Wrapping up the Year and Exciting News!

 

Somehow the summer is quickly approaching and the school year is about to wrap up. Our students are about to head into finals week here in a couple weeks. This time of year I'm always daunted by how much more I think there's left to cover with our students. How many more scriptures and principles there are that we want to teach on, or how many more Bible studies we want to have, but I'm also reminded of the fact that we can't do everything. That God is ultimately in control of the growth of these students and not us, and that is a very good thing.

The only photo Darby got of pizza theology

I was recently reminded of that truth by one of my favorite events of the whole year, Pizza Theology, which is an extended teaching time on a specific topic. This semester we taught on the topic of the wisdom literature in scripture and had around 400 students show up to spend 5 hours diving into these books with us! I was lucky enough to be asked to speak at this event and was able to teach over the book of Ecclesiastes. One of the main messages of the book is that we don’t have ultimate control over our lives or the lives of others. We are just creatures not the Creator. As much as we try to grasp for control over this or that, it continues to slip through our fingers, and instead we should give up the pursuit of control or power over our lives, and trust in the Lord who does have control and power. When teaching on different topics I think I tend to actually be ministered to just as much or more than the people I am speaking too. This talk was no different, it was a suitable reminder for me as we go into this final stretch of the year.

So encouraged by our students worship and how excited they get to praise God. 

Our leader team this year. Can't believe how good a job these students have done, and that we have this many leaders!

This was an especially timely lesson because Darby (my wife) is pregnant! We’re so excited, we thought that it would be difficult for her to get pregnant with all the health problems she had a couple years ago, but the Lord has been so good to us! She’s due in October so we’re already starting to prepare for this massive change in our lives. We’re learning so much, and part of that is how little in this process we actually have control over! Seems like the Lord is really trying to drive home that message lately. But nonetheless we are honored to be able to be parents, and pumped for this next season of life.

Our little nugget! 

Thank you for supporting me (and our now family) this year! I’m praying that the year comes to a close on a high note for out students, and if you’d join me in praying for Darby’s pregnancy I would really appreciate it!

Student Testimony