I suppose it is time for an update. Putz--the name stays. Once you can be courteous enough to actually make the time for 10+ of your friends that are all in one place (Wolfgang's, for example) at one time (over Christmas break, for example), then I might consider calling you something else (your given name, for example). Until then, forget it.

The reason I haven't exactly updated this in a while is that there isn't a whole lot of interesting stuff to update it with. But I shall start writing, and we'll see where it takes me.

I'm still in grad school. Big surprise there. This is the end of my fourth year here at Penn State, and although I still have at least a year left, the good news is that I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. That light is beyond tens of thousands of cells that need to be counted, which is the depressing part, but after spending four years doing mundane chores (like counting cells), I am fairly adept and adapted to them, so it is just a matter of time and cranking through them. Amidst various funding issues (read: lack of funding), last week I received notice that I was awarded a relatively small but significant grant, which will help to fund some semesters to come. So that is good.

The semester is winding down in terms of youth group activities, but there is still the youth group-led worship service at the beginning of June, and that is a lot of work for me and others involved in leading and playing for that. The main issue for me (and not so much the others, it seems) is to steer the worship service away from the glorification of this particular youth group towards the glorification of God. Keep in mind that not all of the youth are Christians (which is fine by me), and amongst the leaders we also have quite the diversity of beliefs. For the most part, we manage to keep the peace by not trodding on each others' beliefs and respecting each other, which has been a learning experience for sure. Especially coming from Calvin, a safe haven where you can almost assume that everyone is Christian Reformed, and the other 1 percent is Baptist or something. Anyway, it becomes an issue when we try to do something like plan a worship service, which by my definition has an objective of glorifying God. However, when half of the group doesn't know which God we're talking about, the objective becomes a little mushy, and then people start worrying that we might offend the non-believers by making them sing about Jesus and God of the Bible. ...well, yes, but we're doing this in a Christian church. And we're calling it a worship service (and church members will be there to worship God as well), not a youth group talent show, so I don't see why there is such a fuss about it. Anyway, this is not a new problem for our church or the youth group, so I am just doing my best to be the thorn in the side of all those postmodernists who think that as long as you find a god you're good to go. I did manage to convince them (somehow) that it would be cool to start the worship service off with the Hail Jesus victory chant ("Hail Jesus, you're my King"), so that is definitely a victory right there.

So grad school's going well, church stuff is confusing, and at home things are good (albeit not as clean as I would like them to be--Thanks, Tom, for rubbing that in). This is our fourth year of marriage, and it has been great so far. I have greatly enjoyed these first few years of getting to know my husband, and I am sure he has enjoyed getting to know me. :) Marriage is definitely a challenge at times, and figuring out what compromises must be made in order to protect the sanctity (and sanity) of the union is difficult. So far I think we've done well at that, but I often feel that while I choose to be kind and unselfish and serving and all that good stuff only when I feel like it (i.e. when I have the energy to do so, and am in a good mood), Dan does it constantly, without complaining about it. It is humbling to say the least, especially since we have both had adequate finances, good health, and little extra to have to worry about these last 4 years. It almost feels sometimes like my number is up, and a huge catastrophe should be headed my way, simply because I have had such a good life up to now. I know that is not how God works, but at the same time I wonder if I would have the strength to stand firm in my faith if something did happen. Time will tell, I suppose.

At any rate, this is the update. All is well. If you want humor or interesting insights on issues, check Dan's blog out every now and then, where he introduces you all to the world of fart-hiding video games and Simpson's episodes regarding grad school life (which are amazingly accurate).