A few fragments of 2013

HAPPY NEW YEAR from Milwaukee, WI! 2013 has been a roller coaster year for the Bartol family.  These are a few snippets of what happened: We started the year off in Oklahoma City in the middle of an internship with Sam Storms, then traveled to Chicago to graduate from Moody Bible Institute in May.  In the process of all of that we moved everything to Denver, followed by a 6 week trip around the country, visiting friends and family in IL, WI, and MT.  Then a few weeks after that Lisa and I went to Florida for an orientation with the mission group Pioneers International, where the reality of moving to Brno, Czech Republic became all the more clear to us.

Back in Denver, I climbed my first 14er with my cousin Mark.  Then began the fall semester at Denver Seminary.  The workload I took on was one of the hardest, yet beneficial, challenges of my academic life.  On a brighter note, Lisa and I also celebrated our first 5 years of marriage!  Now that the semester is all over, things have winded down (a little).  We moved into a new apartment in November and we are now enjoying the holidays in Milwaukee (this is my first time home for Christmas since I left for the Air Force).

For 2014, I don't usually take part in the resolution fad, but these are a few things I hope to do more of: -Read more (as if I have a choice), but watch less. -Spend more time alone with Jesus. -Make more room for dates with Lisa -Invest more time in my neighbors and the people closest to us (since moving into our own place this has happened a lot more). -Open up our home to others on a weekly basis.

AND Happy Birthday to Adelyn Marie!  She turned 4 years old today :-D Every Year it amazes me to see how big she is getting from how small she was.  

Quandary Peak

Last Thursday my cousin Mark and I took a trip to climb Quandary peak.  It was a very memorable day, with deep conversations, taking unknown trails and watching a little old lady pass us like she was an olympic runner (at least that's how it felt).  We were determined to make it the whole way up, even though every step began to feel like a task in and of itself around 12,000 ft.

Around 13,000 feet it began to rain.  And then rain some more and well, next thing we knew it was raining sideways and hail began to smack our faces pretty hard and the rocks were getting slippery.  Thankfully a group of 3 were going back and a guy gave his poncho to me (only had a jacket up until then).  But we went a little further and thought we would just rough it to the top, but it just kept getting worse, so we looked at each other and determined that it would be wise to turn back. 

Sure enough, by the time we made it to the bottom the sun was back out and it was getting warm again.  But overall it was a bonding experience (getting to know my cousin has been awesome) and we were able to see a small taste of the bigness of Jesus.  There's so many analogies you can come up with as you think about climbing one of those things.  But hopefully we'll get another Thursday soon to take it on all the way to the top and feel the weight of 14,000ft on the lungs.

The first two weeks at Denver Seminary

Over the past few weeks I have successfully had my head blown off.  Dealing with issues of epistemology, textual criticism/Genesis, the history surrounding the gospels, post-modernism and the Christian worldview, standards of ethics, how to effectively get mentored, and how to write a research paper, I am surrounded at all corners by amazing subjects.  One of the great aspects of being a student at Denver Seminary is the fact that the professors want to see a strong head/heart connection with the material.  And for that I am grateful to be here.  But I will admit, it is incredibly overwhelming sometimes.

Trying to get the word out about our ministry in the Czech Republic (www.TheBartols.com) and attempting to be a good student, while simultaneously trying to be the best husband/daddy I can be is a task that can only be fulfilled by the power of God.  If you're reading this, that is my prayer request.  That I would prioritize effectively all that is in my charge.  I rue the possibility of isolation, putting ministry and school above family, or not taking time for a sabbath to rest with Jesus.  So with these pitfalls in mind I fight for balance, but I'm not infallible and I need to lean on the Holy Spirit to do this.

Not to sound defeated here.  While it is a lot at once, it is fun.  So though I'm pushing toward a balanced lifestyle at Den Sem, it's not as though it were boring.  I have loved studying theology and apologetics/philosophy for some time now, but this is a really enjoyable challenge.

Pray also that the GI Bill money allowance does not become an extreme headache for us .

New Blog

This is the first of many blog posts that we'll be chronicling.  As an update, though many already know, we have joined up with the organization "Pioneers", where we are in pursuit of moving to Brno, Czech Republic in 2 years after finishing seminary.  This has been a long time coming, and it is truly amazing to see how God has brought us even to this point.  I am stunned by his goodness to sinners like us. Our mission statement is, "Exalting Christ in the Czech Republic through the planting of gospel centered churches".  We want to see this vision carried out through His strength, and it will only be by His people that this can happen.  For more information, feel free to check out our site @ "TheBartols.com".  It is a privilege to share this journey with you, and we pray that it will be an encouragement and a great glory to the Father.