Welp, It's Almost Advent - ay jay kay squared.

I marvel at how time absolutely flies. I’m still stunned it’s not at least the beginning of November, if not September. Have I honestly been directing homeschool since mid-August? Feeling a bit like we’ve accomplished nothing, and yet I know there’s evidence somewhere that would prove me wrong.

And I noticed that my last post here was in April. Good GRAVY that was before I turned 37. I’m not old.

One of the big things this year that I attempted was applying for Military Chaplaincy. I had two concerns as I applied:

1) my health – my back is still recovering from a bulging disc and I’m mediocre at doing the work I need to strengthen. I also majorly re-injured it in August.

2) whether my Bachelor of Theology would be accepted, because officially they only accept a Master of Divinity.

I started the application process in … April? March? Something like that. It took until the end of September before I got word back that they would not accept my BTh.

Before I got word about that, I decided that I wanted to move towards starting my Masters anyway. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I finished my BTh, but things just never worked out *coughcough*St. Paul University sucked*coughcough*. One thing has led to another and I’m just now this semester finishing up a philosophy class, one of the three pre-requisites I need for the MDiv. I’m planning on one class a semester at this point because I’ve not been in school for…oh…over a decade, and I’m still not sure how I’m going to fit it into my life with homeschool and Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Mercifully, the CGS program is rather quiet this year, but that also didn’t stop me from flying to Portland to start training for the next level. But that’s another story for another time.

I did re-injure my back, and it wasn’t because I looked at a gym and my back went out (though I’d deserve it, tbh). This time, however, it was because I attempted some more heavy-handed fitness (kickboxing) and I foolishly pushed myself too hard. Recovery is better than the first time I had a bulging disc (that took 4 years), but it’s still taking time to heal. And I’m only mediocre at doing the strengthening and stretching work I should be doing, so I’m not really helping my case as quickly as I could. But I’ll get there :).

In other family news, Spencer is gearing up to grow something tall. His foot size is basically the same as mine (and wow is that ever a jump in price shoe-wise!). Cassia is gung-ho into her martial arts (like, crazy excited about it) and Felicity is adamant that she hates mushrooms and has always done so. This is, of course, untrue.

And Andy’s doing karate. It’s been a bit of a full of activity season. In the midst of all this, I also received an official apology letter from my abuser. So, there’s that. I have many thoughts about it, few which I’m willing to share, but can overall say that I think I’m at peace with it (the letter, that is; there’s far more to it than just that).

All this to say, I hope you have a start to the Advent season. I hope it is full of joy and that you can enter into honestly preparing your heart. Not just a token ‘yeah, we have an Advent wreath’ or ‘I’ve bought myself an Advent calendar – you know, the beer one,’ but a It's not every year you get to celebrate the incarnation of the One True God into time and creation as a ...thirty-seven year old. Click To Tweetreally, truly reflective season for you. It’s not every year you get to celebrate the incarnation of the One True God into time and creation as a …thirty-seven year old. Or at least, in my case. This year is unique and different in how I will look at the readings and asking what God is calling me to do. I’ll never have this chance as a thirty-seven year old again to do this. What perspective do I uniquely have this year that is important? I’m looking forward to seeing how this year unfolds.

Happy Catholic New Year to you. Cheers to ringing in the new season.