Life update...

I had a friend recently point out that it has been a while since I have posted anything on this site. To be honest I have been struggling with what to write and whether or not I was ever going to write anything again.

There have been so many changes over the last 8 months that to try and write about any of it has seemed impossible. I can say though that while this time was never in our original plans for our life it has been a journey that has revealed a lot about who Julie thought we were and about God.

At some point I will share all that God has been working on with me, but I feel I need to process more before I can fully explain what God is doing.

With that said I think it is beneficial to share what is going on and what the next steps are in both mine and Julie's life.

I am still currently working at T-Mobile as a sales associate. It has been interesting being part of the retail world (see previous post about some of my frustration), mostly it has been a good experience. I am learning a lot about how to deal with people in a way that shows compassion and truth. Also, something that I thought I always did a good job of was in how I relate to people and in my ability to teach. However, I have found that my sarcasm and selfishness has kept me from showing compassion towards others. There have been more than one instance of putting foot-in-mouth. I think the biggest frustration right now is that I find myself feeling like I have to defend T-Mobile as a company. I have friends, family, and customers who tell me about their frustrations with T-Mobile and I find that I get defensive. While I don't think T-Mobile is the best company in the world, I do have some sense of loyalty and I can take it personally when someone attacks the company. I try and justify and convince them and probably myself that the company is good. Again I think there is some growth in this area for me especially in not taking it personally. The reality is that I don't care that much about what others think about T-Mobile, but it is hard to not take it personally while working for them.

Julie has been very busy with her many jobs; Compass, Hubbell Communications, NW Church Planting, and several other clients. I am so impressed with how she is able to keep it all straight. I think for Julie the transition has been a chance for her to really grow as a leader and develop her own passions separate from my career. I see God moving in her life it is exciting to see how God is challenging and developing her. The challenge for us has been the fact that it is hard for us to develop a consistent schedule for us. With a job in retail I am having a difficult time in gaining any consistency and while Julie is able to work pretty much Monday-Friday 9 to 5, I am all over the place. Makes it hard to spend time together. We have friends that are in much more stressful arrangement, and I am very thankful for the job I have, never the less it is still difficult.

Another change that is going to be happening is that I will be going back to school starting in January. I am going back to Multnomah University, actually to the Seminary, to get my Masters in Biblical Studies. I am extremely excited about this and thankful that I have the opportunty. I have been asked a few times why go back to school and I think for me a big part of it has just been to get to know God on a deeper level. I know I don't need to go to school to do this but I know that being in school setting will help to challenge and push me through the process. This came out of a desire to grow in my understanding of the Bible and God. A lot of what God has been revealing to me over the last few years and especially the last 8 months has been signifcant and I feel like I want to continue to develop the ideas of this process but want to do it within the context of the God's word and while I feel pretty competent in my understanding of the Bible I think I could grow further. Being in this transitional period gives me the opportunity to really grow in this area.

Finally, a question that has come up has been what is next? What is the plan after school is done, etc...? Well, I don't know. I do know that I feel like God has called me to be in relationship with Him and to continue to help the church in what it means to be a church and how to help others experience a life with Him. I don't know what that looks like, if it means working in a church again or if it means supporting the local church while I continue to do other careers I just know that God is far from done with me.

So there you go, you are pretty much caught up with what is going on in our world. Stay tuned for future updates. I have some ideas about future topics, such as life with housemates, secular career vs full-time ministry, and a few other ideas.