5 Things I Loved About Seminary

1. Reading – I never once thought I’d become a reader, and in seminary I found out that I loved it. I just did not know exactly what I enjoyed reading yet. But in seminary, with the guidance of my professors, they directed me to the right reading material. That I loved.

2. Writing – I never thought I would enjoy reading, but I honestly had no clue that I would then write as much as I have at this point in my life. A 10-page paper was crazy to me in college, and in my 1st semester under Dr. Joel Beeke, I had a 4, 8, 15, and 30-pager all in one semester only taking two of his classes! Little did I know that I would go from barley being able to write, let alone trying to write a 10-page research paper for english 101 to writing a M.A.R. thesis at 190-pages and a Th.M. thesis at 302-pages.

3. Relationship – The seminary brothers you have to eat with, hangout with, talk theology with is a group of men that become bonded yes in the gospel, but yet closer because of the in-depth studying, process of thinking and work that one another does for those 3-4 years. Better than that, was the time the professor poured into my own life. From the lunches, to the invites in their own home, to the late night talks with Dr. Beeke in his office at midnight after we had studied all day, it was truly a blessing to be apart of.

4. Library – Reading, and writing I could not believe I had come to like, but the last place I thought anyone would find me is a library. After 1 month of seminary, it became my home away from home, the place I literally slept for a nap, the place for research, the place where I’d work, and the place where I could always be found by another seminary brother. Until my last year, being married I then brought home my material and used the kitchen table as my library desk.

5. Food – During my 1st year of seminary I worked 3rd shift, had no money, and went to seminary full-time. It was an awful life as far as in my health. I did not have time to even cook let alone the money to buy food to cook and seriously remember living on a regular diet of two rodeo cheeseburgers from Burger King on a daily basis. My second year I moved from being 30-minutes away to being a 5-minutes away from the seminary and then found out that the seminary had a food-bank of all things I needed. Those next 2 and half years I ate like a champ. Thanks food bank!