I suppose some explanation is in order. I have not been very active here, and my posting has been mostly fluff such as YouTube videos and links to actual thinking done by other people. Sadly, this reflects the state of my soul at the moment, so I thought I’d procrastinate from my work a bit more and explain why.

We are nearing the end of our M.Ed. program at Seattle U, which includes second-level professional teacher certification. Next year, I will not be teaching, but will be in the Danforth Program for Educational Leadership at the University of Washington. Danforth is, as far as I know, the most prestigious school administration program in the region, which is why I chose it. I am hoping it will be more rigorous than Seattle U has proved to be.

Yes, I am entering administration and leaving the classroom. My reasons are many, but all center around the desire to do more than I can do in the classroom. That is not to say I am the best teacher I could possibly be (far from it), but I am more interested in administration, as I think it will use my skills more fully. I believe I will, at my peak, be a better administrator than teacher.

I will probably not be working next year, so I can spend my full time on my internship experiences. I need a thousand hours (which comes out to 5.55 hours per day for the entire 180-day school year), so it would be virtually impossible to teach and do the internship simultaneously. I’m fairly confident that we can swing this financially with a home equity loan, but if you’d like to loan me $30K at a good rate, let me know.

The past six months or so have been a blur. We (Amy and I) are taking seven hours of graduate credit, which is a lot when holding down a full-time teaching job. We have become used to being perpetually busy, and I have not done a good job of making time for God amidst this busyness.

It is not foreseeable that I will, as an administrator, become less busy than I presently am. In fact, I expect to become more busy. My hope, though, is that the work in which I am engaged will be more suited to my strengths, and thus will be satisfying and energizing rather than draining.

Spiritually, my hope remains that a “new monasticism” approach to faith will fully move in to replace the evangelical subculture from which we have departed. That will take time, commitment, and community. This reminds me of the importance of being with spiritual friends. Guys, I’m sorry I haven’t made more time for you.

I would appreciate your prayers for guidance in the coming months, as my work situation enters limbo and I look for internship sites. I will also be a part of a cohort of Danforth students, who will become a significant part of my life over the next year. I need to be strong. I need to focus on what really matters. I need to turn to God.

That is all.