The last two years have been a season of transition. Late 2022, we transitioned out of leadership of the small church we had been part of for a dozen years and started attending a very large church in El Paso that had a large youth group for Beau. The opportunity to be a professor at Texas Tech opened up early 2023, and I came to interview that May. We moved into a rental house in Lubbock in mid-July, and we started school in August. The kids integrated well during the fall semester and made friends. We started attending Renew Life Church early in the fall semester. We offered to purchase several homes, but our offers were not selected. We had an incredibly nice house in El Paso. Mid-spring 2024, we started attending Church on the Rock and discovered several connections very rapidly. We also finally came to terms with the limitations of a significantly more expensive real estate market in Lubbock compared to El Paso (which I still don't understand!) and a significantly higher interest rate (7% compared to 3%). In May 2024, we placed an offer on a house with an attached apartment for Brandi's parents so we could help care for Brandi's dad as he battled ALS. They got to walk through and were excited about this house. Sadly, Brandi's dad went to be with the Lord a few hours before we closed on the house purchase (mid-June). We moved from our rent house over the next several weeks. After four years of teaching kindergarten and four years of teaching first grade, Brandi started teaching 4th grade in the fall of 2024. Beau started high school. In October, I was asked to lead a large interdisciplinary collaboration for water in Texas.
About a week ago, Brandi and I were on a walk around our neighborhood, and I was reflecting on this season of transition. Then I saw a brief picture of a tractor plowing in a field. As I thought about it, I realized the tractor was listing (building up the beds, preparing for planting). I feel like the Lord was telling me that 2025 is a season of preparation. First, I need to do the work of preparation of the soil of my heart to be fertile for the Life of Christ to produce a harvest through me. I need to mature significantly in my spiritual gifts. I need to grow and mature to be a better husband, father, friend, and professor. Second, the field represents the work that I and my family have to do here in Lubbock. We need to do the work of preparation by building relationships and partnerships with other families to reveal the Kingdom and help it grow here. There are so many people here who have heard about Jesus, and many who have even walked an aisle and think they are saved but are actually deceived because they have not repented and followed Jesus. There are also so many people here who are self-righteous and racist; it hurts me deeply. So, much of the soil here is hard and dry, and it will take a lot of work to loosen the soil and build up beds to prepare for planting seeds of zoe life.
Father, please give me hope for 2025. I know it will be a lot of hard work, but please give me hope for your zoe life to grow and produce a harvest. Please send your rain. Please encourage us, and help us stay focused on investing our time and effort in activities of eternal value. Please don't let me waste my life. I love you.
