Sizzling at Seminary

It’s hot. No, I mean it’s REALLY HOT. Yesterday I rode my bike to the grocery store. On the way there, I was stopped at a red light. While waiting, my attention was arrested by a wooden telephone pole. The tar coating had melted off the pole, and had formed a puddle on the ground beneath. It’s just that hot, here in Dallas, Texas.

I’m headed back to Colombia by a circuitous route, which is taking me through Dallas Theological Seminary. Through a rather amazing succession of events, the Lord made it blatantly obvious that He wants me here for a time. I’m enrolled in the ThM program, and am looking forward to beginning classes on the 25^th of August. I’m asking for your prayers as I embark upon a new season of life; that I’d live the will of God and take hold of all that God has for me here in Christ Jesus.

 

Dallas, Texas...the DTS campus is in the foreground
http://www.dts.edu/about/photos/

 

Life has been full, since I last updated you. These months have been spent working at Balarat Outdoor Education Center, and also helping my friend, Teague, to build a cabin. This was a memorable and enjoyable project; I learned many things about building that I didn’t know. Much of it may come in handy in Colombia, particularly what I learned about laying block. (But no, don’t call me in to lay the foundation of your next mansion – you’ll be disappointed with the finished product.) It was a beautiful Colorado summer, spent working in a spectacular location with a good friend. I’ve been blessed.    
 

(You might have to expand the pictures to see them, this time around...!) 

Climbing Mount Audubon




Building the Cabin

I said goodbye to most of my family in Dallas, as they’d driven down to Texas for a short vacation before heading back to Colorado. It was a good introduction to the state, as we drove through west Texas, across to the gulf, and up to Dallas. Has anybody ever told you that Texas is huge? Well folks…it’s true; as distance is reckoned by hours in the car, the state is enormous!



Roadtripping in Texas

 

In Houston we stopped by NASA. It was a childhood/teenage dream of mine to be an astronaut (go ahead and laugh), and I had to remember what Jim Elliot wrote as he went as a missionary to Ecuador by sea:

…I wanted to sail when I was in grammar school, and well remember
memorizing the names of the sails from Merriam-Webster’s ponderous
dictionary in the library. Now I am actually at sea – as a passenger, of
course, but at sea nevertheless – and bound for Ecuador. Strange – or is it?
– that childish hopes should be answered in the will of God for this now.

I remember memorizing stuff related to space exploration as a kid – weighty terms such as “Trans-Earth Injection Burn.” I was quite taken up with it all, but then I discovered something infinitely more worthy of my attention – God. In following Him single-heartedly, everything else is gain to us, but when we hold onto our idols, we lose all. Whatever we lay hold of through Jesus Christ means life and peace, but whatever we cling to apart from Him means death and confusion. The key to wholeheartedly enjoying God’s blessings is to be wholly satisfied in God. Pray for me as I seek to live in this truth, and may God’s grace be yours as you do the same.  

 

NASA