it's finally kicked in

my studious side, that is.

indeed, it is reading week, which is pretty much an extension of christmas break in which everybody locks themselves in the library in preparation for finals week. i am lucky - i have no finals, only written assignments. because of this, my own reading week extends into the first half of finals week. i have one assignment due on the 11th, and two on the 12th, and then i'm DONE. yay for being lucky enough to pick classes without final exams! given that, i spent christmas break enjoying christmas break, and then celebrated the new year. i took the first day of reading week off to celebrate our anniversary, knowing that starting January 3, the pressure would be on to make my reading week productive.

here's what i have to do:
1. make up half a semester of reading and written responses for my Tillich class (if you're lucky, i might continue posting those responses on my Tillich blog as i originally intended. i'm such a nerd, i know, to have decided to make my Tillich journals into a Tillich blog...which will inevitably die out as soon as i'm through with the class)

2. write a 20 page paper on the Liberian influences on worship and music at the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer in Trenton. i'm visiting there on Sunday to check it out for myself, and there will probably be some sort of library research involved...but i don't know. i'm the most unprepared for this paper. but i'm not terribly stressed about it, to tell you the truth.

3. write a 15 page paper on the history and theology of the Lutheran marriage ceremony, relating it to Luther and Lutheran thought on marriage and the family. i'm nervous about this one, because i'm not exactly sure how to go about productive research on the subject (i think i could easily get off-track), but i am the most excited about this paper.

i hadn't felt motivated at all until this afternoon. i spent two hours at starbucks, nursing a hazlenut latte, trying to keep my ipod volume turned up enough to drown out the background music but turned down enough so as not to disturb the people around me, and reading lots and lots of Tillich. some great stuff there on the meaning of sin and its relationship to grace. stalk my Tillich blog for more on that. but my two hour bout with productive studenthood felt really good, and i am now back in the academic mindset. this upcoming week will be a bit crazy, and i will have to be dedicated about pushing myself, but i am feeling motivated. and that feels good.