So, last night Mike Bickle was speaking down in Atlanta and we wanted to hear him. I had planned to go with a couple from my church, but they called and said they couldn't make it because of sickness in the family.

I had some other friends (three girls) that were going, so I called them up and arranged to go with them. Then, on the way down, we get a flat tire. And guess who is the only person who'd ever changed a flat? Yup, you guessed it. Me. I also wound up being the only person who could get the filling station air compressor to work.

We made it in time to hear the speaker, but only because we'd left an hour and a half early to ensure getting a good seat. (I wound up standing against the side wall.) It was really good, though, so I was happy.

New Year's Day is past, 2006 is over, and 2007 is underway.

Retrospective:
This past year was a "refocusing" year. As I began the year, I resolved to either seriously start lifting weights, or quit martial arts. Within two months, I had quit martial arts. I have not regretted it for a moment.

On the other hand, this fall I re-enrolled in seminary, to complete my Masters degree. Columbia Biblical Seminary gave me a great deal transferring in my previous credits, but this time, I'm working on an M.Div instead of an M.A. It's been hard work, doing part-time distance education while I was teaching full time, but it's been rewarding. At the current pace, I'm still on schedule to graduate in about four years.

I got four opportunities to preach this year - twice in Sunday morning church (the second time last week on December 31!), once in chapel, and once at a summer camp meeting. I have never before been asked to preach, although I've been praying for the opportunity for a number of years.

Last spring, the students on campus covered seven days with 24-hour prayer. That started a massive wrestling match between some members of the faculty and administration that ended with us getting a permanent, dedicated prayer room on campus this fall. In December, our church did a full week of 24-7 prayer as well. Since school started, I've been meeting once a week with some friends at my church that are firmly resolved to establish a 24-7 prayer ministry in this town, and we've been ironing things out and laying the foundations.

On the whole, my life seems to be shifting into a higher gear and heading in a different (but not unwelcome!) direction than I had planned at this time last year. Perhaps the best moment all year, though, was the hour in May I got to spend with my college mentor, Allen Hood. That week was the tenth anniversary of the first ministry trip we took together, when I had just finished my freshman year in college and he was still in seminary. We looked at each other - he the head of a Bible school, me a college professor - and just reflected on how far we had come.

I also resolved to post to this blog at least once or twice a week. That didn't happen, for several reasons. 1) My parents now live a couple of miles from me, so they already know how my life is going. 2) Going back to school part-time really sucked up a huge amount of my free time. 3) People haven't posted many comments, and it's discouraging to post when you don't feel anyone reads your writing. I'm going to free myself of guilt this year and post only when I feel like it. On the other hand, my mind is occupied with a lot of biblical/religious issues what with seminary and everything else, so I may start a different blog to focus on just that.

Looking ahead into 2007, I feel excited and expectant, but don't really feel the need to resolve anything. I'm facing down my 30th birthday, and I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it. I just know I need to be diligent in my seminary work and press on with the plans for a 24/7 prayer ministry and see what happens.

Car mileage is 177,280 miles.