ACU Lectureship

During my time at ACU, one of my favorite times of the year was lectureship. Few students took advantage of the offerings and speakers, but I attended every hour of lectureship that was possible. I loved being challenged by new ideas.

Last week, Holly and I got to go to Abilene for lectureship. It was great to see many old friends, professors, and ministers. In the future, I will treasure ACU lectureship and the opportunity to take a break from my routine in order to rest, renew old friendships, and think critically about the church's future.

While at ACU I had the opportunity to hear sermons from our movement's greatest preachers. I heard David Fleer, Randy Harris, Rick Atchley, Chris Seidman, and Rubel Shelly share powerful messages from their heart. These are men who are not only wonderful thinkers and preachers, but they are also incredible men of God who care deeply about the church and live righteous lives.

I look forward to future lectureships. I look forward to opportunities in the future to think deeply about the church and how we can be more faithful to God's call to be relevant in our culture.

I left Denver excited about a week to break from my routine, but by the end of lectureship I was lamenting that I would not be preaching on Sunday. I love preaching. I can't imagine doing anything else with my life. Lectureship was just what I needed. And I am excited about lectureship at Pepperdine in May. Abilene is wonderful, but there is something about Malibu that makes me think I will have a good time there also.

New Blog Design

Well, those of you who know me best know that I would have never changed my blog design. I'm the kind of person who never changes up my menu selections at restaurants. I like to keep things stable for the most part. So, who changed my blog design you ask?

My wonderful wife Holly did. She has a great eye for design and she loves me enough to do it for the inexpensive price of $0. And for those of you who know me, you also know that I wouldn't pay for such a change. So, it's an all-around good deal.

Holly, thanks for my new blog. I love it and I'm grateful for the time you put into it. For all of you bloggers out there, I don't want to commit Holly to anything she doesn't want to do, but a new business my be brewing in the Packer house. We'll see. Great job Holly!

Transitions

Last January, I wrote a paper on life transitions. William Bridges is an expert on transitions who has been a part of a few transitions in his own life. He talks about three stages of any transition. Transitions include an ending, an in between phase, and a new beginning. These stages might seem obvious, but many people go through change in their lives and never make the transition that must go along with any change. Each stage is crucial for someone to successfully traverse change.

The questions people seem to be asking Holly and me most are "So, are you settling in? How's the transition going? How are you doing?" Without knowing it, people are concerned and asking most about our transition. They ask us this question over and over again because transition is vital and we all struggle with it.

We did a great job of ending in Texas. We said all of the good-byes to friends and family. We're grateful to Littleton for the time they gave us to recover from graduate school, say our goodbyes, and make the first stage of our transition successful. Now, our ending doesn't mean we don't miss Texas. Right now, we don't miss the weather, but parts of us miss the people we love so much.

I hope we spent enough time in that in between phase. The neutral zone is important. It's so important to reflect on the past and set new goals for the next stage of life. Having two months in Dallas with our families allowed us time to reflect on what the future might hold. We left for Denver with so much excitement about what God might have waiting for us to do in Colorado.

And now we are finishing that transition in our new beginning. We couldn't have asked for more really. We have had an incredible welcome to Denver. It seems like every night of the week we are meeting new people who want to get to know us. We couldn't be happier with our new church family and friends.

The transition is coming to a close. We will still deal with the affect of our move for years to come, but we are doing well. We are grateful for the past and excited about the future. And there's not a better place to be than that.

The only transition we are struggling with most is our sports teams. I rooted for the Broncos last night, but Dallas still holds our hearts if Denver were to ever face the Cowboys in a Super Bowl. Some would say that's poor transition, but at least we're loyal, right?