The End of the Journey is in Sight

It has been a long, long time since I have blogged. I make no excuses. For the last 12-16 month I have been writing my dissertation. As of last Friday, December 11, 2009, I have completed the task and handed in the dissertation. This puts me on target for a June graduation. While the dissertation is written (277 pages, 295 with bibliography) there is much to do yet. It will be read by three different scholars over the course of the next several months. About five weeks from now I will receive it back from my mentor and will make any corrections (I'm sure there will be many) and do any re-writes (I hope there are few) that are requested or needed. After that, I make a new copy and give it to my second reader. The same process occurs and then a third reader, someone I do not yet know and who is not a member of the Fuller community, will read and critique it. After all the corrections are made, it will be signed off on by the readers and then it will be bound and placed in the library at Fuller.
I could never have done this without the loving and complete support of my wife, Joanie. She is the best. In spite of all that she has gone through (she had one hip replacement two years ago and will spend Christmas having the other hip replaced) she remains my biggest fan and unquestionable chief supporter. She is an amazing woman and I am more in love with her today than I was 35 years ago when we first wed. She should get a degree for all the papers she has read and the discussions she has endured.
I will be continuing at Fuller for the next several months as the process of dissertation review continues. I have several classes to teach in the Winter and Spring Quarters. I have accepted the opportunity to take on a larger pastoral role at Church of the Foothills. Our Associate Pastor, Dana Krull, has finished his degree and returned back East to attend Chaplain School for the Army. It leaves some work unfinished at the church and I will fill in the gaps. I will also be going over to Azusa Pacific University to see if I can catch on as an Adjunct next semester.
My mentor, Clay Schmit, is giving me several opportunities to write and be published. I am going to help edit a book entitled, A Teaching Hymnal. It will be a resource for seminary classes and chapels to encourage worship. I will also be looking to write another book between now and graduation. I am talking with some publishers about that opportunity.
To any and all who have followed this season of my life with interest, I thank you. It has been a long journey but the end is now in sight.