Hello Lonely Blog and Neglected Readers,
The Spring semester was extraordinarily busy. Thus my lack of attention to this blog. I had twenty-two credit hours, the classes were slightly more difficult than the previous semester and Lent was settled in the midst of it all. Lent was a difficult but rewarding experience. I fasted harder and prayed more than I ever have. I am thankful for the immersion into the full cycle of Lent and Holy Week. Pascha (Easter) was fabulous, even though it rained for the procession around the Church.
I think my favorite class was Greek. It was a small group of students (five of us) and we sat around reading Greek texts for two hours. Sounds like fun to me! We completed 1st John, a series of various excerpts from the Church Fathers, and learned many Byzantine hymns in Greek. I wrote two research papers this semester. One on the theological dialogues between the Eastern Orthodox and the Oriential Orthodox and another on St. Dionysius the Areopagite. I hope to post the papers on this blog as I have previous ones. Next semester I will be researching St. Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological conflict he was involved in.
The family has survived the school year. Elizabeth was wonderful as a mother and wife. She was supportive and hung in there at time when I was often away from home studying or in church services. God has blessed me with a faithful and devoted partner. Our YMCA memberships was a lifesaver. Elias and Genevieve loved the pool. We found ourselves there often. Elias is making great strides in his development. He is able to pedal on his tricycle, jump, and has greatly improved in using scissors - all those skills of great importance for pre-schoolers. Elias' school is going a bit longer this summer due to the 11 snow days this winter! I have never seen so many snow days in my life. Genevieve running around and starting to talk. She can say everyone's name in the family as well as 'ball', 'bus', and 'apple', which comes out 'apee'. She is also fond of waving to any car which happens to drive by. Her and Elias love to play together, unless Elias is playing with blocks or his cars and then Genevieve turns into baby-zilla. Now that the weather has improved they have both been playing out side and Gennie has discovered the little play house. She loves it.
Right now I am up in Maine working. Elizabeth and the kids will join me in a few weeks, once Elias' school lets out. She will be working as a waitress for the Ebb Tide, a small diner with big character. I am working at the Newagen Inn as the front desk clerk. So far I love it. There are plenty of interesting people to meet. There is a small Orthodox Church in Richmond a town about a half hour away. That is where we will probably be attending this summer. My parents will be visiting us this summer in Maine as will my sister and her family. It will be their first time back to Maine since our wedding (8 years ago this July).
God has been very good to us this year and has provided for us financially. Unfortunatley I did not get the other scholarship from FTE (Fund for Theological Education), but I did get a scholarship from Sts. Peter and Paul Orthodox Church in Chicago as well as some support from my bishop, His Grace, Mathias of the Chicago. Our families have also been very supportive. My in-laws (or outlaws as I like to call them) are graciously letting us stay with them for the summer while we work. Though I get the feeling that they are more interested in the grandkids coming for the summer than anything else.
This will be my last post for the summer. Perhaps I will pick the blog back up again at the beginning of the next school year. But probably not. I still plan on posting my papers for anyone who is interested.
Christ is Risen!
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