Still alive

Super busy lately. I turned 30 yesterday and spent a good 3 hours shopping for health insurance (weeee). Went out to dinner with friends and ended up sitting at the table talking for 6 hours. It was a great night.

Today I have to rent the moving van, get renters insurance, change auto insurance, call the cable company, the power company, and the utilities. I then need to dumpster dive for moving boxes… oh, and go to the dentist.

Busy, Busy, Busy.

How I decided to quit my job to go to seminary

Going to seminary has always been a desire of mine. Well, maybe not always… but for a long while. I’ve even tried my hand a taking seminary classes online. In the end it never panned out for me. So, when and how did everything change for me? Well, the story goes something like this:

About 4 years ago my wife and I moved from the south to the not-quite-north. The move had lots of factors… FAR too many to go into here. But we packed the car and headed on the journey with a couple thousand dollars in the bank and an apartment waiting for us. The main reason we ended up in our city was because of a pastor and friend who had recently started a church was here and had mentioned that, at some point, there might be a job for me.

So, my wife and I started working off jobs and just scraping by. After abut a year I spoke with the pastor and discussed my desire to return to full time campus ministry (that is what I had been doing in the south for the 3 years prior to the move). We agreed that it was good timing and started to work towards me coming on staff. The one catch is that, as a campus minister, I had to go out and raise a financial partnership team. Some of you know what I’m talking about… for those who don’t, basically I went to lots of people (friends, family, friends or friends, and so on) and explained my passion to see college students impacted with the gospel. I then asked if they wanted to partner with me financially. And, low and behold, some did.

Now, the problem was that I was REALLY bad at the whole process. While I managed by God’s grace to get enough money to live, it was always tight and difficult… then we added little man… then a house… then sweetpea… then a mini van… over the years our expenses increased, yet income didn’t quite keep up. I was forced to work second jobs and long hours. It was always stressful… We were getting by, but we weren’t sure how long we could keep it up.

Finally, last summer we spent some serious time asking God what we needed to do. I could not see spending another year working 60-70 hours a week to just scrape by… not knowing if it would be a “good” month or a “bad” month. We felt like the grace might be up for this season of life. So, we asked God, “if not this… then what?”

Seminary.

It seemed like an odd answer. We can’t pay the bills now, how will we pay them there? How could this work?

Well, we prayed, talked to friends and family, and thought about it a lot. After about 3 months of consideration… I quit my job. Now, that sounds harsh, and it really wasn’t. My pastor was very supportive and agreed that this seems like the right thing at the right time.

So, here we are… 6 months later… according to our plans we should be packing boxes and preparing to move back south… none the less, that is not what seems to be happening.

So, that is how it went down for us. We’re still in the process. God used (uses) His word, our situations, our friends, and the passions he has given us to help us know where we need to be and what we need to do…

and, by the way, while the story might have sounded rough, I must make it abundantly clear that we have lived a very comfortable life and God has never left us unprovided for. There were times it might have been a little tough, but God has taken care of our every need and many of our wants… To Him I am grateful forever.

My Journey - What is going on?

Ok friends, not giving any advice in this post… Just thinking out loud here…

So, if you know about me then you know I am not currently attending seminary. I’ve been taking seminary classes virtually and was planning on transferring to a residential campus at the start of 2008. Through a series of events that I have not had time to share yet (though it is on my “to be posted” list) my wife and I decided to move forward with the decision to quit my job, move to far away, and attend seminary. It was a decision based on much prayer and through much council. Through the whole process it appeared that God’s hand was working things in such a way that it was going to work… now, here we are, about a month away from when we need to move and we haven’t sold our house. This is the final piece to the puzzle. It is also the make or break of the whole deal. No house sell, no move, no seminary… do not pass go, do not collect $200.

So, I sit here today… wondering. Did I miss something? Lord, what are you doing? I know you aren’t a con-man trying to hide your will from me… but I just don’t understand.

Thankfully, I am not crushed by the situation… it isn’t like I’m freaking out. I’m not questioning God’s plans and purposes… But I’m just confused. Everything seemed to be right, and now this.

So, I’m not sure what to do. We figure that we have about another week before we miss our window of opportunity for this upcoming semester (the one we have already registered for). After that, I’m not sure what happens… Do we put off seminary for another 6 months? Continue to live in this state of limbo? Do we throw in the towel and just keep trying to do virtual classes?

I don’t know… no answers here.

You have any answers? Anyone want to buy our house?

Health Insurance for seminary

Ok, health insurance is a pain in the neck. It is expensive and if you’re not on a company plan it is even more expensive. So, what are you to do?

Well, first thing is to try and land a job that actually provides health insurance. Trick with that one is that most part time gigs don’t offer it. Some do, but most don’t. Then, you need to be careful because those who do offer it, often offer crappy insurance… they get you with “we offer insurance to all employees.” Then you get the policy and realize how crappy it is when you have to jump through every hoop known to man in order to set up a doctors visit.

So, if anyone knows a company that has a good insurance for part-timers, please share the love.

So, assuming you don’t get insurance through your job, what are your options.

Well, I think all seminaries offer some sort of insurance, however, much like the the part time jobs it is often not that great. In fact, my admissions officer was kind enough to answer my question, “does ____ offer health insurance to students?” with brutal honesty. “Yes… but it isn’t very good. You’d probably be better off going with someone else.”

Well, you’re basically left with only a few options. You can contact an insurance sales person. If you go this route, check with your seminary as they might have a connect to a trustworthy representative. However, don’t be lazy. Check with a couple other companies than the one that you’re seminary pointed you to.

A final option that I’ve found helpful is eHealthInsurance. This site compares a bunch of different plans and prices.

At this point Just a Gal and I haven’t decided on what we’re going to go with. I need to contact a local rep in _____. But eHealthInsurance gave us some good results with reasonable deductibles, copays, and doctor visits… with pretty good rates.

Anyone else want to share their insurance wisdom or experience?

Can I afford seminary?

The fact is that seminary is expensive.

So, when trying to make the decision on going to seminary, it is important to spend some time crunching the numbers. Now, this isn’t the determining factor, but it is certainly one you must consider before making this decision.

So, what should you do?

Well, first, you need to figure out you current cost of living. This means taking ALL your monthly expenses and get them on paper. Here is a list to get you thinking. List how much you spend per month on:

• Rent/Mortgage
• Groceries
• Power
• Water
• Trash
• Internet
• Cable
• Auto Insurance
• Car Payment
• Gasoline
• Student loans
• Clothing
• Entertainment
• Eating out
• Tithe/Donations
• and so on…

Now, if you don’t know exactly how much you spend per month, then estimate. The key here is to estimate HIGH. So, if you think you spend $100 a month clothes, but you aren’t sure… go ahead and estimate $125.

Once you have it all listed out… add it up. This is a good idea of your current cost of living.

Now, the fun part. Ask yourself how you plan to pay the bills when you go to seminary. Here you need to be realistic. You’re not going to be working a 40 hour a week job making $60K while you’re in seminary. The coursework will be grueling. I estimate (current seminarians help me on this one) that you can work 20 +/- hours a week. This alone will limit your job options. So, honestly evaluate your income potential on a monthly basis. Here, again, you might need to estimate. This time, however, estimate low. Better safe then sorry. Also, if your spouse plans on working, figure that it too. Add it all up and you have your estimated monthly income.

Now, take your estimate monthly income and subtract your current cost of living. This number might scare you… it’s probably a negative. That means you won’t make enough to support your current lifestyle while at seminary.

Now, don’t take that to mean seminary is out of the picture for you. Now the fun begins.

Take your current monthly living expense and begin to trim the fat. What areas can you cut down? Entertainment and eating out are the first easy targets. However, don’t be foolish and drop them to zero. Unless you are super-human, you’ll eat out from time to time… or at least get a coffee or tea. To say zero is just dumb. Be rational and cut the excess, but don’t drop to zero.

Now, I’m not going to talk about all the ways to cut cost (I’ll do that on another post) but you get the picture. As you cut the cost you’ll notice you’re inching closer and closer to making that negative a positive.

Now, as our decreasing the gap here, (warning, bad news ahead) don’t forget to add some of the expenses that might not have been on your first list… like books, health insurance, tuition, etc. These are certainly going impact the monthly budget.

Now, what happens if you’ve cut all you think you can legitimately cut and the numbers still don’t work? Well, I can’t tell you exactly. This is where prayer, council, and discernment kick in. Just because it doesn’t work on paper doesn’t mean it is out the window. Pray and be wise.

For me… well, the paper (aka the “can this work” excel spreadsheet) says no. We’re about $700 a month short. However, we’ve decided to take the step of faith. We’ll have some equity to cushion us for a bit to test the water, so our decision is not reckless… but it isn’t ’safe’. But I feel like that is part of the experience. Stepping out and trusting God. It isn’t for everyone (you know what I mean)… just do your homework.

Life is hectic

My apologies for being absent the past few days. As any seminarian will tell you, life is hectic.

In preparation for our departure for seminary in January, I’ve been working full time at a start-up company in my town helping them with system/process management and optimization; preparing the company for, what I think is, its soon approaching tipping point. While it is a great job and lots of fun, it has been a lot of work. On top of that I’ve been trying to increase my client base for my web development company, as this will be the main bread winner while we are at seminary (at least according to my spreadsheet).

So, every day I get home from work and then… well, go to work. Which I guess is good preparation for seminary. There is no doubt that there will be a lot of work… I guess the upside is that there are no cubes involved. For those of you who’ve ever been trapped in a cube, may I recommend a cubicle freakout (I pretty much sing this theme song every day).

On top of all the work, there is of course the kids and wife. I think a big danger we all face is neglecting our family for the things we think can’t wait… and, lets me honest, there are those of us who hide from our families in our work and school. There are certainly days where it is just easier for me to say I need to get to work (which is true) but in reality I just can’t handle the kids, the mess, and the stress. Now, I’m sure that is just me… good ole sinful me… but anyone feel me on that one?

Well, enough rambling here. Just needed to let you know I’m alive and well. In fact, I’m celebrating my 7th wedding anniversary this weekend and I have a bit of a surprise up my sleeve for my gal (little man and sweetpea are being shipped off and we’re shipping out). So, I’ll be off the next two days, but I hope to post some good stuff on Saturday. Just writing this post has given me some great ideas. I think I’m going to write about some preparatory steps to take when deciding to go to seminary… like figuring out if you can afford it (hint… you probably can’t).

(Also, if you happen to know what squidoo is, then check out the lens I recently created. I mostly created it for SEO purposes. But if your a Squidoo fan, then hook me up with some votes… and while I pathetically asking for some SEO help, please vote for the site at the bloggers choice awards… ok, ok… enough shameless marketing talk…)

Advice for families going to seminary

While scouring the internet today for more information to help us all on our seminary journeys I stumbled across a great post on tHe Resurgence (not to be confused with theresurgence.com). The post, Advice for Seminary Students with Families (& Full-Time Jobs) give 17 spot-on nuggets of wisdom for the family seminarian. While you should check out Colin’s site, it is so good I’d hate for you to miss it in the case that you don’t want to click the link… so, at length, here are his 17 points:

1. You are not single without children. Your priorities are 1) God, 2) Family, 3) everything else. If you lose your family for your ministerial aspirations, you have lost your qualifications for the ministry.

2. If you need A’s and B’s for possible doctoral studies, take fewer classes rather than upsetting the priority list above. If you were an A student in college, you must get past the idolatry of the grade.

3. You may not always be able to read everything assigned in a class. Be judicious in what you set out to accomplish. Rank the importance of the texts at the beginning of the semester, acquiring the professor’s help if necessary, and start with those. You must be diligent in your reading, even if you are not a quick reader. Nonetheless, set a goal and a corresponding calendar to get all your work completed for each class, having the important texts read in case (err, when) an emergency crops up.

4. Get papers completed early and utilize the Writing Lab (or similar writing/tutoring service if available). Since you may not be able to read the quantity of books a single or non-father student will devour while in seminary, and therefore without the benefit of exposure to as diverse examples writing quality, you must pay attention to edits and critiques of your writing in order to improve.

5. Do not neglect Bible study and devotion times. You may have to change your routine or your devotion time during the day. You must spend time in the Bible to supplement your seminary education. This means that you should not neglect Bible study for an assignment (but neither should you use it as an excuse for not completing something due to poor planning or management).

6. Read wisely. Select your books carefully. Read reviews. Open the book before you read, peruse the bibliography to get a feel for what main sources the author draws from, read the biographical information about the author, note the publisher, and read the last chapter. This will get your mind in tune to the work and ready to glean its significant points. Unfortunately many books in the bookstore today hide significant points within sermon illustrations, anecdotes and useless repetition of nonsense instead of coming right out and saying, “This is my point/thesis, this is what it means, this is why it’s true and this is why its significant.”

7. Keep up with your languages (see this site for help)!! Michael suggests to take them early, and if you want to get done in 3-4 years, you must take them right away. Also, try to group classes (like OT + Hebrew, NT + Greek, Preaching + NT Greek, etc.) and remember many electives usually require more outside study time than core classes. Pick your electives very carefully, especially if you want a concentration.

8. Do not ever, ever decide on a professor based on his soteriology. But try to pick classes based on the professor you want to take. This may mean figuring out a way to take Tuesday and/or Thursday classes, or changing your schedule. Yet never dismiss a professor. God has something for you to learn in every class, and if you think otherwise, you don’t need to be in seminary.

9. Debate other students wisely. Michael’s advice here is spot on- make sure you know what you are talking about and be humble. If you are a Calvinist, try to steer clear of debates on Calvinism. Do not say anyone is “not God-centered.” For all, do not dismiss anyone out of ignorance. Too many who pipe up in class debates on the subject quickly reveal they do not know what is going on. Do not say Reformed Baptist churches should call themselves Presbyterian. Do not call everyone attending non-Reformed churches “man-centered” or “seeker-sensitive.” And don’t discuss soteriology the first time you meet someone.

10. Do not believe what blogs say about seminaries. Once you begin attending, the ignorance of many bloggers is revealed when you see things are directly opposite what they dogmatically claim. If anyone comments on the intellectual level of the faculty, it reveals a biblical-realism disconnect (i.e. an affinity to academy rather than biblical theology).

11. Don’t be loud. Don’t dominate conversations and theological discussion. Do not ask questions every class period, and do not ask multiple questions per class. Everyone in the classroom is paying money to hear the professor.

12. Having obligations such as a professional job and a family will preclude you from fitting in to the “campus crowd.” Expect not to be a favored student. Be careful who you partner with in accountability.

13. Do ministry. Do not fall into the trap that ministry begins after seminary. One example: have people over for dinner often. Ministry does not have to mean teaching a class at your church. In fact, if you are not already on staff somewhere, volunteer for jobs you may never have the chance to do again, like parking duty or cleaning bathrooms.

14. Men, support your family. Don’t be shy about accepting help when offered, even if it is enough to live on. This is God’s provision. However, going into chronic debt is not healthy. Do not put your babies in day care for seminary.

15. Do not neglect family devotion time. Catechize your children. Read through Scripture and doctrine with your wife.

16. Try hard. Seminary is hard work. It is harder than you can imagine. Know this, but determine to do the best you can do (given various circumstances) on every assignment. The rewards are sweet.

17. Exercise. For you husbands who love your wives, buy a jogging stroller (do they make four-seaters?) and take the kids off her hands in the evening while you get some exercise. Give her time alone to do her quiet time, cook, or simply catch her breath. What a great stress reliever for you both! (Thanks SelahV for the reminder)

Brilliant post Collin. You are to be commended!

Deciding on a seminary - Should I stay or should go?

This post will help narrow your list by asking a very simply question that The Clash asked in 1981, “Should I stay or should I go?”

Now, location is a big deal for some people. Are you willing to move across the country to go to seminary? How far are you willing to go from home? From friends? From family?

The fact of the matter is that the right seminary for you might not be in the location you want it to be in. You might be a beach bum and yet feel a calling to Regent College in Canada. Or maybe your a big city kid from New York and you’re sensing the call to study at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky.

At that moment I guess a better question to ask is not “should I” but rather “will I.” Are you really prepared to be uncomfortable and go places you might not typically want to go?

If your answer is no… it’s just my opinion, but you’re probably not ready for seminary. As ministers, we are called to live follow the example of our king, who though God, humbled himself. A king, who when faced with going somewhere that was more than a little uncomfortable answered his father with, “not my will, but your’s be done.”

So, think it over. If where you want to go to seminary is some place that might be uncomfortable for you… then your training has already begun.

Work and studies

So, I haven’t actually started seminary yet, so for me this is an area that I’m giving a lot of consideration. I really haven’t figured out how everyone in seminary pulls this one off. I mean, you need to work to pay the bills but working means you’re not studying which means you’re doing bad in class… which seems like a bad trade off… So, you decrease your work hours, but the power company doesn’t care and they still send you your bills. So, what are you to do?

I guess the best solution is to find a job that allows you to make lots of money for minimal hours invested. Uh… yeah… anyone know where I can find one of those?

As for me, my wife and I crunched the numbers and it looks really tight. Thankfully, I am a web developer, so I have a job that is flexible and pays well for hours invested. The problem is that it is typically feast or famine in the work category. So, it is a little nerve racking.

In the end, we simply decided that, even though the excel spreadsheet says that money will be tight… we just need to trust that we are hearing and obeying God’s call and that He will care and provide for us as he is always done.

Anyone got some insight on how to balance the work/school issue? Please drop some wisdom for us newbies.

« Previous Page