1. First and foremost, continually pray for guidance and discernment throughout each and every one of these steps – seriously. . . it is my belief that without the Spirit’s guidance – we have very little chance of perceiving the fullest extent of God’s hand in our lives.  He is soooo far above us. . . His ways are so far above our own understanding. . . . everyday I acknowledge to Him that I have no shot at having a successful day without His Spirit. . . seriously!

2. Analyze your SHAPE (spiritual gifts, heart/passion, abilities, personality, experience) to see how God has wired you up – and see if it lines up with your perceived calling. If it does not – then this DOES NOT mean you abandon the idea completely b/c God has done stranger things than that, but the analysis of your SHAPE will bring you to quite a bit of insight on how to proceed. . . .in both your strengths and weaknesses

3. Seek wise counsel - open up in detail to people that know you, AND will be honest with you.

4. Seek out an expert on this particular wall – ask them how to get through it - who knows. . . you may meet somebody through that search experience that God wants to connect you with.

5. After gathering all of this information: break the wall down into smaller steps if possible

6. So you don’t become overwhelmed, always remember – many times, you don’t have to knock the whole wall down – you just need to knock enough down to slip through

7. Somewhere around here – remind yourself of the story of Jericho. . . . . remind yourself of God’s soveriegnty amidst impossible barriers. . . . and remind yourself that He asked them to walk around a huge wall, get mocked, be patient, and blow horns for 6 days – i.e., the barrier will seem impossible to get through, there may be persecution, there will likely be a time of waiting and diligence on your part, and there may be be a time where you just need to do what God tells you – even if it seems a bit far-fetched

8. After each small step – reevaluate the wall to make sure it hasn’t changed (thus, there may be a change in strategy)

9. After each small step – reevaluate yourself to make sure you haven’t changed (thus, there may be a different plan for you or for how you specifically – based on your SHAPE – should move onto the next step).

10. Enjoy the adventure. . . . there will be ups and downs (and it is great to document those for later review - e.g., a journal), but I believe that in time – God will reveal it to you. . .

. . . why are you so excited about what you teach? how do you do it? dealing with kids like me…lol marking tests and still having time for your family.

Answer: First of all, I love College students in all of their diversity because they are trying to figure what type of men and women they want to become- and they are starting to get serious about it- -  – I don’t get discouraged at all when I see them have hiccups in their path (whether it is their choice or not) – in fact I really enjoy playing whatever part I can in journeying along with them during those times – That’s what God does for me – - and though I am not God – I’m just doing what I can to love like He loves. . .

I get such a kick out of seeing the “aha!” moments in students’ lives, but what people often forget is that in order to have those moments – there must be times preceding those moments when there was confusion and misuderstanding – so I expect it – it’s just two sides of the same coin. . . . I just love being the one that trys to flip it for them. . . . . . and. . . . I’ll admit. . . . I love to entertain, have fun, and start some fires . . . and teaching in College just seems like such a natural spot for that – -at least for me

As far as family goes. . . a lot of that credit goes to my amazing wife!!! (read some of the posts about here on this blog!). Together. . . . . and that is the key phrase. . . . together, we discuss priorities, time management, scheduling. . . we are far from perfect. . . . . but being commited to communicating well with each other. . . . that has been such a help when it comes to the dillemas surrounding balance in our lives.

Question 2:

What is your favorite childhood memory?

Answer:

This one is easy. . . and it’s actually a conglomeration of multiple events summed up simply as . . laughing at the dinner table with my family . . . we would be eating – discussing the day, and then we would start laughing sooooo hard, and then Jonathan (My older, but not the oldest brother) would not be able to control himself, so he would have to leave the table into the other room. . . .we would all calm down a bit. . . . slowly. . . . but, everytime he would try and return. . . he would just bust out again, which would make the rest of us completely lose control again. . . .oh!. . . . good times!!

TOMORROW – I will give all the details you could have ever wanted on my School recycling project!!! – stay tuned

Thanks again for your time and interest. . . . your thoughts are invaluable to me. . . thanks for sharing them over the past 4 months

BY THE WAY: I will have new information regarding my greenLockers project (collecting new or slightly used school supplies and clothes from area middle schools during locker clean-out days) coming out soon

2. Predestination or freewill?  Both, I believe that God already has many of our outcomes planned out as far as what will eventually happen, but how we get there, I feel like is largely up to our own freewill – this is complicated, maybe I will do a fuller post on this at some later time.

3. What type of father example did you have growing up? My father was someone who always expressed that he loved us (my two brothers and I), that he just wanted us to try our best, and he was committed to coming to all of the activities that we were a part of, and he tried very hard to lead by example. He served at church, and though we did not have a lot of spiritual conversations, it was clear that a relationship with God was very important to him. . . . . . . He always made it a point to remind us how proud he was of us. . . . . . though my dad and I may disagree on a few things now, . . . I love him so much!

4. If you could take a class at Bethel… what would it be? No, it can’t be one of yours.  I think that it would have to be a class relating to Jesus and the four Gospels. . . I know there is so much in there, and I love reading about Jesus, but sometimes when I read them. . . . I have moments of “oh, I’ve already read this. . . I know what is coming” – you know. . . getting a new spin on it – so, I would love to be able to know more about the contexts, characters, etc… involved.

5. You’ve now demonstrated proficiency at drama and music (ok – dancing too) but which do you enjoy most? By the way, you can watch this video – not sure if that counts as “proficiency in dancing” – but it was a fun way to open up the Innovate conference (~750 pastors from around the country coming to our church to learn about being innovative)

- with that being said. . . . I would have to say that theater is my favorite. . . . maybe it is the psychologist in me, but I love being other people – figuring out how they would act, what they would say, and what they would feel . . . . lots of fun for me

6.  can i get xtra credit for looking at your blog?   No, but. . . good try, and maybe if you write your own blog post about something meaningful to you . . . . and what God has done with that. . . . and I post it . . . now we are talking about something a little extra

7. What’s your favorite book and verse of the Bible, and WHY!? Favorite book. . . . right now. . .  is James b/c it just always speaks to me so deeply – it is so real to me.  Favorite verse John 3:17:

17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

This is my constant reminder to the nature of Jesus Christ and God the Father – their first priority (and thus, mine) is to show love to others long before there is ANY judgement of their actions, looks, beliefs, speech, etc…

8. Were you expecting to hear from me? I was hoping Stephen – you are a great friend, someone in whom I have high confidence in what God is and will do through your life – thanks for dropping by

Thanks everyone – let’s see what the next few months bring!