I recently came across the following video that has challenged me to think twice about the idea of "business as usual". It's made me wonder, what could I do with my team at work to make our job more fun? How could I add a little more fun for my daughters as they clean their room? What about my own goals... add in a little fun?
Over a year has passed since my last post, now it's time to start writing again.
I have found writing in blog form forces me to ratchet down my wordiness, getting to the heart of the matter in a succinct manner.
Since my last post, so much has transpired. I have completed my second Masters degree, been ordained for ministry, completed a second Chaplain Candidate tour at Lackland AFB and am currently waiting for my reappointment interview with the USAF to become a "real" Chaplain.
I have not written for so long wondering what I could possibly say that would have an impact on others through this venue. Perhaps the real truth is that the thought that goes into my writing has more impact on me than anyone else--so I will begin to write again. However, my hope is that as you read this you will find something in my journey that can serve as part of the transformation process in your life (Heb 10:23-24).
Just as this photo shows the sun setting over the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, the place I currently call home, the sun also sets on the old man as I seek to continually be renewed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Though the mountains do not disappear when the sun sets, the dawn renews them just as we are renewed every morning by the grace and mercy of our heavenly Father (Lamentations 3:22-24).
I trust everyone had as wonderful a Valentine's Day as I did with my family.
I won't say much and simply leave the talking to Charis.
Liberty University's Online Program Ranks #3 Nationally
Recently I began working for Liberty University's Distance Learning Program as the Supervisor of Admissions Consulting. We are responsible for calling new students who have inquired about our Online Program.
Last week we were awarded the honor of being among the top online schools in the country by OEDB. Read more about the story here. I am honored to have joined a successful team such as this and have been enjoying getting to know my new responsibilities. I am also pleased to say that the team I lead is among the best teams I have ever worked with! If you are looking to continue or complete your education I'd encourage you to check us out www.luonline.com.
Surprise!
A few weeks ago we received a phone call from someone at Amber's dad's church. They called to see if we would be willing to fly out to WI for Thanksgiving to surprise Amber's parents. Since I'm currently able to work from anywhere we decided to go for it. It was difficult to keep the secret from her entire family but we were successful in the mission.
On our way to the airport Monday we got a flat tire. We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. To make a long story shorter... All the nuts came right off the tire easily, the Jeep fell off the jack, though in the middle of nowhere we stopped in front of a crane company who had a floor hydraulic jack as well as compressed air to firm up the full size spare that we had.
As we pulled away after pumping up all the tires and saying thanks I was filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude toward God for watching over us. It was AWESOME!
Then after several hours of travel, layovers and delays, Monday night we were picked up from the airport and about an hour and a half late we showed up at their door. They were expecting a package to be dropped off from someone in their church and we showed up at their door. Amber's mom Ann was in tears and it was a lot of fun. Now we've pulled off this stunt twice. A few years back prior to moving here we surprised them in a similar fashion.
Now the family is preparing everything for Thanksgiving and last night we were all able to celebrate Charis' first birthday together. We're looking forward to a long weekend and time with family.
Another long time between posts.
But, what else is new?
Well, for starters, if you have been following my journey you may or may not know that I finally took my Oath of Office as a 2 Lt. Chaplain Candidate USAF on August 2, 2007. This has been a long journey which has tested my endurance at each turn. I am grateful to God for allowing me this opportunity.
My Oath was administered by my brother-in-law Col. Michael Sheen USAF (Retired) in the Equipment Maintenance shop at Mountain Home AFB where my brother, Sr. Airman Jonathan Henry USAF, serves.
Now, it's time to wait, run, wait & run a little more... (did I mention I need to run a bit more?)
I've got some working out to do to prepare for next summer. As it stands now it looks like I will be attending the first class for COT as well as attending Chaplain Candidate School and a short CONUS tour.
In other journey new... it looks like there is a very good possibility that, due to a degree title adjustment, I am going to be able to complete my M.Div. much sooner than expected. I'm not sure how this will play out with the Candidacy program but It looks like I will complete my M.Div. by next August enabling me to begin my D.Min. about a year and a half sooner than expected!
New Photos
I've uploaded a few new photos, including this one of Kyla, to my Picasa Album. Click on the link on the left panel to take look. I'm hoping to take a few more of the girls together. we missed out opportunity to have both of them sit in the flowers, our next door neighbor decided to mow his lawn. Hope you enjoy these.
Blast From the Past
Not only has it been a while since my last post but a while since I had spoken to my best friend from high school. It all began a few weeks ago when, at work, I had what we call a manual callback form cross my desk. It had the name of my best friend, Marty Bowles, written on it. I decided to call the number listed and talk business with him. As the conversation continued I knew this wasn't the same man but figured I would share my ulterior motives with him.
Not being the person I had hoped to be able to contact I thought, "Why not try classmates.com again?" I had tried this in the past to no avail. I knew Marty had also signed up for classmates but I hadn't been able to contact him because I wasn't willing to pay the membership fees. Okay, call me what you want. Maybe I am cheap, but I just couldn't justify spending that money to contact someone that I should be able to get contact info for free.
So I tried sending an e-mail and to my amazement Marty responded. It took me a while, busy with family, school, and work, to get back to him and last night we finally connected and caught up. I had a great time on the phone catching up on the time that has transpired since we last spoke. I look forward to when we will be able to meet again and get our familes together .
All that from a simple call back sheet that was pushed across my desk.
Another late Sunday night and early Monday morning. I'm just sitting here studying for my World Missions Midterm (yes, it's past mid-term, but that's another story). While I was studying I came across the following, which I had seen before, and thought I would share it here. Perhaps it will find a new place in the forefront of my brain:
So, it's Sunday night. I'm lying here in bed thinking about what tomorrow holds.
Did I mention that Amber is going to be on the worship team at church? This is huge for her. The worship team is very high quality and she feels honored to be a part. It'll be great for her to have a ministry out side of the home.
I have been tossing in my mind the thoughts of Oswald Chambers since yesterday. Though I have read this devotional several times, yesterday's entry hit me right where I am now....
"Vision:
I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. Acts 26:19.
If we lose the vision, we alone are responsible, and the way we lose the vision is by spiritual leakage. If we do not run our belief about God into practical issues, it is all up with the vision God has given. The only way to be obedient to the heavenly vision is to give our utmost for God's highest, and this can only be done by continually and resolutely recalling the vision. The test is the sixty seconds of every minute, and the sixty minutes of every hour, not our times of prayer and devotional meetings.
Though it tarry, wait for it. We cannot attain to a vision, we must live in the inspiration of it until it accomplishes itself. We get so practical that we forget the vision. At the beginning we saw the vision but did not wait for it; we rushed off into practical work, and when the vision was fulfilled, we did not see it. Waiting for the vision that tarries is the test of our loyalty to God. It is at the peril of our soul's welfare that we get caught up in practical work and miss fulfillmentment of the vision.
Watch God's cyclones. The only way God sows His saints is by His whirlwind. Are you going to prove an empty pod? It will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of what you have seen. Let God fling you out, and do not go until He does. If you select your own spot, you will prove an empty pod. If God sows you, you will bring forth fruit.
It is essentiapracticectise the walk of the feet in the light of the vision."*
I have been tossing the following questions around in my own life; "What is my passion, am I truly connected to the vision God has for my life, is there spiritual leakage?"
What a great term--Spiritual Leakage. How easy it is to get caught up in the practical, or for that matter philosophical, issues in life that we begin to loose touch with the vision God has for each of us. What are you passionate about? What is the vision God has called you to? Is there spiritual leakage in your life? I trust that we can learn together in this journey God has usDrop drop me a line or feel free to leave your comments about where God has you right now.
*Chambers, Oswald. My Utmost for His Highest : Selections for the Year, March 11. Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers, 1993, c1935.
So as it seems, once again I have been inspired by someone (Thanks Tim) to try journaling (in this case a blog) once again. I'm sure this will be my usual journal fair... write for a few days and forget about while becomming busy with life. We'll see.
So where am I now? As you may know, Amber, Kyla, and I have moved to Lynchburg, VA. After spending slightly over two years in Madison, WI. We have made the leap to an even smaller city here in central Virginia.
I am attending Liberty Theological Seminary, working at InService America, and attending/serving Blue Ridge Comunity Church. Amber is enjoying being a full-time mom and caretaker of me (well, maybe she's not really enjoying the later). This has been her dream career and with Kyla, it's deffinately a full-time job!
LTS - I'm taking a full-time load having finished my first semester in December and now about half way through this one. I shoudl be able to finish my MAR (Master of Arts in Religion) by December '06. After that I'm planning to possibly work towards a MRE (Master of Religious Education) while heading ultimately towards the MDIV (Master of Divinity).
Liberty has been a great experience so far and I am very happy we have made the move here. 15 credits down, 12 this semester and 18 more to go to finish the first degree. It's been challenging for me as I've never been a great student, but I'm getting the best grades of my life now while supporting my family and trying to serve God all at the same time. It's a busy life, but I'm so glad it's the one God has given me.
ISA - InService America is a call center. We are a company that provides telecommunications for various clients. Yes, in other words... the dreaded telemarketer. The big difference with this company is that it is owned and operated by Christians. about 80% of our business is what is know as Inbound. Most of the Inbound work is for various national ministries in which we take orders, process donations, provide prayer and even lead callers through salvation prayers as needed. It's a really different work environment. Many of our clients are national ministries you may have heard of or even supported.
My experience there began when Amber's cousin Phil suggested I look into applying. Though I had a job with the Home Depot, I was travelling all the way to Roanoke (1.25 Hr one-way) for work. I had gotten a demotion because they didnt have the same job I had in Madison available. with that demotion was a huge cut in pay. Also, being that I was going to take class they wouldnt give me full-time hours. Anyhow... I went and applied and was hirde to work as an Inbound communicator. Shortly after being hired I was selected to be on a test team in which we would be dedicated to one client taking minimal calls but providing a higher quality of service because we would be specialized. This was pretty cool because the client represented 5 ministries I could personally support.
Although this was going well I was frustrated by the lack of organization of the company. Frustrated with this, I told the new Operations Manger that I didn't want to come into his office and simply complain about what was going on because I knew he quickly become the complaint dept. Rather, I was willing to become part of seeing change. I handed him my resume and told him I would be happy to continue doing what I was doing or take on a new challenge. A week late he offered me a position as Supervisor. This was only about a month into my employment with ISA.
The plan was to crosstrain me, having me learn how the Outbound side of the business worked and then come back to Inbound. I started training for Outbound and shortly after the Outbound manager didn't want to let me leave. So, here I stay, an Outbound Supervisor. But it's really been pretty cool. I was given a 50% raise and a LOT of hours. It's been challenging to balance work, life, family, ministry, and school.
BRCC - Every church has an acrostic, right? Ours is BRCC - Blue Ridge Community Church. It's a great place to call home. Amber found this church while I was still working at the Home Depot. It's a great place with realy people who genuinely care about what God wants them to be doing/being. Very down to earth and unpretentious as well. Incredible worship teams and the quality of preaching is almost always very very good (every preacher's got an off day). I've been serving as a High School Guys Small Group Co-leader. Brad (the other co-leader) and I meet with the guys every wednesday night for small group and you almost never know what to expect. It's a really awesome group of guys.
Amber - Awesome, as usual. I don't think I'd even be alive if it weren't for her. She's constantly picking up after me, cleaning everything I dirty, cooks and somehow manages to raise Kyla while doing all that. She's also been attending a Ladies Bible study at Thomas Road Baptist Church (Jerry Fallwell's church). She started the beginning of last semester after I had ben told they it was a Bible study for seminary wives. Turns out the seminary wives are a section of the ladies ministry at TRBC. It's been great for her. She hates to miss it and has built a few close relationships as a result. Kyla loves to attend as well.
Also, as a result of the Ladies Bible study is Amber's friend Julie. Julie is from Korea and her husband, James, is working on his Doctorate at the seminary. Amber has Julie over on Friday mornings to help her with learning English.
Kyla - Wow, 2 years old. She's talking like crazy and getting big. She's got her parents build. Not so tall, not so thin. Amber just took her to the Doctor and she was in the 25% for height and 75% for weight. I could go on and on about her. She loves to attend Tuesday morning Bible study, Sunday School, and the Library. Those are the regular highlights of her week. A couple of weeks ago we got a breif snow shower and I was able to take her tubing for the first time as well as build her first snowman. The snowtube was on the back porch for a week or so and about every time she saw it she'd say, "snowtube, daddy's fun." or something like that. She had a blast.
If you're interested, let me know and I'll send you a link to our photo pages. There's a ton of cute pictures of her.
The Animals - Ginger, yep he's still around. But, he's now being challenged by his younger brother Cooper. Cooper's our new puppy. Getting him was a saga that I won't bore you with. But as Russ (our nextdoor neighbor in Madison) used to say... to make along story short... After picking Cooper out at the local animal shelter we found out the reaon he was so docile was because he was battling worms and parvo. A week at the Vet and a bunch of $$ later he's doing well and having a blast chasing Ginger al around our little house.
The House - speaking of the house. God has blesed us with a cute little house. It was a tough move but we have seen God at every turn.
The Neighbors - We're south of the Mason Dixon... need I say more? No offense to those of our friends who are from here or even further south, but if you've met our neighbors you'd understand. Give us a call and we'll tell you some stories.
I guess that's about all for now. I thought I'd start this with an update as to where we've been over the past few months. I trust all is well with you as you read this. Please drop me a line and let me know how I can be praying for you.
It is important for me to begin by letting you know that I reserve the right to be wrong.
To expound on that, I realize that, though Christ has justified me, I'm so far from being perfect or even having it all together. I'm simply a guy who has made his share of mistakes but is trying to abide in Christ as He continues to transform me. My purpose in writing, is to share with you the lessons I've learned and continue to be challenged by. Some of these lessons regard my experiences leading, following and at most times a combination of both. Other posts will tackle spiritual life issues, character, my experiences in the USAF Chaplain Corps yet others will be on communication.
I encourage you to journey with me. My hope is that you will hear the heart of a guy that is seeking to be continually renewed and transformed. I trust that as you read my posts they will be informative as well as serve as a tool to assist you in allowing yourself to be transformed.
If something I write happens to speak to you, please feel free respond
Finally, I hope you enjoy!
