It may only be January 21, but the new year seems like it is going full speed already. Seminary has started back for Tim and he is pumped about it - since it is his last semester. He has a job interview tomorrow with a networking/telecommunications company - and we wait with anticipation to see what God will do with that. Originally we had considered that maybe he should just stick it out with his retail job, since we thought we might be transitioning to chaplaincy relatively soon. Now, though, it appears that becoming a chaplain may be be a more lengthy process than we had anticipated. Not much can substantially be done prior to graduation, except for some paperwork. Nothing can be submitted until after May, and from there it can take 6 months to a year (we have heard). So, maybe a change of pace from retail would be just what Tim needed to get him through until then. We are hopeful, but trusting God. This place called him based on what they saw in his resume - so we will see.

Our weekend was fun, but too short...as usual. We have had quite the cold temps here recently, but that hasn't kept Dylan in doors. Below you will find some pictures of his time outside.
For whatever reason, this is a slower season at work for me. So, I am enjoying being able to read swiftlly through my most recent literary endeavor - Bringing Up Boys, by James Dobson. If you have boys (or a boy) and have not read it - I HIGHLY recommend it to you. The more I read, the more I am glad that I chose to read this book. There is so much at stake within the heart of our children, but especially so within the hearts of young males - the born-leaders of tomorrow. I was struck by this paragraph from his book:

"The notion of postmodernism teaches children, teens, and adults that they owe their existence to random chance in a chaotic universe with no design and no designer. We are accountable to no one and live for a meaningless moment in a dying cosmos that will end in total darkness. We have no inherent value as human beings and no significance beyond our short journey on the river of time. No wonder low self-esteem and disrespect for others are at an all-time high. It is a damnable worldview that assaults the family and warps its young"

Wow. He goes on to enlighten the reader on how males (particularly boys) are under attack like never before in the history of mankind. Thanks to the feminist movement of the 60's and 70's which went far beyond searching for equal rights for women - valiant men who know how to be MEN are a dying breed, as they are attacked on every side. I have been convicted to do everything I can to raise Dylan to be what God created him to be - a man!