A Different Beginning

Every fall for the past 8 years have been marked by a new group of incoming freshmen, their hearts a blank slate ready to be written on by the influences of the college campuses. As a collegiate missionary, my prayer and hope is that every freshmen that steps foot on the campus will have an opportunity to hear the message of Christ. They will decide to surrender the lordship of their lives to Jesus, and experience the fullness of the joy and blessings of being a child of God.

But this fall is different for me. Instead of getting on campus and meeting these freshmen. Instead of meeting with staff and planning on how to plant on grow spiritual movements on these campuses. Amber and I are busy raising our financial support. It's an odd fall for me not being in the thick of all the high momentum of the start of the school year. But it's also been a blessing.

Amber and I have been on the road since we got married back in May. Yeah, that's four months of living out of a suitcase, staying in a dorm, sharing space with other people. Not counting our honeymoon, we've had maybe 2 weeks total that we weren't sharing space with other people. Through all this transition, however, we've had to learn quickly how to communicate well. We've had to learn how to still find rest and joy in the Lord even when everything is less than ideal.

The transition continues as we are finally back in Austin. In addition to working on raising our financial support, we are having to settle into our house. Unfortunately, that's not without some challenges. I know I've made my mistakes in the past, but forcing my wife to move into a flea and rat infested house will not be one. So, until we can rid the house of those pests, and gut and redo the kitchen and bathroom, we will be sharing space yet again. This time, with my cousin and 2 little boys who apparently only have two voice volumes-loud and louder.

Stay tuned as our journey towards normalcy continues.


yeah, this hole in my home actually opens up to the outside