almost half-time

I just realized the spring semester is about to come to an end and I have not written much. I want you all to know that things in the Big D are going well. Classes are harder and my job is demanding more of me every day, but I'm growing in ways I never expected and I praise God for it. My mom and I have this running joke about football and when I first started here she called me and said, "It's the start of the 1st quarter and the ball has been kicked off to you." Well now that I am about to complete my first year of my two year program at Seminary, I would say I have almost made it to half-time and I'm not out of the game yet. ;) (We will just call that extra semester it is going to take me to finish overtime.)

As most of you know I have been actively involved in a homeless ministry since moving to Texas and I wanted to give you a couple of updates on that. First, I wrote an article on my experience with the ministry for my writing class and I have an online magazine that is interested in publishing it. Pray that God will allow that to happen so that people can learn about OurCalling.org and get involved with some of the amazing things they are doing with the homeless in Dallas. Secondly, I have been asked to speak and give my testimony at one of the meetings. Please pray for that as well. I will be giving a short testimony at our meeting this Friday, but I will be the main speaker at one of the meetings in the weeks to come. Our meetings on Fridays usually have between 50 and 100 homeless people and we serve them coffee and have what we call a "Life Skills" class. We have to call it that because the government will not allow us to call it a Bible study. However, everyone of these classes, regardless of the nights topic, ends up being about the Gospel and how these people can have a relationship with Jesus. It is pretty amazing. I will write more as the semester ends and keep everyone updated on the ministry. Also, if the article is not published I will post it here.

One last thing. Chuck Swindoll, the Chancellor of Dallas Seminary, spoke in chapel at the beginning of the semester and he warned all of us that the first year of seminary would be full of spiritual warfare. He was right! It has been hard and wonderful all at the same time, but the Lord is seeing me through. Please continue to keep me and my time here at seminary in your prayers.