Sunday, August 21, 2011

#10 - fuller seminary


august will be the last month of the sky is big in pasadena.  

i have accepted a position at salford mennonite church in harleysville, pennsylvania.  we will be moving in september, so august will be my farewell month to the city of pasadena.  when we moved here from virginia i posted a list of the ten things i would miss most about harrisonburg.  i figured that would be a good way to end our time here, so each day i will be doing one final rundown of life in this great city.  i have prepared two lists - ten things i won't be sad to leave behind (which thankfully, are already posted), and twenty of my absolute favorite things about pasadena.  we have arrived at my top ten things about life in pasadena.

let's face it.  this is the reason we arrived in pasadena four years ago.  without fuller, we probably would never have considered pasadena in the first place.  in many ways it has been more than i ever imagined.  not everything has been what i expected it to be, and sometimes i wondered what life would have been like at another seminary, but all in all i am glad i made the choice to come here.

fuller has challenged me, stretched me, and made me into a better thinker.  it has given me the foundation for a huge number of relationships - both at the mentor and peer level.  i am constantly amazed at the reach of this school in the global community, and i am proud to be one of its many alumni.

today's photo was taken recently.  compare it with this photo of me shortly after we arrived.  have i changed at all in four years??

12 comments:

JustinM said...

If you had been wearing that hat when you arrived here it would have been an Angels minor league team and not the Dodgers. But I realize that's not really about you changing.

BTW I still wear my Quakes hat all the time because it's much better looking than any of the 66ers hats.

ben wideman said...

The 66ers clearly look like they belong to the Dodgers system with their red, white, and blue motif. I just really love the Quakes hat. How many teams have a faultline on their brim??? I'd wear it even if they were still an Angels affiliate.

Petrea Burchard said...

I imagine you've changed, Ben, though the changes may not be visible.

Petrea Burchard said...

Wow. If Fuller's #10 I can't imagine what the next nine are going to be. There will be Dodgers and there will be beer, but I don't know what else.

ben wideman said...

If only the Dodgers were in Pasadena, then they would have made my list! They are not on it, nor is beer!!!

Cafe Pasadena said...

Comparing your Before & After pics I wood say: before you looked more open, and today you look more fatherly.

Sidney said...

Mazel, on your appointment, Ben.

ben wideman said...

Cafe, interesting perception!

Sidney, thank you so much!

Leif Hagen said...

Again, all the best to you and yours as you prepare to move to PA! I hope you'll start a new CDP blog out there!
Yellowstone and Montana vacation regards

Anonymous said...

I think you look more fit, and more grounded.

ben wideman said...

Thanks Leif - still deciding on how my next blog will take shape.

AH, what a lovely compliment!

Kim said...

Dude, the flip flops, the cap, the body by Bianci. . .it's so casual SoCal. :-)
-Kim