From Gita Grady: Settling in at VTS
Dear friends,
I am happy to have completed three credits at Virginia Theological Seminary — a whole graduate course in 12 days! We started the fall semester last week; if all goes well, I’ll carry 14 credits. I have been living in the dorm in Alexandria during the week and coming home on weekends. Steve’s foot continues to heal well. We hope he can get into a smaller bandage and a shoe soon. The dogs and cats have done better than I expected with my absence during the week.
VTS has been everything I could have hoped. My class is full of wonderful people; they are the most diverse group of I have ever been in community with. I am not the oldest (the age range is 23-80)! In my dorm there are three women similar in age who are geographically separated from their husbands, so I feel much less irrational to have taken this leap. Except when I’m doing reading late into the evening, then maybe I feel a little sorry, but that’s OK, I’m just glad I seem to be able to keep up with the younger generation. I have found a couple people to knit with, and I’ll sing in the seminary choir, which will be very fulfilling (I know I will miss those choir times after I graduate). I’ve been managing at least a short walk twice a day, and have seen two of my adult children more often, since they live in the area.
My summer weeks at Christ Church Brandy Station were fun and educational. I preached on June 22, and then led morning prayer and preached on Aug. 2. I feel I’ve already learned a lot, and maybe those two sermons would already be different if I were to write them today. The Bible is an endless well of meaning and offers so much growth. My Education for Ministry classes were extremely helpful, and I would recommend anyone considering it to talk to your local team. We are all ministers of the Gospel, whether pursuing ordination or not.
It has been a great joy to be in the seminary community and digging into the academic work at VTS. Thank you as always for your support.
Faithfully yours,
Gita Grady
