I'm Not Here To Empty The Trash . . .
I’ll never forget my first day of seminary. God called me to begin preparing for ministry just about the time I began thinking I’d be able to retire from my career in a few years. At first I tried to ignore it, but it quickly became clear that God’s plan for me didn’t involve fishing every day—well, at least not in the way I thought of fishing at the time. So I enrolled in seminary to begin preparing for this unknown and undefined mission God seemed to be pointing me towards. I was fifty-two years old when I walked into that first class—and I was late, which was very unusual for me. Every head turned when I walked in, and every student in that class was a fresh-faced twenty-something. I remember thinking I have kids older than these kids. I walked across the back of the room to find a place to sit, and suddenly, the instructor stopped and looked at me. “We’re going to be in here until 9 or so. I’d prefer it if you would come back and clean the room after we’r...
