It's amazing what adding a 20 hour/week job can do to one's studies. Since starting work as a truck driver in August, I have had to seriously cut back on my performance expectations for school. This is not as easy as it sounds, especially for the Vagabond. Needless to say, two of my classes went pretty well and my grades should be up to my normal expectations. The other two ... well, let's say that a little humble pie doesn't taste as bad it used to. The main thing is that I have really learned a lot even if my grades won't necessarily reflect it. For next semester, I'll only have classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but we'll also have an additional Vagabond running around ... so we'll see how that goes.
Speaking of our newest addition, the countdown is on and hopefully he/she will be with us in time for Christmas this year. I know my bride would appreciate an early arrival as well. I'm not sure how the other 3 children will react and adapt to a new little sibling, especially the youngest one knowing that she will have to give up the spotlight for a while. Fortunately, all of our kids have proven to be extremely adaptable to the changes we've experienced in the last year and a half, so there's reason to believe that all will go well with them.
I'm beginning to turn my focus on what will be coming after my time at seminary is over. We've always maintained that we would be open to anywhere that God would have us go, but the time has come to begin taking that out of the theoretical realm and begin considering some real possibilities. With the current world and economic conditions, this (practically speaking) is probably not the best time (career-wise) to be going into the ministry. Of course, we haven't been called to this place by a "practical" (humanly speaking) God who is overly concerned about my "career". The fact that we've made it this far given all the obstacles that we have faced is convincing proof (at least to us) that God is in the business of making the impossible look mundane. The Christian comedian Mark Lowry once said that if he could sum up the Christian experience in one word it would be "interesting." He concludes, "If you want a boring life, don't come to Christ. If want an exciting life, come to Christ." For a "funny man" he has a point.
A quick update on the kids: My son is a math geek. He's not doing well in reading, comprehension or spelling, but in math, he's outpaced where I was in the third grade doing some pretty complex math computations in his head. The oldest girl is LOVING school and ballet. She's got a great attitude toward life and is one of the most outwardly generous kids I've ever known. The baby (for now) is a riot. She's learning to climb up and into anything we will allow her to and many things we would rather she not. She loves to spin herself dizzy and be tossed around by her daddy.
We're also looking forward to a visit from my bride's parents later this week. They'll be staying with us for a while which will be a huge help as the new baby comes and it will also allow me to take some time to spend with the kids individually while I'm on break from school. The Spring semester starts in late January! 3 semesters in the books, 3 more to go!
