<p>
	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}group_jumping-corrected-shrunk.jpg" style="float: right; width: 300px; height: 213px; " />The weekend is shaping up nicely for this year&#39;s Au Sable Graduate Fellows Conference. &nbsp;Snow has been fleeting -- and more often sleeting -- on campus this winter, but Thursday and Friday&#39;s forecasts hold out hope for a foot of snow to pave the way for solid amounts of skiing, sledding, and other winter delights. &nbsp;</p>
<p>
	But while fun and games are always aplenty at Au Sable, this year&#39;s Graduate Fellows gathering will be a little different. &nbsp;With a few tweaks, we&#39;ve changed the format and feel, and if all goes accordingly, we&#39;ll have taken the annual gathering to the next level. &nbsp;Instead of the retreats of the past, this year&#39;s gathering is better called a conference. &nbsp;We&#39;ve invited Steven Bouma-Prediger, Hope College religion professor and author of <em>For the Beauty of the Earth</em>,&nbsp;to be a theologian-in-residence of sorts and lead the group through presentation and discussion on the theme of &quot;Earthkeeping as Homemaking.&quot; &nbsp;His talks are spurred by his latest book, <em>Beyond Homelessness</em>, and will delve into themes of place and home as it relates to stewardship. &nbsp;His two presentations on Saturday and one on Sunday include:</p>
<ul>
	<li>
		Session 1: Where and who are we?:&nbsp; At Home with the Homemaking God</li>
	<li>
		Session 2:&nbsp; What or who holds the world together?:&nbsp; The Cosmic Lord is the Crucified Christ</li>
	<li>
		Session 3: &nbsp;&nbsp;What does God&#39;s good future look like?:&nbsp; A (Re)New(ed) Heaven on Earth</li>
</ul>
<p>
	We&#39;ve taken things to the next level in terms of attendance too. &nbsp;While past retreats have been well-attended, this year&#39;s conference will include 29 participants from five Graduate Fellows chapters. &nbsp;This level of participation has moved us from the comfy confines of the Pines to Au Sable&#39;s main campus, and from community-prepared meals to dining hall fare. &nbsp;The downside to more people is that we may need to rotate three teams for broomball so as not to crowd the ice. &nbsp;You can&#39;t win &#39;em all I guess....</p>
<p>
	There will also be healthy doses of outdoor activities, good conversation, and time for worship. &nbsp;For graduates students immersed in courses, teaching duties, and dissertation/thesis writing, escaping the pressures, demands, and priorities of graduate work to inhabit &quot;Au Sable&quot; time for a while is a nice respite.</p>
<p>
	As I said at the beginning, the weekend&#39;s shaping up nicely. &nbsp;</p>
