Admin 'Appenings

 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 w...

 Didja miss me?! It feels like it's been forever since I've gotten the chance to update y'all! Personal Updates:  December was a wild month that I can hardly remember! After isolating myself and getting a negative test, I was able to fly home for Christmas for the first time in a few years. (At my previous position with Fossil, I wasn't able to take any vacation days in the month of December.) It was nice to see my family during the holidays — I know that many families were unable to do so this year, so I feel particularly fortunate. It was the first time that Stephanie has been able to meet my parents as well! Given that we've been dating during COVID longer than out of it and also that my parents live in another state, there haven't been many opportunities for them to meet. (It went well.)  Ministry Updates: After cautioning everyone to stay socially distant and safe for after the holidays, our ministers were given the option to opt into going to an optional s...

Should my blog post titles reflect the last month.. or the month to come? It would make sense for it to correspond to the last month, the one that I'm writing about. But at the same time, I also like writing about the present and the future. So here we are. I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving (whether socially distanced, quarantined, or celebrated like any other year) that helped you take this year into perspective. Despite the current mess we're in, there is still so much to be thankful for! Family, friends, jobs, marriages and babies. Loves, likes, the clothes we wear, and shelter from the weather. The list can go on! I encourage you to comment with something that you've been thinking of recently that you're thankful for! Personal Updates: I started pre-engagement counseling with my girlfriend, Stephanie! Pre-engagement counseling consists of working through a 10 lesson 'course' with a couple that has been married for at least 5 years in our churc...

Where has the time gone? The year's almost over! I was talking to a friend the other day and told him about last Christmas that happened 'a few months ago'... before realizing that Christmas was more than just a few months ago and this coming Christmas is only a few months out. 😅 Personal Updates: An update on my MRI results! Everything came back.. normal! Thank you all again for your prayers, for your care and concern, texts and well wishes. It truly means the world to me! With that chapter closing, I can get back to trying to be as healthy as I can be. But this also means that anytime I do something dumb or forget.. that's just me.. no excuses (like when I thought Christmas was only a few months ago.) Right on time, I've finished the entire Old Testament! What a journey it has been. Far from being an Old Testament scholar, nonetheless, I feel infinitely more equipped in tackling harder questions regarding the goodness of God as represented in the Old Testament. M...

Quickly! Go outside and spend some time in the nice weather before Texas realizes it needs to change from a burning desert climate to the freezing tundra. Personal Updates: Well, I went to go see a neurologist about my incident over Labor Day Weekend and he told me that he suspected a combination of dehydration and extreme motion sickness. Which, if that's all that there is to it, then that would be great! The good news is that I'm starting to feel normal again - less headaches and tiredness (though I'm not sure if those are from that fateful day or just something that I experience from time to time). And I went to get an MRI done this past Monday. I'll get the results back in 2 weeks and discuss it with the doctor. Thank you all for the prayers! But let me tell you what, the MRI machine was so  much louder than I thought it would be.. if you ever need to get an MRI, I highly recommend requesting the earplugs instead of the headphones. I'm also finishing up my Old T...

 It feels like it's been forever since I last had the chance to update y'all! I meant to get this blog post out sooner.. Personal Updates: ...but some things got in the way. The craziest thing that has happened to me in recent memory was that I had to go to the emergency room on the Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. Before I keep going, I'll let y'all know that I feel fine! I have a number of people checking up on me and making sure that I'm recovering without issue. Thank you for all the prayers! They're not exactly sure what happened, so I'm trying to visit a neurologist this coming week just to make sure that I get a thorough second opinion. Ministry Updates: The school year is underway! All of our ministers have had to think of creative ways to engage with the student body, given that some campuses are only online, some schools are not allowing physical gatherings of any kind on campus, while others are doing their best to accommodate for student life in th...

Schools are getting ready to start back up and we must be ready to meet the students wherever they are - online or on their campuses! Personal Updates: As some of you may already know after tuning in to watch the licensing ceremony, I'm officially a licensed minister for FOCUS now! I was surprised (the day of) to be included in the ceremony, as I'm primarily doing administrative tasks, but I was honored to be there beside all of the faithful servants who are (re)committing the next year, or years, of their lives to changing our campuses. It was during that ceremony that my spirit was struck by excitement for the year to come and thankfulness that y'all have partnered with me in ministry this year. If you're interested in what this ceremony looks like, you can find it here . A minor note, I have an expander in my mouth now! For those of you who aren't familiar, it's an 'appliance' that rests in the top of your mouth which expands your palate. This is in p...