This recent slump has been the worst slump so far. Almost a month with no updates! I feel like my friend William Gray. While I have plenty of excuses for the first half of July, I have none for the last 2 weeks. Beginning of July was devoted to work (54 hrs in one week at the bookstore) and finishing my Exegesis paper on Mark 11:15-19 (The Temple Cleansing). The weekend after that we took off for our trip to New Hampshire with our neighbors, Kim and Josh, and their friends Mark and Corrie and their baby daughter Lily. We had such a relaxing weekend.
And I know that it was relaxing b/c of 2 things 1) Meals were thoroughly enjoyed, no rushing at all, we would be around the table for an hour or two, and 2) I was able to read "The Power and The Glory" by Graham Greene in a leisurely fashion. Unlike, last year (see http://mindyourmillers.blogspot.com/2005/08/fish-story.html) Josh and I provided fish through some evening "jug-fishing." Josh had tied fishing line and a hook around the neck of about 20 2-liter pop bottles. 
He baited them and then we went out and placed all of them in the water and then waited for the bottles to start going nuts (a sure indication of a fish). Once we saw this, we had to chase the bottle with our canoe and then bring the catfish in (they were all catfish). It was such a great time. The water was the perfect temperature for swimming and we had access to a bunch of blow-up rafts. Kim and I had a few "raft-wars" and I will just assume you know who won those. 
In other news: we got the car back and it looks better than it did before we came in! I am in the midst of my third summer course, Systematic Theology III. Good stuff to study: Salvation, Holy Spirit, The Church, and End Times are the major area covered. After I finish this course (hopefully mid-August) Kim and I will begin to investigate the plethora of possible options concerning the "What's next" question after seminary ends for me next May. We covet your prayers as we try to discern what is God's calling next for us. The other big news for me is that I, with my wife's approval, purchased a guitar. It is a Takamine G Series Acoustic/Electric Guitar.
I took the course, Beginning Guitar, my senior year at Hillsdale thanks to Tony allowing me to borrow one of his many guitars. But, because I did not have my own, I quickly lost everything I learned. So now I have made it a priority to learn it for good by finding my old instructional notebook and daily setting aside at least 30 minutes to practice. We hope to be more consistent in the future on the blog so that the posts are not this long. Thanks for all the encouragement for the new post. Enjoy. 
