That “journey of a thousand miles” that begins with a single step? Sometimes the miles are rather bumpy and uphill!

It’s been eleven months since Hurricane Micheal tore up Panama City – it’s like we all put life on hold for a whole year (or more). I certainly put seminary and even our local Bible study group The River on hold… when you have no home, no church building, no internet, no childcare, no everything… life is just difficult. But we’re making progress, things are slowly becoming functional again, and we might even have a church campus renovated by December!

I’m teaching again at The River women’s Bible study this fall – we’re going back to the basics because we are community undone by drama.  We’ll relearn how to meet with God and take care of ourselves as we read through “Feeding Your Soul” by Jean Fleming.

I am a student again at Asbury Theological Seminary this fall too. By taking one class at a time, and adding in a hurricane, I’ve managed to turn a two year MA in Biblical Studies into a five year program, but that’s just the way it is. My class this fall is Missional Formation – a study of the mission of God in the world, the role of the church, the global church, and even an ethnographic study of our own church culture and missional engagement. It’s an interesting topic to study as our own church is reborn post hurricane.

Finally, I am returning this fall as a Teaching Assistant for an inductive Bible study class at Asbury. It will be my third time through the book of Mark and I have enjoyed helping other seminary students as they learn to study the text.

We’re coming out of the darkness here in Panama City, and “normal” never felt so good!