Month: October 2008

the Phillies win (and Philadelphia with them)

/ Heather Davis Nelson / 1 Comment

There is a horn honking loudly as a car zooms by our apartment. Any other night at 12:45, I would be ticked. Tonight I’m excited. Earlier we heard fireworks. More than I’ve ever heard — perhaps even including 4th of July. What’s set the city ablaze?

The Phillies won the World Series! In part 2 of the longest ever game 5 of the World Series … and perhaps the worst weather for it as well. Between the slashing rain on Tuesday evening and tonight’s 20’s wind chill, determination and perseverance were needed to push through to win over Tampa Bay Rays.

The whole city has been anticipating this all week. Perhaps even for the 25 years since any major Philadelphia team has won a major championship. There’s been a buzz in the air, and it’s only increased the closer we came to this game. Apparently, “the city’s biggest party ever” broke loose on Broad Street as soon as the game ended tonight. For a city known to be fiercely loyal (expressed in the fans’ famous “boos” and their relentless cheers even through rain), this win means that they, too, have won. It’s a victory we all share in (even those of us who are “transplants”). Read more about it here: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/phillies/20081029_ap_fanscelebratefirstphilliestitlein28years.html

Go Phillies! Now I MUST go to bed …

true hope in a troubled time

/ Heather Davis Nelson / Leave a comment

As an American in tune with the news of the day (and often the hour thanks to news radio), I find it inescapable to realize that life as we’ve known it is undergoing a drastic change. People are losing their assets, their jobs, their homes, and with all of it their hope.  Or are they?

It seems as if we as a culture are experiencing the reality that hope cannot be stored in money. It’s a truth we try not to live by as Americans who are wealthy by the world’s standards. We buy what we do not need with money we do not have. And at some point, the security promised by money and material possessions evaporates. Yet that fits with ancient wisdom. Listen to this, penned centuries ago by a Biblical writer: “Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness!” And see if this doesn’t sound like it was written just for us today: “There is another serious problem I have seen under the sun. Hoarding riches harms the saver. Money is put into risky investments that turn sour, and everything is lost.” Both are from the book of Ecclesiastes, found in the Old Testament (chapter 5, verses 10, 13, 14).

The question before us today is similar to the one that confronted the philosopher of Ecclesiastes. What is worth living for and hoping in? Our American answer for troubled times is quite different than that of Ecclesiastes. It’s as if we’ve shifted our hope from Wall Street to the White House. The new President will be our savior. He will bolster the economy with his proposed tax cuts (and raises), reform healthcare in the U.S. either through a tax credit or by offering a universal plan, bail out bad mortgages, bring peace to the Middle East. Really? All of that power will be held by one man?

I beg to differ. I think our hopes are misguided if we think either Obama or McCain can do all that’s promised. On November 4th, I will be going to the polls to cast my vote as a responsible citizen, but I have a hope that transcends the outcome of the election (one way or the other). God is King over all, and His Kingdom is one that can’t be shaken (regardless of how much my earthly kingdom is shaken). It will be realized one day.

I don’t know when, but I am hoping because I see evidence of that Kingdom already breaking in on earth. My life has been changed by Jesus Christ. And it is being changed by Jesus Christ. I am not yet what I will be, but there are glimpses and hints. Seth and I don’t fight as often or as tenaciously as we did in our first year of marriage. I give in more often (and so does he). I don’t say everything that pops into my head. I think before speaking (amazing concept, I know). When I inevitably screw up, I am slightly quicker to ask forgiveness from him. And I could go on. If I am being changed, and I see others’ lives who are being changed in similar ways through a relationship with Christ. Through Cresheim Valley Church and my job as a counselor at Chelten Baptist Church, I am part of communities of people whose lives are being transformed (and I get to watch and sometimes be part of that!). There is hope that transcends our shaky economy and uncertain politics.

And the writer of Ecclesiastes agrees. He sums it up as follows: “That’s the whole story. Here’s my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty.” (chapter 12, verse 13)

Westminster, Wheaton, & the Windy City

/ Heather Davis Nelson / 3 Comments

How do all of these relate? Allow me to explain (after a long blogging absence!!) — Westminster Seminary sent Seth and me to Chicago to represent them at the grad school fairs at Moody Bible Institute and Wheaton College this week. So we were whisked down the proverbial “Memory Lane” together as we took turns showing each other the “old haunts” from college days. Some of which overlap, since he attended undergrad at Moody (located in Chicago) and I went to Wheaton (located about 20 miles west of Chicago).

From the novelty of the Millennium Park and Wheaton’s state-of-the-art “Todd Beamer Student Center” to the familiarity of the Education Dept in Blanchard Hall and the College Ave. Metra station, I enjoyed experiencing these with Seth for the first time. As well as being introduced to the places he loved as a college student, like the Chicago Pizza Oven Grinders (at 2121 Clark St) and “the beach” on Lake Michigan. The worlds intertwined surprisingly, like (1) staying with his best friend from Moody, Brandon, and his wife Alexa, on campus at Wheaton because he now attends Wheaton Grad School (2) running into my Residence Life supervisor, Bruce, from the year I was an R.A. at Wheaton — at Moody, where he’s now working in their Residence Life! (3) Seth seeing a guy he was an R.A. with at Moody — at Wheaton, where he now works in Residence Life! (4) meeting up with another Wheaton friend, Katie, while visiting Seth’s favorite Chicago restaurant (Pizza Oven Grinders) — and then seeing her the next day as we walked through Memorial Park in Wheaton. Moments like this make me think that the world really is smaller than I thought … !!

A few more of the favorite familiar places we visited:

  • The Tower! Seth and I made our marriage official by ringing the bell in the Blanchard Hall tower, a long-held tradition of Wheaton students and alumni.
  • Anderson Commons (aka “Saga” or the Wheaton Dining Hall) — the food there still is really good.
  • Tate’s Ice Cream in downtown Wheaton
  • Egg-lectic Cafe in downtown Wheaton
  • METRA — train into Chicago
  • Danada Square in Naperville
  • Walking along the Chicago River
  • “The Signature Room” on the 96th floor of the John Hancock building
  • Water Tower Place, specifically the 2nd floor of the Borders

And a few more of the new places I noticed (some things change a lot in 7 years!):

  • the amazing new Todd Beamer Student Center at Wheaton, underneath Anderson Commons — these “kids” have it so good now, with their pool table and ping-pong tables and choices of two cafes!
  • Millennium Park in Chicago … wow!
  • Wheaton Public Library — a far cry from the one I went to
  • Longfellow School — the elementary school where I student taught has been completely renovated, literally from the ground up

What was most different from the visit was, of course, the absence of most of the friends who made my college experience come alive. With the exception of the refreshment of having coffee with one of my dear friends, Kristin, and her husband Matt, on Saturday afternoon. To catch up “like old times” in the “new” Caribou Coffee. Otherwise, my college friends are scattered around the globe, literally. From Julie, my sophomore year suitemate who now lives in Vancouver, to Katherine, my senior year roommate who lives in Birmingham, and Leslie, another senior year housemate who lives in China. With the exception of a future Homecoming visit, Wheaton will never quite be the same place.