Restart

Once again, I'm trying to commit myself to posting regularly to my blog. Please forgive my inconsistency.

Life has been crazy since my last post. Too much has happened for me to capture it all in one writing. I'll share a few highlights here, and then more may come in later posts.

Tamara and I got married on July 23 in West Fork, Arkansas. It was a beautiful wedding, and our life together is off to a great start. Of course, there are the ups and downs as expected, but God has blessed us amazingly.

We honeymooned in the Smoky Mountains, staying in a secluded cabin north of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Marvelous. When I returned to ministry with the Tuscola Church of Christ, a few of the men informed me that they had met while I was gone and decided that they could no longer afford me. (Obviously, other issues are always involved in such actions, but budget difficulty was the one presented in this case.)

I finished the month of August with the congregation and then gracefully bowed out, letting them begin their search for a part-time preacher. Another man is now preaching for them on Sundays but not doing any other ministry in the community. I fear for their future and pray rich blessings upon them.

Tamara and I were in quite a quandary as to what our next plan of action should be. I began applying for other ministry jobs. Several churches seemed interested. I accepted an invitation to work with a church in Arkansas, but that relationship suddenly vaporized after the elders' knee-jerk reaction to a misunderstanding in the compensation negotiation.

Devastated, Tamara and I prayed and pondered. Immediately after receiving the bad news from Arkansas, I started getting calls from other churches interested in me. Then Tamara's supervisor told her that he needed to know whether she would be here next semester, so she and I decided to stay in Abilene for the time being. She's still teaching and counseling. I'm teaching part-time, doing guest speaking for churches, doing a little consulting and writing, and working part-time with a couple of ministries. Next semester, I'll return to grad school to finish the Master of Divinity (MDiv) degree. It's a three-to-four-year degree, but I have only a year and a half left because I've been taking occasional courses the last few years while I've been doing other things. After I complete the degree, we'll look again to see what doors God may open.

More plans, thoughts, and events coming soon.