the tongue just so. I will share a few of my all time favorites.

1. Nicaragua (Gotta use an over the top Spanish accent for this one to work.)

2. Brilliant (Emphasize the "ll's" in the word.)

3. Faboo (a Jennism......being better than fabulous.)

4. Serendipity (This word is a double whammy for me. The sound of the word in addition to its meaning. Wowzers!)

5. Sassafras (If Scott would let me, I would give my child this name. Maybe I can trade Sassafras for Augustine. Hmmmmm.)

6. litigious (I like using this along with the word "particularly" in front of it. It sounds very deliberate.)

7. chagrin

8. snarky (I have professed my love for this word before.)

9. frantic (Just hearing the word makes my heart be a little quicker.)

10. delicious ( the "shhh" sound within the word does something for me. )

11. indubitably ( you have to say this word twice, in rapid succession. "Indubitably, Indubitably!!)

12. surreptitious

13. effervescence ( I envision myself floating in a flute of champagne when I say this word.)

14. snigger (say it with an English accent a la Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady.)

15. incommunicado

16. modicum

17. joie de vivre (I think the sound of the word has the meaning etched into it)

18. reprobate (Thanks for teaching me this word, Wes! You are my favorite reprobate.)

19. sommelier (Using this word makes me feel cultured, even when I buy an $8 bottle of wine.)

20. fantabulous (Another Jennism-Fantastic and Fabulous!! At the same time!!)