Well, we're both feeling a lot better. Because of my heart, I always take a long time to recover from simple viruses or colds, so JJ's had to take care of me this week. He's a sweetie and did a great job! But I seem to be back on my feet for the most part.

Our big news is that we had our vicarage meeting with Dr. Nielsen this week. I think it went well, but it was pretty simple, just answering questions. We don't really have a preference for geography or congregation profile. A good learning experience that will help form JJ as a confessional theologian and caring pastor is our priority. Of course, I did have to mention that I prefer a rural setting and hate cold weather! So Dr. Nielsen joked about sending us to North Dakota or Alaska! eek! I actually had a dream the night before our meeting that we got sent to North Dakota, but I don't think I'm prescient, so I'm not too worried. :) Well, anyway, we won't know were we go until Call Day, which is April 27. The service should be available as a webcast, but I'll let you know when the time gets closer. We are definitely starting to feel the reality of vicarage, as we also had another vicarage workshop to attend this week. Hard to believe that in about half a year, we'll be who knows where!

We were very happy to celebrate our eighth month anniversary this Saturday! Big spenders and romantics that we are, we went on a delightful date to CiCi's all you can eat pizza buffet! It is one of our favorite places even though it's cheap, and we've taken many a date there. The time sure has flown. On the one hand, it seems impossible that we could have been married eight months already! On the other hand, May seems like years ago, and it seems hard to believe I was ever not married! Marriage certainly is a commendable state, and these past eight months have been the best of our lives. What everyone says is true, though. Marriage is a lot of work, and you do learn a lot about yourself. As much as men and women compliment each other, it also sometimes seems impossible that two creatures who function so fundamentally different can possibly coexist peacefully! Communication, for instance, girls and boys seem to speak two different languages.
There's actually a hermeneutical principle to this idea. There are three levels of communication. Level one is simply the word on the page (technically called the signifier) and what concept it evokes in the speaker and listener (called the conceptual signified). So, when I write the signifier (word) CAT, I have a specific animal in my head (the conceptual signified). When you read the signifier CAT, you get a specific concept in your head (the conceptual signified). The signifier is the same for both of us, but the conceptual signified may be different (I may be thinking of my kitty Freckles, but you may be thinking of a wild lion). That is all level one interpretation. Level two involves sentences and figuring out what someone is trying to say. It's the level that we read on most. When I say, "I have a cat," what does that mean? Level three communication involves reading into what was stated or what wasn't stated. So when I say, "You're going out in that?" you can infer a lot from what I'm saying that isn't explicitly stated with my signifiers. An example of this in Biblical scholarship is that using a level three reading, scholars have inferred that the Apostle Luke is a doctor. Nowhere in the text is this stated, but we infer certain things about Like from what he how he writes.
Why is this important? Well, as our professor Dr. Voelz told us, boys tend to communicate on level two, while girls tend to communicate on level three. To prove this, our professor challenged his classes to tell their wives this simple statement: "There's a new employee at the library, and she dresses nicely." The responses his students have collected throughout the years have ranged from an accusatory, "What's that supposed to mean?" all the way to heated arguments that could only be defused by Dr. Voelz himself assuring the wife that her husband had been instructed to make this statement to prove a hermeneutical point!
My point is that this seemingly esoteric information can be extremely helpful in everyday life. It has been for us! For example, a simple comment by my husband about dinner can very easily result in an accusatory, "well, what's that supposed to mean?" from me (usually followed by a confused, "huh?" by JJ). I think we laughed for a full five minutes the first time JJ averted an argument by reminding me of this hermeneutical principle. And now it's our special keyword. All he has to say to me is, "Sarah, you're reading on level three!" or if I'm especially accusatory, a feeble "level two! level two! I only communicate on level two!" It's been pretty funny but also extremely beneficial for us. Amazing how practical theology is!
Even though the technical jargon isn't common knowledge, I know the principle is. I'd be interested in how more seasoned couples deal with this disjunct between men and women and they way they communicate. post a comment and tell me!

well, there's my lengthy thoughts on our eighth month anniversary. I will post more actual news later this week! God's blessings.

Sorry we haven't written in a while, but this has been a trying week for us. We've both been under the weather. I think I had the bubonic plague. We had a few fun days of worshiping the porcelain god in various ways and a fun afternoon with me in the ER for dehydration, but I think we're both on the mend now. Suffice to say, JJ is a lot stronger than I am and is up and around now, while I'm still laid up. As most of you know, my heart/nervous system doesn't handle things like this well, so I'm going to be a little weak and incapacitated for a bit while my body slowly builds back up. We do appreciate your prayers as we both recover, and we pray none of you get this! God's peace.

Yes, it has come to that: I'm wearing a blanket around my waist when I go out. For those of you who don't know or can't guess, I'm from Florida, and it is ridiculously cold out. Today the wind chill is below zero. below zero. How is that even possible? Zero is as low as you can go! It means zero! So I'm cold. Very cold. I want Spring to come. Now.

We were supposed to get between 4 and 6 inches of snow last night and today, but I don't know if we got that much. The Seminary was closed this morning and didn't open until late because of all of the snow. JJ didn't think it was such a big deal: "It's just a little snow." But I can tell it's cold outside because he's actually wearing shoes (and a hoodie!). That means it's very cold out. (In case you didn't know or couldn't guess, JJ is from the "frozen tundra" of Wisconsin and thinks St. Louis "snow storms" are pretty pathetic.) I must say, though, despite being painfully cold all the time, it is very pretty when the snow is fresh. I of course won't be driving in it, playing in it, or even going outside in it, but it's nice to look at from the window while sipping hot tea and wearing my Snuggie (and periodically bathing in body lotion). Did I mention I'm cold?

We are trying to get back in to the swing of things after break. JJ's diving back in to school work and I'm diving back in to housework--quite literally. Our study became a dumping grounds for miscellaneous paperwork and refuse while I was working, and I'm finally making it a project to get it all cleaned out and organized. Mind you, it wasn't just messy from the past two quarters we've lived here. No, it also included all the disorganization and mess that my dear sweet husband had accumulated and upon our marriage packed up and deposited in our "dump." I've determined that his organizational method was pretty much the stuff-everything-into-a-file-or-notebook method, which, while initially convenient, has its downfalls, mainly, that you have no idea where anything is and you have way more than you need. So, all that to say, I've been spending my week in the study filling garbage bags full of unneeded paperwork. To be fair, I had my own share of the mess, most of it scrap-booking and crafting supplies and journals stacked and piled unceremoniously on every surface. Between the two of us, we can make quite a mess. But, I'm happy to say that after half a week of hard labor, I can now see the floor. Seriously, I've made great headway, and I now have all our paperwork from classes organized and neatly stowed in binders by subject. Now we can actually find and use the great resources we've accumulated in our classes. For instance, JJ is currently taking Acts and the Pauline Epistles, which I've already taken. When we began talking about subjective and objective genitives, which neither of us can grasp at the moment, I pulled out my Exegetical Binder, flipped to the section for my Acts and Pauline Epistles class, and paged through my notes to find the pertinent section, and wala! So we're able now to easily refer back to previous classes and handouts and resources we've saved. I hope it will not only be beneficial now while we're in school but also when JJ's in the parish and when we have kids. We've gotten a lot of great stuff and been pretty careful to save a lot of it, and I think it will prove very helpful in the future.

JJ is eventually going to get on this thing to write more of his news. Suffice to say, he's continuing to do well and work hard and enjoy his classes and have no free time whatsoever! We are going to Sunday worship at his cross-cultural church, Chai v' Shalom, now, and that is very interesting. It's a really great opportunity and very enlightening for sure. In fact, we just learned this week that over 60% of Jews are atheists. Isn't that crazy? JJ learned about Jewish apologetics this week, and that was one statistic his pastor supervisor cited. One thing JJ found especially interesting is that the pastor said to use the Hebrew Scriptures when talking with a Jew. Seems odd, since, when talking with a non-Christian Gentile for instance, one would rarely bring out the Bible as supporting evidence since most atheists don't believe the Bible to be true. But the pastor explained that for Jews, their Scriptures are so a part of who they are, such an ingrained part of their culture, that you really can use them in apologetics even with a Jewish atheist. He said the more you bring them back to the Jewish Scriptures, the more it reinforces it for them. It was interesting when JJ told me about that. I hope I'm doing justice to what he said. You can ask him!

As always, God's peace. Thank you all for your prayers and support. (and pray for spring!)