Lisa has given you family news--they're doing great!--and yet I know the burning question on your mind is, "What about Jim?
Well, courtesy of my computer's camera, here I am at my desk!
That's our friend Barry you see in the background there. How like the Lord to put me in the same small desk area with a guy I've known for some 20 years! And the librarian who assigned my desk had no idea we knew each other.
I am doing well. Over the past eight weeks I've had the chance to focus single-mindedly on my PhD studies in a way I have never been able to do before--until now I've been serving full time as a pastor and part timing as a PhD student.
And what a blessing it has been to be able to work here at Tyndale House! The facilities are absolutely amazing--every journal or book I have needed is literally just a few feet away. Well, this week I did find one book and one journal I'm going to have to go to the Cambridge University Library to chase down on Monday, but those are the first I've come across in my specific area. I can't imagine a more efficient place to work.
What do my days look like? I eat breakfast with the family, then we all leave at about 8:30. We live about 40 seconds away from the library, so I walk across the gravel lane, through a wooden gate, past our friends' flats, across the steppingstones through the garden, then in the back door. They bang a gong for coffee break at 11 am, but I usually don't go because I'm in a groove and don't want to stop working (How anti-social can I get??).
Lunch is at 12:45 with Lisa when she has picked Andrew up from school, then back to the library. The gong bongs again at 4 o'clock to announce tea in the common room, which usually comes during a mental lull, so it's a good time to talk to other scholars and bounce an idea or question off someone who is specializing in that area. I'm responsible for getting things ready for tea on Tuesday afternoons, so I'm branching out from my expertise in coffee!
Back to work until about 5:45 when the girls come knock on my window to summon me. They like to sneak up and make me jump--Barry is in on it because he can see them coming but doesn't let me know.
Many nights I go back after the kids are in bed at 8. They bang the gong one last time (they like gongs here, it seems, a strong but mellow sound that fits a quiet library well) to close the library at 10pm, and I walk back across the garden and through the gate in the dark, happy to see Lisa again!
Here I am looking studious...
Next time I'll tell you more about what I'm writing. But this will have to do for now.
Blessings,
Jim
2 comments:
Hey Jim,
That is a lot of study. I think your "football" body wants you to jog to work and back. Let's not forget that although godliness has value for ALL things, physical training is of SOME value! 1 Tim. 4:8 Yikes! My brain gets tired just thinking about it!
Good to know you are enjoying God's blessing in your life!
Chris
I just asked Michelle this week how it was going for you! Glad to hear the facilities are acceptable. ; )
Thursday could quite possibly be the last fishing outing of the year. I might have to put the boat away this weekend. It won't be the same without you.
Study hard - and be glad you're not a Minnesotan this week! After the Goophers lost to the Bison it's tough to keep your head up.
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