My Time in Seminary

My time in seminary is close to an end. I have one semester left which leaves me with one more class as well as two internships. I started at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary in the Fall of 2006 working on a Masters of Counseling with an emphasis on Women. My first two classes were Marriage and Family Counseling and Spiritual Formation. I did really well in those two classes so for the Spring Semester 2007 I had decided to up my class load to three classes. That was a huge mistake because I was way over scheduled and thought I was going to die. I passed them all though I never took three classes again until now and of course next semester will also be technically three classes.

In 2007, I also survived Systematic Theology. I took all three classes in the same year starting with Systematic Theology I in the Spring following with II in the Summer then III in the Fall of 2007. Yes, I did it and survived as well as bought the t-shirt stating "I survived Systematic Theology."

The year of 2008 brought some excitement when I learned I was pregnant with our first child in August/September. My due date was June 6th and we were also looking for a house which we bought in October so that semester was a really crazy time for me in getting situated in our new house. I wanted to be settled into a house before classes started so I feel better sitting in class while being pregnant at the same time though we ended up moving in the middle of the semester.

A month later in November of 2008 I ended up miscarrying our first child. I guess the blessing here is that I miscarried a week before Thanksgiving break so I basically missed one week of classes. I thought about dropping out for the semester to recoup; however, I counted how many weeks I had left to finish and decided to plug away then mourn over Christmas break. Papers were as good as they were going to get so I turned those in "as is" and accepted whatever grade they received. Needless to say, Christmas Break really sucked.

Year of 2009 I learned I was very close to graduating and freaked out because I wasn't ready to graduate. I felt very unprepared and scared out of my wits to do counseling. So God decided to switch up the plan. In May, I learned I was pregnant again though this time the due date was March 29th, 2010. Ugh! That is the middle of the semester so obviously I was going to have to hold off on finishing up and go another year instead completing my degree during the summer of 2009.

Fall of 2009 hit I was feeling unmotivated, loss of energy and wondering why on earth I was taking classes in the middle of my pregnancy. Reading was hopeless considering I lost my concentration, hormones were all over the place and my patience went out the window. Sleep is now something of the past since I was at a loss for finding a comfortable sleeping position. However, I trudged through by the grace of God and my Counseling professors were very understanding.

My hope was that I was taking Spring of 2010 semester off as well as the summer because I knew I would be giving my employer my two weeks notice once my maternity leave was finished and prayed Denver would let me be a stay-at-home mom for a season. I also prayed my son arrive a week early so everyone will be able to enjoy their own day and keep from clumping them together.

God answered prayer very directly. Jaedon Daniel was born on March 22, 2010 and Denver said that I will be a stay-at-home mom for the summer and pick-up classes again Fall Semester of 2010. So Fall of 2010 arrived with much tribulation. During the summer, I was able to find a Practicum site, which is a short internship with much supervision, however by the end of August, they decided to close down the program which meant I no longer had a practicum. Ugh! I called and called every place I knew that did practicums and internships though low and behold all of them were full. I prayed and figured the timing was poor for practicum so I dropped the class though needed another class to keep financial aid. I hunted and picked classes and I changed my schedule three times. Classes have started and I show up at my evening Research Methodology class. A classmate talks to me about what he is doing for practicum and would love to have me join him. I said "Really?", to which he responded, "Yes." I got his information and called as to where he is doing his practicum and the pastor called me back saying that they would love to have me. So there I am again at 8:30 p.m. on the last day of the Add/Drop period, at the registration website changing my schedule again to re-add the Practicum class. I was excited that someone wants me to be somewhere to do something in the realm of counseling after being told "No" at each phone call. My heart cried.

So next semester, Spring of 2011. I will complete both internships at the same site as my practicum which in-turn will be my life vocation, or until God calls me elsewhere, so I will be pursuing my LPC (Licensed Professional Counselor) by racking up hours as well as my CAAC (Certified Addictions Counselor). I will be walking and graduating with a LLPC (Limited Licensed Professional Counselor) in May 2011.

Extra Bonus: Jaedon will be 1 year old.