The beginning.

Hey y'all!  I decided to make a blog as I start my seminary process, since my Palestine blog was so appreciated.

The blog is titled "Send me on Your way."  I sat and debated on what title to make this.  I wanted something that explained where I am in my faith journey, but lacked the overly cheesy religious vibe.  Yes, you may want to interrupt and say, "Meredith.  You're in seminary.  You need to get used to the overly cheesy religious vibe."  This may be true, but it's not at the core of who I am.  As I was pondering this, the Rusted Root song, "Send me on my way" came onto my playlist.  I don't know the official meaning of this song, but I do know that it resonated in this moment.  Send me on my way, God.  More importantly though, send me on Your way, God.  This is my journey through seminary and life, but it's God's path.

So, that's the blog.

As for life right now, I am safely in Chicago.  I start orientation on Sunday at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC).  I am an MDiv student, which means I'm seeking my Masters of Divinity.  Pretty sweet, right?  Besides sounding a bit precocious, this means that in four years, I will be a pastor...insha'allah (God-willing).  The MDiv program is two academic years, one internship year and back for one more academic year.

I can't wait to begin this adventure!  I'm feeling excited and nervous about this process.  I'm nervous about being a student again, after two years out of the classroom.  I'm nervous about making friends and starting the next stage of life.  I'm also terrified that I'll wake up one morning and feel like I'm not supposed to be here.  I'm doing the best I can to focus on the moment and not define the next step.  Today is Saturday.  Tomorrow is Sunday.  It's not about the next four years.  It's about the moment.  It's about saying hello to my neighbor.  It's about finding a great Chicago deep-dish pizza place for lunch.  It's about letting God send me on my way...God's way.

I'll do my best to post regularly.  Don't hesitate to remind me!

I'll leave you with a parting thought for now.  In our LSTC email, we get a daily (I think?) email about community happenings.  Thursday's email started with this quote:

"Where are we to go? To the world, of course, and for most of us, the world is not a mission field in some distant land but an ordinary place—a home, an office, a school—and the missionary witness begins on Monday morning when the alarm clock sounds." –Thomas G. Long, Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian

I'm thinking about this as I start an American school year, where I need an alarm clock on Monday morning.  I'm not back in Palestine, serving as a missionary with the ELCA.  I'm a student.  I'm a seminary student, living in Hyde Park, Chicago.  It's about the moments here, in my school, on my street, in this town.  It's not a distant land in the way that Palestine was.  I pray that you find peace in knowing that your work is incredibly important, wherever you are.

Peace, my friends.
Meredith