Happy New Year! The photo above is of some of us at Inks Lake State Park during our staff retreat. We made it to the new year! I hope you all had some time of rest during Christmas time. Since you last heard from me, our semester ended and students went home. At UTA, We did a Christmas devotional service and then ended with a party. At TCC, we went to Chick-fil-a and all got free sandwiches. I love the rhythms of ministry. We always end with parties and food. Over our break, we rested. We read our assigned reading for the break; a fabulous book called To Love as God Loves by Roberta Bondi . If I could surmise what I learned, it would be that many things i.e. our sin and our lack of humility get in the way of loving those around us. The book looked at how monastic church mothers and fathers tackled this common issue with prayer and seeking God. This book was what our retreat centered around. Graham preached the chapter about love. Also, We went to Houston to visit one of Graham