Hello Texas, it's me, Jeremy...

The dust has finally settled from the wagon train to Michigan, and my new apartment is starting to look and feel like someplace I can gladly call home! Here's a few thoughts about the journey so far:

Moving:
I thought that this was going to be a relatively easy move with minimal complications, and for the most part, it was...but there were a few minor roadblocks to overcome. My mom reminded me on our second evening in Grand Rapids that no move ever goes as planned, and it's necessary to allow a significantly larger portion of grace and patience to all those with you during a move.
I had gotten into an incredibly foul mood as a result of all of the heat, humidity, and the overwhelming number of decisions I was having to make in a very short time frame. I felt like everyone around me was constantly nagging at me to make a decision about every single thing, but as my beautiful and patient Sarah kept reminding me--they only wanted to help and make me as comfortable as possible in my new home.
I don't adapt to change very well, and I suppose the whole situation was overwhelming me, but it was no excuse for the lousy attitude that I was giving my dear family. Eventually, the scales came off of my eyes and I saw with embarrassing humility what a jerk I was being, and I promptly apologized to all of my family. I couldn't have made the move without them!

The New Apartment:
We had a few bugs to shake out of the works. The first day, we noticed that the toilet wouldn't flush, so a repairman from the university had to come out and replace the valve to the wall to restore the water flow. Later that day, we noticed that the refrigerator was doing a poor job of cooling off our drinks. After a call to the Campus Services office, someone came out and replaced my refrigerator with a temporary one while a new one is on order.
The next morning, I noticed that there were a couple of large cracks near the base of the toilet, and Sarah noticed that large amount of water spilled onto the floor (and leaked into the apartment below) with each flush...so later that day, the campus plumber came out and I got a new toilet! Later in the day, I went to take a shower, and I noticed that I didn't have any hot water...but a quick turn on the supply valve to the hot water heater and that problem was solved too!
We cleaned the carpet and lined all of the shelves with contact paper, and I've plugged in my Scentsy...and all of the problems are on there way out!

Cable Service:
I was told by the Campus Services manager that the only supplier for cable and internet service in the apartments is Comcast. Before I left Amarillo I had looked into cable and internet service and noticed that my specific apartment address wasn't in the Comcast database, but I figured this could be just a glitch. I called to setup service on Friday, and the lady informed me that my specific apartment wasn't in her database either (while other units in my building were). She said this was not an unusual occurrence and it would take 3-5 days for a technician to go out and map my apartment to the grid. I found this unusual, as there were two cable jacks already in the living room...but she assured me that Comcast has never activated service in that apartment. We're still waiting on that one.
So, I'm sitting in the dining room at Culver's--my new, all-time favorite fast food restaurant! Great burgers, fries, cheese curds, Awesome root beer, and the best frozen custard around! YUM!

More to come! Hope all is well back home in the Lone Star State!

I've seen Michigan on the map...it's Purple!

So, why on Earth would I pick Michigan when it is so far away from everything that I've ever known?

Well, as you may have guessed, my interest in searching Michigan began with Sarah's entrance into my life!

For those of you who don't already know, after going through a very painful divorce with my wife of 8 years in 2009, and after spending a few months to search my soul and nurse my wounds, I decided that it was time to try and start my life over. Eventually, I decided that trying eHarmony would be a worthy endeavor, and I have to say, I've never regretted that decision for even a moment. I think that eHarmony is wonderful, and I'll talk more about that later! :)

Anyway, after joining eHarmony in April 2010, I met the most amazing girl who taught first grade at a private school in Oklahoma City through eHarmony near the beginning of June 2010.

To make a long story short, I met an incredible woman of God named Sarah who has brought so much love and happiness into my life over the last year! I never new that life could be so good! 


Well, Sarah taught school in Oklahoma, but she is originally from Michigan, and when I met her, she was already contemplating the prospect of returning to graduate school to earn a degree in special education.


I'd been waiting for God's timing in my life to let me know when He was ready for me to go to seminary, knowing that when the time was right, He'd show me the place to go as well. When Sarah and I first started dating, I looked around to see if there were any seminaries close to where she grew up and where her family still lives, just out of curiosity. And that's when I first learned about Grand Rapids Theological Seminary.


As we continued to get to know each other, I continued to learn more and more about GRTS, and eventually, I knew that this was the place and now was the time for me to go on the biggest adventure of my life!


So, it's Friday, July 29, 2011, and I'm now just over 4 days away from making the biggest change of my entire life. I'm not a big fan of change, especially drastic change, when much remains uncertain...but there's such peace and excitement in my heart to be pursuing my calling, and following my passion. 

To be leaning into God and stepping out in faith, having to fully rely on Him...I hope that you can understand how I feel--it's simultaneously the most reckless, uncertain feeling and yet the most exhilarating and confident feeling.


I'm excited. I'm ready. I'm eager to see what God has in store!

And just where do you think you are going, Mr. Hatley?

These are probably some of the questions floating through your head:

Why on Earth is he going from Texas (God's country) to Michigan?
What the heck is he going to do in Michigan?
Does he know it gets cold up there? NO--I mean REALLY cold!!

Well: Have no fear! I have arrived to answer all of your questions! Just as a side note, I'm pretty sure that very few of you are really asking these questions, but it helps me feel a little bit more validated in my ramblings if I think that people are sincerely interested; I hope you'll bear with me.

Let me start off with the question: "What the heck is he going to do in Michigan?" Well, the short answer is this: I'm moving to Michigan to attend grad school at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary and to be closer to my girlfriend. The long answer, however, is a little bit more thorough...

I received my call into Christian ministry when I was about 12 years old--I wish that I was one of those people who could remember the exact date and time and what I was wearing...but I'm not. All that I know is that I was attending a Christian summer camp and we were in a seminar over full-time ministry. At the end of the seminar, there was a time of prayer in which the speaker asked God to lay it on the hearts of anyone in the room that was being called into full-time ministry. I was one of the people in the room. I also remember that at worship that night, they asked all of us who felt the call into ministry to go and stand at the front of the worship gathering for a corporate time of prayer,and I remember there being a large number of us at the front of that small tabernacle.

Well,okay Jeremy, so you were called into ministry...but what does that mean? -- That's a good question, and one that I spent the next 13 years trying to figure out, too...waiting, listening, and in some cases trying to take things into my own hand to make this call fit my own plan (I don't recommend that last one, by the way), but if there's one thing that my life in Christ has taught me, it's that God works in His own time, and His timing and planning are always perfect.

Fast forward to March 2007: I had the opportunity to go on a motorcycle prison ministry trip, and having recently learned to ride a motorcycle, I was most excited about getting some time in the saddle, and a few hundred miles on my tires. I always felt like prison ministry was an important outreach, but one in which I never felt I would want to participate. 

But, as I'm sure you've already guessed, the Lord opened my eyes and my heart that day, and in the time since that first prison ministry trip, I've been behind the walls of at least 7 prisons, and I've discovered within myself an unbelievable love and passion for our brothers and sisters behind bars.

I began searching for seminaries to attend, and spoke with the pastors of my church, and nothing seemed to be really falling into place at the time for me to go straight into seminary. Some of the best advice I received at the time was from one of those pastors who told me not to rush things and to really value the experiences I had in the secular world because they would be extremely useful in my ministry. So, reluctantly, I settled back to wait for God's timing, and listen for His call that the time was right.

Well, about a year ago, things started to click into place, and though I'd applied and looked at various other seminaries, everything at Grand Rapids Theological Seminary looked perfect to me, and after visiting the campus, I know that this is where God wants me. So, that's what I'm going to be doing in Michigan!


Next time we'll tackle another question...."Why Michigan?"

 

Greetings and Salutations, World!

Howdy! :)

This is my new blog. It's all shiny, and neat and pretty isn't it? Welcome!

It's on this page that I'll be chronicling my journey from Texas to Michigan, and keeping everyone back home in the Lone Star State informed about all of my experiences up north.

I'm not leaving for a week and a half, so in my first few posts I'll probably be talking about my decision to move to Michigan, and discussing all of the good-byes I'm having to say for now.

But, that's all for this post. Thanks for stopping by. I hope to see you often!