Refractions and Reflections

---1--- I FINISHED MY THESIS WEDNESDAY!!! The subject was "Pastoral Care (in a Christian Context) for Family Members of Individuals Who Complete Suicide." I cannot believe I'm done. I have now completed all the requirements for my M.Div. Isn't she lovely? All 49 pages of her!  ---2--- Finally, after applying at countless places over the summer, I have found a second job! The final interview is tomorrow (Friday) morning at 10:30. The way the lady talked, she expects it to be a quick turnaround (I would assume it will require a background check first, though). The position will be a substitute paraprofessional at Springfield Public Schools. I'm so excited! This will give me the classroom experience they require for substitute teachers...so I count this as an official beginning for my teaching resume for that beautiful day in the future when I finally become a professor. :) ---3--- Below is a link to the e-book that my paper on "A New Testament ...

---1--- The crow's feet that will all too soon        characterize my features        shall find their place in no small measure        due to the delight that swells my heart        when even briefly your voice finds my ear. I would eagerly surrender my body        to be irrevocably ravaged        if it would but ensure        your lasting peace and safety. At the promise of your benefit,        I would rush to face my deepest fears,        my fiercest demons.        I would unhesitatingly throttle and        cast them aside. The most sinister night of my life,        with its angriest, most malevolent storms, ...

Ever since I heard of a bucket list (when the Jack Nicholson movie came out a few years ago), I have been interested in them, and even drawn up a couple at various times. Earlier this year I was inspired to make a 2013 Life List when I saw another blogger do it, and accomplishing the items on the list has been exciting! So this evening I was updating my list and adding a few items to next year's list, and I happened upon bucketlist.org . As I read down several of the lists of things people have included on their bucket lists, not only was I struck by many of the same things I would love to experience, but I realized I have experienced many of the things on other people's wish lists. I've toasted marshmallows over a campfire (and was surprised to learn that there are people who have not!). I've swum in the Atlantic Ocean (or at least in the Gulf of Mexico!). I've made a charcoal drawing, and this year I even experimented with oil pastels. I've been to anoth...

---1--- This week I went and visited my friend Jason's tattoo shop he opened in a nearby town a couple of months ago. I had been meaning to go see it since it opened but hadn't been able to until now. It's called Sundown Tattoo , in Aurora, Missouri.   This is the lobby area just inside the door and to the right. My friend Jamie, Rick the tattoo artist, and Jason the proprietor. Me and Jason, in the room where all the magic happens. ---2--- Jason, Jamie, and I walked down the block to a local restaurant called Bootleggers for lunch. It is housed in a building that used to be a bank, and all its bankish features have been maintained, such as the teller cage up front and the vault, wherein they now have a microbrewery and make their own beer. Jason tells me they put the beer in a brown jug for you, complete with cork and sealing wax. (No, I didn't sample it.) I had no idea Aurora had a local beermaker! It is a town of about 7500 people. I found t...