It is surreal. It is unbelievable. It is hard to imagine. We are actually on our way to India! We’re living the dream that God gave us and I could not be more excited! Sure, I’m a bit apprehensive but also confident that everything will work out. Our equipment is new, our team is newly formed and we are new to the whole realm of documentary films. The same God who led us here will give us the strength to do what we came to do.

Now that we are on the first leg of our flights, our next task is absolutely crazy. We are going to get off the plane for our layover in New York and make a taxi run to B&H Photo to get some of the final equipment that we need. Our layover is shorter than we originally believed, at a mere four and half hours. Its a pretty risky move but we need the stuff that we are going there to get. This trip is going to be an amazing but crazy adventure, I can tell already!

“Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus’ feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:38-42)

This passage is such a wonderful reminder right at the beginning of my seminary tenure. It reminds me that no matter how busy we become, even with good things, we must never stop spending time with Jesus. Martha’s service was commendable for Jesus says that the greatest is the one that serves. In her service, however, she lost sight of the most important thing. Sitting at the feet of Jesus and listening to His words seemed secondary to her and this is why it upset her that Mary was not helping her serve. Jesus’ loving correction is what all of us busy people need to hear for the one thing that is truly necessary is that which can never be taken from us; our relationship with Christ and the words of life that He speaks to us. May I never forget to sit at His feet whether busy in seminary, work or merely life in general!

Four years after graduating with my bachelor’s degree, I have finally found my way back into school. Yes, it is official: I’m a student again! For a long time it did not occur to me that I would ever need or want to go to seminary. Life was all about the destination for me. Getting to the “next step” was so important that I did not want to do anything that would consume too much extra time along the way. My undergraduate studies seemed more than adequate to launch me into the ministry.

After a few years of full time ministry, however, and a few lessons in the school of hard knocks, I began to reconsider the idea that maybe God had more training for me. Realizing that I was very much single and capable of moving anywhere I needed to, I began to consider the possibility of attending seminary.

Acquiring a bachelor’s degree from an unaccredited institution is not exactly the surest step towards getting into a good seminary, I soon learned. The initial closed doors caused me to pray that if God wanted me to study in seminary that He would make a way for me.

Right around the same time, Bethel University in St. Paul, Minnesota, was courting the Chancellor of my school to be on their Board of Directors. Through this connection, God opened the doors of Bethel Seminary to Magdalen College graduates. The only problem, however, was that having lived in Minneapolis for 5 years, I was more than ready to move. It seemed time to try a different part of the country.

That same summer, a road trip through the American West exposed me to the beautiful city of San Diego. My one afternoon in San Diego caused me to exclaim that I wished that there was a good seminary there so that I would have a good excuse to move there. After returning to Minneapolis, my mother and I set aside a day to pray and fast about the seminary decision. While in prayer, it occured to me that I seemed to recall Bethel having extension campuses somewhere. Grabbing my computer, I navigated to their website and could hardly believe it when I found that their extension campus was in San Diego!

A year and a half later, with a lot of decision making, a few months at home, and a wonderful year long experience in Alaska all under the bridge, I am finally hear and studying again! I’m confident that this is what God is using to prepare me for ongoing ministry for His kingdom.

Could we actually hope for gas prices to fall again? Could I fill up my tank in Southern California for under $3.00 a gallon? I was beginning to lose hope until yesterday when I filled my tank up at $2.89! I’ve never been so happy to spend $2.89 a gallon in my life! This may seem a little crazy but it actually lightened my day!

Something amazing happened recently! When my younger brother John was 9 years old, we discovered that he had only one kidney and that it was the size of a newborn’s kidney and only partially functional. He has been on dialysis ever since. Infections and other significant complications over the past year caused us to decide to pursue a transplant for him over ongoing dialysis.

After waiting for about 8 months with no news, he suddenly received a call a few weeks ago telling him to go to the hospital immediately for a kidney that might be made available to him. The first two kidneys that they called him in for went to other patients. On the third try, however, John finally received his new kidney!

He has gone home and has been recovering well. Aside from the usual post-surgery soreness, he is doing remarkably well and regaining his health! We are so excited to see his health continue to improve!

I crossed two significant milestones on MySpace this past weekend! I added my 100th friend and the visits to my profile crossed over the 1000 mark! I just want to say thank you to all of my faithful friends on MySpace who are making my profile such an interesting place to hang out in the evenings!

Making use of Memorial Day, I hiked up the 8500 foot Tahquitz Peak in the San Jacinto Mountains. I set out early in the morning, allowing me to see the sun slowly creep over the mountains. It was both a beautiful and peaceful hike. I never encountered anyone on my way up but of course on my way down, people were everywhere, making me glad I went early! This picture is of me enjoying the majestic view from the peak!

I have a new challenge for myself… I want to see how many different places in the world I can submit posts to this blog from! So far I have blogged from Homer, Alaska and San Diego. To add a third location to this list, I am currently blogging from Idyllwild, California. Isn’t that name (Idyllwild) awesome? I bet the name is Welsh and I honestly feel, and the landscape looks, like I have returned to Snowdonia in Northern Whales!

So what am I doing in Idyllwild? Well, since I am about to start a job that will consume my weekends for the rest of the summer, I thought I should make the most of the freedom I have left! Tomorrow morning I am going to get up early and climb the 10,500 foot, Mt. San Jacinto!

I am stoked to be back in the mountains! I do love the beaches down in San Diego but I definitely miss the mountain view in Homer! It is good to be surrounded by mountains again! This town is so rustic and alpine-feeling. Sitting in a coffee shop, called the Java Lounge, sipping a Cafe Milano, and anticipating tomorrow morning’s climb. Does it get any better than this?

Oh wait, I guess having friends along could slightly improve the situation but you know how it is… everybody always talks about how much they love to travel and have adventures but very few people actually the time out of their “busy” lives to actually travel. So that’s fine with me, I’m not going to let that keep me from getting around. If by myself, I get time to think and can concentrate on taking good photos so its all good!

I am applying to work for an incredible organization called, Invisible Children, referred to in an earlier blog entry. I really hope to get the job as it would be working for a cause that I very firmly believe in. As part of my application they asked me to do a little design project and here is what I came up with as a mission statement page for them. If you would, please let me know what you think by commenting on this post!

I just spent a few days in Palm Springs and I was amazed at how beautiful it was! As an oasis in the desert, it is permeated with sunshine and accented by flowers, greenery and curvaceous palm trees.