Where I've Been and Where I'm Going

It's been a while. For the most part, I haven't posted on here in several months. I figure I owe it to you to let you know where I've been, and I want to let you know a little bit about where I'm going.

Hannah

First of all, where I've been. See this cute girl on the right? That's my daughter, Hannah, born in April (about the time I dropped off the blogosphere). Anyone who is a parent can understand. Free time kinda disappears after you have a kid. But, it is a wonderful adventure watching them grow and become their own person.

Things are starting to settle now as we get into a routine, so hopefully I will be able to return to a bit of blogging here and there. I've got several projects lined up for myself--we'll see how things go.

Forecasting My Career
Things are moving on the job front. I'm hoping to see some forecaster positions start opening up soon, so I've been busy polishing up my resume. My hope is to be able to stay in Norman, but there's a chance that we'd have to move geographically for me to move up career wise.

On a similar note, the weather service is in the beginning stages of a "re-organization." Right now it's too early to know what that will entail or whether it will work in or against my favor. Not even sure how long this process is going to take (it is the government...). But, it's something I'll be watching and keeping in prayer.

Messianic Vision
It's good to have a vision for where you're going. In pursuing my dream of becoming more involved in ministry, I've decided to use my Messianic Vision paper as a sort of road map. I've been brainstorming projects for the Gospel, holiness, community, and end times.

With the help of Chris Knight, Daniel Clayton, Kelsey Bryant, and Sonja Langford I'll be starting the first of these projects this fall: Parashah Messiah. The goal of this project is to bring focus back to Messiah and the Gospel by sharing short blog-style commentaries on New Testament passages related to the current week's Torah portion.

Far From Home Books
I was hoping to be able to publish my first novella this year (I've been working/procrastinating on it for about 3 years now), but that's looking less and less likely. It is in the final stages of editing, and I haven't given up on it yet. So, soon, hopefully.

Home & Family
Finally, now that the responsibility of raising the next generation is upon us, Brittany and I are making an effort to re-examine what we want our life as a family to look like and how to make that a reality. Toward that end we're making little changes here and there such as breaking our tv addiction and trying harder to set Shabbat apart.

Family is important. In fact, it ranks among one of the most important things. My prayer is that I never get so wrapped up in other things as to neglect my wife and children. On the contrary, I want the way that we work and play together as a family to be part of my witness, and I want to encourage and challenge other families as part of my ministry. After all, families are the backbone of our movement. Certainly, they are the only hope for passing on this faith to the next generation.