[BJWilliams]

Hey guys,

As you know Im getting close to the end of my time at LU (a subject which has wrought much humorous discussion no doubt). Well, the Lord has been working on me throughout the last number of months about where to go after graduation. Im asking for your prayers for me as I am at this crossroad in my life and I really go in the direction God could be calling me. I want to get a degree in youth ministry and hopefully use that as I enter into sports broadcasting to be able to speak to children and teens and really give them that hope that as they grow older I notice isnt there as much as when they are younger.

[Fumblerooskies]

May you follow where God leads you, BJ.

[4everfsu]

Praying for God's hand to be on the decision you make.

[matshark]

Don't worry. If you're anything like me, 4 years will have passed before you know it and you'll still be waiting for it. In the meantime, follow the money like I should've.

[BJWilliams]

I know that there is a need to take care of myself and I fully intend to but I also know that I want to be able to impact young people and really preserve that hope and "innate magic" that they have that allows them to enjoy life so much.

I saw that you had posted a note you wrote in another discussion so I thought I would post what I wrote on this earlier on Tuesday:

Its been an interesting last couple months for me as Ive been counting down to graduation. As anybody who knows me knows, I LOVE sports. I cant play any of them WELL, but I can play them and I certainly love watching them.

Ive had a dream for the longest time to one day work for ESPN. But God has been doing a lot of work in my heart and really changed my perspective on where to go once things finally wrap up here. For a while I thought about going to grad school, but I found that grad school wouldnt do a thing for my career aspirations (at least financially). But I really got a confirmation of a slightly different path through two events.

The first was about a week or two ago when I was talking to a friend of mine here at Liberty. I had mentioned my love for sports and working with people (kids in particular) and she suggested I go into coaching. I had been considering that for a while but part of me still wasnt 100% sure.

Well the second event that really got me thinking that God wants to take me in a different direction was chatting with a friend of mine after listening to Dr David Wheeler in convo. I started talking about how children possess an innate "magic" that allows them to be so energetic and love life and be willing to try new things and it astounds me.

I say all that to say that I would like your prayers over the next year as I apply to go to seminary. I am planning on pursuing a Masters specializing in Youth Ministry. I hope to find a job as an assistant coach at a school in the area (particularly working with younger children if possible) and not only teach them football or basketball (or even soccer or what have you)...but also to be able to preserve that magic that they have and love for life and be able to pass it on to their children, and also be able to share with them about the hope that comes from Jesus Christ. I still would like to get into broadcasting down the road and Lord willing, use that to open opportunities to speak in schools and be able to share with kids not only to never lose that magic that they have, but to keep pressing on for whatever they want in life.

I'll end this with one of my favorite poems and also the reason for the title of this note, "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost:

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

[rueful]

So is it more youth or childrens ministry you are looking into?

Some advise that Dr. Earley teaches to those who want to be pastors, youth pastors, really anything that is full time vocational ministry is that if there is anything else you could be happy doing, do it. Ministry is a very serious thing that is not for everyone.

So I would say obviously just be praying for that, that God would create in you not just a passion for youth, but a burden for youth if thats where he wants you. Its one thing to want to work in ministry, its another to feel that there is nothing else you can do and still be happy except for ministry.

Ill be praying for ya, God Bless and shalom.

[rueful]

also that poem is often misunderstood, the last stanza kind alludes to the fact that he regrets his decision

[grm]

I've never felt that Frost regretted the choice, just possibly that our choices take routes that vector off, and do not meet again.

[grm]

Praying for God's direction.

[BJWilliams]

Im thinking more youth ministry. I think that as kids get older they lose sight of that magic and imagination that they had in the earlier years and I want to be able to encourage them to never give up. Now if the Lord calls me away from broadcasting and into full time youth ministry then so be it.

[rueful]

Im thinking more youth ministry. I think that as kids get older they lose sight of that magic and imagination that they had in the earlier years and I want to be able to encourage them to never give up. Now if the Lord calls me away from broadcasting and into full time youth ministry then so be it.

so then what does that mean for your plans? You had said originally you were considering getting a degree in youth ministry of some sort? What are your plans for next year in terms of where you will be