Too much has been going on!!!

Well, things really have been hectic recently. I found out that I didn't get the job that I had been hoping for. My fiance and her family were asked to leave Berean and I felt it was time for me to leave as well. I won't even go into all the details, but I would avoid Berean Baptist if I were you! Let's just say, the problems stem from the Pastor on down into the rest of the leadership there. Currently I am still working for LUPD, although I am continuing my search for another job that is closer to my field of study (youth ministry!). In the mean time, we are also looking for a new church to call home, and for that matter a new place to call home too (Jewell and I don't want to live in my apartment after we get married next summer!!!). Well, I think that is pretty much all that is going on in my hectic life. I will stop ranting now and talk more when something new comes up.

Still waiting...

I am still waiting to hear about the job I had the interview for before I went to camp. I really want out of LUPD and would love to work somewhere in my field of study, or at least in my minor. As I have stated on multiple occasions, I would love to be working full-time with youth, but wouldn't mind working in a psychology related field. I hope to hear back soon concerning the job, but from what I heard, they tend to take awhile to make a decision. The good news is, I haven't gotten a letter saying that I am not hired, which is how they tell you. I really need to call them this coming week, but I am so horrible at remembering to do so. Maybe that is because I am working 3rd shift and am always tired, or maybe it is because I am usually forgetful... now what was I talking about again... JK, I am not that bad, but I do have a really horrible short-term memory. Oh well, I hope to be able to tell you all what the outcome of the job is in the near future. Talk to you all later!!!

On Vacation!!!

I am currently on vacation with the teens of Berean Baptist. We are at Mission Fuge, or M-fuge, which is a camp with a focus on missions. So far this week has been a lot of fun and has also had a great impact on our teens. Some of them have been stretched and asked to step out of their comfort zones and serve God. Even I have been a little out of my comfort zone this week. We were all put in different groups and I am one of the ones that is not with anyone from Berean when we are on ministry sites. I am also the only one from our church that is on the Games and Recreation track. I am with a few people from Virginia though, who are from about 30 minutes from Lynchburg, so that has been cool. We just had our last day out at sites since we leave in the morning. I am looking forward to going home, since I haven't seen Jewell since we left last Saturday! I really miss her, but I know Joe probably misses Hannah a little more, since they got married 2 weeks before camp and she didn't come with us all to camp. Pray for a lasting impact on the teens lives, as several have made decisions to be more Christ-like or to serve others more often. Pray that camp isn't just a spiritual high point and that it is more of a life-long change that is made in their lives. I have been really blessed to see their hearts this week and to see some of them really grow! Well, it is about time for dinner, so I am gonna go for now. I will write more later, when I get a chance to.

What's new so far...

It has been almost a month since I last posted any updates. Part of that has been that although things at the school slow down, things at church and elsewhere have picked up. I have been to 2 weddings this month and am preparing for Mission Fuge, a missions camp that I am going to with our teens next week. Also, I have been looking for a new job and trying to buy a house. The house is on hold until I get a better job, but that may not be too long. I had an interview today and it went really well. I won't know for about a week or so, but I have a friend that works there and things sounded good at the interview. The starting pay if I get salary will be atleast $26,000 and if I start at hourly then I will be making $10-12/ hr. Either way it is definitely an increase in pay over what I have been making at Liberty. I will probably stay on part time here, but with how things have been going on my shift, I don't plan on staying too long. I am going to keep doing what I need to in order to find another job, especially one that fits more with my major, or atleast my minor from LU. That is really all for now, so I will write more when I get back from camp!!!

Things are looking up...

Things have been going pretty good so far. I have been stuck up at Gate 1 since I got back, but with the temperatures staying hot and muggy recently, it is acually a blessing in disguise. I have AC at gate 1 and unlike most of LU, I can actually control what temperature I keep it at. I also get to sit here and update my blog as well as the wedding blog. Also, it allows me to be looking for a church, setting up classes or looking for a house. Yes, I am thinking about buying a house sometime in the next year. Jewell and I sat down tonight and figured out our budget and things aren't too far off for us to be able to afford to buy something in the $60,000 range. For those back up in MA, yes there are still houses that cost under $100,000 you just can't find them up there. Things cost less down here in the south, oh, and the people in general are friendlier, even if they can't drive in snow!!! Well that is all for now, keep checking both this site and the wedding blog for updates on what is going on in my life. You can also see what is going on in Jewell's life by going here! Talk to you all later and have a great day/night (whichever you are awake during!!!).

Struggling to stay awake

Today has been a long day. I started working at 11PM on Thursday night and didn't get off work until about 4:30PM Friday. To top it off I got just under 5 hours sleep and was back at work for 11PM again tonight. Things are also starting to change again here. They have told us that we can't bring laptops to gate 1 anymore, which means I am stuck using this outdated computer. It still has 128MB of RAM!!! It also just has a cd-player, not a burner, not a combo drive, a CD-PLAYER!!! The main reason I would bring my fiance's laptop was so that I could more effectively do the things I needed to do, including help plan for our wedding. I am glad that I was able to finish the database for our guest list. Without the laptop, it would have taken about 2 nights to get that done, because this comp also only has a 10 gig hardrive that is mostly full of programs that we don't need up here. All we really need is CMDS (the school's record program), Internet, and Office, as well as the support stuff like virus scan and an ad-blocker program. Instead they have SPSS which is taking up 1/4th of the hardrive, and it is a pyschology stats program. I have asked that it be taken off the comp to free up space, but the person I had to ask, knows way too little about cpus. Oh well, I guess I just have to try harder to get myself a church and get out of here before things really go down hill. Oh did I mention that Virginia is rumored to be getting rid of First Responder from the EMS program. LUPD wants us all to go through EMT training, which I guess I should do, but the thing is that everyone else (other companies) pay far greater than LUPD does for EMT's. Maybe I will get the training and then jump ship like everyone else does. I would atleast get a great pay raise. I would lose the free schooling, but I guess I could live with that. If we get the raise that has been talked about, it may be better to stick around, but I am not sure what I really want to do concerning the department. I really want to be at a church and not here anymore, especially with the extremely lazy group of people I work with. Not that I don't occasionally slack off a little, but there are some that don't know what an honest day (or night) of work is. Last night, one of the guys was off duty and came in with an Xbox and several of the officers were in there hanging out and playing games all night leaving the work to those that were essentially in stationary locations. They weren't even in an area that they are supposed to be in. Anyways, enough ranting for tonight, I guess I have just had a rough day, but I think I will be upset about some of these things for a while. Oh well, talk to you all later.

Clean bill of health...

I had a doctor's appointment this past Tuesday and I have been given the ok to return to full duty. This means that I get to go back out into the field and in turn also means that when overtime comes up, I actually hear about it in time to sign up. I got lucky for this week, because I found out about overtime that esentially causes me to be working a double tonight. Actually it will end up being 17 hours give or take a few minutes. I really need to get as much overtime as I can especially with the planning of a wedding and the fact that while I was on workman's comp, I wasn't getting anywhere close to what I normally make every 2 weeks and have therefore fallen behind about a month on rent. I am catching up quick, but I need to get consistent overtime (or the raise that the cheif is putting in for) to get myself caught up and back on top of things. Just keep me in prayer concerning all that and also keep Jewell in prayer, she has had a really stressful couple of weeks. Even though she is done with most of her schooling, she still has her thesis to work on and with planning the wedding and searching for a full-time job, things are really getting to be quite tiresome. We both need rest and help financially, so please keep praying for us both.

A date is finally set...

That's right, Jewell and I have set a date for our wedding. The date is June 23, 2007!!! I know we have set dates before, but this one is going to happen. You can check out the site linked to this post to see more about it and to keep updated from time to time as we continue planning things out so the day goes as perfect as it can. Jewell will be finished with grad school and although I may not be yet, I will be close considering I only need to take 30 hours and will have more than half done by next summer. Well, I just wanted to let everyone know what was going on. There will be more to come both here and at the other site!!!

Congrats to Jewell...

Well, the spring semester is now over and Jewell is finally finished with most of her school work. The only thing she has left to finish is her thesis. It has been a long semester for both of us, with her trying to finish up grad school and me breaking my ankle, things have been pretty busy. Through this time though, I think we have grown even closer together. I can't wait until we are married, which at this time is looking like next summer. Her parents aren't wanting that though, they want to send her overseas to England next summer, but they want her to go alone and not to be married. Actually I don't think they want us ever to get married, which I can respect their opinion, but I know that we will still get married. I would prefer for them to be behind us, but I know that God is in the center of our relationship and that we are meant to be together. I just pray that they will come to realize it someday. Well, I started out to congradgulate Jewell, and here I am rambling about our future. So, Jewell, I want you to know that I love you and that I am proud of all you have accomplished. I will continue to help you get your thesis done, and plan to always be there for you whenever you need me. You are my life and my soulmate and I look forward to spending the rest of my life you!

Going back to school!!!

Well, It is official! I am going back to school starting this summer. I will be taking the new MA in Student Ministries. The only problem I am facing so far is that the status sheets aren't available until June 1st and the Advanced standing ends June 1st. I have several classes (17 hrs) that can transfer in if I process it before hand, the problem is I can only use 15 of them and since I don't know what I need, I don't know what I should get to transfer in from undergrad!?! I hope I can get this figured out soon.

Things are getting better...

Well, after ranting last week some things have begun to change again, only this time for the better. We no longer have a Major on the department; due mainly to a difference of opinions between the major and the chief. Major didn't do anything illegal or immoral, but simply didn't agree on some of the things that the Cheif felt were important. This means that although some of the changes initiated by the major will stay in place, several others will change back to more of how they used to be. I also heard great news concerning an increase in pay. The Cheif put in for $1.50/ hr raise for the entire department. If this comes to fruition, it will definitely make my life a great deal easier. Although I may end up in a higher tax bracket, I will still end up with far more than I get on a regular basis with my current pay rate. I would much rather have the raise than have the department pay for the gear that each person on the department already has. Well, I guess that is the main thing I wanted to talk about. I hope all is going well for everyone. Talk to you all later!

Back to work!!!

Well, I am finally back to work, even if it is just light duty. This means that I can finally get paid what I am supposed to get. I have found that a lot of things are changing here at LUPD and that may mean that I move on again to find something else to do. I may stay here at LU and find another department, since I have been here a year and can transfer, or I may push harder to find a Church and do what I would really want to do and be a Youth Pastor. Don't get me wrong, I love my job right now, but with some of the changes that I am hearing about and experiencing, I don't know how long I will continue to enjoy what I am doing. They don't want us to have set days off anymore, so we can "be more like 'real' police forces," but I don't know how well that will work since most of the people hear aren't planning to do this work for the rest of their lives. Maybe they want people who want to do police/security for their carreers, but if that is the case, they need to start paying much better. LUPD is one of the lowest paid departments here at the university yet we are the ones that have to work 24-7-52 while most other departments work 8-5 Monday thru Friday!!! Evidently keeping the place safe, isn't really high on the priority list of LU. Oh well, I don't know that I will make it to 2 years working for LU, in fact it is my plan not to be here come next February. I need to find a church and get into full-time Youth Ministry somewhere, anywhere, and ASAP. Well, enough ranting for tonight, I should get back to work here so that I can make some money.

March Madness is truly maddness!!!

This year I made several attempts to predict the outcomes of both the men's and women's college basketball tournament games. Most of my picks were based on previous years outcomes, with a few chosen based on personal preference. I wish I could say that I have done a great job of predicting, but with how some games turned out, I guess I was wrong. I thought that the Big 10 would have a better chance than they did, or atleast that Illinois would make the sweet sixteen at the least. Oh well, I guess it just goes to show how unpredictable NCAA basketball has become. I think I ought to stick to the NFL. My favorite NFL team (New England Patriots) always has a chance to win there, whereas my favorite College team (Michigan) didn't even make the round of 65 on the men's side. Oh well, I guess there is always next year!!!

What's New!

Well, for starters, back on January 24th I broke my left ankle. It started with a gun injury back on the 14th where I cut my thumb with the slide of my gun and needed 4 stitches. On the 24th I was getting the stitches removed when I passed out and fell off the exam table breaking my ankle. I broke the tibia in 2 places and the fibula in 1. On the 26th I had surgury to fix the breaks and I now have a plate and 8 screws in my ankle. I have been out of work, although, on workman's comp leave since then. Hopefully I will be returning to work in the beginning of April so that I can finally start making some real money. I have been enjoying my time away from work, minus the pain in my ankle, but look forward to returning and getting paid overtime once again. It has been a time that I needed both physically and Spiritually. Physically I needed some time to just relax and renew my strength from the 50+ hours I was working a week. Spiritually, God has used this time to get me back on track with my relationship with Him and to prepare myself more for future ministry. I am now beginning the process to become ordained. It starts with being licensed and then there will be a proving time for the church to see God's call upon my life and will conclude down the road with an ordination cerimony. Keep me in prayer as I take these steps that are necessary for God to continue to use me in Youth Ministry. I love the role I have here at Berean Baptist, but I know that God has called me into full-time Youth Ministry and would love nothing more than to find a full-time position to serve the Lord. Please also pray for me as I continue to seek out full-time positions, or should I say, begin looking again for such positions. Also pray for Jewell, my fiance, since she is trying to finish her thesis by April 1st so that she can graduate this May. It has been a really stressful semester for her, especially since for part of it she had to help take care of me when I couldn't drive because of the pain killers I was on. I can drive again now, and have been trying to do all that I can to help her get her thesis done as well as get the rest of her homework done. Well, I guess that is enough rambling for now. There should be another update soon, so keep checking back here for more about The life of a Future Youth Pastor!!!

I got my raise!!!

Well, I took my First Responder test on Saturday January 7th, and even though I thought I didn't pass, I somehow managed to pull off an 82.7 Average. Now I am one of the medics for 3rd shift and with that comes a 50 Cent raise!!! That now puts me at 8.80/hr, which with all that we do here, still isn't really enough, but it is one step closer. With the overtime I should clear around $700 per paycheck every two weeks and that is after taxes. It will help be be able to put aside some money and to get me out of debt quicker, will definitely be nice. Oh well, I guess I should be getting back into the field since I am working tonight. Hope everyone is having a great week!!!