the bomb

ok. it has taken me a while to process everything that has gone in the last week. here's the first of a few posts today.

last thursday took me out of the hospital for the day. the destination: atascocita, texas. random small town in the northeast houston area. the reason: to meet my dcm group. the small group i was put in to journey with this year (really the next 7mos) pre-ordination. in short the group gathers to "support" each other through the process...most of the day was spent venting. i practiced my listening skills a lot.

then, we went to the local mexican food restaurant for lunch and that is where the bomb dropped. one, thankfully for us, over-achiever had a checklist with everything we have to do before december 18th. i started sweating at the table and it was not from the salsa. a 15pg paper answering doctrinal questions, a 6-8 week bible study, a preached sermon, a psychological exam, a physical, and some other random forms. now, to be honest i kind of expected all this...that was not the bomb. then i was asked, "have you had an advanced preaching class?" well, no...i am on the deacon track...not called to be an every sunday preacher. apparently that doesn't matter.

i knew this whole transfer into the texas annual conference and being ordained a year earlier thing had been too smooth. this conference requires two preaching classes no matter what, and i've only had one. the result: i will be applying to take a class at houston graduate school of theology every tuesday night from mid-october to february...if i don't, i can't even go before the board of ordained ministry this year. i seriously want to cry just thinking about it. what a process...almost 8yrs in the making. it was already hard for me to imagine juggling the other requirements with all the CPE (hospital program) writing and now this. oh, and did i mention that the course is $1260? what's that verse about running the race with perseverance??? i'm trying to keep my eye on the prize, but to be honest it's a little hard to focus on right now.