Letters from Paul

What a week.  I am not sure that MORE could have happened in one week.  It was certainly a week of “ups” and “downs.”  On Sunday morning I headed out of town for a week of school.  Now at first glance you might think, “Was that the up or down part?”  Well, my children certainly see it different than I do.  In the middle of summer, no one better talk about school.  It is somewhat difficult for them to understand that an education is not a right, but a privilege.  Little did I know that God wanted to teach me more than what I could learn in a classroom.

Leading up to the week, I had been up many long nights with reading, writing papers, and doing a great deal of research, while at the same time, working full time as the pastor of Summer Creek Baptist Church.  But I gotta tell you, I love going to Kentucky and spending the week at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.  Firstly, I have developed a great friendship with godly men (Micah, Matt, Clif, and Jake) who are in class with me.  Secondly, I simply love interacting with these guys and the professors as we study and attempt to grasp the depths of scripture and our Lord.  Lastly, I just enjoy being in that environment.  I love going to the library, reading papers, listening to sermons, being in the academic environment, and even going to class each day.  Although I am sitting in the airport very tired as I write this . . . it was hard to leave the seminary.

So, what was the downer?  Well two days after I arrived, I got a call from my wife telling me that she and my youngest were on their way to the hospital.  My little girl had an infection, and the doctors were going to be very aggressive in treating this.  Of course, my wife and I were caught off guard and I began to sense that it was going to be difficult to keep my mind at school.  I wanted to be at home.  I wanted to help and I wanted to be there for my wife and daughter.  What a downer . . . but God was about to do a great work. continue reading more…