Having The Crud

The Crud finally caught up with me: fever, wicked sore throat, tenor voice, cough, sneezing. It's just fabulous. I've been worn down the last couple weeks, and I assumed that all the sleep I've been getting had warded it off. You know the axiom about assuming...

So this morning, I dragged myself to class, but not chapel, so I could finish my lecture and prepare the students for the exam. The three minute downhill walk about did me in, so I'm going to skip the lecture part. 

I intentionally arrived early so I could catch my breath before finding a way to speak loud enough for 42 people to hear me over the construction next door, and one of the students was already in the room (meaning he wasn't in chapel either). 

He saw me, and a huge smile broke out on his face as he said, "Thank God! We heard you were sick, and we've been praying for you."

That absolutely warmed my heart. My students are fabulous. 

I'm tired (and whiny)

I have a couple other posts-in-writing to finish, but a friend reminded me of Mark 6:31 ("And he said to them, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while."), and I've read a some of the "ten things a missionary won't tell you"-type articles, that note that we don't ride unicorns and live under rainbows (we're far from perfect).  So, in light of that:

I'm tired.

It's mid-July, and the semester can't end fast enough.  Because we have two retreats between the January and April semesters, we really only get just under a week to rest between semesters, and I was sick this year.  I am generally done about this time of year, but this year, I'm ready to run to Mabira Forest and not come back for at least a month.

I'm tired of marking.  I'm tired of student questions and issues.  I'm tired of always being the tutor on duty in chapel (I'd like to actually worship for once without having to supervise).  I'm tired of reminding staff that they are on duty, and I'm tired of going to chapel and finding that the tutor is not there.  

I'm tired of having work dumped on me.  This week is the second iteration of the Uganda Academy of Homiletics, and I really couldn't tell you too much about it, because I ended up doing a bunch of things I was never informed about, and the hits keep coming.

I'm tired of being an introvert in an extrovert continent.  Introverts are in the minority anyhow, but living in a culture that emphasizes community only exacerbates the differences.  I'm tired of explaining that I'm tired (which sometimes, is the only acceptable excuse to get out of yet another perceived obligation).

As we say, "I'll be fine."  And I will.  I just need it to be the end of August.  Because right after exams (and marking) end, the Provincial Assembly is coming, and I'll want to attend much of it.  Then I can run away.  Hopefully.

They're actually listening; who knew?

Last week in Biblical Interpretation, we were discussing literary devices (parallelism, similes, metaphors, allegories, etc.), and this week we spent what seemed to me to be an inordinate amount of time discussing the basics of a plot.  At one point, I hid my face with my book and exclaimed, “You guys are KILLING me!”

To which someone deadpanned, “Reverend, that’s hyperbole.”

True enough, and it was good comic relief.  I thought, “Wow.  They actually do listen!”

One reason I love teaching Biblical Interpretation is that you have to understand what the author wrote to the original audience (exegesis) before you can apply it (hermeneutics), and so many sermons take a text and jump right to the application, and the results are less than helpful.

After class, one of the students approached me and said that he’s realized that he has been approaching his sermons the wrong way, and he’s rethinking how he approaches Scripture.  Several students have told me this, actually, which is a tremendous blessing.  One of the students from last year still sends me sermons to review, and while part of me is frustrated because I already have a stack of assignments to mark that are THIS HIGH, and he has a supervisor whose job is to do this, I really am honored that he trusts me enough to give him honest feedback.

THIS is what I cling to when I’m tired of being the unrequested substitute tutor in chapel, tired of the dirt/dust, tired of mosquitoes, tired of going to Kampala to get brown (wheat) bread, tired of being far from my people, and just tired.  My students, and the opportunity I have to have a lasting impact on their ministries, are worth the being tired.

How to make my students laugh

Two of the rooms in which I have lectures are about 25 yards from the construction of a new lecture block.  While I'm thrilled that the construction is moving on well, it's rather hard to project your voice to 40 students while a cement mixer is churning away.

I took the opportunity to remind my students to use their teacher/parent/preaching voices when reading lessons in chapel, as I could barely hear the reader this morning.  One student spoke up and requested that we request the chaplaincy to purchase a PA system for the chapel.  I countered that we should all master the skill of projecting our voices, because we can't tell the congregation, "oh, I'm sorry, there's no power, so I can't preach."

The same student then said that he thought that one of his classmates, who has a rather soft voice, would be able to project well either when his time comes to serve in the chapel.  The class laughed, and I felt so bad for him.  So I talked in my regular voice, to point out that they couldn't hear me at my normal volume.

Then I had to bring out the teacher voice to point out that naturally, I am rather quiet.  This brought the laughter.  Apparently, not one of those 40 people believes me!  They honestly don't think that my natural tendency is to be quiet.  They don't believe me when I tell them I'm an introvert.  

Keeping 40 adult students on track when there' s a cultural divide takes quite a bit of energy, and when I leave them, I'm quite tired.  I still maintain that I'd rather be quiet, not matter how much that makes them laugh.