the first half of 2nd semester

Hello fellow Redeemer readers and students!

I find it hard to believe that it's February already! Second semester is just flying by. I wrote my last midterm today, and it feels really nice to know that I have a week ahead of me to just relax and catch up with family and friends. So, in light of that, it seems only fitting to take a moment and reflect on the highlights of the past two months. The start of the 2009 winter term was excellent. I found the Crossroads conference really interesting, and it left me with a lot of new ideas to chew on. I think it was a good way to set the wheels of my brain in motion. I am not a philosophy major, but I think it can be a really engaging subject. I was really impressed by the variety of speakers that Redeemer hosted. A personal highlight for me was Calvin Seerveld's lecture about art and its role in our culture. I can only hope to absorb some of his wisdom, and apply it to whatever creative assignments that might come my way.

The Social Justice Conference was a worthwhile event too. I would highly recommend it! Some of the information was difficult to digest, and we all came back to the dorm with a lot to think about and mull over. The seminars addressed HUGE issues like poverty, slavery and the aids crisis. While it is easy to feel overwhelmed, helpless and guilty when we are presented with such difficult material, we must work hard to take what we've learned and apply it to our daily lives. It encouraged me to open my eyes and become more aware of the suffering that happens around me.

February has proven to be a pretty exciting month too. Redeemer's Fiddler on the Roof was fantastic. Wow, what an amazing performance! the singing, the choreography, the acting -- all of it was splendid! I was completely blown away. Professor Loney is quite an actor and the rest of the cast was fabulous too.

All in all, it's been a busy but enjoyable few weeks. I hope everyone has a wonderful and rest-filled reading break!

Crossroads (not the movie with Britney Spears, but the conference)

Well, normally the start of second semester is a time to adjust, get ready to get back into the swing of things. Well, it seems like things were a bit different this semester, and somewhat surprisingly it is already the middle of the second week of school. One strange fact is that this is my last semester at Redeemer, it is weird knowing that these classes are the last ones I will be taking at Redeemer, yet it is neat how this time has almost come to a completion.

Outside of phenomenal classes (and I am not just saying that) this first week was marked by many lectures and opportunities to learn from really wise people. Redeemer had the privilege to host a conference called Living at the Crossroads. This conference, quite simply put, asked questions on how we as Christians are to live out our faith within our callings. Whether that is a student who is majoring in Psychology or a business man running their own business: what does God call us to do. Time and time again, one idea was kind of given as a reminder - the idea that Christ has something to say about all that we do. We can't ignore him within our work or study, in fact, we ought to work from a Christian viewpoint. The conference was really encouraging for me as it kind of encouraged me to think critically again about some of the things I have been studying, it was very refreshing.

Besides the conference, this weekend was also marked by a Church in the Box service, Mike Goheen, a former Redeemer prof., spoke and he really encouraged us as community to live out our faith to the fullest, not just when it is easy.

All in all the winter semester has come and is in full swing. Lots of snow! We went out for dinner as a dorm. This week starts a week of 24/7 prayer and so many events are still to come. January is always an exciting time to be at school.