To answer the most recent question - I've been trying to keep the ball rolling on writing. It's all too easy to distract myself with meaningless activity and take time away from my thesis. That said, the thesis is coming along fairly well. I started writing up my 'materials and methods' section about a month ago and am now moving right along through 'results'. I have decided that I'm much better prepared to write the results up prior to drafting the introduction. The process is detailed and, well, slow.

Kindel and I are halfway through our fifth month together, and very happy to be where we're at. We are excited at the possibilities the summer and next year hold - traveling, lots of weddings to attend, moving, etc. Since her and I decided that Stanford would be the best opportunity to finish my graduate studies, she has been searching for jobs in the SF Bay area.

The highlight of the past couple weeks has been the Bible study Kindel and I are in with Pastor D. Gospel Transformation (see the link in the sidebar) is, as the title alludes to, very Gospel oriented - it's about looking to Jesus as the one who has and will finish God's work in our lives and in the world. Last week we studied how to apply to our lives justification by faith - God's paying once and for all for our sin by Jesus' blood, and God accounting to us Christ righteousness (yes, like an accountant placing money in an account), thus placing us in the favored position of the righteous. God actually puts Jesus' righteousness in our account and so we now are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms - the place of perfect righteousness. God's favor will never leave us, even as guilty as we may feel about not 'making the mark' or being the 'Christian God intends us to be' God's countenance shines upon us. Kindel and I are learning how to apply this concept to our lives.

In the upcoming weeks I'll be headed to California to visit Stanford, preparing my departmental lecture, and getting ready to spend spring break in Vienna. Thanks to all of you who are prayerfully and financially supporting the Vienna trip. I'm still in need of further financial support; so if you'd like to help out, drop me an email.

Let me know how all of you have been.

Justified,

pb&j

29% of the weekend was spent driving. In fact, Kindel and I spent as much time in the car as we did sleeping. While that may sound bad, all of that time was spent commuting to and from Topeka for my mom's birthday. I'm not sure I had ever seen mom as excited as she was when Kindel and I surprised her Saturday evening. While our time together as a family was short, it was great to see them. What stood out most to me, though, was my sister's faithful service to the family. She consistently puts the family's interest abover her own. As a result, mom was given a wonderful surpise birthday party, filled with her closest friends and family.

I'd like to make mention of the meal we had Saturday evening. The family decided to patronize a local Chinese buffet - one of those that has a billion types of breaded chicken dishes, wanton soup, and an ice cream machine. The menu, however, was well above ordinary for american Chinese restaurants, and I believe I was the only one to take full advantage of it. For instance, I would have never tried octapus had I not been given that occassion Saturday evening. Matthew, my younger brother, pointed out the small, 5 inch in length octapuses that were cooked for eating pleasure. I just couldn't pass up on trying octapuse, and in Topeka of all places! Surprisingly, the two tofu-tasting sea creatures I ate were really good! If you're passing through or live in the area, I recommend visiting Panda Buffet at the West Ridge Mall of Topeka.

NEXT, and this is a big next, Kindel and I celebrate our four month anniversary tomorrow. The two of us are thankful to have spent so much time with each other this last weekend, especially in light of the usual business of our week. We've come a long way in four months and I expect the next four to be just as exciting and memorable. We don't have definitive plans for tomorrow, except that we've tossed around the idea of catching up on the two episodes of 24 that we missed.

Lastly, I fly back to Newark on Thursday for the Princeton visit.

Cheers!

Groundhog day eve

A little update...

The Rutgers visit went really. The department of Environmental Science has a lot going for them: a good mix of young and old faculty; a sincere desire among the faculty to work together (throughout the whole campus, too); money; and instrumentation. The research topics are new and cutting edge, and there would be a ton of opportunity to publish. From my perspective, New Brunswick is a pretty poor location for a university. Narrow, congested, dirty streets make for difficult travel, and this is compounded by the natural business of life in the Northeast.

I've also been invited to meet faculty and tour departments at Princeton, Stanford, and Notre Dame. My schedule is starting to fill up travel, and while it's an honor to be invited to visit these programs, there's also a downside. Traveling can take away from the time needed to write up my thesis.

Furthermore, Vienna is just around the corner. Much thanks to all of you who have prayerfully and financially supported me with regard to the trip to Austria.

Finally, Kindel is excelling at the teaching process. She had a reviewer watch her teaching yesterday, and by God's grace she had everyone's keen attention and involvement in the classroom. In fact, the reviewer crossed out the title of the "Improvements" column on her note sheet, and wrote in "suggestions".

If you have a moment, please continue to pray with me for...
Choosing a PhD program
Writing my thesis
The Inter-Varsity trip to Vienna
Kindel and my's relationship during this busy time