What?? An update?

Well, here I am again. Life happens. I'm trying to make blogging happen more, too.

Let's see, a lot has happened lately. I am currently in a long-term substitute teaching position at Westview Middle School in Pflugerville ISD. It is a special education position working with emotionally troubled kids. The position is scheduled to last for 5 weeks and rumor has it that they may offer me the position full-time. It is an Educational Assistant position, so I don't need to be certified to teach. It doesn't pay that much, but it would be guaranteed income at a higher rate than substitute teaching. So, we are excited to see what turns out there.

Earlier this year, I began mulling over the possibility of "recareering" - changing the direction of my life midstream. I have begun to pursue the idea of getting certified to become a full-time teacher. My long-term goal would actually to become a football coach. I love working with kids and I am looking at how my life can have a deeper impact on kids in the world that need to know that Jesus and others care about them. My buddy, Gerald, always says that the ultimate youth ministry is to be a teacher in the public schools. In looking to maximize my efforts to be a true representative of Jesus in the marketplace, I am beginning to get a vision of how that may look as a teacher. So, I am pursuing investigations into an alternate certification program with Region 13 ESC that starts this summer. This current EA position would carry us through to the summer when that program would start. I'll keep you updated on how this search goes.

We have begun semi-formally attending a new church here, too. I can't say that we've fully decided to settle here, but we have been attending for the last 4-5 weeks and I really like the ethos of the church and the leadership. It is called The Journey Bible Fellowship and they meet at Vista Ridge High School in Cedar Park. I've visited their men's weekly breakfast and Dina has started attending a women's Bible study. We hope to check out a small group or two in the next week or so, as well.

As for the Austin Emergent Cohort, we have been meeting once every two weeks for the past couple of months. Interest has grown in the group as we were mentioned in the Emergent Village weekly email newsletter a couple of weeks ago. We have grown from just two of us to now 31 members registered in the last couple of months. The most that we have seen at a gathering has been 16, but we are averaging between 10-15 each time. We hope to start reading a book together soon, but which one is still up for grabs. A couple of weeks ago, we watched a movie from a DVD called 36 Parables. It was really well done and I heartily recommend the DVD. The makers of the series are attempting to use the arts and today's technology to "re-tell" the parables of Jesus in ways that 21st-century humans can easily understand. Check it out if you get a chance.