This past year has been one fraught with challenges for us as we end it, and to be honest a large part of me is glad to see it go! There has been a lot happening this year and at the same time it often indicates a new chapter in life, but the turbulence getting to that new chapter is hell. I am going to hit on a few highlights to review the year, and as I do so, I am hoping that as 2016 approaches I will have more things of interest to report next year at this time.
1. Graduate School
My studies at Franciscan University of Steubenville have been intense this year for both semesters, as I officially entered the Catechetics and Evangelization program at the end of 2014. Most of my coursework this year has been in the practical side of the catechetical process, and it is somewhat challenging because after studying a lot of Theology, Catechetics is a bit to adjust to because it requires some different approaches that I didn't have in the Theology courses. However, they are not bad because I have actually learned a lot, and I am also using much of the information from these new Catechetics courses to refine my own style of writing and teaching, which is the purpose. The Fall 2015 semester just finished up last week for me, and I still maintained my 3.0+ average and still have 27 credits to go before finishing the program. I anticipate, if all goes well that is, to finish up by the end of the Spring semester of 2017 at the current rate of class load.
To be honest though, I am looking forward to finishing out the program as also so much writing and research has been starting to cause me to have classic symptoms of "burnout," although the Christmas break before the Spring semester should rejuvenate me a little. I am in the process now of discerning what would be my best course of action for my Ph.D. work in a couple of years, and although Ave Maria University was originally in the plans, I am thinking now a little more practically as far as maybe doing an online doctoral program, because quite honestly Polk County, FL, where we live now, is not exactly an advantageous place to live - the job market is bad, and only having worked a grand total of 9 weeks for all of 2015, we are feeling it in our household. So, one aspect of the 2016 year is a possible move to an area that has a more stable job market.
2. Church Work
Church work this year involves two things. First, at our local parish I initiated a Bible Study on Sunday mornings at 9:45AM, and so far it has been going nicely. We have already completed studies of Romano Guardini's 1932 classic The Lord's Prayer, as well as Scott Hahn's 2001 study of the Eucharist and Revelation entitled The Lamb's Supper, and currently we are working through a study on Genesis based loosely on Henry Morris III's (he is the director of the Institute for Creation Research in Dallas, incidentally) 3-volume work The Book of Beginnings. I am posting the lessons as I do them on my other blog, Sacramental Present Truths, and they will serve as lesson plans for future coursework when I teach in another parish somewhere else one day. The idea behind the blogs though is that they will go into more detail than the class lessons, and they provide background for the classes in case someone who is new to the parish wants to "sit in." This Genesis study is lengthy and involved, and probably will take up the better part of 2016.
Also, this year we suffered a major loss in our parish too, as our Senior Warden, Barry Weller, passed away at the end of October. Barry was a very valuable asset to our local parish, as he did so much and contributed a lot. His widow, Karen, is still with us and she has been a trooper through this loss, although she must really miss him after spending 37 years of her life in the marital covenant with him too. Barry had been in declining health since about the beginning of 2014, as he had many complications due to liver and kidney ailments, and although he was tenacious in his fight, the limitations of human endurance can only stretch so far and the Lord saw in His mercy to take Barry home to his eternal reward. Barry will be greatly missed, and his legacy will be also warmly remembered.
On the diocesan level, we attended our third Synod in Athens, GA, this past April, and I was elected a second term Deputy Speaker of the House of Laity. It is kind of neat to have a leadership role, albeit minor, in the diocese, and I am really loving being part of the ACC and its family structure. We have a great Archbishop in Mark Haverland, and his leadership and insight are always encouraging and enlightening. I only wish Archbishop Mark many more years, as he is also a tremendous asset not only to our diocese, but to the ACC as a whole (he is the Primate of the Original Province as well as being our diocesan Bishop).
3. The Homestead
Things at home have been challenging this year too. My mother moved in with us back in September 2014, and as of this writing she has been with us 15 months. That is still quite an adjustment for us, and the goal is to get her into her own place as immediately as we can. This year also saw some other visitors - on November 13th, I was sitting out in the living room watching TV in the evening when I heard this tiny but loud "meow!" at our front door. When I opened it, two of the most adorable little tabby kittens bounded in, and we ended up fostering them for a month until SPCA finally re-homed them. I kind of miss them, but at the same time I am glad they are also gone, because it was becoming somewhat of a challenge to keep them plus our four cats too.
The challenges of the past year have also compelled us to re-evaluate our stay in Lakeland, as we are now looking into employment and moving options outside the area. Polk County, where Lakeland is, unfortunately does not have the most hospitable job market, and this despite the fact it has a prime location between the booming tourist center of Orlando in the east and the beaches of Pinellas County on the west. Our plans for right now are to concentrate possible job opportunities on the eastern side, possibly Orlando or what is called the "Palm Coast" (the stretch of Florida's East Coast going roughly from Melbourne to West Palm Beach area). Out-of-state options are also being explored too. I have been feeling for some time that we are on the cusp of a new life chapter opening for us, and perhaps the circumstances are being set in place to make that happen. We shall see.
4. Music Library
As of this year, my current CD collection has reached a total of 1198, as well as 904 LP records too. I have not collected as much this year as I have pretty much gotten most of what I was looking for, but there are some observations I will make.
As of this year (2015), I have been collecting CD's for 20 years, having bought my first ones sometime around the beginning of March 1995. LP records, as of October 1st of this year, are something I have collected for 33 years. I am at a point in collecting this stuff where I can now actually enjoy what I have without plotting and planning to get a huge bunch of new stuff, and I am also able to as well download and save some rare stuff from the internet (sites such as YouTube and Soundcloud) and making them into CD's myself. Mass CD buying as I have done in earlier years is something that is not totally necessary anymore, as primarily I can find specific material on Amazon. I am somewhat saddened though that many of my longtime vendors - notably my old friend Ren Brown, who for years operated World's Records out of California, and whom I have done hundreds of dollars worth of business with - are no longer in business, so new material is not as easy to find as it once was. With graduate school too and so many other things, as well as a tighter budget, I just haven't had the time or resources this year to collect like I once did. But, vintage big bands are still my thing, and I always keep a diligent eye out for something for my collection I am looking for.
5. Other Milestones and Pursuits
This year also marked the commemoration of a great tragedy, as in November 1985 a devastating flood inflicted some damage on my home state of West Virginia, and it is hard to believe it has been 30 years since that happened. A part of me is still sad regarding how so many people - including many of my own friends and relatives - lost so much in that catastrophe, and although many of those little communities did recover nicely, it also has had an impact economically as well as altering so much of the original infrastructure in the state as well. I only hope that nothing like that ever hits West Virginia again in my lifetime. It is also the 10th commemoration of when Katrina wiped out New Orleans too, and the people of New Orleans are some who West Virginians can identify with, as both of us have seen the wanton destruction of nature at its worse. New Orleans too is recovering as well, although like West Virginia so much was lost there too.
On a personal level, no new books have been published this year on my part, although I do have the opportunity to broadcast a radio program in my home state of West Virginia. A local network up there, Allegheny Mountain Radio, has afforded me the opportunity to broadcast 30-minute messages on the air for their audience, and I have already submitted the first one. I am essentially going to broadcast what I have been teaching in our parish Bible Studies, as it may be something that really reaches and touches people.
Conclusion
Well, there you have it - my year in review! As you can see, limitation have not allowed me to post much, as it has been in some aspects a slow but challenging year, and I am hoping 2016 will be much more productive. I wish all of you reading this the best of holiday seasons, and I pray you all have a good 2016 year as it dawns upon us.
