One More To Go!!!

One more paper to go. I cannot believe it. After this paper, I will have completed:

212 hours of undergrad and graduate work
18 hours of Greek
6 hours of Hebrew
9 hours of Preaching
15 hours of Church History
Countless Papers
4 incredible internships
6 years of life at ACU
An entire chapter of my life story

Guess what my last paper is about?

Wrong! It's not about my systematic theology or my philosophy of ministry. Instead, I am currently researching about sexual addiction in an effort to construct a model of Crisis Intervention for families and churches suffering from this growing epidemic. Who knows? Perhaps this paper will lead to some kind of important men's ministry in the future.

It's almost time to turn the page.

What will be written on the next page? The ink is ready and I'm as ready to read the words on the next page of my life story as anyone else.

Where will Holly and I end up? How many kids will we have? Will we be able to have kids? What will my ministry look like 5 or 10 years from now? What will my passions be? What joys await us? What tragedies will we have to endure?

While I have many questions, there are many things I expect to remain the same. (It might be funny to look back at this post 20 years from now!)

I will be more in love with my perpetually beautiful wife, Holly.
I will still enjoy sitting on the couch as I root on my favorite sports teams.
I will enjoy reading books I want to read rather than books I have been forced to read.
I will passionately preach the message of the kingdom of God so that Christ might transform the hearts of people.
I will continue on the journey of faith without reaching my destination.
I will worship God in times of joy and times of intense pain.
I will continue to love the church for all of its blessings and in spite of its blemishes.

These things I am confident of.

So, I ask for the author of my story to pick up the pen and continue writing. While his pen has been known to write tragedies, I know his heart! He longs for me to worship him with all of my life! He loves me and has called me to be transformed for the sake of the world. He will take care of me just as he does for the lilies of the field and the birds of the air. It's time to turn the page!