Another step forward ...

Well, friends. For those of you that are keeping score, I have made it one step closer to becoming a pastor. I'm sure most of you don't realize how many steps there are in this process. From the outside, it would seem like you make a decision to become a pastor, you get the degree, do the internship, and voila you start looking for that first call. Well, 'taint quite that easy. Along the way, there are several "checkpoints" where I get to write some essays in response to various theological questions (and some questions about my personal life) then I get to meet with some fine folks who have read the essay and they ask me questions and look for me to expand on ideas. I know, this all sounds confusing, if you want to get the real sense of the process, ask me privately and I'll give you all the details in enough detail to make sense.

The point of all of this is that I had my "Endorsement Interview" yesterday and it went quite well. The panel of three folks that spoke with me were in agreement that I should keep going in this process toward become a pastor. Their recommendation now goes to the full committee in January who will likely Endorse me. Yeah! That means I can move on to internship next year as planned.

In other fun and adventure lately, I had the opportunity to preach to my Teaching Parish this past Sunday. I have to admit, I wasn't thrilled about the text that I drew (Luke 20, story of the widow and 7 brothers) but I think I managed pretty well. Sadly, I left my stuffed animal (object of the children's sermon) at the church ... I hope she isn't too scared being there all alone. I'll pick her up and love her tomorrow when I am there for Education day.

I wish I could think of something deep and profound to add to my blog, but alas, my thoughts these days are consumed by classes and figuring out how to manage my time between reading, reading, going to class, reading, reading, attending and occasional meeting, reading, cleaning, reading, cooking, reading, and trying to stay sane. If you didn't catch the drift, there's a lot of reading going on right now. But I guess it's good for me.

I do have to offer my mid-season update of the Packers ... for those of you that haven't been following my favorite football team, now is the time to start. At 8-1 they are looking good. Now, I'm guessing my commenting in such a public way as this blog will surely jinx them and they will find ways to lose several games before the end of the season ... but I'm going to go with the confidence that they will keep winning ... all the way to the Super Bowl (I don't care if they win it, I would just like them to go ... thus making watching the game worth my while).

Other news will come in the next post or two ... there are some exciting things going on in the "house" but I want to hold you in suspense and give you a reason to keep reading. Maybe we'll even add a Jaguar to the family ... but that's only if it's a good runner!