We are here for You.

the banquet has now come and gone and oh what a blast it was! last year was my first year to actually play in the banquet, but I've been involved with helping with the youth for several years.. this year was by far the most fun & the most rewarding banquet experience I've had.. and from all the feedback we're getting, it seems everyone else agrees.  so many people have commented on the blessings they received from just being able to have a night away and enjoy themselves or how an event like this provided the opportunity for some of their lost friends to actually come to church finally..

this past sunday marked the 2 year anniversary of us being in the sanctuary.. Bro. Mark, during his offering "commercial" asked everyone who has become a member or started attending within the past 2 years to stand... it was overwhelming how many people in the congregation are pretty much new to the church.. it just goes to show that the church is growing by leaps and bounds.. but it also serves as a wake up call that we have an incredible task to ensure we are ministering to the needs of those in the community who are coming into our church seeking answers and seeking to connect with Jesus Christ.

God is doing a lot of great things in my life and in our church right now and I am definitely excited to see what else He has in store & see how everything plays itself out over time.  the primary focus of all of it though is that "we are here for YOU!".

Love Will Keep Us Together.

this whole trying to update more frequently seems as though it isn't working all too well haha.. and the year-in-review I don't believe will happen until next year haha.. I figure mid-February is a little late to do a review of 2010 but oh well. I guarantee 2011's review will make up for it! :)

the Valentine's Banquet is coming up and for all of you in Watsonopolis, you know how life-consuming the banquet can be, but it is a ton of fun and I can't wait for the performances! I'll be playing: "Love Will Keep Us Together" by Captain & Tennille (Tara Gourley), "Bless the Broken Road" by Rascal Flatts (Dana Rushing), "You Belong With Me" by Taylor Swift (Kalyn Shilling), "Oh Darling!" by Paul McCartney (Mike Dougay/Purpose), and "I Got You Babe" by Sonny and Cher (Mark & Terrie). Needless to say, its going to be a lot of fun, but its also a lot of work. Oh Darling! and Love Will Keep Us Together have some pretty serious bass lines that really carry the song so I've had to work on them a good bit more than normal but.. it just means they're all that more fun to play!

this semester at seminary is going really well so far! it is going to be a lot of work staying on top of everything, especially Hebrew. it's definitely taking me quite a while to really get a firm grasp on the language.. I'll certainly be glad when I've finished all my Hebrew studies.

this post is much more outside of my norm, but it is still an update nonetheless. if I can ever get to posting more frequently, my posts will be less of catching y'all up on my life and more posting my thoughts on life, etc.

but for now, farewell friends.

I Am At Ease.

Last week, our college group from Live Oak took a trip to Gatlinburg, TN, with the intent on skiing; however, due to the massive snow storm that rolled through that weekend, we were snowed in, unable to leave our cabin for two days.  We finally got the bus down the mountain and had to hike down (0.7 miles) in order to go anywhere.  It made for quite an interesting experience, nothing like any of us had expected going into the trip.

It made it incredible though.. those are the life experiences you never forget.  Breaking out of the mold, out of the norm, and living life as it comes, without a care in the world, trusting God to meet your every need (we were in dire need of groceries, but God was able to provide).

The snow covered mountains were absolutely beautiful (click here for the Gatlinburg album or here for many of the same pictures, just with cool filters on them, in the Instagram album).  I've seen them in the snow before but this year they seemed to stand out even more than ever before.  Overall, it was definitely a great trip to get me refreshed before the start of the new semester, which starts in the morning.

Last semester, I got all A's, so after 47 hours of seminary courses, I have a 3.89 overall GPA which isn't too shabby, if I must say so myself =) This semester should be a really interesting one, but a couple courses are going to be a heavy workload.  I'm taking: Introductory Hebrew Grammar (one of the heavy workloads), Biblical Hermeneutics (the primary workload), New Testament Survey, American Denominations, and History of Christianity: Early-Medieval.  I'm excited about all of the courses though so it should be a fantastical semester.

Stay tuned. More to come later. Year in review is still waiting in the wing (the G-burg trip put a wedge in my resolution to update more frequently).

Love, Trenticus.