Solo Sauna-ing

Particularly now that the weather calls for extra layers, I've tremendously appreciated the sauna available in the women's locker room during my gym visits. Up until today, I was the only person whom I have seen use this 195 degree little room.

After a pitiful but fulfilling workout, I went to check the temperature in the sauna and surprisingly there was someone sitting in there. I was amazed - not so much that someone was there, but more what she was wearing.

I had been introduced to the art of sauna-ing whilst in Prague and this art was enhanced during a trip to Estonia, where I learned how to sauna with the experts. (No, it's not a verb, but I like it.)

The steps to a proper sauna experience are simple: first, you sweat until you think you may die and second, you jump into a freezing cold river nearby and if you haven't had a heart attack, you repeat the process.

Just as the steps to sauna-ing is simple, so is the wardrobe: as little as possible. This surely varies depending on culture and context and comfort. I'll not tell you how you should or shouldn't dress, but I will tell you that I think the woman in the sauna this evening was a bit over dressed:

Okay, so she wasn't actually wearing a snowsuit, but she was very close. Sweatpants, hooded sweatshirt over her t-shirt, socks and shoes... It simply left me in a quandary.

By the time I was ready to join my overly-clothed gym partner in the sauna, she had left. I was quite glad for that fact because I wasn't sure how to greet her or what to say (as an American I am obliged to engage in nonsensical small talk with perfect strangers) whilst we both sweated in the tiny room. Her absence also allowed me to dress as I pleased for a fulfilling sauna conclusion to a very busy but productive day.

Ah, this country of mine. Such a place.

"Ya done good, Vee"

This is a post I drafted in late August at the end of our Orientation/Intensives weeks, but never published - not quite sure why.

The evening before I was in tears of frustration that with all my multi-tasking abilities, the tasks still exponentially multiplied and the work-day seemed to come to end more speedily each day.

My 'to-do' list grew just as quickly as my 'have-done' list. Deadlines I had set for myself and those given to me were menacingly near and I was sure that all the balls in the air would drop heavily next to me (or on me!) very soon.

I was waking up earlier, getting to work before the sun rose and attempting to sort through e-mails and organise tasks before colleagues and students appeared.

The dense feeling of being in over my head clouded my days. Though I faced each student and colleague with a smile and a 'can-do' attitude, I doubted my 'can-do-itness" and not sure how genuine my smile was.

Then at the end of two very tiring orientation weeks and at the beginning of an ominously new and uncharted semester, my boss succinctly and randomly said to me: "Ya done good, Vee".

He surely has no idea the weight that this simple colloquial phrase carried, but exactly at that moment it had the power to spur me to keep on keeping on, as they say. That despite my uncertainty and insecurity, despite my forgetting where rooms are located and who's responsible for what - I was doing alright.

I post this now to remind myself the power of a few encouraging words. I'm no longer the 'newbie' at Calvin as since April others have been hired on in varying positions. I remember how strengthening it was to hear kinds words from colleagues applauding my hard efforts or appreciating my spirit of teamwork. Now it's my turn to value and appreciate the gifts in my new colleagues whom I truly do value and appreciate. But do they know this?

New Beginnings Together

I was delighted to be asked to participate in the opening chapel service for Calvin Seminary this autumn. Worshiping as a community has become very meaningful to me and I appreciated very much the opportunity to draw people's thoughts together in prayer for the coming year.

I hadn't realised this had been printed until a colleague said she should ask for my autograph and I hadn't a clue why! If you are interested you can find this and other CTS FORUM journals on the Calvin Seminary website.

ps - click on the image to enlarge it...