One year ago yesterday we moved to the States. In some ways I feel like we’ve come a long way since then, and in other ways I wonder how I wasted so much time.
On the positive side:
- We landed with a few suitcases and now have wheels, a place to live, and a church we’re getting to know.
- The boys were reading (English) slowly and mostly because they were pushed; this weekend they both won prizes in the church reading contest (they really did well).
- We have enjoyed having many family members and friends spend time with us.
- Kelli has been a part of several great women’s Bible studies.
- More publishers have shown an interest in licensing my photos.
- The boys are nearly swimmers.
- Mark has had the opportunity to show everyone that he is really good at soccer.
- Luke may have a remarkable medical opportunity that would not have been possible elsewhere.
- I had only two masters degrees and now I have three.
- Our family has spent much more time together than in previous years.
- I have really benefited from opportunities to study more carefully Matthew, Genesis and 1 Samuel.
- The kids are now going to Vacation Bible School. In all the years, they’ve never had the chance for any such thing.
On the negative side:
- Kelli could walk, but now cannot (though she started putting a little weight on the ankle today).
- I have completed a mere 6 (of 32) units for the PhD program.
- Parts of the Bible that I thought I knew before I feel are more difficult for me to understand now.
- I have made very little progress on completing some photographic projects.
- We have learned that there is a downside to renting.
- I don’t think I have developed one relationship to the extent that I would usually develop 20+ each semester.
- Many things cost less here, but the things that cost more make up for everything else (like electricity).
- Some existing friendships have not developed like I had hoped. I think part of this is simply owing to the great distances between places in the metroplex.
- Most of the piles that I didn’t have time to organize before we moved are still…piles.
- I don’t think anyone would call me a better husband, father, son, or servant.
- I have nothing to blog about, but I blog anyway.
Check-ups like this are good times to remember that our confidence is in God and not in ourselves. He is faithful and he will accomplish all that he has promised.
Update (7/15): One more thing to add to the “positive” list above: I just learned that I passed the French test.
“Parts of the Bible that I thought I knew before I feel are more difficult for me to understand now. … We have learned that there is a downside to renting.”
Sure would like to hear you elaborate briefly on these. The first one is shocking. Regarding the 2nd one, I’m in escrow for my first-ever house, & I’m already bummed out about it (e.g., it’ll be 3x as expensive as renting, it will be more difficult to move if I have to, no one to rely on [i.e., blame] for problems).
Hey Todd, thanks for the reminder to not rely on ourselves…I find that to be too easy…
Congrats on the French!!!
“Parts of the Bible that I thought I knew before I feel are more difficult for me to understand now.”
Hmmm. Todd, with apologies to you and G.M., I think this is not only expected, but a good and necessary part of education. A graduate school that confirms every detail of what you believed beforehand is of no educational value. We should be challenged to think and argue, and present better-informed and more carefully-nuanced conclusions. This is not shocking or negative – it’s exactly what scholarship is about. I hereby move to have you transfer your comment to the “positive” list.
Concerning my comment about understanding the Bible, it’s quite easy to understand my comment in a lot of very different ways. More specifically, I mean:
– Some parts of the Bible that I formerly viewed more from a distance, I have wrestled with more directly.
– Some of my assignments have required me to look at specific issues that I’ve never considered before.
– The way that some people talk (in class) is different than I think.
– I do much better with concrete than abstract. Some of the issues have been more abstract.
– I sometimes wonder if my brain is wearing out. It doesn’t work as good as I expect it to. This could be either that it is, or that my expectations are too high. I can’t answer this.
I agree with Danny that education should stretch us, and it is. But given that my goal is to really learn the Bible, I don’t consider it a positive if or when I feel that I know it less.
On the downside to renting, I didn’t say that I regret our decision to rent (I don’t). But when you are renting, you don’t have the same control in getting things fixed. True, you don’t have to pay for them. But they may never get fixed. This isn’t a big issue; it was just one point in a list.
One other thing I meant to include: last year I was teaching college students; this year I’m teaching the parents of college students. It is not the same (but overall I think more of parents than perhaps I did before).
Hi Todd,
Congratulations on coming through a year in the States — praise God for His faithfulness! I’m glad you’re able to see improvements and progress since making this move, and I’ll be praying that those negatives lessen in degree. I look forward to your post this time next year–yet more opportunities to stop and remember His faithfulness. :-)
Thanks, Todd! I have a better understanding now of your points. And yes, dfrese (Danny?), I agree with your point too that higher education should challenge us (like a fork/branch in the road), but I was more concerned that Todd was stuck on a particular issue in a bad way (like a dead-end street).