DR: Praise God! After many prayers from many souls and many hours of intensive studying, I am pleased to give a praise report that I got a 96% on my Greek midterm today! Praise the Lord!
I've been studying 55-60 hours each week for the last 5 weeks, and it is paying off. There have been many days over these last few weeks where my non-detailed oriented brain has bumped heads (to say the least) with the very detailed creature that Greek most definitely is, but God has miraculously knitted together connections in this head of mine to help me "get it" nonetheless.
Now I pray I continue to study effectively at the same pace I've been studying, and pass the final (known as "The Qualifier") in early November with the same gusto God gave me today. I also pray He helps me retain the knowledge He's given me beyond our Greek class, so that Greek remains a tool I can use and employ throughout my life and forthcoming career.
On another note, God seems to be working through me and a fourth-year seminarian brother of mine, MW, in a special way. MW and I serve together on the Student Assocation (student government) here at the sem. He heads up the Spiritual Life Committee, of which I am a newly-minted member, and I serve also as one of two first-year married student representatives (as I shared on a recent post).
MW and I are quietly (at least around here) and prayerfully exploring the possibility of starting up some type of intentional small group and prayer effort for our campus. It may even take the form of actually working with our administration to get every guy (and gal) on this campus into a small group, for prayer, accountability, and fellowship. Presently (suprisingly?), nothing like it exists at our seminary. We are in the early infant stages of exploring and fact-gathering, but I wanted to share it with you so that you can be in prayer about the effort with us and for us.
The devil most certainly would not want something like this to succeed, and I'm sure he'll throw every trick from his pathetic and hell-bound book at it to try and stop it from happening. Please pray for a hedge of protection around MW and I and our families, and around all others who may become involved. Please also pray that God will open doors and hearts to be receptive to the concept, and that He would work through us and this effort for His glory and for the edification and strengthening of His servants, our families, and our community.
One early and encouraging blessing along these lines is that MW and I have secured the assistance and partnership of the Community Life Leader, GH, at my field work church, St. John in Ellisville, MO. GH is a wonderful soul who leads and directs the highly effective small group and assimilation efforts at St. John; indeed, no small feat for a thriving church with over 2,200 regular attenders. GH has freely and graciously agreed to provide us with insight on how to effectively "do" small groups from an administrative and leadership standpoint; most definitely helpful information for us and our future churches we will one day pastor, and also for MW and I as we explore possibilities for our seminary community as well. Please also keep GH and St. John in your prayers, and I will be sure to keep you posted on our progress.
Thank you again for your continued love and support--we would not and could be here were it not for your prayers, financial support, and continued encouragement. God is working through you in amazing ways. Please let us know how we can be praying for you as well. You can click the email link in the upper right hand corner of our homepage, and we will be sure to include your specific request in our family's daily prayers.
Love and blessings to you and yours,
Don and the girls
No comments:
Post a Comment