family update...

Now that I am out of school, you can see that I have been enjoying/feeding my media addiction with movies, music, and books (especially books that aren't assigned.) I realized that there hasn't really been a family update for a while so I thought I would take some time to update our few readers as to what has been happening with the Utah dwelling Patricks.

Ministry: Our ministry has blossomed over the past year and we (Rachael and I) have been doing more and more together as a ministry team. We have the opportunity to go to Kenya at the end of July and are still praying that God provides the funds and the means to be His hands and feet to people who need to experience the love of God in tangible ways. We will be going to do medical clinics and youth/sports learning camps...I'm overwhelmed just thinking about it. Please pray for us as we face this amazing opportunity. Things in worship ministry are very different than youth ministry but I know that I am in the right place as God reaffirms my decision daily. We will continue to lift Christ up and Christ will draw all men to himself.

Life: In January, during a ski-day, I had a crash that ended up tearing my ACL in my right knee. It was originally diagnosed as a sprain/possible meniscus tear, but when the weather got warm and I was ready to play tennis and softball, my knee wouldn't let me. I had my knee looked at again and found that I in fact had a torn ACL and it required surgery. I had the surgery two weeks ago and am now recovering and participating in Physical Therapy to get my knee back to 100%. Rachael has been amazing during this time both in helping me with therapy and taking care of me while I was unable to get around. I'm on injured reserve for 4-6 months but am committed to getting it healed.

Wife: Rachael is doing awesome and is loving her OT job. She sees people as they are coming to grips that their life will never be the same, some may never walk again, and some may not be the same people as an accident left them with a brain injury. Rachael offers a bit of hope in showing people how they can function after these life-changing events. For every bad story I hear, she has 4 good ones of how someone is moving their hand again, or is realizing that there is more to life. I'm very proud of her!

Pics:

Whoa.

I had an amazing movie/book night last night. After all the hype about Slumdog Millionaire we thought we would give it a shot, and while Rachael slept through most of it, I was on the edge of my seat. I then finished Cormac McCarthy's "The Road". Both of these were so good that I had a hard time going to sleep because I was thinking about the characters and the underlying messages of both of these stories.

Slumdog Millionaire: A well filmed, well told story of a "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" contestant in India knows the answers to each of the questions. Each question has to do with different elements of Jamal, Salim, and Latika's lives. The story ultimately has to do with love. The love of a brother and the forgiveness that can be found even when all looks dreary...as well as passionate love between a man and a woman. Jamal never forgets about Latika and spends the entire film trying to find her as they are seperated several times.
I am more of a renter now than a buyer of movies, but this is one that I will end up putting in my collection.

The Road: What is the bravest thing you have ever done?, a son asks his father. His father's response? "I woke up this morning." McCarthy's book is set in a post-apocalyptic world where everything is burnt, dead, or slowly turning to ash, there is no sun and the cold is all that our characters seem to be familiar with. The book really deals with the struggle of a parent in answering all of life's important questions when raising a child...what will they eat, what will they drink, what will I do if my child is threatened, where will they sleep, will they be healthy, what are they going to do without me. McCarthy's novel encourages the reader to face their own mortality while reading about this father and son. McCarthy also brings up the element of faith with his characters and how they don't feel that God is there because of all the evil in the world, which I found to be an interesting commentary on how people feel today even when all their needs are being met.

Both were truly amazing. Simply put: Whoa.

enjoying new media

They say the first step to addiction is admitting that you have a problem. I'll admit it, I'm addicted. I'm addicted to books and music and I can't get enough of either of them. For a while I enjoyed itunes but now Amazonmp3.com is my favorite place to get new music. If you are interested in books and haven't been to alibris.com you are missing out. With all this music and reading going on I thought I would take some time to share what I've been listening to and what I've been reading since I gained my freedom from school.

Music:
1.) Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago - great chill album...one of those albums that you can just push play to.
2.) Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs - Cath has to be one of the greatest Death Cab songs ever
3.) Fiction Family - Switchfoot and Nickel Creek combine for some awesomeness
4.) Mewithoutyou - It's All Crazy! It's All False! It's All a Dream! It's Alright - an acquired taste but I love this new album
5.) The New Frontiers - One of the best albums to come from a band who broke up right after releasing it. This album is great...another just push play.

Books:
1.) The Road - Cormac McCarthy - currently reading this one...
2.) Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck - short but an amazing story of friendship and determination
3.) No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy - the movie follows this pretty closely and it won best picture...no kidding.
4.) A Thousand Splendid Suns - Khaled Hosseini - A story of redemption and the history of Afghanistan
5.) The Pilgrim's Progress - John Bunyan - The second most printed book behind only the Bible. Very interesting...a bit of a tough read but well worth it.

Done...

I've had a goal for myself since I attended Rachael's undergrad graduation. That goal was that I would go back to school and get my undergrad degree before I turned 30. There were a lot of things that needed to fall into place in order for me to reach that goal but God had planned it for me and I knew that he was going to provide a way through it.

The first hurdle was work. I was working two jobs, one semi full time (Overstock) and the other full time (HBC). I was brought on to the church staff full time and was told that I needed to go back to school as the church was investing in me and my future. I quit Overstock and signed up for classes at SLCC for the next semester

The second hurdle was math. I was terrified of it. I didn't think that it was possible for me to get through the required math classes to get my degree but thanks to some awesome professors, a lot of homework, and a lot of hard work, I passed each math class with an A.

The third hurdle was money. Working in ministry and putting your spouse through graduate school is very difficult and a strain on the finances. God was looking out for us here as well because right when I needed to transfer to the University of Utah, Rachael was out of school and working at IHC in a job that took the pressure off of us financially.

As of May 8, 2009 I became an alumni of the University of Utah. My degree is in Speech/Organizational Communications. I turn 30 on July 3, 2009. I screamed right up to my self imposed deadline but I made it!

My next goal?: Learning to play guitar within two years. That one is a bit more my speed and will hopefully be a lot more fun!