back to school...

today marks the end of my first full week back at school...yikes, is all i've gotta say!

i have a full schedule of 23 credits, with class every day from 8am-5pm, excluding the couple hours here and there they give us for independent study time. my classes are: pathology, microbiology/immunology, head and neck anatomy, behavioral dentistry, operative dentistry lecture and lab, removable prosthodontics lecture and lab and fixed prosthodontics lecture and lab. i am already behind in both lab and lecture, have one quiz under my belt, and am searching for the good things i have to look forward to, to get me through the semester and help me keep my eyes on the prize.

so, things i'm looking forward to:
1. any and all days off of school. this includes (but is not limited to) labor day, columbus day, veterans day, and thanksgiving day.
2. one or more possible hiking day trips with heidi as the leaves change colors and the weather cools down.
3. frontline fall retreat!!!! this is really #1 on my list, as i'm so so so so SO excited.
4. completing another semester (i'm already counting down the weeks...)
5. frontline women's small group bible study starting up again (girls, i miss you!)
6. establishing better study habits??? ...i'm really grasping for straws here, i'm sure i'll come up with some more.

i was kind of depressed having to come back to school after my nice month long summer break, but there were a few things that really made my first week pretty good overall. first of all, i have the awesomest campus pal EVER!!! (like a mentor-mentee type thing between the 2nd and 1st years) joe and i used to work together at a periodontic office in chicago. he's really fun and funny and is a really good friend. i'm SO happy he got into howard and really excited to get to hang out with him every now and then!

the other thing that made my week, was i figured out how to download sermons/podcasts to my iphone! so, a few mornings this week when i was getting ready for school, riding on the metro and waiting for equipment to use in lab, i was really encouraged by the teachings i listened to. thanks to adam for sending me the links! the ones i'm listening to right now are given by pastor mark driscoll from mars hill church. i started by listening to the 1st of his series on Christian Doctrine, which explains the trinity in the best way i've ever heard. now i'm starting to listen to his series called the Peasant Princess, which goes through Song of Songs and talks about relationships, love, sex, etc. from a biblical standpoint. pretty interesting stuff.

i liked the sermon on the trinity so much that i'm posting it here, for your listening enjoyment. i really do hope you listen, too. i guarantee he tells you things you don't know, and it will be a really good use of your hour. what, like those grey's or office reruns are going to further your relationship with Christ so much more? pah-shuh! they can wait.

the only part of the sermon i didn't like was his rant on the current best-selling book, "The Shack." i read the book and i really like it. i thought it was a beautiful and simple illustration of how much God loves us, and how because God is the definition of love, he is also relational and complete in and of himself. God doesn't need us mere humans. because we were created in God's image, we also crave relationships with one another, with God and crave love. i thought pastor driscoll's comments were a little harsh, kind of like the people who don't read harry potter because it talks about sorcery and magic. i didn't see "The Shack" as being written to give a 100% accurate definition of christianity, but more of an illustration of who God is.

here is the link to the sermon: i hope it works! i downloaded it off of itunes, but couldn't get it to work off the church website, so if the link is dead, it's free on itunes and you should get it.

Trinity: God Is
Pastor Mark Driscoll
part 1: March 30, 2008