A New Direction

Well, it is the beginning of a new semester. Somehow, I’ve found myself enrolled in another scholastic institution. Okay, so maybe institution isn’t the best way to put it, but I’m starting classes in the Fall for the 19th year in a row. Talk about a personal record. It all started with pre-school, which if I am correct was taught at Trinity Lutheran Church and School in Hobart. Then there were a few short years at Mundell Elementary, which sadly has since been torn down. In 3rd grade we moved and I started at Jackson Elementary, and had the most difficult move of my life. But the years passed and I became a lion at Liberty Middle School, which has since been renamed Chesterton Middle School. After making it through the puberty-populated days of junior high, I began at Chesterton High School as a Trojan. Yeah, the Chesterton Trojans. Those two words just don’t fit together. But what was exciting was being the first class to graduation from the new building… and initiating the parking lot with many, many burnouts. One wheel squeel, anyone?

But things were about to change after graduation. Slowly, but surely God was drawing me to Himself. And by July I had repented from my sins and placed my faith in Christ alone for the forgiveness of my sins. Just as soon as the whole direction of my life changed, I was off to Indiana University with only a passion to tell people about the Lord Jesus who radically transformed my life. So through four years of slothfull study in both Religion and Sociology, I graduated only wanting to preach God’s Word more. Seminary seemed way too academic, so a hands-on ministry/leadership/academic fellowship worked: The Pittsburgh Fellows. This was a transition year out of college and allowed me to bide some time before figuring out where to be trained for ministry. As the internship was ending, I got a call one summer night from a friend who told me about this “pastors college,” and thus, had forsaken his long-awaited enrollment at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Interesting. After some intense interviews and many a weekend visit, I decided to move back to Bloomington, IN for Round Two. I’ve been here for 7 months now and couldn’t be in a better place. I’m actually excited to begin studies for once and I know that God has prepared me for this pursuit in the ClearNote Pastors College (CNPC). But hopefully the 3 year program will only continue my streak to 22 years straight of starting school in the Fall. We all know I’ll be a “life-long learner,” but it has to end sometime, right?