The First Two Weeks of Classes and Syllabus Shock

Once again I find myself writing a lot later than I would have wanted to, although the title of this post probably gives a good hint as to why. We have now finished our second week of studies at Southern and I think I can finally say I am getting over Syllabus Shock.

 

I was in denial until the end of my first week, but I was finally able to admit it and self-diagnosed myself with a mild case of Syllabus Shock. Apparently it's pretty common around here, although I kind of chuckled and raised an eyebrow at the concept the first time I heard about it. 

 

Apparently there's something in that first week of classes that "infects" you as you look at your reading lists, papers and tests that are on their way to you faster than you can get ready for them, not to mention adjusting to a new neighbourhood and way of doing (and writing...) things, together with family, church, work, and ministry responsibilities and maintaining a solid foundation for what you're doing by prioritizing your time with the Lord, without failing to maintain communication with friends and family back home and...

 

It was a little overwhelming.

 

It really doesn't have THAT much to do with the syllabus, but those syllabi seem to jump-start the whole "condition".

 

With that said, these two weeks have been great. We're pretty well adjusted to our schedules and routines, but nothing is as set and clean and straightforward as the nice 8-4 jobs we were used to. We've done quite a bit of exploring although there's always more to do. There's so much that has happened that it's hard for me to really know what to say here to try and summarize things, but I decided to answer a few questions we've been getting a lot and some that I'm making up myself because they're relevant to our first weeks here in Louisville.

 

What's the weather like down there?

Hot. Just... hot. Every day it's over 30ᴼC from the time we leave our house (7:45AM) to the time we get home, whether that's at 1:00PM, 4:00PM, or 6:00PM. The humidity almost always makes it feel like its over 40ᴼC so things often feel very sticky. I don't really mind it too much, but Courtney is really looking forward to the fall.

 

What do you miss the most about Canada?

Family and church hands down. But also my puppy Champ and some Nestea-powder, which we haven't found here. We also haven't found good popcorn salt... I kind of miss being able to read the French side of the cereal labels. A Tim Hortons around here would also be nice...

 

What do you like the most about Louisville?

Lots of things. We both love the country feel in the city. It's probably well known that Courtney is a small-town girl and I'm more of a city guy and that's why Louisville is so great. There's lots of old neighbourhoods and houses with big trees and big yards, away from lots of traffic, but the downtown is only a few minutes away. It really is a beautiful city with some really amazing people. 

 

What's your apartment like?

I'll work on a post and dedicate a whole post to that :).

 

When are you coming/going back to Canada?

Keeping Proverbs 19:21 in mind, we really don't know. We are hoping to drive up for Christmas but at this point we're not sure of a trip before that.

 

What classes are you taking?

- Intro to Church History (this one is probably the most interesting)

- Greek (Μου αρέσει εκμάθηση της ελληνικής γλώσσας)

- Theology of the New Testament (I get to see Schreiner twice a week)

- Theology and Practice of Personal Evangelism (this one is probably impacting my life the most)

- Family and Leadership Ministry (I'm very glad Courtney and I are taking this one together)

 

How about that sohthern accent?

What accent? No, sometimes it doesn't even feel like we're living in the south (probably because we are in the northern-most part of the south). You do hear it a little, but not enough to get me to drop my "eh's". (And for the record, "you guys" is still better than "y'all")

 

Feel free to post any questions or thoughts or if you're curious about any aspect of our lives right now! I'll be working on something about our apartment and neighbourhood soon!

 

The Meditation of the Majesty of Our King (Psalm 145:5)

"On the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works, I will meditate"
-  Psalm 145:5

This is probably one of the most simple and straightforward verses in the psalm.

In the same way that David commits his soul to extoling God and blessing His name, he is now committing to the internal discipline of remembering and meditation on the Lord.

Here we see two things David wants to bring, keep, and stir in his heart. The first thing that David wants to commit himself to is the meditation of the wonder, awe, and splendor of God's majesty. As a king himself he is aware of the idea of a kingdom. He knows what it is like to rule over a people, to be in the highest position of authority over a region. David knows The trials and hardships of ruling justly - he understands the differences of people, the difficulty of maintaining peace, and the incredibly high honour that he has as the king of Israel.

In the same way, he looks to the heavens and thinks of the majesty of the King of kings and there he pauses. He stops at the thought of the majesty of his King and the perfection of his rule. There is no king who rules as perfectly as the Lord, there is no king with the power and authority of the Lord, there is no other as splendid as the Lord.

Secondly, David commits himself to the meditation and amazement of God's wondrous works. Every circumstance and event is approved and governed by the hand of God. Time itself does not bypass His authority and power and time itself is under his command. The events in our lives, the moments of joy, the seasons of pain, the days of doubt and the times of blessing are orchestrated and given to us by the Lord.

David has seen the hand of the Lord move. He knows that God is always working in and handling this plant and this universe of ours. What place does the meditation of this all-powerful God have in your life? Should we not commit ourselves to the daily meditation of the majesty and works of the Lord too? Would we not be strengthened by pausing and stirring up our affections for the Lord by meditating on the one splendor of the one by whom, through whom, and to whom all things were created? The discipline and delight of communing with God involves far more than simply reading a Bible. It requires the meditation of these two great realities.

Declaring the Mighty Acts of God as Praise (Psalm 145:4)

"One generation will commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts" -  Psalm 145:4

The greatness of God is not something for us to keep to ourselves. It is far too vast to contain within our own experience and memory alone - it must be proclaimed.

The capacity to perceive and enjoy the greatness of God is a grace of God Himself, but it is ultimately for the growing of His fame and for the furthering of the vision of the glory of God. The picture that David gives us in this verse is that of parents showcasing the greatness of God to their children. It is that of grandparents speaking of the goodness of God to their grandchildren. It is the intergenerational dialogue of joy and awe in families, in churches, at work, with other Christians and with non-Christians.

The means resulting in the communication of God's glory and greatness is the proclamation of His mighty works. The commendation of the works and acts of God is an incredibly helpful and repeatedly commanded way of honouring and displaying the nature of God to others and to ourselves. To intentionally remember and keep track of the proofs and evidences of the greatness of His generosity, perfect timing, perfect knowledge, or perfect patience helps us maintain and store up nuggets of sustenance for our own joy and awe in the Lord.

Part of the way we will notice maturity in your own heart is by growing to perceive the hand of the Lord in all things. This will clear and expand our vision of the greatness of God in all His majesty for all to see and enjoy. Let's not shy away from declaring or commending what we know are the works and mighty acts of God to the people that the Lord brings to us every day - so that we might, "Every day... bless... and praise your name forever and ever" (Psalm 145:2)

The All-Surpassing Greatness of God (Psalm 145:3)

"Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable" -  Psalm 145:3
 

At this point, after stating his desire and his longing to extol and praise the Lord, David begins to articulate and explain what pulls his heart to such strong affection and worship of God.

 

The first characteristic of God that David mentions, is His greatness. The greatness of God which encompasses all of his attributes is the very reason why God is worthy of praise. His greatness is the characteristic that defines all of His other attributes and what separates His love from our love, His justice from our justice, His willingness from our willingness, His generosity from our generosity. His greatness is His perfection. It is the greatness of God in all of who He is that makes Him worthy and deserving of our devotion and adoration.

 

Everything about God should be seen and understood as superlative and infinitely more perfect and encompassing - especially as it relates to our own traces of such characteristics. The Lord is to be praised in accordance with His nature. The greatness and ultimate perfection and greatness deserves and requires nothing less than the greatest honour and devotion.

 

Ultimately, the outer fringes of God's never-ending and infinite holiness are too vast and effectively too great for us to completely see and understand. On one hand, they can be so clearly perceived and we can be so genuinely amazed by God's holiness and perfection in every way, but at the same time we must keep in mind that the glimpse of God that we can see is at best partial, blurry, and imperfectly informed. It is a glimpse of the truth nonetheless.

 

Do you see that the greatness with which you see God, and the way you stand in awe of Him will directly impact the way you worship and praise Him? David's desire to bless and praise the name of the Lord forever is attached to his desire to maintain a healthy and appropriate view of God's awesome greatness. We must understand that part of the maturing process of a Christian involves maturing in our eyes to see Him clearer each day, accompanied by growing awe. We must never be satisfied with the boundary that we think we see of God's greatness, that boundary does not exist, it is never really there. Without a growing understanding of God's greatness, our worship will plateau and plummet. 

Recounting the Story of Our Move

Well, we are here, we made it!

 

It's been a very busy week and I would have really liked to post something earlier on, but I guess one week is not too bad. The whole experience of packing, moving, and getting here was an adventure in and of itself, and it deserves it's own post. I will write something, hopefully tomorrow, about our first few days here.

 

It all started with the pickup of the truck. We had booked our 17' foot truck (we went for the bigger of the two options we were considering: the 14' and the 17') well in advance over a month ago. We had heard and read stories about people not getting what they had asked for or not getting what they wanted in time so we called and confirmed our order early in the week to make sure we were going to be able to get our 17' truck at 8:30AM so we could start loading ASAP. The lady was very kind and assured us that everything was okay and sent an e-mail confirmation about our order, the pickup location, and the pickup time.

 

Courtney and I went to pick up the truck at 8:20AM on Thursday morning (this was last week...) and after waiting about half an hour in line (I don't mind having to wait in lines too much) we finally got to talk to the rental rep who informed us that they did not have a truck for us. Again, he was also very polite and told us that they only had the 14' if we wanted to switch to that one instead. The customer that had the truck we booked was supposed to return it by 11:30AM that morning. The thing was that we didn't know for sure if they were going to return it in time. He tried calling the customer but no one picked up, he checked all the locations in the area to see if there was a 17' truck in the area that we could borrow - nothing. They only had ONE 20' truck at a different location and that was it. I was already not feeling super excited about having to drive what seemed to me like a HUGE 17-foot truck for 9 hours on the interstate, the idea of having to get a bigger one and having to pay more for gas wasn't too appealing. He did say that we would get a deal on the gas though. We decided that we were going to wait until 11:30 and see whether our truck came in or not. By the time we left, my mom and brothers were already at our place waiting for us so we could start loading. Courtney's parents were on their way.

 

The morning came and went and we got a call at around noon saying that the truck never came but that they did have a 20' that had arrived at their facility that we could take. We needed a truck so we decided to go for it. After another 45 minutes in line and a bit of a stressful morning, we had a truck, got a discount, and we were ready to start loading! It took a couple of hours but we JUST managed to fit all of our stuff into the bigger truck and had everything piled pretty much to the top - it would not have fit on the 17-footer!

 

We spent that night in New Hamburg and got up early the next morning to start driving. My parents and brother met us in the morning and we started the caravan to Kentucky. Departure time - 3:30AM.

 

The truck ended up being quite fun and easy to drive and we made it to the border with no problems. It was the shortest crossing time we'd had so we were just hoping that the inspection and the actual crossing was going to go well. And it did... except for the fact that I wasn't able to open the lock we decided to put in the truck that morning. I didn't have the code for it and even after frantically texting Courtney's dad for it, we still weren't able to open. We as in myself and the other 3 border-patrol officers. In the end they ended up cutting the lock, were very polite and kind, and let us go through no problem!

 

After a few stops to get gas, some coffees, and a quick lunch stop, we finally got to what would be our new apartment at around 3:30PM (12 hours later - a record long drive!). By then, we are all quite tired and the idea of unloading things was not too appealing. However, we knew that it wouldn't be as nice not to have a bed to sleep in, and we would have to go buy another lock for the truck if we didn't unload before it got dark. We ended up giving the unloading a go and with the help of our neighbors (about 5 of them) we were completely unloaded in an hour!

 

Our next-door neighbours are a married couple from Indiana and they were moving in when we got here. He is starting his M.Div. as well at Southern and they had one little guy who is turning 1 this month. It was great to see and meet our neighbours the first day and get a sense of how nice the community around here was going to be.

 

After talking to our neighbours about their move too, we found out that they had the exact same problem with the truck as us. They ordered a certain size for a certain time, and when they got there it wasn't available. They ended up going with the bigger truck, and much like us, they wouldn't have been able to fit their stuff if they had gotten the truck they wanted, when they wanted it. The way the trucks ended up working out reminded us again of the Lord's sovereignty and favour in our move. Also the fact that although both Thursday and Friday were supposed to be rain-days in Mississauga and Louisville, and we didn't get rained on at all, really encouraged us and gave more reason to thank God for a safe and smooth trip :).

We're Moving Next Week! - Update

We are now starting our last weekend in Mississauga before the big move. These past couple of weeks have been wonderful - wonderfully relaxing and wonderfully busy. We've been able to enjoy one week of relaxation at the cottage with Courtney's family and one week of rest and relaxation at Blue Mountain with my family. Also, now that we are both done work, there's been a lot of "TO DO's" that need to be checked off and of course some packing that needs to get started.

We've been able to enjoy great times with our families and friends and have been very, very encouraged and blessed by all the support and help we have received from so many of our friends. A lot of people have been wondering where we are at with the moving process and if we are "all set for the move". I thought it might be fun to write a little post with some updates with how we are doing, where we are at with our "TO DO's" and what still needs to get done. So, if you're interested, enjoy!

 

THINGS IN LOUISVILLE:

Most of the things that need to be set up in Louisville are set up. We have our courses picked, everything school related is on track, we only need to buy our books - 24 books for me and 16 for Courtney (we'll be sharing 13 of them though so it's really only 27 we need to get...) *gulp*. Once we get to Louisville we'll be importing our car, getting a Kentucky license plate, applying for a Kentucky Driver's License (which requires a written and a road test...) and Kentucky Driver's Insurance. We also need to get our renter's insurance and our internet set up. Finally, we'll be looking to get new cell phone numbers as soon as possible.

 

TRAVELING THINGS:

Most of our traveling documents are also ready. I had to apply for an urgent passport renewal earlier this week since it expires next year. Because we are applying for a 3-year visa, our passports cannot expire prior to the expected date of our return to Canada (Spring 2016). We will be going and having our visa interview on Monday (you can be praying for that...) which will make the actual trip down next Thursday a lot smoother when we have our truck full and don't have to stop at the border for the interview. We also have our moving truck booked and will have some help for our loading day (next Thursday).

 

FINANCIAL THINGS:

It is actually unbelievable to me what God has chosen to provide for us financially. I would have NEVER thought that we would be leaving for Louisville in the financial situation we are in. We by no means have extra money that we don't know what do with, but instead the Lord has chosen to provide for our daily and short-term needs financially and with the faith that we need to continue to look to Him for what will need tomorrow. For example, we were very happy when we received notice that we had both received a scholarship for $1600 for our first year of studies! I also received an offer of employment for a job on campus that I'll be starting in 2 weeks! Things like these have kept our spirits up and our eyes on the Lord. Our family and friends have also been a huge, huge blessing in this area by offering meals, giving gifts, and just encouraging us in trusting and looking to the Lord for our needs.

SPIRITUAL THINGS:
Spiritually, these past couple of weeks have been great because of all the "time" we have. I haven't had this much time to spend in the Word in and prayer in a long time and although there have been many hours that could have been better spent lately, I've really been enjoying spending time in the Psalms and in prayer every morning. Whether it is packing, running errands, or spending time with friends and family, our eyes and minds have been on the leading of the Lord. These past couple of weeks have been very exciting and busy, but there has also been significant times of sadness and tears as the date of the move gets closer and closer.

Aside from this, we have began our packing (as you can see in the picture) and we're making good progress on it. I'm feeling very, very excited about the move, about starting school and about starting this new chapter in our lives. I am going to miss our family so much, our friends, our church, our small group, our city, our ministry here, and everything that is so familiar. At the same time the Lord has so much more refining to do in us and for the next couple of years this work will be done in unfamiliar territory away from our church, family, and friends - and it will be AWESOME.  

The Daily Devotion of Joyful Worship (Psalm 145:2)

"Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever" - Psalm 145:2
 

After summarizing his heart and summarizing the Psalm, David decides to reword his first verse and repeat it. "I will extol you my God and King, and bless your name forever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever" (Psalm 145:1-2). This second verse seems to focus on and emphasize the frequency and the permanence of the adoration. David has such a strong desire and derives so much pleasure from it that it is his desire to continue in it every day for the rest of his life.

There are very few things that we resolve or that we desire to do every day. Some of the things we do daily such as brushing our teeth, having lunch and checking e-mails, we do every day but there was never a resolve to do so. They are simply things that either out of necessity or simple habit have become part of our days. The worship of the Lord is not such. The extoling of God cannot become routine like brushing our teeth, it is not something that is simply done and produces a checked box. It is a sacrifice that is experienced at first very dimly and faintly. The next time it might be just as dim and nearly empty, but it grows. The praising of God in the heart is an act that grows in brightness, in vividness, in clarity, in authenticity, and in intensity.

It is this growing pleasure and understanding of the appropriateness and necessity of daily, devotional adoration to God that produces its daily resolve. It is the growing sweetness and enjoyment of the presence of God that produces the desire to day "tomorrow again!". It is tomorrow's time in prayer that allows you to taste the sweetness again and gives you a little bit more understanding as to what the prayer is all about. It is devotion that produces more devotion and the dim light that produces a little more brightness the next time.

David's resolve and desire to bless the name of the Lord went beyond any circumstances that he might face in the future. He understands that worship is not dependent on anything other than the unchanging recipient of the adoration and praise, God Himself.

What is it about God that draws men to such devotion? What is it about God that calls man to enjoy prayer and adoration regardless of pain, joy, suffering, exhaustion and gladness? Surely it must be something great and not found in anyone or anything else. What else can require and receive such affection and fidelity? David will answer these questions for us in the verses to come.