It is Done; I am Home!

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.

–Revelation 21:5-7

I am sitting in my bedroom, at home, in Toronto, as I type this. It’s -6 degrees Celcius outside, or 21 degrees Fahrenheit for my dear American friends. I haven’t been at home since I left August 4 for Louisville, Kentucky. It is soo good to be home! I’m not sure exactly what the feeling is just yet, but it was good to sit in traffic on the Don Valley Parkway with my dad as he picked me up from the bus station downtown=D Ohh the traffic congestion, cold windy snowy freezing weather, and the tall condos that fill up the downtown core and are scattered throughout the suburbs, the smell of fresh smog — this is the stuff that make home “sweet” home

It is done. My first semester at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The past couple weeks, and especially this past week of finals has been quite a hectic blur. I did the best as I could, and me and God are happy about that. “Do your best, and God will do the rest.” I really can’t believe it’s all over and done with! w00t YAY =D

In the midst of studying for finals, the feeling was not glamorous as I previously envisioned seminary to be in the months prior to the beginning of this semester. Over the past couple years, I had been dreaming about living in God’s will of command, obeying His call to ministry and studying at a prestigious world-renowned seminary. But while I was memorizing (well, trying to memorize) Greek verb paradigms, the themes and features of Luke & John, and the theological concepts of Trinity and God’s attributes, I can certainly say that it was not glamorous. All the prestige, polish and refinement from being a student of such a “posh” seminary had faded away; the gravity and importance of studying for exams and writing papers in preparation for ministry kicked in. I never thought that seminary would feel like this, but now I know: it is the sobriety of mindset and attitude that one must have towards the work of the Word.

This first day back, I had a late lunch with my dad at our favorite Kenny’s Noodles and had a good chat catching up on our usual favorite topics: church and theology. I’m trying very hard to heed my dad’s advice: “Try not to say anything!–and if really necessary, be very careful with your words!”

Instead of our usual Friday night prayer meeting, my home church’s Young Adults Small Groups joined with our college fellowship, Aletheia, for a night of Bible games. It was good to see the bunch of again, and after fellowship, we headed out to Tim Hortons / Wendy’s.

Two questions addressed to me stuck out:
1) Are your professors really conservative?
2) What is your type?

The quick and simple answers to those questions, are: 1) Yes; it’s a given; but they’re all humble with their theology, as far as I know (I understand the context of this question asked was a critical one from my church intern regarding his ultra-conservative professor at Toronto Baptist Seminary and that prof’s position on gender roles and homosexuality. I’m trying not to take personal offense of this question, for Baptists come in all shapes and sizes; I would never want to hear any about other ultra-conservative/liberal Baptists grouped prejudicially with us Southern Baptists. Whole other issue here; tbd later.

And 2) No, not Avril Lavigne! lol. But seriously, times have changed, and I have changed. I don’t drink any alcohol anymore; modesty is the best policy; and the ideal goal is supposed to be “hello” to “I do” within a year, as proposed by a certain SBC elder. Be that as it may, it really does not matter what my type is. Any choosing of my own part will never work out for the long run, but rather His choosing. And thus, the mission is simply to seek His face in His Word and let Him show me the way, the truth, and the life.

In short, I’m looking forward to spending Saturday with my mom — over a pancake breakfast, dim sum lunch, and browsing through Yorkdale Mall. First things first, I must bring in my MacBook to the Apple Store and have them replace my laptop’s insides to fix its random hangings (funny thing, my internal speakers are now working again for now good reason!)