Monday, Monday. Again.

1. Morning coffee with the husband. The best way to start any day!
2. Fuzzy tiger slippers that keep my feet toasty warm.
3. Sitting in a laundry basket filled with clothes just out of the dryer. This is a wonderful thing to do on a cold, rainy day. Just be careful of trying to keep your balance while sitting in the basket.
4. Trying to figure out what to do for the next girl's day out.
5. My old professor sent my recommendation to PLTS. She forwarded her recommendation my way so I could read it. I was incredibly touched.

Sunday adventures

1. Driving to church. The husband and I usually walk to church, which is about four blocks away from our apartment. I was invited to a different church because one of my fellow ELCA Fuller friends was scheduled to preach today. I drove up the 2 Freeway, which was breathtaking. Clouds heavy with rain hung at the tips of the mountain peaks.

2. Sitting with a friend at a new church. I mentioned Barbara on my February 5th entry (she made the awesome oatmeal cookies for bible study). Barbara attends bible study at Salem, but is actually a member at a different church. It just happened to be the same church I attended this morning! It was wonderful to worship with Barbara, and also to meet many nice people that also have ties to Salem!

3. A random purchase of concert tickets. Tenacious D at Club Nokia!

4. A new umbrella! I've had the same umbrella since my undergraduate days at Clemson. It was a big ol' honkin' golf umbrella. Alas, the supports for the umbrella are popping out, and it hurt to be poked in the head while trying to stay dry. The husband and I went out to run errands, and we found a rather obnoxious baby pink and white golf umbrella with an impressive diameter. I shoud apologize now if I take someone out on campus with it this week.

5. Getting to sing two of my favorite hymns/ songs in church this morning. And a new church at that!
The first was "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee."
Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.


The second is a song is super-contemporary for what I've experienced as a Lutheran. In my very limited experience, "contemporary" songs are about 20-30 years old. One of my favorite songs to sing is Chris Tomlin's "How Great is Our God." What was interesting was that only three people knew the song at this morning's service; the choir director, a member of the choir, and myself.

VERSE(1):
The splendor of a King,
Clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice,
All the earth rejoice
He wraps himself in light,
And darkness tries to hide
And trembles at his voice,
And trembles at his voice

CHORUS(1):
How great is our God,
sing with me
How great is our God,
and all will see
How great, How great
Is our God

VERSE(2):
Age to age he stands
And time is in His Hands
Beginning and the End,
Beginning and the End
The Godhead, Three in one
Father, Spirit, Son
The Lion and the Lamb,
The Lion and the Lamb

CHORUS(1):
How great is our God,
sing with me
How great is our God,
and all will see
How great, How great
Is our God

CHORUS(2)
Name above all names
You are Worthy of all praise
and My heart will sing how great
Is our God
(x2)

CHORUS(1):
How great is our God,
Sing with me
How great is our God,
and all will see
How great, How great
Is our God

Saturday

1. The husband and I decided not to set our alarms this morning and wake up whenever our bodies told us it was time to be awake. We don't get to do this very often, so a lazy Saturday morning was wonderful. I woke up first and looked out the window to see if it was raining. I was greeted with a beautiful sight outside my window. A rainbow! I was so excited, I had to tell the husband. And of course, we had to take pictures.



2. I drove to Northridge this afternoon to meet my lovely friends for afternoon tea. The tea house was interesting and rather... feminine. It was so much fun to catch up without our respective men. We had wonderful tea, yummy tea sandwiches, and lovely sweets. Most importantly, we just got to be. It was fun to laugh, but also have some serious discussions. We've agreed to meet as a "girl's only" group more often! I can't wait!




3. I love going through the LA Times Weekend Edition. It's the only time during the week that the husband and I read a physical newspaper.

4. The husband was wonderful in baking three cakes for New Member Sunday at church for tomorrow. We delivered the cakes to our pastor's house. It was wonderful to catch up with Pastor, his wife, and their daughter. I realized I hadn't talked to Pastor in ages, so it was great to catch up.

5. Talking with the husband's parents and my brother. Now if we could just catch up with the husband's sister...

Freaky Friday

1. Carpooling!
2. Lunch with friends.
3. Eating cake batter.
4. Sharing stories and learning about people in my study group.
5. Fuzzy blue socks.

Thundery Thursday

1. Laughing out loud in Gospels when Drew offered to cut out Acts from his Bible so he could paste it in next to the Gospel of Luke during our discussion of Luke-Acts.
2. Ben offered me a graham cracker in class. He said it was stale, but I thought it was good.
3. Getting to attend church Bible study after a long absence. Many of the people are like parents/ grandparents to me, and I've missed studying with them. And Barbara made oatmeal cookies for class!
4. The smell rain and wet concrete. Heavenly.

5. This one is set apart from the rest. I sent my application to PLTS earlier this week. I've been nervous but extremely excited about this entire process. After getting out of Gospels, I noticed I had a voicemail on my phone from the director of admissions from PLTS. He and some of his administrators are going to be in southern California at the beginning of March, and they wanted to meet with the ELCA Fuller students. This is super exciting for me, because I thought I was one of just a handful of Lutherans wandering Fuller's campus. He also wanted to let me know that most of my application forms have been submitted, which is a relief.

After that phone call, I went to Bible study at Salem, then went home. I checked my email, and was moved by the message I received.

"Hello again, Tuhina. It was a pleasure to speak with you earlier this morning.

Well, what a deep and moving "Brief Autobiography" you sent in. Thanks so much for sharing.

I personally resonate, though in different ways, with much of what you say. I also was not raised as a Christian; in fact, I was raised without religion at all. I ended up in academic philosophy, going all the way to a PhD in that discipline. I specialized in ethics--which was sort of my own religion, my own spirituality--and took that very seriously. Around the time your Lutheran journey started, 1979, mine started too--though I was in my mid-twenties by then. And my journey toward Lutheran Christian faith involved my spouse in key ways as well, my wife having been raised in the Catholic church in Cuba but wanting at the time to both return to the church and seek another denomination. I also was baptized as an adult, in 1982, at age 25. And as is the case for you, my incredible journey continues . . .

So, from your deep questionings, continuing vocational journey, serious theological engagement with the Lutheran Church and Christian faith, personal background and interfaith experiences, and so much more that shows through in your writing, it's utterly clear that you will make a splendid addition to PLTS and the Graduate Theological Union academic and faith community. I'm delighted at your application."

Wow. Just... wow. I'm still floored.

Singing with the Lutherans

I received an email from one of my dear friends. This dear friend had an active hand in changing the course of my career, and essentially, my life. I bet the two of you who are reading this are wondering, "Gosh, what did she do to Tuhina to alter the course of her life?"

Simple.

She invited me to a meal. And my life changed forever.

This dear friend forwarded me an email I would like to share with the two of you. It's odd. I can relate to part of this, but I understand most of it... and will live all of it, it seems!

SINGING WITH THE LUTHERANS
by Garrison Keillor
I have made fun of Lutherans for years - who wouldn't, if you lived in Minnesota? But I have also sung with Lutherans and that is one of the main joys of life, along with hot baths and fresh sweet corn.

We make fun of Lutherans for their blandness, their excessive calm, their fear of giving offense, their lack of speed and also for their secret fondness for macaroni and cheese. But nobody sings like them. If you ask an audience in New York City, a relatively Lutheranless place, to sing along on the chorus of Michael Row the Boat Ashore, they will look daggers at you as if you had asked them to strip to their underwear. But if you do this among Lutherans they'll smile and row that boat ashore and up on the beach! And down the road!

Lutherans are bred from childhood to sing in four-part harmony. It's a talent that comes from sitting on the lap of someone singing alto or tenor or bass and hearing the harmonic intervals by putting your little head against that person's rib cage. It's natural for Lutherans to sing in harmony.

We're too modest to be soloists, too worldly to sing in unison. When you're singing in the key of C and you slide into the A7th and D7th chords, all two hundred of you, it's an emotionally fulfilling moment.

I once sang the bass line of Children of the Heavenly Father in a room with about three thousand Lutherans in it; and when we finished, we all had tears in our eyes, partly from the promise that God will not forsake us, partly from the proximity of all those lovely voices. By our joining in harmony, we somehow promise that we will not forsake each other. I do believe this: People, these Lutherans, who love to sing in four-part harmony are the sort of people you could call up when you're in deep distress. If you're dying, they'll comfort you. If you're lonely, they'll talk to you. And if you're hungry, they'll give you tuna salad!

The following list was compiled by a 20th century Lutheran who, observing other Lutherans, wrote down exactly what he saw or heard:
1. Lutherans believe in prayer, but would practically die if asked to pray out loud.
2. Lutherans like to sing, except when confronted with a new hymn or a hymn with more than four stanzas.
3. Lutherans believe their pastors will visit them in the hospital, even if they don't notify them that they are there.
4. Lutherans usually follow the official liturgy and will feel it is their way of suffering for their sins.
5. Lutherans believe in miracles and even expect miracles, especially during their stewardship visitation programs or when passing the plate.
6. Lutherans feel that applauding for their children's choirs would make the kids too proud and conceited.
7. Lutherans think that the Bible forbids them from crossing the aisle while passing the peace.
8. Lutherans drink coffee as if it were the Third Sacrament.
9. Some Lutherans still believe that an ELCA bride and an LCMS groom make for a mixed marriage.
10. Lutherans feel guilty for not staying to clean up after their own wedding reception in the Fellowship Hall.
11. Lutherans are willing to pay up to one dollar for a meal at church.
12. Lutherans think that Garrison Keillor stories are totally factual.
13. Lutherans still serve Jell-O in the proper liturgical color of the season and think that peas in a tuna noodle casserole adds too much color.
14. Lutherans believe that it is OK to poke fun at themselves and never take themselves too seriously.
15. You hear something really funny during the sermon and smile as loudly as you can!
16. Donuts are a line item in the church budget, just like coffee.
17. The communion cabinet is open to all, but the coffee cabinet is locked up tight.
18. All your relatives graduated from a school named Concordia.
19. When you watch a "Star Wars" movie and they say, May the Force be with you, you respond, "and also with you".
20. You actually understand those folks from Lake Wobegon , MN .
And finally !! you know you're a Lutheran when: It's 100 degrees, with 90% humidity, and you still have coffee after the service. And last, it takes ten minutes to say good-bye.

Wednesday

1. Mixed tapes from high school and college.
2. A tape deck in my car to listen to said mixed tapes.
3. Lunch with a wonderful friend.
4. Salmon pasta and minestrone soup. Yum!
5. Getting organized for next week's midterm. I usually put the pro in crastination.