I’ve been away for a bit and here’s a rundown of what I’ve been up to.
My fiance and I have continued our pre-marital counselling. It’s been a difficult time. Ed and Jenny (who are our gracious counsellors) have been doing a good job of bringing worthwhile issues to mind. I don’t want to get into the specifics but the past month+ has been really challenging me to see how my attitudes and default mechanisms can (and probably will) affect my future marriage.
I taught a class called “Speaking the Truth in Love” about ten days ago that really put me through the paces. My own fears of public speaking were multiplied greatly and had all sorts of annoying other worries added to them before this class. It’s the first time I’ve ever taught a class like this and things apparently went pretty well. I’ve got a lot of good feedback on my performance as a teacher and I’m looking forward to the next time.
Valentine’s day came and went without much fanfare. My fair lady and I chose to celebrate later in the week, as the week prior had been crazy busy for both of us. The delayed celebration was a lovely time indeed (though not all of my presents have arrived yet–both for her and from her). It will be a fun time when it’s all said and done.
After a brief hiatus I’m reading new books. My friend Ellen got me a copy of Thank You For Smoking for Christmas this year. The main character is a little less sympathetic in the book version, but it’s an excellent read indeed. I also started reading Robert Alter’s translation of the story of David. Just like his translation of the books of Moses the story of David is fascinating and his explanation of various little in-jokes, puns, and other interesting tidbits makes for interesting reading. For instance, did you know that the name Samuel is very similar to the name Saul in Hebrew, to the point that the naming of Samuel in 1st Samuel is more of a play on the name of Saul. Saul means something to the extent of “asked for” and the verse where Samuel is named reads “and she called his name Samuel, for she said, ‘I have asked for him from the LORD.’” But Samuel doesn’t mean “asked for” it means “his name is God.”
