NES Cancelled!

The final class. We each planned to present our paper topics and share our concerns. We even signed up to bring food - I made a shepherd's pie - to share while we listen to each other. The paper is done and ready to hand in. I am looking forward to our celebration of completing the Core classes. All 4 grueling 9.5 hour classes are now completed. We have been catapulted into a new realm of comprehension of ministry and faith. Yeah!

As the day wears on, snow continues to fall, accumulating inches at an alarming rate. My phone continuously flashes winter storm warnings at me. After school activities at Finney are cancelled. And finally, in the late afternoon, my phone rings. The seminary has cancelled our class. I can understand because so many students drive from a distance - some from as far away as Albany and Pennsylvania.

I waited to hear the reschedule date, but none is offered. There is no make up session. We are simply done. No reports. No covered dish supper. No celebration. Just email your final papers to the professor and you are done. I am shocked and disappointed. Oh, I know I will see most of my fellow classmates again. It's not like they are done with their degrees. But we worked so hard to complete the Core.

I drive home both relieved and sad. I hold my own quiet celebration over a steaming plate of shepherd's pie. My prerequisites are complete and I now move on to submitting the required paperwork to begin the D. Min. program. A nice transition. And I know full well what I am getting into. I wouldn't miss it for the world.