For the Truth. For the Church. For the World. For the Glory of God.

That is Southern Seminary's motto. I hate to call it a motto. It is more of a mission. I am so blessed that God has allowed me and Brandon to be here to study, to learn, to be stretched, and to grow. The first week of classes went well for us. God has given me a passion to learn. Last year's stress and feelings of being overwhelmed have been replaced with a great sense of His meaning and purpose.

Just as an aside to answer some questions...You don't necessarily pick a major as such at seminary. When you come, you pick a degree track. First, you decide whether to get a Master of Arts or a Master of Divinity. Then, you pick the field of study. I am working on a Master of Arts in Christian Education with a concentration in Women's Ministry. Also, Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology is one of the textbooks for my theology class. As our main text, we have the option of choosing one of three to read: Wayne Grudem's book, Millard Erickson's book, or a new book called A Theology for the Church edited by Daniel Akin. I am reading Akin's book. Brandon has the other two. I wanted to read this one because it was just published at the beginning of this year and contains writings by an impressive list of Baptist Theologians including Daniel Akin, Al Mohler, Russell Moore, Mark Dever, Paige Patterson, Timothy George, David Dockery, and several more. Actually, Russell Moore is my professor for the course. He is the Vice President of the seminary and Dean of the School of Theology.

I am so thankful for this sense of renewal and excitement at the beginning of this new year. One passage, 1 Timothy 4:7b, brought out in my Personal Spiritual Disciplines class says, "Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness." It is the theme verse for that class. I also feel that God has given this verse to me as a theme verse for my time here at Southern. I lack discipline to such a great extent. God has been opening my eyes to see the areas of my life that need to become more disciplined. Two of the major areas are my academic life and my spiritual life. I pray that God will find me faithful in disciplining myself for the purpose of godliness. For the truth. For the church. For the world. For the glory of God.

But really, seriously, I'm still alive...

...well, not that you can tell by the number of times I've posted lately! Sorry! I would like to say a special thank you to my momma and Xandra for being faithful readers of my blog. I'm gonna have to tighten up and do a better job of keeping ya'll posted!

Anyway, I am sitting in a Huddle House with my hubby on a beautiful Sunday afternoon here in Kentucky. We just needed to get out, so we decided to bring the laptop, the books, and get dessert. What could be better (well, better than my hubby & dessert)? Why the books you may ask? Tomorrow is the first day back to seminary for us. Well, for me actually. I have Monday and Wednesday classes, and Brandon has Tuesday and Thursday classes. I'm nervous and excited. Mainly nervous. It was good for me to take the last semester off. I'm just hoping this semester goes better than my first. I know more of what to expect this go around. I know I have to hit the ground running. Brandon and I have already started reading for our classes. I am taking three classes this semester (which is full-time). I'm taking Systematic Theology I, Personal Spiritual Disciplines, and Biblical Hermeneutics. Pray for me ladies! I have an average of about 1,000 pages of reading per class. I am one who is easily overwhelmed, so you can see why I'm a little nervous. But, I'm looking forward to it. I know that I am going to be stretched this semester and learn alot.

So, I just thought I would update everyone on that big event in my life that is quickly approaching. Also, as a side note, we just got Mandisa's new CD in at the bookstore where I work. I listened to part of each song yesterday at work. It is sooooooo good! It's one of those CD's where every song on it is wonderful. She has a beautiful voice and a powerful message. So, check it out! I hope you all are doing wonderful as the summer winds down. God bless!