Time to Switch it Up?

Hey y'all,

Still trying to figure out this blog stuff out. I'm not sure what y'all want to see, but maybe just pictures and captions would be engaging! So I'm going to throw out the photos that I took last month with some context for you and hopefully that gives you an insight of what my life is like! For those of you that know me well.. you'll know that this is probably more my style. 😂

We started New Testament class which will last through the semester. The textbook is maybe one of the biggest books I've seen, more like an encyclopedia. But we're currently learning about reading the New Testament through the lens of the culture of the time (by learning about the culture of the time).

This is a picture I snapped of Hopdoddy (#notsponsored) at Village On The Parkway. Not that I ate there or anything.. but I saw a movie at the AMC across the street. A lot of people ask me, "Paul, you're still watching movies?" To that I reply, yes! Typically when I go see a movie, I'm the only one in the movie theater! I saw News of the World, a movie with Tom Hanks about the late 1800s.

Here's a picture I snapped late at night after I got my braces. I'll have them for the next year and a half! 😭

We had teams of staff people come in to stuff envelopes with tax receipts and annual reports! If you did not receive a tax receipt yet and would like one, please let me know! If you would like to take a look at our annual report online, you can find it here.

These are Turtle Chips that you can find at an Asian grocery store! If you're looking for a new snack to try out, I would recommend trying these! They're called turtle chips because the chip is layered and looks like a turtle shell. The flavors are not traditional (with regards to American chips), more sweet, but still very yum.

Here are my roommates at one of our roommate nights (that we have weekly). It's easy to think that when you live with someone, that you'll spend time with them! But experience shows that roommates actually spend some of the least time together, if you're not intentional about it. So we meet up every week to clean the house, talk about what's been going on in our lives, and play some games! The game in the picture is Betrayal at House on the Hill.

Sunday morning church in the chilly parking lot! It's been such a blessing to be able to see people come out on less-than-ideal days to be in community.

Isn't this the most precious (and saddest) dog you've ever seen in your life? She was moping because no one was petting her or letting her sit in their lap. 😍

Here's a slo-mo video I took at Ultimate Frisbee. We play every Sunday near UTD so that students can come and hang out!

That's all I have for you this month! Thanks for reading. :-)

-Paul

Comments

Why are bananas curved in shape?

My mom celebrated her birthday this month and we all got on a video chat! (Peep the Zoom call in the corner.) My niece loves to clap with other people and so she was having a grand time. You'll have to go back (quite) a few blog posts to find when I first got my expander put in... who knew it would take this long for me to get my braces off?? Some friends told me that the braces were a part of my identity, so without them, what am I?! But seriously, eating is SO EASY again. Earlier this month, I got to go on a short trip to Boston with Steph and another couple. It was my first time (that I can remember) going to the East Coast. Being someone who grew up on the West Coast (and even now in Dallas), there has never been a rich history to the places I've been. But it was incredible getting to see the sights and walk The Freedom Trail. Going into Paul Revere's house definitely brought out the kid in me who loved him growing up, simply because we had the same name. Anyways, this ...

We Made It!

I attended UTD's end-of-year party because I heard that there would be a flash mob for Brandon (the party landed on Brandon's actual birthday). Don't tell anyone I got it for you... but you can watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Q7eRcecoM On our first day of SICM (Sunday), they had us join the end of their first service so that their congregation could pray over us, our safety and learning. What a sweet congregation! Their church really reminds me of the congregation at Northeast Garland, people who have really invested in a shared vision - in their case, it's to support and train ministers around the world. If you see the little posters on the back wall, they had posters lining around their whole sanctuary of missionaries that their body supports around the world. On one of the sightseeing days in Seattle, a group of us took the ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge. On the ferry, you depart from downtown Seattle across Elliot Bay, and get a grand view of the ...

Showcase is February 26

Showcase is in 1 week! If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, you can do so at anyfocus.org/showcase. All proceeds from the show go towards sending our prospective student leaders to SICM, a conference that trains and equips them to think pastorally on their campuses. This is a video of me and my family hanging out on Zoom on New Years Eve and celebrating the New Year for the West Coast (2 am in Texas). I decided not to attend any New Year's celebrations in person (and isolated myself for almost a week beforehand) in an attempt to not contract COVID before our staff retreat... I tested positive later that day. Though I tested positive for COVID on New Years, Winter Camp was a few weeks after which gave me time to recover. We flew in Rikk Watts to speak about the historicity of the Bible. It was nice to have some semblance of normalcy, as we had canceled Winter Camp the previous year. It was a lot of work, but definitely worth it to see the students bonding and having a good ...

Admin 'Appenings

Search This Blog