This past Saturday marked my first full year in Abilene, Texas. So far that makes 18 years in Tulsa, 4 1/2 years in Norman, 10 months in Tuscaloosa, 8 months in Tulsa, and 1 year in Abilene. Compared to a lot of people, that is not very many places. But I am obviously still on a journey and God has sent me to some very significant locales, each one having its own set of incredible experiences and people. Abilene has been no different.

On July 1st, 2005, I was ready to come to Abilene but in many ways resistent to it. I knew that Abilene was a stop I needed to have in this bigger life plan that I have managed to develop, but was not wholly convinced of that idea myself. It presented many things that I viewed as significant challenges - officially getting out of "full time" state school campus ministry work, going into the Christian school world that had rubbed me wrong for so long, and being part of a system of academic theology that is self-serving and egotistical, among others. But at the same time I knew that there are reasons that God was sending me here. I have found some of those. Some amazing people. Life-changing friends. New ideas and ways of thinking. Ministry opportunities. Increased maturity. Much like my years at OU and my 10 month stint in Alabama, I will have life-long friends from these Abilene days. Some of those amazing friends have already left Abilene ahead of me but will be people with whom I hope to always be in touch. I have slowly begun to learn the ways of a university world that is very different than what I had come to know. And with that comes a larger appreciation for its advantages.

Several months ago I was offered the opportunity to leave this world and return to the full-time state school campus ministry life. It was very tempting. But I am still convinced, as I was when I moved here, that God still has more up his sleeve and has brought me to Abilene for some significant reasons that are still yet to be discovered. As crazy as it feels to say it, Abilene is my world right now.