In New Ulm

Well all, I'm in MN. My apologies for not updating you along the journey nor the first day I got here. I have been very busy doing nothing.

I've actually had a nice little vacation, but I'm itching to find a job tomorrow and get back into a routine. For now, though, this is the first time in 7 years that I have been unemployed.

I actually arrived here last week Wednesday in the evening. I unpacked everything, but it was our plan to leave the next afternoon for my Grandmother's cottage-home in central Wisconsin. We pushed that off til the next morning as I wanted a little extra time to get settled in and pick up some job applications.

The job market seems very different out here that in California. There are actually signs on the streets and banners that say "Now Hiring." One place I picked up an application at said that they had an add in the paper looking to fill positions. Back in CA, even the entry-level jobs are being filled by out of work adults. I hope that God is with me tomorrow when I turn them in. I will let you know tomorrow night if I get a job :)

At my Grandmother's house there is no Internet or cell phone coverage, which is both terrible and amazingly wonderful. So unfortunately before I can go to bed, there are still alot of things I need to check online and I have a little bit of a mess of clothes on my new bed that I am unpacking.

I love my new room though. I am very grateful to Kurt and Sue for letting me stay here!  talk to you more later!

http://www.danielthenning.com/

And then there were two . . .

And then there were two . . . Chris Moneymaker and Sam Farha.

In 2003, Chris Moneymaker, an amateur player, won the World Series of Poker. He had gotten into the WSOP Main Event by winning an online satellite tournament. For those of you who do not know what a poker satellite is, please read on.  A satellite is when a tournament is played, not for cash prizes, but for seats into a bigger tournament. In this way, a player need not pay the full price to enter the Main Event (as it costs $10,000 per seat). If he or she is good enough, one can get in by eliminating a percentage of the field, or by taking first place, depending on the rules and structure.

Chris Moneymaker definitely made his money that day. $2.5 Million. His cards: 5-4 off-suit. His opponent’s: J-10 off-suit. Sam Farha had the odds, but Chris Moneymaker had the position and he had the dominant chip stack. And just like that, the odds of an individual hand suddenly don't mean much when you are up against a better position.

And then there were two . . . Two weeks, and a lot of pressure building up. I went to my friend's house the other day and saw a few ex-MLC students. Some of whom graduated, others dropped out. One of the students who left cautioned me about the groups that came from the different High Schools. Which I completely understand. These 17 and 18 year olds are leaving their homes and families in the time of a Great Recession and are moving across country, in some cases, to devote their next 4-8 years to learning God's Word and the rest of their lives to serving him in the Ministry. It is a big step for these young men and women.

So I can understand if they stick together with their fellow high school alumni.

I have the benefit of being 5 years older than most of the incoming freshman. I have more life experiences than most. I've held at least one job and a full time education for the last 7 years. I have excelled at my jobs and become very respected among my pears and professional acquaintances. I have pursued careers as a high school and college student. I have had works published and even a screenplay registered with the Writers Guild of America in LA. And I have a lot of firsthand experience in Ministry work.

Now, I don't say this to give myself props, because I know that everything I have is a blessing from God. My point is that even with these things, I feel very scared about this step. It is an excited scared and I think, a healthy scared. It is a fear from knowing that I will be entrusted with one of the greatest gifts that God has entrusted to us: the spreading of his word.

In some cases I feel like I have the better position . . . And then again, I feel very humble about this step. Maybe it's healthy to have a little of both.  

But the so-called "better position" does not completely come from my age and experiences, but rather from the gifts and blessings that God has given me. And the fear is a reaction, not of sinfulness, but of the respect given to the pastoral ministry.

And then there were two. . .  Two weeks until I leave California. 2 years until I finish at MLC . . . 6 years until I am an ordained pastor. All of this is by the grace of God.

I'm going all in.

God help me while I take this next step . . .

...And Counting

Well all, 4 weeks from tomorrow I will be driving out of California and crossing the border into Nevada. After that, Minnesota . . . Well, with a few other states in between.

It's weird how time goes by so fast when you are getting everything ready to go. My mother said that she likes too look back four weeks and see what she was doing then. I can understand that. Just about 4 weeks ago I wrote my first blog on this page. I was in the middle of some busy work at Chick-fil-A (CFA). And about 100 other little things were going through my mind. the next four weeks will go by just as fast, if not faster.

Going down the checklist, I have changed bank accounts, filled out all my paperwork for school, tested out of a class at NU (saving $1300), planned my itinerary for the trip out, and a lot more.

I'm going to miss alot of people here and I'm sure they will miss me too. I got employee of the month at CFA earlier this week. It was a great moment in my life there. I will be passing off my baton to Eddie, my GM, sometime this month. He will be pursuing a career in Chick-fil-A and all the best too him. The baton is actually a physical baton with CFA's mission statement on it. Myself and about 30 others received one at the opening of our location 7 years ago (actually 7 years ago, yesterday). I think it would be proper to pass it on to someone who will understand the value behind it. Eddie's actually a couple years younger than me, but he has performed his duties well. And he's been a good friend.

I have no idea what my schedule will be like out in MN. I tend to think that the schooling will be 5 days a week, like high school all over again....And hopefully I will still be able to work at least 20 hours throughout the week. I've been used to working 40 hours a week for the last year and a half and I have always juggled school and at least one job since my Sophomore year of high school. I'm in for a change, I know that. The biggest thing too will be that I need set study time. Greek and Hebrew at the same time will not be easy. Plus all my other classes. Oh well, God will look over me and see that I get enough time.

Well, T MINUS 4 WEEKS AND COUNTING!

Step by Step / Forever we Will Sing

Well I promised that I would share with you why I chose the title I did.

It's actually quite simple. I took the title from one of my favorite songs that my band performed at church. Step By Step / Forever We will Sing by Michael W. Smith.

Although I never opened with "HELLO LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY!" as he does in his album (recorded live), I have gotten much excitement when performing this piece.

I played in a Worship Band called "Redeemed." We featured original pieces, but also performed covers from many Christian Contemporary artists. Artists like Michael W. Smith, Newsboys, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Hillsong (United), and more. We were never VERY good, but it was fun. We played in a few local concerts, but because we all had our own jobs or school (or both), we never found time to record.

But anyway, the lyrics to this particular song start out like this:

Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You

Oh God, You are my God
And I will ever praise You

I will seek You in the morning
And I will learn to walk in Your ways
And Step by step You'll lead me
And I will follow You all of my days


These are such simple lyrics, but they speak volumes about the attitude that we should have when following God. We don't know where the checkered flag will appear or even what the next road mark will be. It is by each step that we follow him. No matter how many days we have, God should be the center of our lives and we ought to live by faith. Then we can truly walk in His ways.





Well, I need to get back to cleaning my room and packing. I just wanted to do a quick update. 57 days till I leave!

-D

First Post

Hey all . . . well actually no one right now as I write this. I just posted up on my Facebook that I opened the blog, so we'll see who follows me. With me moving in less than three months and so many friends wanting me to keep them updated on my progress, I figured that a blog would be the best way to keep up with that. But I'm still open to talk to anyone who wants to. Just give me a call or email.

But I wanted to keep this first post very informal and short. In fact, I'm not sure how formal the writing will be or even how grammatically correct it will be at times.

But just to give a headsup to anyone reading this in the future (including myself when I finally do get a chance to write my memoir), I wanted to start this blog by talking a little about myself.

My name is Daniel Timothy Henning. I was born in Knoxville, TN. I lived in Greenfield, WI (suburb of Milwaukee) for 8 years and I moved out to Southern California in '98 and I have been living out here ever since (to date). My father is a pastor in a synod of churches and schools known as the WELS. It was because of the nature of his work that we moved around. Some pastor's and teacher's families have moved around more than ours . . . some less. But living in these different regions has given me an interesting view on life and people.

I am a missionary at heart, like my father. In a futue blog I will bring you up to speed on our relationship over the years and also some of the history of the last 13 1/2 years in Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

btw, as you may have noticed, I will be adding links from time to time to important pages and other blogs. I hope that this will eventually function like wikipedia, in that reading one blog will make reference (and links) to others. That's kinda how my mind works anyway.

Well, to wrap things up, I will be moving in  exactly 2 months from tonight (61 days). And I have already transferred all my dvds to two large cd albumns and packed away the cases. I also packed up all the books I will be taking with me and got a good start on packing the ones I will not be needing. Still I need to close my bank account and open a new one with a company more nation-wide. I need to make sure my car payment is transferred to the new account. And add about 50 little odds and ends that I need to wrap up here before I leave and it becomes quite clear that these 2 months will not last long.

So if my posts are sporadic between now and then, do not take it personally. I'm also trying to finish up a big editing project for a friend and associate. I just hope I can get it done. In fact, I'm off to work on it now.

I'll tell you more later about where I'm moving to and why, and why I named my blog what I did. But for now, the only clue I will leave you with is "MLC." Let's see how your google detective skills are.

-D