Molding and Making Clay

This Sunday in worship, we sang a beautiful medly of two songs that I had not really ever put together.  Have Thine Own Way Lord and The Potter’s Hands.

Consider the lyrical similarities. 

Have thine own way, Lord, Have thine own way
You are the potter, I am the clay
Mold me and make me after thy will
While I am waiting yielded and still

Take me, mold me, use me, fill me
I give my life to the Potter’s hands
Call me, guide me, lead me, walk beside me
I give my life to the Potter’s hands

In this season of my life, I have been praying some of these words quite regularly.  I want to be molded and shaped after God’s will, not my own.  I am having a hard time waiting, yielded and still.  Clay does not have much say in how it is crafted.  Clay is only worked into something beautiful if the Potter so chooses.  The molding process can be tough.  It requires portions to be pinched off, others heavily smoothed, and still other parts beaten and firmly pressed.  There have been days lately that I have felt more beaten and pressed than gently smoothed.

Lord, just make me into what You want me to be.  Take me, mold me, use me, and o’ Lord please fill me.  I give my life to the Potter’s hands.

Topic Approved for My Dissertation

Good news, actually great news…the topic for my dissertation has been initially approved.  For those who care to know, I am working on my Doctorate in Education (Ed.D).  I finish the course work this semester and will take my comprehensive exams in 38 days.  Yikes!!!  But one huge stepping stone was hurdled this weekend.  The actual topic for my dissertation was approved by my adviser.

Before I give you the proposed title, I got to share that my first proposal was SHOT DOWN…”Shot down in the blaze of glory” Bon Jovi… Which means this is Plan B.  My first study was to look at Southern Baptist related colleges and try and find out what makes them stay SBC related schools.  This topic was deemed too risky, too political, and too far reaching for some grad student like me. 

So my second proposal won out.  Here is the working title:

Shared Governance and Perceived Institutional Power on the Southern Baptist Related College: A Replica Study of Gross and Grambsch 1971

I know, I know, you are dazzled by the fascinating and mind-boggling title.  I am sure you all want to read the first draft right off the presses.  But really, this kind of stuff really intrigues me.  On the Christian college campus, who makes the decisions?  Is it the President? The Trustees?  The Faculty?  The department deans who hire the faculty?  Could students actually have any input?  What about parents, aren’t they the consumer of the educational product?  What about the alumni or significant financial donors?  Could the federal government or state legislature have any part?  What about SBC denominational leaders?  Are they to have a say in what goes on in a “Baptist” school?

I think it is interesting.  Actually I am doing a replica study done in the late 1960′s on state schools.  My application will be for Christian colleges.  I wonder if there will be any differences.  My hypothesis is that the results will be the same.

If you want a copy of the proposal, just let me know.  You might need some help getting to sleep at night.

Isaac’s Small Group

My son Isaac loves church.  He is a people-person, a social butterfly if you will.  He loves his classes at church (Puggles & 3 year olds), his friends and his teachers.  Today Jennifer caught our little boy leading his own small group Bible study.  His students were George, Sparky and little Georgie.  The lesson, well, you should be able to see from his open Bible.

Moses being drawn out of the water.  Great story for this small group.  I am sure the monkeys love stories about rivers.

None of this was spurred on by Jennifer.  Isaac set the whole thing up on his own.  You will notice that a blanket was placed on the floor.  There is a huge carpet in his Sunday school class room, which he must think is necessary to have a Bible story time. 

Later he made Jennifer sing songs like Zacheus to his class.  Apparently she was the song leader and he was the teacher.

For those at Main Street who teach my son the Bible: You better believe is paying attention.  I thank you for the bottom of my heart.

Papers Sent Away

Last Friday, I sent two more papers away for my doctoral work.  These papers represent another semester in the bag.  That is now 5 completed semesters in the Ed.D. program.  5 semesters?  It is really hard to believe.

So here are the ways things stand: I started semester 6, the final course work semester, January 1.  This semester is somewhat different than the others.  I have one class, Analysis of Empirial Methods, and then my Comprehensive Exams.  I will be taking those March 8-10.  After that, I have some initial work due for my dissertation prospectus and then the seminars are completely finished.  By mid-May, I will be done taking classes.

Now, I am not saying that I will never go back to school.  Book nerds love school…so there is a very good chance I will find something else to study.  But the potential of being done FOREVER is starting to sound really good to me.  Since I was in kindergarten, there has only been 2 years in my life that I have not been in school full-time.

I started school when I was 5.  I am 30 now.  So that puts me in the 23rd grade.  12 years k-12, 4 yrs in college, 5 yrs in seminary, 2 years in doctoral work.  When I am finished with my dissertation (whenever that is), I will be logging somewhere in the neighborhood of 13 years of school AFTER high school.

That may be just entirely too much book learn’n.

Huck on Ephesians 5

At Thursday night’s Fox News debate in South Carolina, Huckabee explained that the passage from the New Testament book of Ephesians also commands the husband to love his wife and submit himself to the Lord.

Huckabee said that while the Bible passage has nothing to do with being president, it is a guide for Christian marriage.

He added that he’ll neither hide his faith, nor impose it on others, but will live it as best he can whether he’s elected president or not.  -  From WBIR.com Knoxsville, TN

Gov. Huckabee is really starting to show me what he is made of.  Not that any other presidential candidate would ever get a question like this, but when he does, he is able to rightly speak to it.  Can you imagine Hillary speaking about her moral convictions on marriage?  Or Rudy?  It would never happen.

We shall see if Huck is able to win out in Michigan or South Carolina.  He is doing everything right in my book to pursue the White House.

New Responsibilties in ’08

With life comes a lot of change.  During 2007, Jennifer ended her role as Executive Director at the CARE Ministry, we had our second son Ethan, and my job got completely shifted and reorganized at church.

Starting in 2008, I took the lead as the Christian Education Center Director.  Our church hosts a daycare, preschool and elementary school.   I am the new administrator of those programs.  Parents, teachers, school board, students, polices, procedures, and curriculum.  All very new, but very exciting.

I also swapped education roles with my senior pastor.  He is now working with the adult education and I am working with all the children’s programs.  Bed babies through 5th grade.  I got VBS, children’s camp, and the largest group of volunteers in the church.  Very cool since Jennifer and I have two sons in the children’s ministry.

With these new responsibilties, comes a new set of leaders to work with.  There are new challenges and I am starting to learn a whole new type of ministry.  I am sure that I will be learning the ropes in Christian school administration and children’s ministry for all of 2008.

 God guide me on this new path.

Hot-Water Heaters & Snow Shovels

Today, I shoveled gallons of water out of my garage.  My hot-water heater kicked the bucket and water started flooding everywhere.  The water ran hard for about 2 hours before I noticed something was wrong.  So while snow was still on the ground outside, I was wading in my boots, using a snow shovel and broom, trying to get an inch of water out of my garage.  It was quite a site to be seen.

The hot-water heater will be replaced tomorrow.  No hot showers for 24 hours.  I guess I will have to use a little more deodorant.