Updates

Hello everyone!

This semester I believe that I will have a hard time updating what is going on in my life and what God is teaching me. I do however have an assignment that I will be sending out to people as a prayer letter update letter. It won't be as personal as this normally is, but it will be something. So here is my prayer letter/update letter:

A lot has been going on the last two weeks. Time for an update for sure!

School has started and with it all the classes, people, and work. There is of course my relationship with Rachel that takes a good chunk of time, at least energy. The various people and ministries that I am part of, and they take up some more. Hopefully I get some sleep in there, too! Needless to say I have a long and busy semester ahead of me, but hopefully a lot of learning as well. I want to take this letter as a opportunity to take you along with me as I go through it. I will be trying my best to send out this letter every weekend about what is going on during the week. This may include what God is doing in my life, prayer request that I have for the week/month/semester, just everyday things that are going on in my life, and what my week will look like.

First, what God has and is doing in my life lately. Most of this involves school and the relationships that are here. I am doing a lot of reading for classes, books that I hope will challenge me in my faith to grow in ways that I didn't think possible. Just the classes themselves are pushing me to consider doing things I would not have before and think of things in a different light.

One class that I think I will learn the most in is a class that I am not even taking. I am TA (Teachers assistant) for the class teaching ministry philosophy. I have taken the class already, but now I have to help others learn it, which will push me to know the material in a new way.

Another class that I am that really looking forward to is basically a class about spiritual growth. This class I think will be an answer to prayer. I have been praying that I would be challenged to grow this year and I think this will be it. The whole class is built to help students discipline their lives for a regular growth. I am looking forward to it.

Some every day things that are going on:

Rachel and I are still doing well – She is actually with me right now. We are up at her grandparents for the weekend to help them for the weekend at their camp. It is also a good time to just to catch up and visit with her family.

I have also been biking almost every weekend. There is a group that goes road biking a few times a week and I try to go with them on Saturdays. It is a lot of fun to ride in a group with other crazy bikers. I have also met some other students on campus that have road bikes and enjoy biking as much as I do.

Youth group is just starting out for the semester. I think it will be a good year for the youth group. I would really like some things to change, or at least improve for the sake of the teens. The hard thing for me is when I can do anything at all. Since I am not a member, I have no authority to change anything. I just have to keep praying that God will open opportunities.

Prayer Request:

Rachel and I both have a rough semester ahead of us. Pray that we would both keep up with our studies and not let them over whelm us. More importantly, that we would keep our relationship pure, with a priority to God first.

When I go for bike rides, most of the people I run into aren't believers or church goers of any sort. I really want to reach out to them and hopefully have significant conversations.

What I really want to see this semester is some change in the youth group. I want to see growth in the church, the students and members that go there. Once we as the members of the church start growing together, I think things we start changing for the better.

My week:

Saturday: Date day with Rachel and helping with grandparents for the better part of the day

Sunday: Go to church in the morning and do homework for the rest of the day

Monday: the day starts at 5am, School for most of the day and work/homework in the evening

Tuesday: Same as Monday with a meeting with a teacher about youth group

Wednesday: School and youth group in the evening

Thursday: Normal day of school and work

Friday: School in the morning with an exam in expository preaching class, and then another normal day of class and work.

I'll be doing my best to keep you up to date and let you know how things are going.

Later