The journey begins to Dr. Marble

It is official ... in July, I begin my journey towards a Ph.D. in Higher Education from Azusa Pacific University.


I've been thinking about pursuing a doctorate, since I applied for my Master's program (back in 2002). At that time, I applied to two programs -- Azusa Pacific (APU) and Geneva. Recognizing that APU also had a doctoral program, I decided to attend Geneva College to get a different perspective. I loved studying about higher education: college students, history of, presidents, structures, and the like; graduating in 2006.  Fast forward to 2009, I joined the NNU community and my desire to pursue an advanced degree was once again was renewed, which brings me to this timeline:

• June 2009 -- informally met with the Program Director at APU, while attending a conference in Southern California
• June 2012 -- at Association for Christians in Student Development (ACSD) conference, talked with Geneva alumnus about doctoral studies and my desire for further education intensified.
• June 2013 -- NNU hosted the ACSD conference; talked with APU faculty member and filled out APU interest card, talked with current and prospective APU students
• July 2013 -- receive email from APU Program Director; encouraging me to apply for July 2014
• September 2013- February 2014-- met once a week with two local friends to envision and plan for our individual futures (basically, let's quit talking about it and do something) -- during this time, I explored a variety of graduate programs, spoke to current students at various programs, identified costs and ways of paying for school and tried to boost my confidence level.
• March 2014 -- shared my desire to begin doctoral studies with my Gramps and Nana. They were excited for me and encouraged me to move forward; as my gramps said "it is only money" as I shared I wasn't sure how that (big!) detail would come together.
• First Week of April 2014 -- attended Nazarene Student Leadership Conference (NSLC); met with colleagues from other Nazarene institutions and found out two of my colleagues were beginning Ed.D. programs at one of the schools I considered. It might have been a bit competitive of me, but I found myself asking "what am I waiting for?" I came back from NSLC, and decided to apply to APU to put my name in the mix for the July 2014 cohort (application deadline: May 1); updated my resume, approached references, reviewed by thesis to submit for a writing sample and began outlining my letter of interest. Due to an articulation agreement between my Master's program and APU, I didn't have to take the GRE (Amen!).
• Monday, April 28th -- asked my dear friend, Julene, to join me for the evening as I needed some accountability to get my last piece of the application done, the letter of interest. I got a good chuck of it done, but I needed to finish by April 30th for the May 1st deadline.
• Tuesday, April 29th -- received word that my gramps had been taken to the hospital and it wasn't looking good, decided to join my parents and brother and head to Yakima, while packing to go we found out he passed away at the hospital.  On the ride to Yakima, I worked on wrapping up my letter of interest. Thankfully, I had worked on it the night before, as I was quite distracted on the drive and the days that followed. 
• Wednesday, April 30th -- finished my letter of interest and had my aunt (professional writer), who I flown up from Las Vegas on Tuesday to be with the family, review my document; then I submitted it. Application complete, yay! They say the first step is the hardest ... in this case, I'm not so sure.
• Thursday, May 1st -- received word from APU Graduate Studies that my application was complete and would be forwarded to the Department of Higher Education.
• Wednesday, May 7th -- email request from APU Program Director for a phone interview
• Thursday, May 8th -- phone interview with APU Program Director --  any nerves I had were reduced quite quickly, as we dialogued about why I decided to apply to APU, why now, research interests, and what I wanted to contribute to a cohort. I was complimented on my thesis and was asked to forward it on to a current APU doctoral student who is studying a similar topic.
• Monday, May 12th -- accepted into program --- oh my word! Crazy -- starts July 11th

Gramps

Christmas 2011

My Gramps, my mom's father, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday, April 29th. Just over a week before, we had an incredible Easter weekend together in Idaho.  This weekend will forever be in my mind, along with the many memories prior. He was a gentle giant!  He led a life of faithfulness; an example to all.  He loved his family deeply.  This video from Easter is a perfect example:

It was a blessing to have my dear friend and pastor, Nate Roskam lead the graveside service on May 10th. He did such a great job capturing the life of my Gramps in his message. Here is a chunk from Nate's remarks:

As I listened to stories from the family about Carroll, it was quickly apparent that he is a man I would have loved to know. Steadfast, faithful, a man of impeccable integrity, hard working, innovative, creative,  a lover of Jesus and people, a man of compassion and service, a servant leader, a family man and a man of color.

Paint color that is. Carroll worked most all of his life in the paint world, a business which provided for his family, was a job he loved and to me is a beautiful picture of how he lived his life.

While paint can be an attraction by itself, in the construction world it is just kind of a necessity, it’s just there. Paint looks nice, for sure, but it also is important for protecting a home or a building from the elements. Over time, it is easy to not notice paint anymore, but it still does its thing, faithfully keeping the siding from cracking, keeping water out and when noticed, is recognized for its aesthetic addition.

As I listened to all the things Carroll was to everyone who knew and loved him, it seemed to me that he in many ways was like the paint he had sold, created, applied and innovated for so many years. His presence made a difference. He protected people he loved and served from the elements of life. He stood fast while the world would try to break down the relationships around him, always managing to shield those closest to him from being hurt.

He never wavered in his work, he was always “on”, just like paint. He was steadfast and true, his colors the same from day to day, never changing. He was reliable. The color dot you saw on the lid of the can was exactly what you saw when you opened it up.

Another thing that stuck out to me, was Carroll’s optimistic belief in people and second chances. In the same way that a house gets a new start with a fresh coat of paint, Carroll recognized the reality of a redeeming Savior who was at work in the world. No one was beyond a second chance because no one was beyond redemption. And Carroll was a man who loved to help people repaint their homes and more importantly their lives.

Carroll flew under the radar. He’ll probably never have a building named after him, although he could. He never sought the attention of others. He was more than content just being a behind the scenes kind of guy who diligently and obediently followed Jesus. He lived out the gospel in the very same way St. Francis of Assisi spoke of: “Preach the gospel at all times, when necessary, use words”.

April Happenings

I have got to get in a better routine of blogging (is that a verb?!). It is a treat to have life recorded and look back, but once I'm behind it is difficult to go back and capture it all, which brings me to April!

I read a few books:
168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think by Laura Vanderkam
Someone: A Novel by Alice McDermott
My Wish List: A Novel by Gregorie Delacourt
The Wives of Los Alamos by Tarashea Nesbit
Gone (Kindle Single) by Colum McCann

I applied to a doctoral program -- Azusa Pacific University, Ph.D. in Higher Education
(fingers crossed ... update to follow)

I became a "t-ball auntie"cheering for the Rockhounds and the cutest t-ball player, my niece.

T-ball Auntie and Cutest Player

I celebrated Easter weekend in Idaho with my family living in Yakima -- oh, what a joyous time!

Cousins!

Nana at Honkers

Nieces with Great Aunt & Uncle

Ali tickling Gramps

Easter baskets

Land of the Amish

The first week of April, I had the opportunity to travel with four members of Student Development and the incoming SGA leaders to the Nazarene Student Leadership Conference (NSLC) at Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Ohio.  I've now attended eight NSLCs -- two times as a NNU student, four times as an advisor at ENC and now twice in my professional role at NNU.  As a professional, it is always a great opportunity to get better acquainted with the SGA and reconnect with colleagues from other Nazarene institutions.

It was a treat connecting with the 14-15 student leaders.  For the annual dodgeball tournament, they dressed up as "Up" balloons, complete with the house-- aren't they great!?

 During one afternoon, we drove north of Mount Vernon to Berlin (pronounced Burr-lynn), Ohio ... home of the largest Amish population in Ohio.  It was a unique experience. We got to visit a one-room school house and observe the classroom instruction and setting. Amish are only educated through the eighth grade and the teachers are from the Amish tradition. I was amazed at how quiet the students were and how much they worked independently.  

Following our school visit, we had our dinner in the home of an Amish family (no electricity!).  What a treat -- homemade everything! Bread, peanut butter sauce (Google it!), the most tender roast beef and chicken, mashed potatoes (crazy amounts of butter and cream), green beans and three different kinds of pie. Yum! Below is the Amish home, where my group had dinner and their two buggies. It was a different pace of life -- very refreshing! I'd love to go back to Berlin.

Spring Break

It seems like the semester just started, then it was time for spring break.  Yet, I was ready for a break. I love the rhythm of the academic calendar -- work/study hard, Christmas break, work/study hard, spring break, work/study hard, summer break. Even though I don't completely live in the student world with their breaks, I still love the rhythms -- it keeps me centered and helps me maintain momentum through the year.

For spring break this year, I decided to leave campus and the state of Idaho and head to Washington to visit family with my parents.  It was a nice change of routine.  I needed time to get away from it all and regroup after a busy start to the semester.  I enjoyed connecting with family -- my great aunt Faye (complete with Wii bowling at The Manor), my cousin Marissa and her boys (keeping up the DQ tradition), cousins Nick and Tom, my Gramps and Nana (no burnt marshmallows this time) and my Aunt Dru and family.

While in Yakima, we ate a George's Wok and Grill (a must for our family when back in Yakima) and enjoyed a YiaYia afternoon complete with a visit to Starbucks, Inklings (Yakima's independent bookstore) and a pedicure. After time in Yakima, we headed over White Pass to High Valley for a few days... three long days in fact, as upon arriving we discovered broken pipes in the cabin due to the harsh winter.  If it wasn't for the roof over our head, the heat and cell phone coverage, it would have been roughing it! As frustrating as it was, it allowed us to hunker down and in my case, read!  I got through Jesus Feminist, Twelve Years a Slave, Paleo for Beginners, my Bible reading (trying to wrap up a 90-day plan, that has turned into a 6 month plan) and Bittersweet. 

Become Who You Are

Lately, I've felt like I'm in the midst of a "1/3 life crisis" of sorts ... I'll dive deeper into this idea at a later point.  In the meantime, here's an excerpt from an article ("Self-Help's Missing Ingredient") I found helpful via Relevant magazine.

You are loved by God, accepted by God and put in right relationship with God. It’s not by your own doing, or because you have the right family, or because you have the right education, or because you have the right desires or attractions, or because you have the right job. It’s because of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus. Because of that your life is hidden with Christ—and nothing can take you away. You belong to God. If you have placed your trust in Christ, that’s who you are.

And our call, then, is to become who we are—to live out the truth of this truest thing about us. There are many true things about you—about what you do, and have, and desire—but only one thing is the truest.

Whatever you believe is the truest will be your functioning identity. And if you are a follower of Jesus, that identity is safely secured in the God who loves you. Learning to become who you are and live out of this identity is a process.

Trusting in Jesus means that you do have a new identity. You already have it, and you didn’t have to earn it. It can’t be taken from you. And living out of it is the secret to living toward Jesus. Christ is your life. Henri Nouwen has never changed my life more profoundly than when he wrote this sentence: “From the moment we claim the truth of being the Beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are.”

Become who you are. That transformed my whole conception of identity and belonging. But the phrase also sounds tangled, troubled. What does it actually mean?

It means this: You belong to Christ. You are hidden with Christ. You are God’s beloved. That is the truest thing about you, and therefore you must become that preexisting truth if you are to avoid becoming a lie. These things are true about you—now become what is already true.

Drive this truth, this identity, so deep into your psyche, your personhood, your sense of self-worth, that this truth becomes your fountainhead, the source of your life.

Become who you are.

means that you do have a new identity. You already have it, and you didn’t have to earn it.

Trusting in Jesus means that you do have a new identity. You already have it, and you didn’t have to earn it. It can’t be taken from you. And living out of it is the secret to living toward Jesus. Christ is your life.
Henri Nouwen has never changed my life more profoundly than when he wrote this sentence: “From the moment we claim the truth of being the Beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are.”
Become who you are. That transformed my whole conception of identity and belonging. But the phrase also sounds tangled, troubled. What does it actually mean?
It means this: You belong to Christ. You are hidden with Christ. You are God’s beloved. That is the truest thing about you, and therefore you must become that preexisting truth if you are to avoid becoming a lie. These things are true about you—now become what is already true.
Drive this truth, this identity, so deep into your psyche, your personhood, your sense of self-worth, that this truth becomes your fountainhead, the source of your life.
Become who you are.

Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/self-help%E2%80%99s-missing-ingredient#vMeMtPpHWEOLrjvO.99

You are loved by God, accepted by God and put in right relationship with God. It’s not by your own doing, or because you have the right family, or because you have the right education, or because you have the right desires or attractions, or because you have the right job. It’s because of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus. Because of that your life is hidden with Christ—and nothing can take you away. You belong to God. If you have placed your trust in Christ, that’s who you are.
And our call, then, is to become who we are—to live out the truth of this truest thing about us. There are many true things about you—about what you do, and have, and desire—but only one thing is the truest.
Whatever you believe is the truest will be your functioning identity. And if you are a follower of Jesus, that identity is safely secured in the God who loves you. Learning to become who you are and live out of this identity is a process.

Trusting in Jesus means that you do have a new identity. You already have it, and you didn’t have to earn it.

Trusting in Jesus means that you do have a new identity. You already have it, and you didn’t have to earn it. It can’t be taken from you. And living out of it is the secret to living toward Jesus. Christ is your life.
Henri Nouwen has never changed my life more profoundly than when he wrote this sentence: “From the moment we claim the truth of being the Beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are.”
Become who you are. That transformed my whole conception of identity and belonging. But the phrase also sounds tangled, troubled. What does it actually mean?
It means this: You belong to Christ. You are hidden with Christ. You are God’s beloved. That is the truest thing about you, and therefore you must become that preexisting truth if you are to avoid becoming a lie. These things are true about you—now become what is already true.
Drive this truth, this identity, so deep into your psyche, your personhood, your sense of self-worth, that this truth becomes your fountainhead, the source of your life.
Become who you are.

Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/self-help%E2%80%99s-missing-ingredient#vMeMtPpHWEOLrjvO.99

You are loved by God, accepted by God and put in right relationship with God. It’s not by your own doing, or because you have the right family, or because you have the right education, or because you have the right desires or attractions, or because you have the right job. It’s because of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus. Because of that your life is hidden with Christ—and nothing can take you away. You belong to God. If you have placed your trust in Christ, that’s who you are.
And our call, then, is to become who we are—to live out the truth of this truest thing about us. There are many true things about you—about what you do, and have, and desire—but only one thing is the truest.
Whatever you believe is the truest will be your functioning identity. And if you are a follower of Jesus, that identity is safely secured in the God who loves you. Learning to become who you are and live out of this identity is a process.

Trusting in Jesus means that you do have a new identity. You already have it, and you didn’t have to earn it.

Trusting in Jesus means that you do have a new identity. You already have it, and you didn’t have to earn it. It can’t be taken from you. And living out of it is the secret to living toward Jesus. Christ is your life.
Henri Nouwen has never changed my life more profoundly than when he wrote this sentence: “From the moment we claim the truth of being the Beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are.”
Become who you are. That transformed my whole conception of identity and belonging. But the phrase also sounds tangled, troubled. What does it actually mean?
It means this: You belong to Christ. You are hidden with Christ. You are God’s beloved. That is the truest thing about you, and therefore you must become that preexisting truth if you are to avoid becoming a lie. These things are true about you—now become what is already true.
Drive this truth, this identity, so deep into your psyche, your personhood, your sense of self-worth, that this truth becomes your fountainhead, the source of your life.
Become who you are.

Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/self-help%E2%80%99s-missing-ingredient#vMeMtPpHWEOLrjvO.99

You are loved by God, accepted by God and put in right relationship with God. It’s not by your own doing, or because you have the right family, or because you have the right education, or because you have the right desires or attractions, or because you have the right job. It’s because of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus. Because of that your life is hidden with Christ—and nothing can take you away. You belong to God. If you have placed your trust in Christ, that’s who you are.
And our call, then, is to become who we are—to live out the truth of this truest thing about us. There are many true things about you—about what you do, and have, and desire—but only one thing is the truest.
Whatever you believe is the truest will be your functioning identity. And if you are a follower of Jesus, that identity is safely secured in the God who loves you. Learning to become who you are and live out of this identity is a process.

Trusting in Jesus means that you do have a new identity. You already have it, and you didn’t have to earn it.

Trusting in Jesus means that you do have a new identity. You already have it, and you didn’t have to earn it. It can’t be taken from you. And living out of it is the secret to living toward Jesus. Christ is your life.
Henri Nouwen has never changed my life more profoundly than when he wrote this sentence: “From the moment we claim the truth of being the Beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are.”
Become who you are. That transformed my whole conception of identity and belonging. But the phrase also sounds tangled, troubled. What does it actually mean?
It means this: You belong to Christ. You are hidden with Christ. You are God’s beloved. That is the truest thing about you, and therefore you must become that preexisting truth if you are to avoid becoming a lie. These things are true about you—now become what is already true.
Drive this truth, this identity, so deep into your psyche, your personhood, your sense of self-worth, that this truth becomes your fountainhead, the source of your life.
Become who you are.

Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/self-help%E2%80%99s-missing-ingredient#vMeMtPpHWEOLrjvO.99

You are loved by God, accepted by God and put in right relationship with God. It’s not by your own doing, or because you have the right family, or because you have the right education, or because you have the right desires or attractions, or because you have the right job. It’s because of the sacrificial death and resurrection of Jesus. Because of that your life is hidden with Christ—and nothing can take you away. You belong to God. If you have placed your trust in Christ, that’s who you are.
And our call, then, is to become who we are—to live out the truth of this truest thing about us. There are many true things about you—about what you do, and have, and desire—but only one thing is the truest.
Whatever you believe is the truest will be your functioning identity. And if you are a follower of Jesus, that identity is safely secured in the God who loves you. Learning to become who you are and live out of this identity is a process.

Trusting in Jesus means that you do have a new identity. You already have it, and you didn’t have to earn it.

Trusting in Jesus means that you do have a new identity. You already have it, and you didn’t have to earn it. It can’t be taken from you. And living out of it is the secret to living toward Jesus. Christ is your life.
Henri Nouwen has never changed my life more profoundly than when he wrote this sentence: “From the moment we claim the truth of being the Beloved, we are faced with the call to become who we are.”
Become who you are. That transformed my whole conception of identity and belonging. But the phrase also sounds tangled, troubled. What does it actually mean?
It means this: You belong to Christ. You are hidden with Christ. You are God’s beloved. That is the truest thing about you, and therefore you must become that preexisting truth if you are to avoid becoming a lie. These things are true about you—now become what is already true.
Drive this truth, this identity, so deep into your psyche, your personhood, your sense of self-worth, that this truth becomes your fountainhead, the source of your life.
Become who you are.

Read more at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/practical-faith/self-help%E2%80%99s-missing-ingredient#vMeMtPpHWEOLrjvO.99