In the beginning...there was Meredith

Wow- my very own blog! Finally, I own a small fragment of the ever-expanding universe that is cyber space. Thanks to my good friend, Ryan Pappan, for all of his help (go to his website if you get a chance- it kicks ass!)

I am a first-year student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, which I will admit is a long and pretentious name for a "preacher training school." Part of the function of this blog will be to explore what it is like to reconcile humanity with divinity, so I will not wax too poetically about school right now. Seminary is simultaneously fascinating and overwhelming. I tend to wonder if all of us (us=students) are somewhat bipolar as a result; it seems that everyone is either really "up" or really "down" about life and school. We just finished a week-long Fall Break and everyone is still in the process of shaking off the pleasant dream that was a week without classes.

I am glad that classes are back in session. I find that without structure and a daily schedule, I tend to accomplish nothing! Well, I accomplish drinking a lot of beer and fraternizing with my friends, but as for diligently studying- not so much.

I have lived in Austin for exactly 2 months and 2 days and, Oh!, what a tumultuous 2 months it has been! Not only did I have to leave behind family, dear friends, my job (which sucked- leaving that was not bad) and my church, but I also had to forge a new life in Austin while adjusting to the rigorous demands of a seminary education. No wonder I have become somewhat of a heavy drinker! Yet slowly, by the grace of God and the love and support of my new friends, I finally feel settled. But no matter how exciting the culture is here, how lush and vibrant the foliage or temperate the climate, the Panhandle will always be my home. How I long for expansive sky and the majesty of a Panhandle sunset! How my soul yearns for the cold, crisp mornings of Autumn in the Panhandle! Forgive me, for I know that I am romanticizing my homeland. But as all displaced people must do, I yearn for my family and for that which is familiar.