After almost two months, I’m long overdue for an update.  Remarkably, this will be only the second post of 2010.  For the past two years the tyranny of the urgent has become the dominion under which I live, and that dominion has disallowed thoughtful writing.  However, I sense that I may be on the brink of returning to blogging, for several reasons.  On the other hand, I have lost complete touch of who reads here anymore, and I am well aware that the purpose for which I began (an expression of my ministry to college students here at TMC) cannot be the purpose for which I continue.  The college population has almost completely changed since I started this blog as a Resident Director, which has made me rethink whether or not this is a viable ministry in that connection.  Nevertheless, I am coming to see that there may be other purposes that can be worthwhile.

For now, though, a brief update:

1. Our family is doing well, by God’s grace.  Cindi and I celebrated a 7th anniversary at the end of last year, Judah celebrated his 4th birthday on the same day, and our life as a family is full of a joy that only seems to increase with each passing day.  Recently we’ve each filled out an NCAA tournament bracket, and have seen parts of a few games online.  Apparently Judah picked up the words “slaughtered” and “clobbered” as Cindi mentioned what had happened to various teams in the tournament, and today he made me laugh time and again by announcing that a certain team was getting “slobbered.”  As if losing weren’t enough.
    
2. Our Rwandan adoption has moved into a new stage of waiting as the Rwandan government received our paperwork but will likely take the typical 3-5 months before matching us up with the 2-3 children we’ve requested.  We have no timeline in mind, because we have adopted from Africa before.  But we remain excited about the children God may bring into our family, because we have adopted from Africa before.
    
3. It would appear that I haven’t been writing, but in fact I have.  I recently completed the second draft of my Th.M. thesis on the meaning of the Pauline phrase καινη κτισις (“new creation”) in 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 6:15.  It is currently being evaluated and will be returned to me in time to make edits and revisions and turn in a final presentation copy on April 5.  If the Lord wills for all of this to happen, I will have the privilege of graduating once again from The Master’s Seminary on May 9.
    
4. In between the last post and this one, I turned twenty-nine years old.  If the maxim of Moses holds true (Psalm 90:10), I am almost halfway there.  Even now, this is altering how I think.  Yesterday afternoon, I was asked by a stranger if I was 19.  Perhaps we often live the way we do because we ourselves are always feeling like we’re 10 years younger than we are.  How is it that we’re always learning that we have less time than we think even while we’re always assuming that we have more time than we do?  There must be no lesson in life that is learned only once.
    
5. I recently attended the Adopting for Life conference in Louisville and was deeply stirred by the robust theology, the remarkable stories, and the manifold opportunities.  I may mention more about this in the near future.
    
6. Several weeks ago, I learned from David Platt that there are 6.8 billion people in the world, and that even if the 33% who identify themselves as Christians really were born again followers of Jesus Christ, that would leave 4.5 billion people in the world who are separated from God and without hope in the world.  Any Christian who doesn’t sense that he is on a mission is completely naive, and any Christian who is involved in the mission but believes that its success depends on his efforts is wonderfully mistaken.
    
7. In the last few weeks, I have enjoyed a trip to Louisville, a visit with my parents along with several old friends, Shepherds’ Conference, speaking at a Missions Conference at Grace Brethren High School, spring (writing!) break, and the beginning of our student leadership selection process.
    
8. In the coming few weeks, we will finish our student leadership interviews, I will present a short book review of Forms of Intellectual and Ethical Development in the College Years: A Scheme for our Philosophy of Education Committee, we will enjoy the annual Spring Sing talent show, I will speak on worship during Spiritual Life Week at a nearby Christian high school, and our staff will work together to make final appointments to our Servant Leadership Staff for next year.  Then on to the glories of Passion Week, orientation for next year’s student staff, the annual onslaught of April allergies, the mad dash of the last two weeks, and graduation with its attendant celebrations and goodbyes.

I pray that during this time-frame the Lord might fill my mind and heart with things worth sharing, and might grant me the time and the willpower to put them into expression here.  Regardless, who He is and what He is doing in our hearts will remain the same, for He never fails.  And that is worth celebrating, even if it goes unwritten.