My apologies that my blog is being neglected. I’m on the last mile of this four-year marathon to a PhD. I need to get completed text to my adviser on January 1! Aaargh!
While he is reading the 100,000 words (plus or minus 10%), I’ll be doing more citation checks, formatting, and proofing. So, I hope to emerge on January 15 in a state of completion. The dissertation won’t be perfect, but it will be strong and completed!
I cherish your prayers for these next three weeks.
With blessings,
Beth
Anya continues to be busy with her classes, including 3 AP courses. Her AP World History course project with a collection of short essays was selected by her class as the best researched. She thought that no one took the time to read them, so somehow her essays looked impressive!
After school is gymnastics. She’s has less than one month of gymnastics experience but had a good experience at the first meet on Thursday at Newport High School. The other young women are very kind and encouraging of beginners. She was able to see two friends from elementary through middle school and her past recreational soccer league who are doing gymnastics at Newport.
After gymnastics is homework, with drivers ed on Monday and Saturdays. We fit driving time in here and there.
I have been a busy beaver with my dissertation writing. I MUST get the writing finished by the end of the month! I really need to defend in the first week of June (in Norway), so with an estimated 5 months delay (the 3 “opponents” get 3 months to read it), it makes a pretty tight window for Knut to review and my final revisions. If you have room for an extra prayer or two, please put this in your prayers.
I did take a couple study breaks. I took Jean and Marv out to dim sum to thank them for all their support with proofing and filling in gaps with Anya care. Our conversation also helped me clarify some issues as I was able to talk through things with people who are informed about this project. Marv has proofed all of the approximate 78,000 words. This is such a HUGE blessing.
I also met Pam and Charlie for “fika” which is a Swedish tradition for coffee and pastry (tea for me). Pam and Charlie were both professors at Fuller Seminary, but I was fortunate to have mentoring in Hebrew from Pam and theological anthropology from Charlie, and both have provided professional and academic guidance. They continue to provide great encouragement, as they listened to the current phase of this PhD journey. They both have be PhD advisers for others, so they know this journey better than I do and from both sides. I wouldn’t be on this journey without them, so I am so grateful for their investment in me.
In the midst of the grey, rainy overcast of the Pacific Northwest, I have a bit of spring. My orchid is is bloom. I’ve never had orchid rebloom! I feel so Nordic, as it seems that most of the homes in Norway have an orchid in the window!
So, off to more revisions!
With blessings,
Beth
Have you heard the saying that “Normal is just a setting on the dryer”?
Well, this week was “normal.” This means that for Anya it was full of school, gymnastics practice, drivers’ ed, and not much else. We did sneak in a movie at home last weekend with Anya’s friend, Annaliese. And on Saturday evening, we joined the Tanzanian Mission Team for a Christmas party. It was a great time of wonderful food and sweet fellowship. The highlight is the white elephant gift exchange. Anya was pleased with the outcome!
Her ingenious mind was seen when she negotiated with one of the youth, Alex, to get his second pare of identical Grinch boxers in exchange for the pick of all the available gifts. Pretty good strategy!
I’m working on PhD dissertation writing still. I made almost all of Knut’s suggestions for revisions that I could at this time. One sub-section will take more effort. However, I completed my textual criticism of all my focal passages. This means looking at the issues that arise from the variant readings to see which ones are significant for interpreting the passage. Take a look at a sample page from the Biblical Hebraica Stuttgartensia, which is the standard version of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament).
The variant readings are listed in the bottom paragraph. Its a bit of decoding and then evaluating if the different texts are significant for meaning. Nothing really exciting seen in my texts, though there are some obvious harmonizing of the Deuteronomy 5 version of the Ten Commandments with the Exodus 20 version. The most interesting difference (the theological rationale for the Sabbath) isn’t part of my discussion.
Did you know that these two books have two different rationales for the Sabbath? Compare Exod 20:11 (ESV)
For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
And Deut 5:15 (ESV)
You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
The good news is that we are given the gift of the Sabbath. Are you enjoying the gift? I love to take a long walk on Sunday morning before church. Here are pictures from this last walk.
With blessings,
Beth