{"id":28713,"date":"2022-09-04T15:04:56","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T22:04:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=28713"},"modified":"2022-10-10T10:52:36","modified_gmt":"2022-10-10T17:52:36","slug":"deep-calls-to-deep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/deep-calls-to-deep\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep Calls to Deep"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deep Calls to Deep (Psalm 42:7)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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I never planned or expected to be in a doctoral program, let alone a pastor. Growing up as a deaf child my communication skills and writing developed very late in life. I often wondered, if perhaps, my dad might have been embarrassed with having a deaf child with having a degree in English literature. My dad was a great teacher and orator.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Most of my life, I have relied on my physical strength and athleticism to provide. In commercial construction, I advanced very rapidly because of physical strength and math skills. The company I worked for provided a secretary to communicate with other subcontractors or agencies so I could stay in the field as much as possible. I would consider my writing and technology skills very poor. It is interesting that I can do so well with operating heavy equipment, but I struggle with new computer technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I often wonder if I should continue in the doctoral program. What does a rural pastor of a small church with a large food ministry need with a doctoral degree? What must my teachers and peers really think of me? What I really need is another truck to transport food with and money for diesel. As I ponder these things the Lord corrects me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In short, I am learning and in a growing season of my life. Simply put, old ways will not open new doors. I am here to learn, grow, and come into a deeper place spiritually. As I struggle with technology, I grow. As I learn from experts and people who have gone before me I have an opportunity to come into a deeper spiritual place with my Lord and Savior, but also with those I lead and influence.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I am in the doctoral program at George Fox in obedience to Christ. I am very performance driven and do not like to slow down or production to be impacted. I come from a mindset that you do not slow down the train, in fact you try to help the train go faster and for more passenger cars.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How do I develop a new mindset? A mindset to take time to listen, research, investigate and not fall back into old ways of making decisions and doing life. In my ministry life, I have relied a great deal on the spiritual gift of discernment, and not developed critical thinking skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I now have the choice, to rest in the shallows of comfort, or to journey out into the deep and unknown, to grow. In this path into the unknown, I will change and be forged into the leader that Christ is asking me to become. Do I have the reading, writing, and communication skills needed as a doctoral student? Nope! In my obedience to Christ, I am growing and learning at a fast pace. I am thankful for the example of grace that the team at George Fox has shown me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Deep Calls to Deep (Psalm 42:7)\u00a0   I never planned or expected to be in a doctoral program, let alone a pastor. Growing up as a deaf child my communication skills and writing developed very late in life. I often wondered, if perhaps, my dad might have been embarrassed with having a deaf child with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":162,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28713","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28713","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/162"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28713"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29045,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28713\/revisions\/29045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}