2015 in Review

This review is personal and in no way exhaustive.  It simply seemed like an interesting thing to do as the old year winds to a close. Looking back at the first post on this blog back in January, I noticed that after years of concerns and tensions surrounding the teaching of Dr. Matthew Becker (part of which is documented in this blog), we went from an exoneration of his theology (and the frustration that it would never be dealt with properly), to his final departure from the LCMS.  All this within a span of six months.  Amazing.

As one of my more recent posts indicates, I am finally in the last stages of my degree, begun way back in 2010.  I had hoped, originally, to have finished it before now.  However, the life of a pastor, husband, father, chaplain, firefighter and circuit visitor is full, and the thesis received attention as I was able.  I made a final push this summer and by summer's end the last page of the last chapter was reached. A post in February indicates that I had reached page 60 and was done with the first part, debating whether I should make a major push to finish.  But it did not seem like a good idea, and I am glad I took the time necessary to do a quality job. Many revisions later, with many more awaiting, the thesis is largely done.  I hope to wrap up revisions early in the new year and schedule a defense before Lent.  This might be tricky since Lent comes early this year.

Throughout the year, even as I worked through the thesis, I have tried to read more.  As a way of documenting that effort this blog has also become a running review of the books I read.

This Spring my youngest child, Rebekah, graduated from the 8th grade and was confirmed.  Now 15 she is a freshman at the local high school and involved in a combination of band (she plays the flute and piccolo), piano, and dance.  David, my middle child, finally secured a full-time job at Gordy's County Market in Chippewa Falls.  Rachel, my eldest, is working on her master's degree at the University of Minnesota in educational policy and started working for Vets Plus, Inc.  My wife, Carol, began working in August as an independent consultant for Thirty-One, a direct marketing firm specializing in bags of all sorts (totes, purses, etc.) All-in-all, it was quite a year for beginnings and conclusions.  It will be interesting to see what 2016 holds in store!

I end the year in this blog with a total of 19 posts, up from my lowest of only 3 last year! It's hard to believe that I am still blogging after just over 9 years.  It appears that I started the Northwoods Seelsorger on November 25, 2006.  Wow! The blog posts no longer receive comments, and I am sure few probably read this anymore.  Blogging has been eclipsed, in part, by social media, and that's o.k.  I keep this site open, in part, because it is a much safer way to write about subjects that will only engender negative attacks. It also gives me the chance to write about subjects that would have little interest to those on FB. 





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