My how time flies...

A little over thirteen years ago I was a senior in college. I had my dreams and ambitions in front of me and I could almost taste them. I knew who I was and who I wanted to be. I had everything planned out. I would be moving to Chicago in a matter of months to pursue a career in acting. It was well thought and and fool proof. So I thought. Within an instant that all changed. In June I found out I was going to be a mom. A mother. Responsible for someone. It was a shocking time for me because I was not married, had no job and I knew my parents were gonna kill me. I had a choice to make...pursue my own way and the life I thought I deserved or lay them down and choose a life for another. But where I felt shame and heartache, God had a plan to change not only my life but my heart forever. He showed me love. He showed me everything was going to be alright. And He showed me His bountiful and endless grace. March 21, 1999, God gave me Hannah Grace...a double portion of His goodness in one tiny little body. God would use this precious child to to show me what true sacrifice and love really look like. He took something that seemed like the end of my world and blessed me beyond my wildest belief. I would never go back to my "plan" for my life. By giving up one thing I gained everything. I praise God for how He has blessed me. And happy birthday my darling, precious gift. Happy birthday Hannah. I love you so much it hurts. Thank you God for letting me know how that feels.

On the Move!

We've just been offered and accepted a ministry position. I'll be the Pastor of Adult Discipleship at Trinity Baptist Church in Walla Walla, Washington. More details to come, but check out trinitywallawalla.org.

Thanks for praying!

Update (of sorts)

So, it has been a while since I blogged, but there is good reason. Our family is in a great state of flux/transition. We are still in the midst of the transition, but I'll update you as best I can:

By this time next week, I'll be completely finished with all my seminary coursework. Forever. Yay.

By this time next month, our family will be moving out of our current apartment. We're packing, saying goodbye to friends and family. Boo.

Sometime soon, we'll be starting a new, full time ministry position. I can't go into details, because I don't have any details yet. But rest assured that when we know, you'll know.

We appreciate your prayers during this time that is both exciting and difficult. We'll provide detailed updates as we begin to put the pieces together of the plan God has woven for us (Mixed Metaphor Alert!).

The List is Life

OK, so I borrowed the title of this post from the movie Schindler's List. But I want to tell you about a different list I've created.

After attending a recent conference (thanks, Bruce!) I was inspired and challenged to be more intentional about my life. So, I created a daily To-Do list. To clarify, I have a To-Do list every day, but it fluctuates. This new To-Do list is a list of things I am intending to do every single day of my life, regardless of whatever else needs to happen. I've been doing many of these things for a while, but now I'm systematizing them and hopefully making them more regular. Here it is:

1. Pray for my wife and family.
This is fairly self explanatory, I hope, but I want to be continually praying for my wife and kids. In a sense, this is selfish, too, because I'm praying about my own role in their spiritual lives, too.

2. Pray for my church and my ministry.
As I have finished and reflected on my time of training at DTS, I realize more and more the desperate need I have to keep myself connected to the Father. My ministry and the church I shape must be continually given over to God if I am to have any "success" at all.

3. Pray for leaders.
This is connected to #2, because I'm speaking of church leaders. I'm passionate about seeing God's people doing the things that God desires them to do. Obviously, I'm thinking of specific people here, and praying about the specific ways they lead. Also included here is emerging leaders. Praying about people who need to be invested in so that they can become leaders. And, then hopefully my prayers for them will lead me to act in the lives of those people.

4. Intercessory prayer.
This includes prayers for friends, family, others that we hear of who need prayer. Pretty simple, but pretty important.

5. Manage my decisions.
I stole this from John Maxwell. It is great to make decisions, but if we don't take action to manage the outworking of those decisions, then what is the point? I want to use my time well, stewarding what God has given me always.

6. Serve Willingly.
Rather than being a slave to managing my decisions, I want to balance that with serving others well. Sometimes things come up that interfere with the plan. But if I model my life after Jesus, then I must be willing to set aside my own agenda in order to follow God's.

7. Study and Read.
Certainly I'm thinking of the Bible here. But, not just the Bible; I want to be learning each day. This is pretty easy for me, because I love to learn. But, it is also one of my strengths, so I want to be fostering it.

8. Build Up My Wife and Kids.
This is where the prayer above turns to action. I feel that too many days go by where we just coast through life. The result is not stagnation, where we stay static. The result is that we recede in our discipline, our godliness, etc. So, I want to be intentional in this area.

9. Practice Integrity in Thought/Word/Deed.
Again, this seems pretty self explanatory, but I hope it will serve as a reminder to me daily.

So, there's my list. I've got it stored on the welcome screen of my iPhone so I can't get away from it. And now you can hold me accountable to it.

What is on your list?
What things do you need to be reminded about every day?
What priorities might I have overlooked?

The End of My Seminary Career

So the reason it has been a while between posts here is because we have been busy with finishing up coursework at DTS, graduating, and looking for a job. And while the first two tasks have been successful, the third is still a work in progress. So, we have a lot to look forward to as God reveals His future for us. We'd appreciate your prayers.

As I reflect back on our time here, there are many lessons I have learned at DTS. Here are three:

1. God is faithful. He has come through for us time and time again, and we have seen Him come through for countless others. If you ever want to test your faith, enroll in seminary. You will not be disappointed.

2. God works through His people. The money and encouragement God gave us did not fall out of the sky (except that one time). He used people to provide for us each time. Our time at DTS will be marked by a string of faces and friends who prayed, listened to God, and responded to the stirring of His Spirit. I would encourage you to be listening, too. You'll never know what blessings God desires to give to you or through you if you don't seek Him and His will.

3. And finally, simple apposition requires that both nouns be in the same case, while the genitive of apposition requires only the second noun to be in the genitive case. Hey, I never said that everything I learned was inspiring and important.

Set Loose on the World!

Misspellings

You know those words that no matter how many times you type them, you always type them wrong? I hate those words. I think everyone has different words that give them trouble, but for me, these are probably my top three:

church (chruch)

resurrection (ressurection)

ministry (minstry)

Maybe I should look for a new line of work...