Update

Ok so it has been almost a month since I have updated the Blog. I apologize for my slacking off in this area for anyone who is keeping up with me through this. The past month has been a bit crazy, busy, stressful, but I am still learning and growing so things are good. God is good! I have been looking for a job for a while now, which attributes to the stress. It is difficult for me to find anything in the current market when I have very little experience for almost anything I could do. However, I trust that God will provide something, I just need to keep praying for that. I am also still about 2000 dollars short on fundraising for the internship. If you (anyone who reads) could be in prayer about that, and consider giving, I would be very greatful. I do not have any more trips to Charlotte for seminary, however I still have a great deal of work to be done for my seminary coarse. I am doing my research paper on Seperation of Church and State in America. If anyone is interested in reading my final product let me know and I can provide that. I still have a lot of work to do though so it will be a couple of weeks. Despite some stress and busyness I still feel greatly blessed by God and greatful for all the ways He is teaching me.

Easter

I had a wonderful Easter this year. I was able to spend it with Sarah and her family, so of course it was great. I got up really really REALLY early and went to a sunrise service at a baptist church here in Raleigh. It was very different then what I am accustomed to, but it was awesome to experience worship in a new and different way. Then we went to the church Sarah attends, which was a wonderful service. Fortunately we had a chance to rest a little bit after that. Then we went to spend time with Sarah's family and family friends for an Easter dinner. It was a great day to celebrate the Resurrection! And I am very thankful for Sarah and her family!

Visit to Montreat

I had the opportunity to visit Montreat with Tyler this past weekend. This was the first time I have been back since I have been in Raleigh, other then a quick on day trip about a month ago. It was great to see some old friends and spend time with Ben and Tyler. It was also great to get an opportunity to worship at iSight on Sunday. I have greatly missed the community at iSight

Job Hunt

So I am in the process of looking for a full time job. I have sent my resume to a couple Youth Ministry positions, one in Durham and the other in the Charlotte area. I am not only pursuing youth ministry, but am open to any kind of full time job that will be able to help me get though seminary. If any of you hear anything in this general area please let me know, I am very interested! My hope is to be able to work full time and take seminary courses from Gordon-Conwell part time. It will take me about six years to get through seminary this way, but I figure that it will be six years of learning and growing that will help me in my future ministry. I am just praying that God will open up a door and lead me in the right direction, please join me in this!

Internship Happenings

Seminary Grade In

I found out today that I got a B+ in my first seminary coarse at Gordan Conwell, Church History: Early Church to the Reformation. I am very happy with this because I knew that I did not do well on the exam, so I feared that would effect my overall grade. I must have done really well on everything else :). I am now enrolled in Church History: Reformation to the Present, hopefully I can get an even better grade this semester!

Fundraising

The chart to the right is an updated status of the fund raising that I have been asked to do as a part of the fellows program. As you can see I still have a long ways to go in order to achieve the goal of $5,ooo, and now not a lot of time. It has been difficult for me to ask for money especially when I know money is tight for most everyone right now. However, this program has been a tremendous blessing to me. There are many at the Church of Apostles who have put in a great deal of hard work into providing this opportunity for me and the other fellows. That is why I continue to ask all those who are willing or able to contribute to my fund raising effort to please do so. Any amount whether it is big or small is a tremendous blessing to me. Therefore, please if you are reading this blog and you have not already contibuted, please consider helping me achieve my goal, even if you are only able to give a small amount. For those of you who may be hearing of this need to raise money for the first time, it is simply because I have struggled with the idea of asking for money, and not out of a lack of need. I also hope to send out another letter asking for support soon. If any of you know anyone whom, I may have neglected to ask please let me know, and I will be sure to send them a letter. I am not sure how many people actually read this blog, but I do hope that by posting my progress on here someone who may not know about this may read it.

Snowboarding

Seminary Class

This past weekend the fellows and I traveled to Charlotte for a first class of our seminary course. We are taking Church History 502 which is a study of the Church from the Reformation to the present. Our professor is Dr. Garth Rosell, who I already like a lot after our first class. It seems that Dr. Rosell is really going to challenge us to think critically about how what we are going to learn can be beneficial to our ministry, and what it means for the church today. I always strive to be able to apply which I learn in classes, but I feel as if this class will be extremely applicable to my future ministry. My hope is that I will be able to retain it and use it for the benefit of others.

Ski Trip