FACEinHOLE
posted by Mathilda @ 6:40 PM
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Sarah is excited...
That she gets a "do-over".
Tonight, she is going to read and drink coffee. And it's going to be fabulous.
Tonight, she is going to read and drink coffee. And it's going to be fabulous.
posted by Mathilda @ 11:56 AM
Thursday, March 13, 2008
And when I'm not being sassy...
Sarah Joy and Hannah Joy!
Hannah Joy and a glow worm!
Hannah Joy just looking adorable
Carmen playing the piano (Not "Killing me Softly" :))
posted by Mathilda @ 12:42 AM
Monday, March 10, 2008
Sarah says, "Fuck it all!" And doesn't feel guilty.
Don't put anybody on a pedestal but Jesus.
Forgive yourself.
And say, "Damn!" just to make sure you're healed.
--Steven Brown--
Forgive yourself.
And say, "Damn!" just to make sure you're healed.
--Steven Brown--
posted by Mathilda @ 11:11 AM
Saturday, March 08, 2008
I hate it when...
People can say things that make me uncomfortable, but if I say things that make them uncomfortable it's not an okay thing. Or I get stopped. Or the conversation gets stopped.
No... I hate it that I am not choosing love. I am choosing fear.
Mostly, I hate it when people swear just to get attention.
And I hate it that instead of choosing to believe in the good in people, I automatically think that things need to be confronted.
I don't want to always feel like I have to "one up".
No... I hate it that I am not choosing love. I am choosing fear.
Mostly, I hate it when people swear just to get attention.
And I hate it that instead of choosing to believe in the good in people, I automatically think that things need to be confronted.
I don't want to always feel like I have to "one up".
posted by Mathilda @ 3:59 AM
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
No. Stop.
A little bit about what I am passionate about: Christian faculty and Christian students praying together, discussing together, working together, loving together, researching together... being in academy together.
Am I crazy for thinking this?
"Yes. You went to a private Christian college. The community you had there is not realistic in the real world."
But, wait, isn't this what Christ called us to?
"But I signed up to teach. That's it. Oh, and maybe help you with your writing. Or to understand management and organizational systems. There was nothing about--"
No. Stop.
When I presented this to the Christian faculty/staff group at UWM, I was turned down. In essence, it seemed like the Christian faculty is more interested in their own community. But, and call me an optimist, I WANT MORE THAN THAT. No, more importantly, we are called to more than that. As a Christian student, I am called to pray with/for Christian professors. To learn from. As a Christian faculty, they are called to mentor/pray with me. (Do I REALLY need to chapter and verse this for you all?)
AM I being too hopeful?
I think this is sounding clunky, but I am trying to write it quickly, and I have had a bit of an emotional week. The following articles, taken from: http://www.intervarsity.org/gfm/faculty/resource/faculty-as-salt-light really speak to what I am talking about. In order for something like this to happen, faculty need to be promoting it. I don't think that even as a graduate student I am going to be listened to in this capacity.
I mean, I don't know what to do. I don't know who to talk to. I don't know who to even BEGIN to approach this subject with.
There are a few professors who I know are Christians, but who (and maybe I am assuming) don't see this as part of their role. They're in academia. Yes, but WHY are you here? The power of being in that position, of having the ability to pray with students...
AMAZINGLY CHRISTLIKE.
AMAZINGLY TRUTHFUL.
1. School Newspaper Ads with Faculty NamesUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Dr. Vern Terpstra of the International Business Department at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, has published ads twice a year in the Michigan Daily. Here is a sample called "Faculty Friends." The introductory paragraph reads: "Faculty friends are faculty, researchers, and staff who are united by their common experience that Jesus Christ provides intellectually and spiritually satisfying answers to life's most important questions. We are willing to meet at appropriate times with students who might like to discuss such questions."
Then there follows a list of faculty names, their departments, and phone numbers. Shortly before Easter, one was titled, "THE TOMB IS EMPTY: CHRIST IS RISEN!" The Easter ad also had a note indicating that it was sponsored by the LIM Christian Faculty & Staff Fellowship.
Several newspapers on campus and in Ann Arbor published articles showing that these ads set off a lively debate. Some were critical for the inclusion of phone numbers which were university numbers; others criticized it as proseletyzing. There were letters in defense and letters in opposition so it was definitely noticed and became a topic of discussion.
Under the leadership of the InterVarsity sponsor and students at the University of Wichita back in the early 1970s, a similar project was done. Letters with all the Christian faculty names known were inserted into faculty mailboxes requesting others of like mind to call or write to any of those listed faculty to express their interest in being part of their group. This also created a stir but caused some Christian faculty to identify themselves.
18. Starting a "Grad IV"
An interview with Dr. Brent Seales, Assistant Professor in Computer Science at the University of Kentucky. Brent was in a "grad IV" at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has been at Kentucky for eight years.
1. Why would a prof consider that starting a grad IV group was important enough to justify the time and resource investment?
Time management is essential in order to wear all the hats owned by a faculty member. It would be easy to fill a schedule with only research or just teaching alone. But almost everyone in the university community agrees that "service" is part of our charter. Professors as teachers also agree that mentoring students, which usually goes beyond what is taught in the classroom, is also part of our mission. And most importantly, we as believers agree that our core faith principles should be integrated into all aspects of our lives, including the university duties of research, teaching, mentoring, and service. Involvement with graduate student ministries is a serious time and resource investment that is absolutely in line with our mission as university faculty and believers.
2. How does one get ideas and information about what a grad student fellowship might look like? Is there any help available to get one going? How, who, and what gets it going?
There are more and more grad student fellowship alumni who have moved into faculty and staff positions. They represent a valuable resource because of their direct experience. I have found the conferences hosted by InterVarsity to be very valuable for exchanging ideas, finding resource material, and locating people who are experienced with grad-student ministries.
InterVarsity staff who work with undergraduates often have contact with graduate students. This can form into a core of graduate students who are interested in exploring the issues and concerns of being in the university for post-graduate work. This is how the group at the University of Kentucky was formed. Every student group needs a faculty sponsor, and the resources and knowledge that a committed professor can bring to a new group is enormous. Students key in on this kind of initiative and implicitly understand that important things are involved. My experience is that students will more readily follow the example set by faculty when they see them continue to commit time and resources to ministry even when other responsibilities are substantial.
3. What does it do for you once it's there? What does it do for the students, for the church? Does it help or hinder their performance as grad students?
Graduate-student fellowships provide a powerful mechanism for mentoring students in faith and profession and forces faculty who are involved to articulate their own mission more clearly. In particular, it is all too easy to get lost in the details of professional duties, forgetting or intentionally boxing out our faith principles. Graduate-student ministries present us with the challenge of making our faith real and integrating it with our respective work.
The local church is enriched when graduate students bring to it the diversity and intensity of the university. Many church members have no contact with the university other than through its students, and it is important for them to see the trends and struggles that students face.
Performance as graduate students, professors, or anything else is absolutely dependent upon the grace of God. He expects us, as believers, to make him Lord of every aspect of our lives. God is the ultimate performance enhancer. Our individual faith journeys will entail different commitments and directions, but the elements of personal devotion to God and regular worship within a body of believers are essential. They do not hinder any aspect of what God has called us to do.
Am I crazy for thinking this?
"Yes. You went to a private Christian college. The community you had there is not realistic in the real world."
But, wait, isn't this what Christ called us to?
"But I signed up to teach. That's it. Oh, and maybe help you with your writing. Or to understand management and organizational systems. There was nothing about--"
No. Stop.
When I presented this to the Christian faculty/staff group at UWM, I was turned down. In essence, it seemed like the Christian faculty is more interested in their own community. But, and call me an optimist, I WANT MORE THAN THAT. No, more importantly, we are called to more than that. As a Christian student, I am called to pray with/for Christian professors. To learn from. As a Christian faculty, they are called to mentor/pray with me. (Do I REALLY need to chapter and verse this for you all?)
AM I being too hopeful?
I think this is sounding clunky, but I am trying to write it quickly, and I have had a bit of an emotional week. The following articles, taken from: http://www.intervarsity.org/gfm/faculty/resource/faculty-as-salt-light really speak to what I am talking about. In order for something like this to happen, faculty need to be promoting it. I don't think that even as a graduate student I am going to be listened to in this capacity.
I mean, I don't know what to do. I don't know who to talk to. I don't know who to even BEGIN to approach this subject with.
There are a few professors who I know are Christians, but who (and maybe I am assuming) don't see this as part of their role. They're in academia. Yes, but WHY are you here? The power of being in that position, of having the ability to pray with students...
AMAZINGLY CHRISTLIKE.
AMAZINGLY TRUTHFUL.
1. School Newspaper Ads with Faculty NamesUniversity of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Dr. Vern Terpstra of the International Business Department at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, has published ads twice a year in the Michigan Daily. Here is a sample called "Faculty Friends." The introductory paragraph reads: "Faculty friends are faculty, researchers, and staff who are united by their common experience that Jesus Christ provides intellectually and spiritually satisfying answers to life's most important questions. We are willing to meet at appropriate times with students who might like to discuss such questions."
Then there follows a list of faculty names, their departments, and phone numbers. Shortly before Easter, one was titled, "THE TOMB IS EMPTY: CHRIST IS RISEN!" The Easter ad also had a note indicating that it was sponsored by the LIM Christian Faculty & Staff Fellowship.
Several newspapers on campus and in Ann Arbor published articles showing that these ads set off a lively debate. Some were critical for the inclusion of phone numbers which were university numbers; others criticized it as proseletyzing. There were letters in defense and letters in opposition so it was definitely noticed and became a topic of discussion.
Under the leadership of the InterVarsity sponsor and students at the University of Wichita back in the early 1970s, a similar project was done. Letters with all the Christian faculty names known were inserted into faculty mailboxes requesting others of like mind to call or write to any of those listed faculty to express their interest in being part of their group. This also created a stir but caused some Christian faculty to identify themselves.
18. Starting a "Grad IV"
An interview with Dr. Brent Seales, Assistant Professor in Computer Science at the University of Kentucky. Brent was in a "grad IV" at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has been at Kentucky for eight years.
1. Why would a prof consider that starting a grad IV group was important enough to justify the time and resource investment?
Time management is essential in order to wear all the hats owned by a faculty member. It would be easy to fill a schedule with only research or just teaching alone. But almost everyone in the university community agrees that "service" is part of our charter. Professors as teachers also agree that mentoring students, which usually goes beyond what is taught in the classroom, is also part of our mission. And most importantly, we as believers agree that our core faith principles should be integrated into all aspects of our lives, including the university duties of research, teaching, mentoring, and service. Involvement with graduate student ministries is a serious time and resource investment that is absolutely in line with our mission as university faculty and believers.
2. How does one get ideas and information about what a grad student fellowship might look like? Is there any help available to get one going? How, who, and what gets it going?
There are more and more grad student fellowship alumni who have moved into faculty and staff positions. They represent a valuable resource because of their direct experience. I have found the conferences hosted by InterVarsity to be very valuable for exchanging ideas, finding resource material, and locating people who are experienced with grad-student ministries.
InterVarsity staff who work with undergraduates often have contact with graduate students. This can form into a core of graduate students who are interested in exploring the issues and concerns of being in the university for post-graduate work. This is how the group at the University of Kentucky was formed. Every student group needs a faculty sponsor, and the resources and knowledge that a committed professor can bring to a new group is enormous. Students key in on this kind of initiative and implicitly understand that important things are involved. My experience is that students will more readily follow the example set by faculty when they see them continue to commit time and resources to ministry even when other responsibilities are substantial.
3. What does it do for you once it's there? What does it do for the students, for the church? Does it help or hinder their performance as grad students?
Graduate-student fellowships provide a powerful mechanism for mentoring students in faith and profession and forces faculty who are involved to articulate their own mission more clearly. In particular, it is all too easy to get lost in the details of professional duties, forgetting or intentionally boxing out our faith principles. Graduate-student ministries present us with the challenge of making our faith real and integrating it with our respective work.
The local church is enriched when graduate students bring to it the diversity and intensity of the university. Many church members have no contact with the university other than through its students, and it is important for them to see the trends and struggles that students face.
Performance as graduate students, professors, or anything else is absolutely dependent upon the grace of God. He expects us, as believers, to make him Lord of every aspect of our lives. God is the ultimate performance enhancer. Our individual faith journeys will entail different commitments and directions, but the elements of personal devotion to God and regular worship within a body of believers are essential. They do not hinder any aspect of what God has called us to do.
posted by Mathilda @ 10:05 PM
Dead Languages
I refuse to write my future novel until I can do it in at least five dead languages. Because maybe, just maybe, then... I won't hear "What's at stake?"
posted by Mathilda @ 6:18 PM
