class, haiti, and

So much has been happening this week, both on a cosmic scale and a personal scale. I've been seeing 6am on my bedside clock every day this week, for starters. It was just a small part of the very odd rhythm that you get into when you take a two week class. The days start to melt together and you have to take each day one step at a time or all the pressure just slams down on you.

But this week was more than just about class. It was so bizarre, sitting in class next to my friend Joel who had been scheduled to go to Haiti for a mission trip this next week. We were both trying to keep up with the news while trying to remain focused on what the professor was saying. Every time we'd get a short break Joel would rush out of the classroom to get on his phone and make frenzied phone calls.

It was a week of too many assignments, but somehow they all got done. You can't do this sort of thing alone, and it was good to be able to study, laugh, and be frustrated with several other good friends in the class. It's the kind of week you don't expect to be able to learn anything, but you end up learning so much. Maybe the best word to describe this week is full.

The classes got under my skin, frustrating me while also encouraging me. You don't either love or hate classes like these, you kind of hold the love and hate in tension and end up feeling that it was really worth it in the end.

My favorite part of the week was this afternoon's wrap up session in racial reconciliation. It was the part of the class where we all went around and told about our ideas for being racial reconcilers in our current and future ministries. I love hearing from different perspectives when it comes to this sort of thing, and i was incredibly challenged and encouraged by the ideas my classmates presented.

I walk away from this week extremely grateful that it is over, but slightly sad at the same time.