Another Perspective

For those of you asking to hear my side of the story . . . Here it is (but I’ll try keep it short because I have a TON of reading I need to work on).


In the time that has elapsed since I last updated you on our adventures our belongings have arrived from SC and I have started the doctoral program at Talbot. As I mentioned in a previous update, August 20 all of our IKEA items finally arrived as well as our fridge. Which was great! Our other belongings finally arrived Sunday August 22 around 12noon, just hours before my doctoral functions started at 6pm!

With that said, the doctoral fun and festivities began August 22 at 6pm with a welcome dinner at the home of Dr. Orbelina Eguizabal (she is originally from Guatemala and can COOK). It was a small get together totaling just nine people. The nine included Dr. Eguizabal, Dr. Lawson, Tanya (the administrative assistant), Jennifer (a fellow student), Agam (a fellow student), Agam’s wife Oge, Agam and Oge’s six month old daughter Chari, Chris, and me. It was nice to finally meet a few more people and be introduced to the program via an informal dinner setting. However, as we ate and socialized I couldn’t help thinking about the disaster that was within the walls of our apartment!

After the dinner I spent several hours unpacking and went to bed leaving many boxes untouched, which many of you know about killed me. The following morning, Monday August 23, was an official welcome to Talbot orientation. The orientation lasted from 8:30am--1pm (Southern California time---which means we started at 8:40am and finished at 12:40pm). It was very informative but very daunting. We were told it is unheard of to complete the program in less than 4 or 5 years----let’s see if I can prove them wrong! I was also shocked, once again, that I even got into the program! There are only four of us in my cohort (incoming class). Let me take a moment to introduce you to them briefly by first name only . . .

Jennifer---she is in her 30’s and has experience teaching, writing curriculum, and working with believers in India. Her passion is to create and take materials back to India to help families and church leaders better equip new believers and produce fruitful, knowledgeable, vibrant Christians.

Agam---he is originally from Nigeria and served as a pastor/leader there before coming here. I am not sure how old Agam is but he does have 3 little girls (6, 4, and 6 months). Agam plans to soak up as much knowledge as possible and take it back to Nigeria to train and prepare leaders to serve the churches working with the city, village, and brush communities.

Beatrice---she is in her 40’s-50’s. Beatrice was born in Seoul, Korea and lived there until age 15. At 15 she moved with her family to Brazil. After marrying her husband she then moved to CA and has been here since. She has two adult sons and teaches at a local university.

Me---then there is me . . . I have no such experiences! I was born on the east coast . . . lived on the east coast my entire life until about three weeks ago. I have no culturally exciting stories to share from my repertoire of experiences. It’s intimidating to say the least! See why I’m still trying to figure out why they accepted me? Surely there were other choices! But I know all of us feel that way . . . I am not alone in these ponderings!

After the orientation I called Chris (during my orientation he was interviewing at Riverside Poly). He was offered the job! YAY! But had to stay a little longer than expected to complete paper work and get the ball rolling. So I had the privilege of staying on campus for . . . 4 hours. Which would have been great if I had a book to read, homework to complete, or knew someone! The day before Jennifer and I had planned to go to the beach right after the orientation but she needed to make it later so Dr. Orbe could join us . . . Which meant I didn’t want to go because I had a TON of unpacking to finish. So, long story short I scoped out the campus. Went to the library. Called anyone I could think of to catch up. And read almost all of Mark’s gospel! Chris finally arrived to pick me up around 5pm and we headed back to our mayhem filled apartment.

By Wednesday everything was unpacked. All that is remaining to complete the place is a small microwave cart and patio table/chairs . . . Once we find all that we will have it all set-up (to my liking at least). We will post some pictures of our place all set up. . . I think you’ll agree it looks way better!

Thursday my classes officially started and syllabus shock was fully and firmly in place. I was heavily warned about Dr. Issler’s 801 Intro. to Philosophical Thought for Christian Education course and rightly so. There is more reading listed on that syllabus than all of my M.Div courses combined (okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration---but it’s close). I’ll keep you posted on how it goes!

Friday we took off on our weekly grocery run . . . 1 list, 4 stores, 4 envelopes of coupons, and lots of money saved!

Saturday and Sunday were complete madness . . . We had our first experience with car shopping and sales men---it was not an all around good experience. We ended up with a used Toyota Corolla. It is silver and has about 25000 miles on it. We settled for it after failed negotiations with the Nissan dealership and Hyundai dealership. Those are stories I’ll tell you in person sometime . . . no need to recount them here. Overall, we got a car and I can now drive myself to and from classes!

Yesterday, I had my first Christian Education class and I LOVED IT! Dr. Shelley Cunningham is the professor for most of the teaching emphasis courses and I’m really excited to learn from her and take as many courses with her as possible. The class I’m taking is 873 Faculty Development in Christian Higher Education. I have no experience in this area but I’m looking forward to learning about it for potential future use! I’ll keep you posted on how that goes as well!

Today, I am reading and preparing for classes and then I have my third, and final, fall course at 3pm (PST). It is a research class . . . So I’m not thrilled about it but it is a necessary evil for Christian Education. I’ll also let you know how that all pans out!

We are settling in more and more but still miss all of you! Please continue to pray for us! We are still looking for a church. We have visited three so far. Nothing wrong with any of them . . . They just don’t feel like home . . .

--Megan