I Survived...Summer Hebrew!

It has been a while since my last post; not that anyone ever reads this anway :-)

The reason is because I have been immersed in Biblical Hebrew all summer at Westminster Seminary in Philadelpia. For those that do not know, summer courses are intensive. I took 2 semesters of Hebrew in the span of about 7 1/2 weeks. In other words, it was 6 months of Hebrew crammed into just under 2 months!

How did it go, you ask? Well, as you can imagine, it was tough! As a matter of fact, there were times when I thought I would never make it. I was stressed. I was worried. I was exhausted.

Now, I served in the United States Air Force for 21 years, but nothing compared to this. It was, without the question, the most challenging thing I have ever done. But you know what? It was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. Just being able to learn the Biblical languages is a blessing in and of itself. But, to be stretched the way we were, and then to see the faithfulness of God in the midst of that struggle...that was amazing. It was also neat to see the friendships that were forged among the students. It was like we truly went to battle together. We needed each other, and we had to pull each other along.

Our professors were awesome too. The primary teacher, Sam Boyd, is just 27 years old and is in a doctorate program at Chicago Uiniversity. He just went through summer Hebrew at Westminster 4 years ago, and here he was, teaching us. Now, you may be saying, "how can that be?!" Well, because Sam, for lack of a better word, is a true prodigy when it comes to the languages. I often remarked to my wife that it was just neat to see someone that God has so powerfully gifted...genius really...teaching us day in and day out. His teaching assistant, Karyn Traphagen, is just as gifted, and provided resources that she personally created that greatly aided our learning experience (I hope that those aides will be published someday to benefit others throughout the body of Christ). The true hallmark of their teaching though was not that they have prodigious intellects. They most certainly do. Rather, what really struck me most was the humility and grace they exhibited day in and day out. They were Christlike. That is the best compliment that anyone can receive.

And then there are the students. Wow! Truely gifted intellects as well, but down to earth as you can imagine. As I mentioned above, the friendships that were forged in the fiery furnace known as Summer Hebrew are priceless. And those lunchtime conversations! Man, those alone were worth the price of admission :-)

Thankful to Christ,

John