Merry Christmas!

As the veggietales song goes, "I can't believe it's Christmas!" However, I really can't. Today seems like it's just another day except I'm allowed to plan and execute a menu for the first time. Christmas Eve is normally when we do part of our celebrations, but not this year. My grandparents already left for Florida for the winter, so we had our Christmas events with them on Sunday. Now, my brother-in-law doesn't get here until tomorrow so the immediate family Christmas festivities that normally happen tonight are postponed until tomorrow evening. Does that mean stockings will be done on the 26th? Tomorrow we will gather with my mom's side of the family at one of my uncles' homes. Last year it was awkward for me. I'm closer to my cousin Sarah, though, now more than ever, so maybe I'll chill with her all day.

Oh well, I guess I do have the company of vampires and werewolves at the ready if I get bored. I read 268 pages of Breaking Dawn yesterday! I was only 50 pages into Eclipse when I got home Saturday night. I'll be done soon!! Then I'll start into my "productive" reading. I'm going to delve into some books that are more beneficial to me holistically--predominantly, spiritually--speaking, like Lewis, Tozer, and such.

I finally decorated my apartment for Christmas (the day before I left)! So, I'm gonna leave it up for a bit in order to enjoy it. I'd like to have a Merry Christmas/Happy New Year/Welcome to the New Semester Party at my place. Kind of just want people to visit since I've never really had company. Plus I can show off the decorations and listen to Christmas music and I can go baking crazy the days before! I'm kind of looking forward to it! Even though I haven't really planned it out yet.

Well, I guess that's all for now. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Philosophy?

So, I am "in the middle" of writing my Philosophy of Ministry paper... it's my last assignment of the semester and the only thing not done. It's due Thursday, but I wanted it done by tomorrow night, oh well. I'll have it done by the time it's due.

I'm just in a weird place and I feel like all I can do is pray about this paper... which is a good thing, right? Well, I guess... I just feel like I've changed my view of what I want to do in ministry several different times... As I was writing my spiritual autobiography, I found my journals from El Salvador and utilized them. I found one thing that said something about "being excited for Children's Ministry and pastorship." And at this point, I don't remember the last time I truly thought about "pastorship." I mean I guess I've thought about it as a stepping stone before I go into the missions field, but I haven't really thought about it in years.

Then, there's the whole missions thing. I used to have dreams about evangelism and the possibility of actually seeing hundreds of kids finding Jesus at a time. That's weird to me, because even in the past year when thinking of missions it would not have been on that scale. I would have just thought go overseas, work with kids. I did not necessarily know what I was going to do, but it would have been more of a teaching kind of ministry.

And now, I haven't really thought of my ministry in that light in probably six months. I want to work with kids in whatever way I can: feeding, clothing, housing, whatever. If that opened the door for me to talk about Jesus great! If it didn't, I'm still doing something good! I feel like I've almost cheapened my abilities and what I am supposed to do because I have been distancing myself from God.

Well, now, I'm at a point where I'm trying to open my life back up to God and not do the distancing thing. So where is my ministry focus and goals? I mean, I know that God gave me the words Reach, Serve, and Love. I know that I want to reach, serve, and love in whatever capacity, but it needs to be in order to activate a change towards Jesus in children's lives. How do I see that playing out in my life? I don't know... Do I still think it will be in a social justice manner? Probably, but I want to get back to the idea of sharing Jesus with kids, too, not just helping them out. I was looking at it like this: I want to help the kids holistically, except for spiritually unless I have to. THAT NEEDS TO BE THE WHOLE FOCUS! So I want to help kids holistically, with special emphasis on their spiritual life, but through helping them with the other areas of their lives.

Maybe I just figured out some stuff to write? We'll see when I actually write this paper...

La De Da De Da

Kind of avoiding homework... haha

So, I just finished my "pneumatology" creedal statement, and now I am working on my "ecclesiology" creedal statement... I love my Christian Theology class! But sometimes it's difficult to do this work. My prof has us do our work in outline format, and says 2-3 pages... it'd be so much easier if I could write a 2-3 page paper sometimes, I'd be able to explain what I mean better.

My hymn analysis that I've been working on for the class is a semi-wreck, because I've been doing "too much" research on it, plus it's difficult to write everything in outline form, it'd be so much better to be writing a paper.

I leave on Saturday to go home... my last paper is due Thursday, so I'll be cleaning and packing up on Friday... Evangel has a basketball game in the city Friday evening that I kind of wish I could go to, but I'm not sure... There could be possible plans with friends since school is over by that point... Tuesday's going to be an odd day, because I'll have 3 of my 4 classes of the week then due to weird re-scheduling things...

I'm coming back home on the 30th and going to hang with LZ and any other grad school friends that are in town for New Year's... and then read for the rest of break... I've got a list of books to read over break and I'm super excited about it...

Ok, well, I should probably go to bed so that I can get up in the morning and get to work on my homework... Gonna be a long day on campus... but hopefully I can fully finish these creeds and my hymn analysis so I can get started on my philosophy of ministry paper...

Good night, friends, who may possibly read this!

I totally forgot to post those pictures from the GECRC!

So, I said that I would update about the semester and since I have some time today I thought I would.

I have been in 12 credits this semester. I have had Personal Spiritual Formation (PSF) and History & Philosophy of Ministry on Monday's, Christian Theology on Tuesday evenings and Ministry in Culture on Thursday afternoons.

Personal Spiritual Formation has been an interesting class. We chose two different spiritual disciplines to work on throughout the semester and we report on them along the way. We, also, had to write our spiritual autobiography. Even though it's labeled our "spiritual" autobiography they were mostly just autobiography and different things that influence who we are today. We then had to present on our papers that we wrote. This has been a interesting process of a class, but a very good one that has helped me to work somethings out.

History & Philosophy of Ministry: If I had blogged this earlier in the semester I would not have had much positive to say. HOWEVER, things turned around when we read the book Education that is Christian by Lois LeBar. THis book really changed my whole view of the class and even life. Then after fall break we read Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together (ok, 3 out of 5 chapters, not the whole book). Bonhoeffer was absolutely phenomenal. It is a book about Christian Life and community. I feel that every Christian should read this and apply it to their lives. PSF has helped our class to do just that. And the relationships I am forming are helping us to do it, as well. I just finished a Historical Mentor Paper on Robert Raikes, the founder of the Sunday School Movement. It was so cool to learn about a man who wanted to help poor children and the Sunday School movement came out of it.

Christian Theology: the foundation of everything we believe. This class has been so great to broaden my knowledge of the faith that I have claimed since I was a child. I had no idea over half of the things that I learned in this class. It has been completely eye-opening, sometimes shocking to me that people believe somethings because they are so different from what I grew up knowing. We have had to write creedal statements of what we believe on certain doctrines. Our professor wants us to wrestle with Scripture and know why we actually believe something and state that in our creeds. I am realizing that I agree doctrinally a lot with what I grew up in, yet in other areas I do not agree. I do not always agree with the practices that we do or our position papers. However, I am formulating what I believe and why I believe it due to the Scripture. I have loved this class and my prof has been so good and interesting to learn from.

Ministry in Culture: This is the one class I have not particularly enjoyed. It's a culture class and we used a text book from one of my undergrad classes (which I did not enjoy the second time around, but very good the first time). I have enjoyed a small portion of the first book we read, but the next two were not enjoyable for me. Plus other things have been annoying along the way.

The thing that I do like about this class is that we were forced to get involved in a cross-cultural engagement for at least 10 hours this semester. I started working with the Glen Ellyn Children's Resource Center (GECRC). I go every Thursday and work with students at Lincoln Elementary. I have loved working with these kids that not only am I continuing through the end of the semester, but through the end of the school year, as well! That's where I got the background picture currently on my blog. I'm gonna post more below, from my time there. We had to do a presentation on our experiences so Lauren, a fellow CFM-er in my class, took pictures and video for it!

Beyond my classes, I have met some really awesome people and been making great friends in some of them! I have been really enjoying my time at Wheaton and am excited for next semester! I'll be in Children's Ministry, Family Ministry, Human Development and Research, and History & Traditions. Super excited to see where God takes me through the course of my time here in the Christian Formation and Ministry Program.

So, yeah that's my update on the semester... not really the social side, but the academic side... maybe I'll update on the social side soon... maybe in between dishes and their drying periods, today...

Up-to-date.

Well, I blog when I seem to be avoiding homework. I really should not be blogging at the moment, but I am.

So, my whole summer and semester have gone by since I last posted. I stated that Camp Lakewood would bring me lots of stories to tell and well it did. But if you want to know them, ask me. I'll tell you stuff about my summer!

It was a great summer! I grew a lot, whether that's good or bad, I'll be the judge... Some growth was good and some was bad...

I got to work with the youngest age group, SAVANNAHS!, all summer long and it was awesome. I'd love to go back next summer and work with them again. Although, I'm not sure of summer plans yet, that's too far in the future and I may be doing an internship for school.

Well, now beyond that you can ask me the questions about CAMP LAKEWOOD!!!

Since late August, I've been living in the Chicago area and going to Wheaton College for grad school.. I have thoroughly been enjoying my time in the Christian Formation and Ministry department... It's an awesome program and it's been such a blessing to be here. It's changing my life (in a good way: think Elf!). I absolutely love my fellow students and are gaining really good friends in them! I am enjoying (most) of my class (not one of them...). I will (hopefully) blog soon more about my semester and what's been going on. It's been a great one and my friends should know what's going on... well, have the opportunity to know what's going on, at least. I don't think many read this... maybe I'll get it linked to facebook or something...

Brandon Michael

Obviously, I do not blog frequently... However, in the avoidance of a paper, I find myself blogging...

Life has been one heck of a crazy ride in the past several months....

I feel like I have found myself, lost myself, and am now on a journey of finding myself once again.

I am single. I am enjoying being single. And I have completely changed (and when I say completely changed, I only mean that I have reevaluated my previous view and changed it some, where I could slip back into my old way of thinking) my view of dating and relationships.

I love my friends. I enjoy my friend groups, but there are a handful of individuals that I just absolutely love and hate when I do not spend much time with them.

I am working on my friendships with guys. I have a couple guys that are truly good friends that are helping me in this area, whether they know it or not.

I keep learning more about myself in my classes. I love personality tests, because the labels they place on me are a great reflection of who I am.

I am learning to love and become my strengthsquest top 5 strengths. I loved them at first hated them some and am re-learning to love, truly being them.

I am three, count them, 1 2 3, weeks left of my undergrad career. That is scary as all get out and yet so exciting.

I am done with school, hence blogging rather than writing on killing vs. letting die.

Although, I am (hopefully) starting grad school in the fall and will have a permanent residence in the Chicago area.

I am working at Camp Lakewood in Potosi, Mo, this summer. Super excited, but super nervous.

I only have about 18-23 days in WV this summer. This is crazy and one of the scariest things, ever. It will no longer be my "permanent address."

I have no clue what this is really supposed to be about right now, and I feel like I should get on that ethics paper that I am DREADING.

Spring Fling is tomorrow, though, and I have to be there early for Lewis Hall's Booth...therefore, paper has to be done by 5.30

Lewis Hall Council for next year is currently freaking me out...

I hate the fact that I will no longer be in the same town as Casey & Brandon Shank and Steve & Janet Gause.

I have discovered different professors this year that are AMAZING (McCorcle and Plybon)!

I will miss being a part of Evangel. I will need the Lance shipped to me.

I love the changes in leadership going on, but it makes it more permanent that I am not involved next year.

I will miss my RA, Stephen Robertson, because he's been such a great leader and example for me this year on L4S.

I will miss all of my math group, we have grown and changed as individuals and a group so much since freshman year.

I should really write my paper on killing vs. letting die for Schmidly now.

Goodbye, blogging, hopefully not for too long though... I'm sure Camp Lakewood will have lots of stories for me to tell.

P.s. I've discovered I love math more than I ever realized. Mathematical functions are so beautiful! yeah, I'm that dorky and so went there...