19 August 2008

Preparing for the madness

Okay, the title is a little bit of an exaggeration, but in less than a week we will regret poor use of free time and underutilization of time together over the summer. That's right, the fall semester begins next week. And not just any semester- our last semester (if anyone has ever been the spouse of a seminary student, you realize that getting through truly is a joint effort - hence the "our"). Along with classes, stacks of books, and assignments that keep Luke up until all hours of the night (which he's getting used to as he's stayed up watching the olympics every night for the past two weeks), the new semester brings new work schedules and other commitments.

Luke just started a new job coaching at a cheerleading gym. Since the kids are in school all day, practices run late afternoon-evening. He won't be getting home quite as late as he did when working at Starbucks, but it still basically kills our opportunity to enjoy dinner together four of the seven days of the week. Not to say I don't have my own changes and commitments on the horizon. Starting next Tuesday, I'll be taking the Perspectives class, a missions-oriented course on the world Christian movement. Additionally, FCA at the local high school should kick in on Thursday nights soon, and a new college semester means additional flyers, newsletters and other pieces will need to be created for Kappa Phi. Between committees, the deacon's board, youth activities and services based on African time, church rounds out our list of activities that will surely leave us longing for the less-intense days of summer.

We did take the opportunity to get a little time together - enjoying God's creation - this past weekend. Canoeing down the Brazos River on Saturday in beautiful 85-degree weather (NOT common in Dallas in August), followed by Chinese takeout and a movie, and a relaxing day together on Sunday ending with grilling out in a nearby park, was a great way to do what we could to try to memorize each other's features so as not to forget what the other looks like when our schedules have us all over the metroplex but never in the same place at the same time.

On another note (I realize this is getting kind of random), we are praying and preparing for a potential trip to Zambia in March with SIM, and are continuing through the steps for full-time missions with the organization.

Which gets to the scary part. We came to Dallas so Luke could attend seminary and we could move to Africa. We had created a 'list' of necessary steps in order to enter into full-time missions. 1. Graduate seminary (coming in December); 2. pay off all debt (done in June); 3. Find an organization and go through the application process (in progress); and 4. Get assignment and raise support.
All of a sudden this Africa thing is becoming real!!!
Once a distant thought, it is now a plan-evoking reality. So not only are we starting another semester... it's our last semester... meaning it is only a matter of time before our lives turn from our daily commitments and routines to fundraising, packing, and preparing for God's great adventure for us halfway around the world...

13 August 2008

Our Summer Letter


If you didn't get our most recent update letter, here it is! Click on the image for a larger, easier-to-read version.
(If you want to receive future support letters via mail or e-mail, please let us know)

12 August 2008

Just some thoughts on the Olympics...

So, my dad has been a sports journalist for basically an eternity now, but since he prefers to work in the small market newspapers, he doesn't get to travel to the Olympics....though many people have been asking me about that lately. He does, however, have many friends who do travel over there, and he's pretty well informed about what's going on. He wrote on his blog a week or two ago about how China was trying to control what the world-wide media says and does during the Olympics. I'll let you go to his blog yourself....and enjoy what you read. He's a much better writer than I am.

On another note, since the opening ceremonies on Friday night and all their extravagance, I have been completely plastered to my television set. I only get NBC, and that comes in and out depending on the location of the rabbit ears on our set, but they cover the headline sports, which for the Olympics that's really all I care about. And being a former gymnast, swimmer, and diver, these past few days have been intense. Men's and women's qualifying in gymnastics, the men's finals last night with the US taking a surprising bronze (much better than that sixth place I and many others predicted), the synchronized diving domination by the Chinese, and the gills of the US swim team have all kept my eyes glued to the small 19" screen. Perhaps the greatest two moments of the Olympics so far have been the US men getting third in gymnastics last night (behind China and Japan, surprise, surprise) and Jason Lezak coming from behind and touching out France for the gold in the 400 Free Relay on Sunday night. Being the child of my father, I love to yell at the television and tell the athletes how I feel about the performance. However, as Tiffany goes to bed at about 8:30 or 9:00, I had to hold it in, as both of these spectacular events took place after 10:00. So instead I just pumped my fists in the air and pretended to yell.

Next up on my agenda: watch the US women's gymnastics team do what it does best...crumble under Olympic pressure. We got a taste of it the other day when Alicia Sacramone decided to tumble completely off the floor, Nastia Liukin took a seat as she dismounted from bars, and Chelsie Memmel looked like she just didn't want to hang onto the bar anymore. I'm starting to have flashbacks of the 92 games when Kim Zmeskel and company were slated to dominate and all they did was drop the ball. But we'll see.

07 August 2008

The Video of My Sermon, Part the Last

Finally...part 5. Much shorter than the others, but the way the video divided itself, this is what I was left with.



Part 5 of 5

The Video of My Sermon, Part 4

Here's part 4...I realize now that you'll have to start at the bottom and work your way up. Sorry. You could go from the top down and treat my sermon like you're watching "Memento."



Part 4 of 5

The Video of My Sermon, Part 3

Here's part 3...only 2 more after this one...



Part 3 of 5

The Video of My Sermon, Part 2

And, here's part 2....man it takes a long time for these suckers to upload....Maybe next time I'll do a 20-minute Lutheran sermon instead of this 45-minute African Baptist business...



Part 2 of 5

The Video of My Sermon, Part 1

Seeing as how Tiffany thought I should actually post the video of my sermon from June, I have spent the last few days trying to figure out how to get the video onto my computer and then post it onto the blog. I'm hoping I can get it all on here. I'd also like to apologize in advance for any motion sickness one may suffer from watching the video....Tiff's arm got tired a few times and she'd adjust. And please be nice. I didn't really know what I was doing...


Part 1 of 5

03 August 2008

My Resume - what is it worth?

So part of the process of applying for full-time missions with SIM is filling out a doctrinal assessment (I'll get to that in a minute) and a training evaluation. You fill in boxes on all the different Bible and missions courses you have taken, along with related transcripts - a resume of sorts.

Don't get me wrong, I've got this resume thing down... shifting from Journalism to PR to Marketing Communications to Internet Marketing and now to a combination of basically all of the above, I've got my bases covered. So that will get me a job in marketing, but what about in missions?

Granted, Bible studies galore, serving in our church in so many ways that we've basically given up on the concept of weekends, Sunday school lessons, and weekly sermons have all taught me so much about God's word and pushed me to try to be more like Jesus, but I couldn't fill in a single box on the sheet for 'formalized training.' Isn't experience what matters? That's what I have on my resume - I'm past the 'relevant coursework' and rely on 'work experience' instead. But it leaves me to ponder... am I equipped? We've spent the past two years and lots of money putting Luke through seminary and I'm convinced he knows the Bible front to back. Me? I thought I had a pretty good understanding, and that the 'experience' thing would be great, but there was also a doctrinal assessment.

Doctrinal assessment just sounds intimidating. It would have been better had they called it: "What you believe." We filled out the basic version on our initial application, but this was a little longer, a little more insightful, and they limited you to four sentences per answer. Being a writer, I'm really good at really long answers that sound good but may not exactly hit the target of the question. Now I have to answer deep theological questions and am limited to a few lines of text. Oy. All I have to say is that if they deem us unfit for missions or decide I spoke pure heresy, I apologize to Luke and all those who were excited to support us and pray for us as we set off. Okay, it wasn't that bad, and the questions asking me to apply my faith to a variety of cultural questions were actually kind of fun to answer after I stewed on them and avoided them until the last possible minute. Plus, it was good to really think about what I believe, and not just what I've been fed to believe. It's just that the whole process is intimidating - that at each step someone is going to tell me we can't go because I'm unfit for missions because this isn't just writing a good story and hoping it affects someone. This is telling THE GOOD STORY and praying that someone will make a choice between eternal life or eternal punishment.

I guess where I'm going with this is that with all the "successes" I've had in things of this world and all the praise I've received for various gifts and strengths, this is one area where, *shock,* my sufficiency comes only from the Lord. That's kind of freeing - seeing as I definitely don't feel sufficient. This is one test I can't ace by any effort of my own. I can't rely on charm, intelligence, or my resume. Our work in missions will not be our work, but the Spirit of the Lord working through us to bring Him the glory. Praise God!

Because I definitely couldn't do it without him...

01 August 2008

Disciplinary Action

Oh, the spiritual disciplines. I remember reading a book about them for school a couple years ago. "The Spirit of the Disciplines," by Dallas Willard. I remember enjoying that book. I remember the assignment of practicing at least one discipline for a period of time to be enjoyable and educational. I actually continued with this discipline for some time after the class ended. Then life happened, and it all changed.

But first, a flashback...

Going back to college, I remember having to be extremely structured with my time. Being on the swim team my freshman year, I would be in class all day, go to practice in the middle of the afternoon, go straight to work, go to some Christian event on campus (between prayer meetings, CRU gatherings, and worship, I had something every night of the week), then go home, do homework, do my quiet time, and go to bed. Every day. Very structured. Yet very disciplined. I always did my quiet time, and when I did, I always read one chapter from an O.T. book of history, five psalms, one proverb, one chapter from the prophets, one chapter from a Gospel, and one chapter from an epistle. Then I would journal, usually for about half an hour or so. Then I would pray. Very, very disciplined. And I grew a lot during that time. Then life happened, and things changed. The swim team got cut, and I became a cheerleader, which was more work and different practice times. My whole schedule changed, and all of a sudden I didn't have the freetime at night to do my quiet times anymore. I tried getting up early in the morning to do them, but 4 am is really early for a college student, and that didn't work. I tried to do them in the middle of the day, but I would fall asleep. It never occurred to me to stop some of my other activities to give some time for God...a lesson I didn't learn for many more years and that I continue to struggle with now.

So here I am, out of college for over three years, looking to finish up seminary in about four months, and considering what God has planned for Tiffany and myself in regards to full-time ministry overseas. Yet I still have a hard time devoting time to God. It's been bothering me for a while, and I keep saying that I'm going to do something about it, but then I don't. I'd much rather putz around and do nothing. But Tuesday night, when I was unable to sleep for hours on end, I had a little discussion time with God. You know how sometimes you pray for unimportant things and God turns you around so you look at the important things, instead. I was praying that I could become more disciplined and start working out more, as I have been frustrated with the irregularity of my workouts. So, as I'm praying this, I feel deeply convicted that I'm not disciplined in my time with God, so how could I ask to be disciplined in my time elsewhere. I needed to get my priorities straight and refocus on the things that matter. So I've taken action on this issue with the hopes of becoming more disciplined in my time with God. I've devoted time every morning (well, Wednesday and today...I don't know what happened yesterday...) to reading God's word, praying, and even journaling (well, I really only journaled on Wednesday....but there's still time today). Though it's only been a few days, I feel like my whole life is getting back into some sort of structure, all because I've made the effort to focus on God regularly and let other things get pushed to the side until He gets my focus. I took some disciplinary action, and it has really made a difference and encouraged me to continue in this discipline.