Christmas Break

Hello!

Once again I have fallen behind in updating my blog, and for that I apologize.

Thanksgiving break turned out to be very interesting - I had car problems in Mississippi and ended up spending Wednesday, all day Thanksgiving day, and part of Friday, in Brandon, MS. The vast majority of Wednesday, and Friday morning, I sat in a shop while my car was being worked on. Eventually i got it fixed, and returned to Longview on Friday. Saturday one of my professors invited me over for Thanksgiving leftovers, and I went over there for a delicious supper. Shortly after I got there, though, my car was backed into. Not a whole lot of damage was done, though, thankfully.

My semester finished out well - I was reasonably pleased with my grades, and was able to spend some time with friends. I finished finals on Wednesday evening, drove to Tennessee on Thursday, where I spent the night with my uncle and aunt, then Friday drove to Virginia. The following Thursday (the 15th) I went to West Virginia and picked up Becky from college after she finished her finals, then we came back down to Virginia, where my parents are still staying with my grandparents while they continue to look for work and thus a new home. Yesterday, the 19th, my parents and I took Becky to the airport in Charlotte, NC, for her to fly home to Vermont, then my parents and I spent the night with my sister Sarah. This morning we came back up to Virginia, and tomorrow morning (Wednesday) my parents and I will be driving to Tennessee to spend the night with my uncle and aunt again, then Thursday we're heading to Dallas, where I plan to spend the remainder of my Christmas break.

Let me know how I can be praying for you, and may you have a blessed Christmas.

Thanksgiving

Wow, it's been a long time since I've done this. And a fair bit has happened since then.

Since last posting, I went camping for fall break, with a group of my fellow students, and some of the leadership from my church. The time there was absolutely awesome - I got more sleep those first few nights than the last time that I can remember any other weekend. One night four of us guys decided to go sleep by the bluffs, instead of at the main camp site, so we ate supper, grabbed our gear and went to the bluffs - getting there around 7:00 PM. We talked, and I fell asleep at 9:00 - that is something that does not happen often at all. I woke up at 6:00 the next morning to the sound of heavy animal breathing - my hand was over 3/4 of the way from my hammock to my revolver when I realized that what I'd heard was a deer blowing. I smiled, pulled my hand back into my hammock, went went back to sleep for another hour. It was great.

I've spent the past few weeks doing homework, spending a little time with friends, and being amazed by how close the end of the semester is getting. Tonight I got to go see an artistic presentation called The 5 Dragon Daughter. This is an artistic presentation of the gospel that was written and everything was done for it by local people here in Longview. They are working on getting up to the point of touring the U.S. doing this presentation. If you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend attending.

Right now I have two days of classes left before Thanksgiving - our school only gives us Thursday and Friday off, but I have no classes on Wednesday. As a result, I will be leaving campus very early on Wednesday morning, driving to Alabama and meeting up with Tim and Beth and Annette to ride with them up to Virginia. Saturday we will return to Alabama, and Sunday I will drive the rest of the way back to Longview. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to go and spend time with my family again this Thanksgiving. I ask for prayers for safety in travel, as there are many people out traveling.

Let me know how I can be praying for you.

Almost fall break

Well, the semester is about half over, as evidenced by the midterms last week and this week, and the fact that fall break is nearly here!

For fall break this year I will be doing the same thing I did my sophomore year - going camping with a college group from my church in the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. I will be there Saturday through Tuesday, out of communication with the outside world, and I'm really looking forward to it.

Please be praying that the rest of this week, including a couple of tests, go well and that I be able to focus, and for safety on fall break.

Update

Hello!

Well, I am amazed by the fact that the semester is already over 1/4 over. Classes are going well, though, as is lab assisting. I am really enjoying my job, and the paycheck that goes with it is also quite nice.

Right now I'm anxiously waiting to find out where my parents are going to live next, and to find out the next step with helping my grandfather's heart issues. Thankfully I have a light course load this semester, as my mind tends to spend a lot of time not on school, with everything going on. If you think of it, please be praying for both of these situations.

Please also be praying for the Hewitt family (Becky's family) as Mr. Hewitt's father (Becky's grandfather) went home to be with his Savior last week. While there is no doubt where he is, it is still hard for his family, especially his wife of over 60 years. So please keep them in your prayers.

How can I be praying for you?

With semester well under way. . . .

Greetings!

Well, it has been an eventful couple of weeks since I last posted.

As I briefly mentioned in my last post, at that time I was on my way back to Virginia. My reason for flying back to Virginia for a couple of days was to help my parents pack up in preparation to move, and to say goodbye to the people of Chestnut Level Baptist Church. While I was home we accomplished most of the packing work I was hoping to, and I was able to say goodbye to most of the people that I wanted to. I do regret not having gotten to see the others and say goodbye, as chances are I will not see them again in this life - unfortunately, though, that is just a fact of life.

After flying home on Friday night, I flew back to Texas on Monday, arriving back at campus some time after 9:30 Monday night. I had been so thankful for my schedule on Sunday morning, because I have no classes before 1:00 PM this semester - I was grateful that I would be able to sleep in on Tuesday. Then I remembered that I have work at 8:00 on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I'm enjoying my work as Composites lab assistant, though, so it was fine.

I also lab assist for Composites on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and I'm in class after finishing working in the labs those afternoons, and in class and lab all afternoon Monday and Friday. Wednesdays I have an open day to work on my online classes, which is really nice.

This semester I have the added blessing of having my own room - I was sad to see my roommate from last year move off campus, but he was able to get a much better deal financially for housing, and it has worked out nicely, since I was never assigned a new roommate. Here is what my room looks like this year:

Walking in through the door from the living room to my room.

Turning left.

The rest of my room.

Looking back out the door into the hall, where Derek and Jonathan's
room is, as well as the walk-in-closet with attic access,
and the bathroom and living room.

So far classes are going well, and are mostly enjoyable. I find it very hard to believe that I am now a senior here at LeTourneau.

Please be praying for my parents, as they leave Chestnut Level that God would give them wisdom and guidance to the next place He has for them, preferably quickly, as in the mean time they will be living with my grandparents in Virginia.

Back from Montana, on to Virginia

Well, camp has been over for almost a week now, and life is just as busy as ever.

Camp ended up very well - i had a very difficult group of campers the final week - they decided that they were going to hate me, and they let it be known, but I hope and pray that they learned something last week, and that God grows them through it.

Saturday morning the campers went home, and Saturday evening was a staff dinner. We had an excellent meal of prime rib, twice-baked potatoes, fried onions, and other absolutely delicious foods - Jim and the others certainly spoiled us. After the dinner we watched a slideshow of staff pictures, a staff video, shared in what God did in our lives over the summer, and had communion. Overall it was a very good, albeit hard, due to all of the goodbyes, evening.

Sunday morning at 7:00 Mountain time I headed to Wichita, KS, arriving between 10:00 and 10:15 that evening, Central time. I slept at my aunt and uncle's house again, then met up with some really close friends, Alden and Rebekah Daniels, for breakfast at IHOP. After breakfast I got on the road for Dallas, where I again spent the night, taking advantage of my grandmother's amazing cooking. Tuesday morning I got on the road at 5:30 to drive to LeTourneau, where I started working with Themelios for freshman orientation, starting work at 8:30 AM. I worked with orientation stuff and moved in, working on both of those things Tuesday through today, Friday. Now as I write this I am sitting at East Texas Regional Airport, waiting for my flight out to fly home to Virginia, to help my parents pack. Monday I will be flying back to Texas, with classes starting on Tuesday morning.

Be praying for travel safety, renewed energy, and a godly attitude in everything to come these next days and weeks.

Please feel free to contact me, as I'd love to catch up on what's going on in your life.

The final week

Wow - I can't believe that today is the beginning of week 8 - the last time that I will hear "Daniel, you have a camper" come over the intercom. This has been a very challenging summer, but also a very good summer.

This past week was a good week of camp for me - I had six junior high guys, and they were a great group. Four of them took Sports Path, so I ended up being in there with them, and just really enjoyed getting to know them better. On the campout on Wednesday one of my friends who had Bacon S'mores with us the first time that we made them really wanted to make them again, so she had brought all the chocolate and we added Reese's cups to them - Bacon S'mores are good, but I'd probably leave off the Reese's.

This coming week I once again have Explorers, and this week I have been put in charge of Sports Path. Be praying that either God really gives me wisdom and ideas on what to do, or that nobody signs up for Sports Path this week. If kids want to do it, I want to be able to make it great for them, and I am not the most athletically inclined person.

Saturday after our staff meeting Becky and I said goodbye to a good friend of ours who had to leave camp a week early, then grabbed sandwiches and headed out to go visit Mt. Rushmore. This week is Sturgis Rally week, and we drove through Sturgis on the way, but thankfully, although there were a lot of motorcycles, traffic was not bad at all. We went to Rushmore, drove around for a bit enjoying the scenery, and went to dinner. There was a group of bikers in the restaurant waiting to be seated, but I looked at their vests and saw that they said things such as "Bikers for Christ" and decided that they were a very good motorcycle gang to have in the restaurant, if one was going to be there.

I ask that you be praying that God provide the rest of my financial support for the summer. This is the last week, and I am still just under 50% funded for my goal for the summer. I Know that God can provide, but I ask that you prayerfully consider helping support the ministry here, as the summer is almost over and I have raised only half of my goal. If you are unable to give, please be praying that God work in those who are able, that the support would come in this final week.

I pray that God bless you and that you have a wonderful day.

Last two weeks of camp

Already the end of camp is only a couple of weeks out - wow.

The past couple of weeks have been good - they have provided their challenges, but overall they have been good. Both of the last two weeks I was put in charge of bike path, and both weeks nobody signed up - so two weeks ago I ended up in Music path, and last week I ended up in High Adventure. This week I am in Sports path, with four of my campers, and the Sports path leader, Jonathan.

I have six Explorer (6-8th grade) guys this week, and it is going to be an interesting group. Three of the came together and know each other pretty well, and the other three seem to be integrating in the group pretty well. Be praying, though, that I be able to really connect with these kids and just reach them with the love of God.

Sorry this is so short, but I've got to get going. I'd love to hear from you, so please, feel free to email me - danielbmiller1@gmail.com

God bless.

Another quick update

Well, another week has started! We are now over half through the part of the summer where we have campers - this is week 5 of 8.

Nobody signed up for Bike Path, so I was moved - but because one of my campers signed up for Music Path, I am in Music this week. I wasn't excited about it, but God is working on me, and I am finally getting over myself on this and remembering to do everything as unto the Lord - and besides, my being here at camp isn't about me - so I'm praying that I have the opportunity for God to somehow use me, even in Music Path.

My cabin full will probably keep my hands full again this week, but it is fun to see how well the group is already bonding, and I am excited to see what all God does in this group of guys this week.

I do request prayer for Becky this week. Her grandfather is really not doing well - he was taken to the hospital. Please be praying for him, as well as for Becky and the rest of the family there.

Have a blessed week!

Quick Update

Hello,

This is just going to be quick - I'm about to have to get back to work. Just wanted to give a very quick update.

Last week I had three special needs kids in my cabin of seven, two of them requiring constant supervision. I did survive the week, though, and 2 of my kids accepted Christ! That made it very worth the whole week of struggles.

This week I once again have 7 jr. high guys, including one of them from my first week counseling - but I'm quite glad to have this one back.

Please be praying that this be an awesome week - I am currently scheduled to head up the Bike path, but I really don't want to do it - so I'm hoping that nobody decides to do bike path - then I might end up helping with High Adventure.

I'd love to hear from you.

Daniel

Nearing the end of Week Three

Well, week three is almost over.

It has been a very interesting week this week. I have been back to having Jr. High boys, but thankfully this week's group has not presented the problems that my first group did. Not to say that they're all perfect, but it's a manageable group.

I also ended up assisting in Outdoor Life path this week, since that's where all 5 of my guys went, and there were no guys in High Adventure. Nelson and Dwayne, the leaders of the path, are great - but I have decided that I prefer working with High Adventure.

This week for Team Competition the theme was American History - so as soon as it was just the leaders of the two teams in the room, we decided to do Civil War, with one team being Yankees and the other team being Rebels. Jeremy, our program director, was quite surprised, but that was part of the fun, when we did our skit and did a joint skit instead of two separate ones, making it impossible to determine which one was better and would receive points.

I will probably give more of an update later on, but for now I am tired so am about to close this out. Please keep me, and the rest of the camp staff in your prayers, as well as the campers and their families for safety in travels this weekend.

As always, it would be great to hear from you.

Between Weeks 2&3

Hello!

Well, this week I ended up counselling for three high school guys - two of them were here for basketball camp, and one did High Adventure - so I got to help out with High Adventure again, which was wonderful. I love working with High Adventure - helping the kids get over their fears, and the other High Adventure staff is amazing to work with - I have really been enjoying that, and hope to get to work with High Adventure again.

It was a really good week, but right now I can't think of a lot of specific things. The camp out this week did not go nearly as smoothly for my group as last week, but it was okay. The Outdoor Life path joined us this week for our camp out, and that added some challenges with the two campers who were in that path. Having their leader, Dwayne, along made it much easier to deal with, and I enjoyed getting to visit with Dwayne some.

This past week my cabin once again was the cleanest guys cabin, so got free root beer floats. The girls had an 8 way tie, but only one cabin was able to have the floats - the guys, nobody else tied our 100% every day, although one came very close.

This coming week I will once again be working with Explorers - which means I'm back to working with junior high guys again. Please be praying for me still this week, and especially as I'm back to working with junior high guys - I prefer the high schoolers, but camp is not about what I prefer, it is about what I need to do in order to serve God to the best of my ability.

Take care, and please feel free to write to me. I'd love to hear from you.

End of week one

Hello!

Well, I survived my first week as a counselor! And discovered that next week, I will once again be a counselor. This time, though, I will be working with high school guys - one or two of them, I'm not sure yet - at least, that's the plan. This past week was definitely a learning experience for me.

Wednesday nights are our camp-out nights, and this past Wednesday turned out to be absolutely beautiful - we did see some lightning, but nowhere near us - it didn't get real cold, and it was cloudless. High Adventure, Bike, and Music paths camped out at the cliffs, the same place that the staff went to during staff training, and it was great. I spent several hours just helping people get there harnesses and helmets on right and stuff like that, but got to talk to them while I was doing that, so really enjoyed that time. We then cooked burgers over the fire, Abby did a devotional, and we talked and hung out and went star tipping. Everyone actually decided to go to bed at like 11:45, so it was great - I actually got to bed earlier on the camp out than in the cabin. Everyone stayed safe, and everybody at the cliffs (other groups went to two other places) really enjoyed the camp out. We got up in the morning and cooked bacon and eggs over the fire, then cooked up supreme eggs for the staff. Anna and Aaron did most of the work on that - potatoes, tomatoes, onions, cheese, peppers, bacon, and a hamburger were all mixed into the eggs. I think everything (including the hamburger) got deep fried in bacon grease before we mixed it in with the eggs (which were then cooked in bacon grease). That was one GOOD breakfast. Aaron and I also discovered that if you take toast and deep fry it in bacon grease, it tastes like a bacon sandwich - but it's only the bread.

Anna and I drove the supply vehicles back early from the camp out and started unloading and cleaning up, then after the others came back and we finished, everybody got to clean up and eat lunch. High Adventure then went to Medicine Rocks and did some free (no ropes) climbing on the rocks out there - it was a lot of fun. Friday was the last full day of Week 1, so we played a bunch of whole-camp games down in the gym and then had our awards ceremony, where it was announced that I had the cleanest guys' cabin all week and Becky had the cleanest girls' cabin all week, so we and our cabins got to go have free root beer floats. I then let my cabin go participate in a pillow fight, then did our last nightly devos and then everybody got ready and went to bed. We got up Saturday morning, cleaned up the cabin, watched a video from the week, Jim shared the message in our meeting, then the kids left. Staff had a meeting, finished up paperwork, and then got the rest of the day off. Becky and I drove around for a bit, found out that there really is nothing to do in Baker, MT or the small town we went to in North Dakota, then stopped at Medicine Rocks on the way back.

Now I need to cut this off, because a staff group is going to Sarah's (one of the full-time staff members here) house to watch a movie tonight.

Tuesday, Week 1

Hello!

This will probably be a quick update, as it is almost time for lunch, but I wanted to give a bit of an update.

First off, I'm still alive so far! And I haven't killed any campers, either!

Okay, so actually, my campers aren't that bad. I ended up with 7 boys, 6th and 7th graders. Two of them like to make things a challenge for me, but that's okay. Most of them are really good, one of them is in my path, and two are on my Team Competition team.

Path is kind of like their major for the week - what they're studying. I am the guy helping out with high adventure - rappelling, rock climbing, ropes courses, and the like. Abby, and Nikki are the leaders of high adventure, and I am helping them. We have two boys and seven girl campers in our path, including a 50 pound fifth grader. The whole group is pretty small, but that works, because it makes doing their safety stuff pretty easy - except for trying to find harnesses that fit. It's been good, and I am really enjoying working with them.

Anna and I were the two counselors assigned to lead one of the Team Competition teams - after trying and trying and not being able to come up with a name for the team, we finally decided on "Danannas" - kind of like bananas in how it's said. That's a good group of 12 kids that we get to work with, though, and I expect it will continue to be good.

Last night the campers played a game called "Mission Impossible" in which they try to sneak from one "fire" to another across camp without getting caught - if they get caught, we take away their white tickets, give them red ones, and they have to go trade them in and start again. I ended up with 27 white tickets that i had taken from campers by the time the evening was over - but it was a lot of fun for the campers, too - not just the staff that was looking for them.

Well, I need to go, but wanted to post a quick update. As usual, I'd love to hear from you, and I'll get back to you when I can if you do write to me. I don't expect to have cell phone service until I leave here, except for maybe one Saturday afternoon, but I don't even know which week yet.

Take care, and may God bless you this week.

End of staff training

Except for finishing up a little more catch-up work from being nearly a week late, staff training is done. Sunday our first set of campers arrive! And, I found out this morning, at least the first week, I will be a counselor.

I want to tell you about Solo time yesterday – and no, no worries, I was not singing in front of people – that would be cruel and unusual punishment. Solo is a time that we were all required to take Friday, and will probably have another time in a few weeks, to just go and spend some time alone with God. Our allotted time was six hours, so I got to spend almost six hours without seeing another person. Don’t get me wrong, the people here are great – but getting that one-on-one time with God was absolutely amazing.

I drove towards the cliffs where we did our campout and rappelling on Wednesday night, but didn’t go as far as we went on Wednesday before getting sidetracked exploring and finding a great place to spend my solo time. I parked my car, grabbed my chair, sandwich, Bible, staff manual, and notebook paper, and climbed to where I was sitting on the top of the nearest hill right there, looking out about 250-300 feet and down about 50 feet to my car. I was able to see over a lot of the nearby trees, and could just really enjoy the beauty of God’s creation.

We had to do several things for staff training assignments. This past Monday I had to turn in a list that had something I could use for doing devotions each night if I were to end up being a counselor, Thursday morning at the campout I had to give my testimony, Thursday night I had to do a quick personal interview with Jim, the director here, and Friday I had to turn in a list of 42 teachable moments. The teachable moments was by far the one that had me the most worried, as I had to come up with 42 situations that could be used to demonstrate a different Biblical principal. Going into my solo, I had written down the astonishing total of: 1 (Pat, Jim, Sarah, or anybody else on staff if you’re reading this, please feel free to pretend you didn’t read that part). I was able to think back through a lot of the different activities here that the kids will do, as well as just some other things that God brought to mind while looking out over His astonishing creation, and I was able to come up with the other 41 that I needed. We also were supposed to have entirely read the staff manual (something like 193 pages) as well as Pat’s book, Tears in the Bug Juice. I borrowed Becky’s copy of Pat’s book on Friday night after I got in last week, and finished reading it on Sunday, then started in on the staff manual. I also finished reading the staff manual during my solo time.

After finishing those things, I filled out another paper with responses to some of the questions that kids might ask, and spent some time reading my Bible and praying. Each of us on staff has a bookmark with a list of the names of everybody on staff, and I prayed through that list, praying for each person individually as camp is getting ready to start. I also prayed about some other things going on in life right now, and ultimately ended up thinking “man, this is a stupid thing for me to do, but here goes” and I prayed for God to teach me patience and to deal well with adversity. A few minutes later I walked down to my car to put my stuff in the car and go for a walk, and as I walked up to the car, I noticed that one of my tires looked low, so I checked it: 20 psi, instead of the desired 32 psi. I figured “while I’m checking I might as well check all the others, too” and I found one of them to be good, and the other two at about 25 psi. It was drivable, but definitely not good. I thought “wow, God – you didn’t waste any time on that one, did you” and then remembered that 6 weeks ago, one of my LeTourneau friends gave me one of the two little air compressors that he had for keeping in a car, and mine was in my trunk. So I was able to get all of the tires back up to where they needed to be, although the compressor is slow. I know I still have a lot to learn, but God definitely decided to give me a good start in improving my patience and helping me deal well with adversity. He also used that situation to remind me that, no matter what I need (not necessarily want, but truly need) He will provide.

Overall, the solo time was absolutely amazing, and I highly recommend doing something similar. I know, 6 hours seems like a huge part out of your day – but I think most of us, if we really wanted to, could make it work on a weekend or something. If throughout the week, or at least on the weekend, we were to maybe give up some TV time or reading time, most of us could make it work. If not 6 hours, then I recommend doing at least 3 or 4 hours. Just go out, alone, and spend some time with God. If possible, I recommend going somewhere where you can be alone the whole time, without being likely to come across anybody else. The focused time with God is absolutely amazing. Just spend some time in His Word and talking with Him, and maybe most importantly, listening to Him. I know that I plan on making sure that solos similar to today are able to take place for me on a somewhat regular basis.

Oh – and for those that care, during my drive up here last week I saw 26 antelope, and during solo today I saw 1 coyote and 2 members of the deer family (I couldn’t see them well or long enough to be exactly sure what they were – I don’t think they were whitetail, though).

After solo we came back to an amazing dinner, after which I had dishes duty, then we spent some time with the group of us sharing what God has been doing in our lives during staff training, and during our solos today, singing, and finally, sharing in communion. Although I wasn’t initially looking forward to it all that much, Friday turned out to be an absolutely amazing day. God is truly amazing.

Staff training is almost over

Once again, I am very overdue on updating my blog, and I apologize. It has been a very busy past few weeks.

Since last updating, I completed summer school. For the last week and a half, I took 15 minute lunch breaks and no mid-morning breaks, so I was able to leave school one day early, so I left on Thursday at 3:30 PM, after 8 hours of lab. I drove to Wichita, Kansas, arriving at 11:30 PM, where I stayed with my uncle and cousins - my aunt was in the hospital at the time. I got up at 6:00 the next morning and was on the road by 6:35, driving the rest of the way to Trail's End Ranch - it was an almost 14.5 hour drive. I made it here safely, although very tired, and was in time for the last part of the evening meeting. Saturday was a workday here, so I spent a lot of time mowing, then hung out with my fellow staff members here at TER.

Sunday morning I attended Ekalaka Bible Church, along with a bunch of other staff members. The service was good, and I then spent the afternoon catching up on some require dreading and hanging out with people here. Sunday night training resumed, and I have been keeping busy with meetings and training on different events (BMX biking, low ropes course, paint ball course, high ropes course, etc.) ever since. Wednesday night was spent on a camp-out, which also involved getting to rappel down a 65 foot cliff, which was good - I had not been rappelling in over a year and a half, so it was fun to get to go again.

Thursday we came back from the camp-out, ate lunch, and got back to work, until meetings resumed, then supper, group game, and more meetings.

Please be praying for myself and the rest of the staff as we are already tired, and the campers have not gotten here yet. Be praying for the campers, as our first set will be arriving Sunday. Be praying that we be prepared to work with them and teach them, and that God work through us in their lives.

I would love to hear from you, so please, feel free to email me.

Take care, and God Bless.

Memorial Day

Although I have not lost any family members in their military service, Memorial Day, as well as all patriotic holidays, are very special to me. My grandfather, Al Miller, and my uncles, Mike and Bill Miller, are all U.S. Army veterans and my uncle Jeff Miller and my cousin James Miller are both U.S. Navy veterans. My grandfather served in World War II in Europe, and my Uncle Bill served in Vietnam. I am blessed that all of my family members were able to finish their military service unharmed. Several of my friends from church are current or past military, and many, many of my friends from my years in Civil Air Patrol are in the military. While to my knowledge all of my friends have remained safe, many have not been so blessed.

I thank God for the brave men and women who have been, and continue to be, willing to serve our great nation. To all of our veterans, and their families, and especially the families of those who have died in service of our country, thank you. While all have given some, some have given all.

Summer School!

Hello!

Well, since last posting, I finished my junior year of college! With the Lord's help, I was able to finish strong, making it one of my best semesters yet, and I am now a senior! Less pleasant, but still not bad, is the fact that I am now taking summer courses here at LeTourneau. I started summer school on Wednesday, May 11, and will be finishing on Thursday, June 9.

Although I am in class or lab from 7:30 AM until 4:20 PM, with an hour lunch break, I am enjoying this schedule, as I have had minimal homework so far, and have been able to enjoy spending time with some close friends of mine who will be moving to Kansas in a couple of weeks. Since these friends, Alden and Rebekah, will be leaving, I am really enjoying being here and able to spend this time with them, so summer school is actually being a blessing to me.

I do ask for your prayers, as I take the last few weeks of summer school, and then as I drive up to Montana to be summer staff at Trail's End Ranch for the entirety of my summer, starting immediately after summer school.

If you have a few minutes, please, feel free to write to me at danielmiller@letu.edu and tell me what is going on in your life, and feel free to share any specific things that I can be praying about for you.

Take care.

He Is Risen!

Christ Is Risen from Being Studios on Vimeo.

Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
But fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to Him who showed great love
And bled for us
Freely You've bled for us

(Chorus)
Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave
Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with Him again
Come awake, come awake
Come and rise up from the grave

Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bowed to none but heaven's will
No scheme of hell, no scoffer's crown
No burden great can hold You down
In strength You reign
Forever let Your church proclaim

Chorus

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
The glory of God has defeated the night

O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O church, come stand in the light
Our God is not dead
He's alive! He's alive!

Chorus (X2)

Rise up from the grave

I first heard this song earlier on this semester, and it has really impacted me. Matt Maher did an amazing job of summing up the wondrous thing that our Lord did for us.

Spend some extra time with God today, reflecting on all that He has done, especially what Christ did in coming to earth, walking as a man, dying like a criminal, and rising from the grave to defeat death.

Good Friday

Tree63 – Sunday
From the album – Sunday

Nothing’s sacred, the days are cheap.
Truth is thin on the ground.
Still our prophets are crucified.
Nobody believes they’re stumblin'.
It’s Friday, but Sunday is comin'.

Someone’s saying a prayer tonight
For a hungry mouth to be fed.
Someone kneels in the dark somewhere;
Darkness is already crumblin'.
Yeah, it’s Friday, but Sunday comes.

(Chorus)
Sunday!
Hallelujah!
It’s not so far, it’s not so far away.
Sunday!
Hallelujah!
It’s not so far, it’s not so far away.

Broken promises, weary hearts,
But one promise remains:
Crucified, He will come again.
It’s Friday, but Sunday is comin'.
Yeah, it’s Friday, but Sunday is comin'!

(Chorus)

Darkness is already crumblin'.
It’s Friday, but Sunday is comin'.
Yeah, it's Friday, but Sunday is comin'.
Can you feel it?
Here it comes.

(End Chorus)
Sunday!
Hallelujah!
It's not so far, it's not so far away.
Sunday!
Hallelujah!
It's not so far, our God will have His day!

Although we celebrate this day in Christianity, at the same time, we acknowledge the horrible day that it was, in away, when Christ allowed Himself to be executed on our behalf. We have a huge advantage over His followers of that day - we know the out come. We know that although He was killed and buried, He rose again on the third day. It's Friday, but Sunday's coming

Only a few weeks left

Well, I'm finding myself only a few weeks out from the end of the semester. I am definitely feeling the pressure with everything left to do, but I know that God will give me the strength to do what I need to do.

Since I last posted, I have found out what I am doing for the summer! Last Monday, I got a contract in the mail, I will be working for Trail's End Ranch as a Rifle Instructor and general worker. The same day, I signed the contract and mailed it back. The day I finish summer school in June, I will head out, starting towards Montana.

Right now I am in the middle of three group projects and a research paper. Because of that, I'm going to have to keep this short, but did want to give an update on what's going on. I would greatly appreciate your prayers as I finish up these last few weeks, especially this week and next week. Tonight is my only night of not having stuff for Hootenanny, as I will be performing as part of a group in Hootenanny on Friday. So, with that, and my school work, please be praying.

I'd love to hear what's going on in your lives, so feel free to send me an email!

Another Overdue Update

Well, I'm late with blogging again. Sorry about that - it's been a busy couple of weeks, and I haven't made this a real high priority.

Right after my last blog, I went to lab, came back to campus, picked up three passengers, and drove to Dallas. There was some confusion on where to go for dropping off one my last passenger, but it worked out okay.

That Saturday morning, I flew out of Dallas, eventually to North Carolina, where my mom, my sister, and Becky met me, we went to supper, and my mom and Becky and I went up to Virginia. My dad wasn't feeling well, so hadn't been able to come down, and wasn't well enough to preach on Sunday, either. We had a very good couple of days with Becky at my house, though, and then on Tuesday afternoon I took her back to Appalachian Bible College. I dropped Becky off Tuesday evening, and drove back home, getting in just before 1:00 AM. I spent the next few days taking care of random stuff, spending a lot of time with my parents, and then on Saturday I flew back to Dallas, to spend the night with my grandparents again. Sunday afternoon I picked up two of my passengers again and drove back to Longview. As I was driving I had the thought "It will be good to get back to Longview" - I stepped out of the car and decided "Okay, that's enough, I'm ready to leave Longview again now." I took the rest of Sunday evening just to get back into the mindset for school, and started back with classes at 7:15 Monday morning. I had some work for a group project due that Tuesday, an individual project due that Thursday, and have been having other projects assigned since then, so I quickly became fully immersed back in school. I have been going full speed ever since.

Right before spring break my Advanced Reciprocating Engines lab group finally was able to start mounting our engine on a run-up stand, and this past Thursday we were able to get everything set and run it. There's just a good feeling that goes with taking an engine that you have taken mostly apart, cleaned, and inspected, putting it back together, and running it. It's even better when it runs as well as our engine did. I love my field of study, and can't wait to be in the workplace, doing what I enjoy, for the glory of God.

This past Saturday I was able to spend the day doing some yard work for a professor, which was good. I enjoy being able to do physical work, and I really like working for this particular lady and her husband. God has blessed me by allowing me to get to know them as well as I have. They are just a really neat couple, who love students, and are such an encouragement to me.

This week I've been doing more work on group projects (I have three of them to finish up still this semester - 2 of them haven't really been started yet), so still keeping busy.

Please, let me know what's going on in your life, and how I may be praying for you! I'd love to hear from you, so feel free to send me an email or give me a call.

May God bless and encourage you throughout the remainder of the week.

Spring Break! (almost)

Well, this is going to be short, because I'm about to head out to the airport for my last lab before spring break. At last, though, spring break is nearly here!

These past few weeks have been very busy, with tests, working on projects, and life in general. But today, after lab, I drive to Dallas, and tomorrow I get to fly home! Also, Becky flies into the same airport as me tomorrow, and so I get to see her for a few days!

Be praying for safe travels, please, for both me and Becky, and that we make it in on time.

Let me know how I can be praying for you, and have a great, God-glorifying day!

3 weeks until Spring Break

I am now another week closer to Spring Break! And the end of the semester, for that matter! Right now, though, my sights are on spring break.

This week was another good week; I had a couple of exams, and have been preparing for some midterms next week. It's hard for me to believe that I'm already at the point of midterms again.

I was going to be working a Third Day concert tonight, then earlier today I was told I wouldn't be needed. Then I was told that I would be needed, but when I went, I found out that they already had more than enough people, so ended up not working it.

Right now I am looking forward to next weekend; next weekend I plan to drive to Dallas and spend the weekend there with my mom and my grandparents. Two weeks after that, three weeks from today, I will get to go home for spring break, and meet up with Becky, too!

Let me know how I can be praying for you as you go through this coming week, and feel free to email me and let me know how you're doing.

After Mission's Emphasis Week

This week was Mission's Emphasis Week here at LeTourneau, and it was quite good. We had Marilyn Laszlo, a Bible translator who worked in Papua New Guinea, as our speaker on Wednesday, and several other good chapels throughout the week. On Tuesday I had the opportunity to meet and visit with Jeff Turcotte, the president of Spokane Turbine Center, where the training is done for the Kodiak airplanes. It was a good week confirming for me that I am to work in the mission field.

Classes went well this week, and I was able to get a good deal of work accomplished in my labs, as well. This week plans were made for me to go home for spring break, instead of going to Colorado. I had been planning on going camping with a group of friends in a cabin in the Rockies, but it was decided not to do that this time. So instead I will be flying home, and Becky will be flying in a little bit before me, so I will get to see her during break!

Please, feel free to write to me and let me know what's going on in your life.

First Monday of classes

Well, due to classes starting on a Tuesday, then having MLK day off, today was my first Monday of classes. Thankfully, the class part is over now.

Last week was a good week, classes and labs went well, and I got a bit more of a feel for how the semester will go, or at least I think I know a bit of how it will go.

Friday night was an honors progressive dinner, and that was a lot of fun. Three of my friends rode with me, and there were probably 30 other people that were there, too, most of whom I knew. A couple hours after the progressive dinner ended and I got back to campus, my old roommate Rusty and I went over to Kilgore for LeTourneau's skate night - we had probably 80 or more people there roller skating, in a really small roller skating rink - but it was a lot of fun. That started at 11 PM, and went for 2 hours. I was tired when I got back, but it was definitely worth it, and a lot of fun.

This week I'm keeping busy with classes and labs, and this is Missions Emphasis Week here at LeTourneau, so there's a lot going on with that, too. I am a missionary liaison, which means that I need to try to be available for one of the missionaries this week. I don't expect that to take a whole lot of time, and it should be good. Prayers are definitely appreciated though, for that specifically, and Missions Emphasis Week in general.

Take care, and may God bless you this week.

First week of school - check

Hello!

Well, it's been a busy two weeks again.

I spent my last week at home helping out with stuff around the house, getting ready for school, and catching up on some sleep. Sarah came home for my last weekend, so I got to see her for about a day, which was shorter than I liked, but it was good to get to see her.

Sunday morning I headed out for Alabama, arriving there Sunday mid-late afternoon, and spending the rest of the day with Tim, Beth, Annette, Becky, and Mrs. Hewitt. I was planning on heading out first thing in the morning on Monday, but interstates were closed, then deemed impassible, for several hours due to the snow storm that came through. Eventually at 3:00 Monday afternoon, I decided that impassible in Alabama might not mean truly impassable, and that I could turn around if I had to. So, since nothing else was closed at that point, I headed out. I found that there were definitely some places that needed to be taken slowly, but the roads were far from impassable, IF you know how to drive in a little bit of snow. So, the normally 9.5 hour drive took 10.5 hours, and I arrived on campus at 1:30 Tuesday morning. I got to bed at 2:00, and was awake at 6:00, with lab at the airport at 8:15.

The first days of classes were average for first days of classes - figuring out "okay, this class will be more interesting than expected, this one will be less," stuff like that, but all-in-all, pretty good.

One of the things that I love about the spring semester is that we start off with two four-day weeks, with not starting classes until Tuesday, then having the day off for MLK day.

As always, I'd love to hear how you're doing and how I can pray for you, so please, feel free to send me an email or give me a call.

First post of the year

Happy New Year!

As I was thinking about the fresh start that is today, the first day of a new year, it occurred to me that today is really not so different from every other day of the year.

Today is an opportunity to get a fresh start of doing our best, breaking bad habits, and forming new ones. Today is an opportunity to begin the process of becoming who we want to be, and of serving God more wholeheartedly, and putting Him first in every area of our lives. Really, though, every day presents us with these opportunities.

We find ourselves disappointed when we fail to follow through with our New Year's Resolutions - but we must learn from this, and not be discouraged. So, you only make it through a few days without messing up? Learn from it, and start over. Don't wait until next year to implement a change. What we have is this year, this day, this moment, and we need to use it as if it were our last. There are some things that we simply must not procrastinate on (yes, I know, that is a shocking statement, coming from me.) Right now you do have opportunities to start new things, make changes, etc. on the first day of the new year - but continue to make new improvements throughout the year.

My challenge to you this year is to be continually improving things, changing what you need to, throughout the year. Don't just make changes today, or even this month. We can all find things in our lives that we need to change in order to be more pleasing to God. Ask Him to show you these things, and then constantly throughout the year seek His guidance and implement the changes that you need to. When December gets here, God may still be showing you more things that can be improved, and that is okay. Just remember to implement the changes immediately. Even when December 31 arrives, we can still make changes each day, without waiting for the next year.

May you have a wonderful year, being blessed and filled with joy, but more importantly, being a blessing and bringing joy to God.