Tomorrow morning my brother flies back to Texas to continue his training at the ALERT Academy. This is the beginning of his second phase of training and he will also begin the third phase before he comes home. He will be gone for 21 weeks (which ends just before Thanksgiving) so it is a long haul. If you read this please keep him in your prayers during this time. Pray that this will be a great 21 weeks in his life and that he will not only learn a lot from the training but that he will continue to grow in his relationship with Christ - that is the most important anyway. Also pray that God will protect him and keep him healthy (he had a staph infection during basic that made an already difficult time more difficult!) I know he will appreciate all the prayers he can get!

Best to ya, Jeremy, and I'm proud of you, man!

When I first came to Verity thirty-three months ago in September of 2005, little did I know the journey that lay before me. At Verity I have earned a degree, experienced life above the Mason-Dixon, taken a job, bemoaned the absence of easy access to sweet tea, and, most importantly, grown in my relationship with the Lord while meeting the people who have become my best friends. There have been many ups and downs during my time here - many times when I could not see my way through or what God was trying to do. Verity has been my life for the past three years. It has challenged me, stretched me, frustrated me, and filled me with joy (sometimes all within 5 minutes). While the journey has been difficult, I would not trade this time for anything in the world.
Now I am faced with moving on. It is hard to describe the flood of memories and emotions that this thought can induce. God has led me to move on from Verity, and thus I believe that He will work things out for good. But at the same time, I find it terribly hard to think of leaving. I have always loved the environment here, and I have grown accustomed to my job and enjoy many aspects of that job. Verity is a comfortable place for me, and it is always difficult to leave one's comfort zone. So as I leave Verity, how will I remember it?
After some of the difficult things that have happened, it would be easy to get bitter or upset about many things. Yet, is that not true of any place or environment in this fallen world? One can always find the negative, but in so doing, one misses the wonder and beauty of life and all the good that God gives to us. So I choose to remember the good things, and there are plenty. I remember conversations, inside jokes, laughter, the faces of friends, shared experiences, banquets, campouts, work projects, ministry opportunities, road trips, and a host of other things. And I find myself close to tears when I think of those times coming to a close. How I will miss this place. But God is good in that He allows me to keep these things with me in the form of memories, and those memories contain reminders of the working of God in my life during this chapter of my life.
So to each person who has helped make my Verity experience the greatest in my life - Thank You! It has been an honor to know, serve, and befriend such people as you. An especial thank you to my fellow staffers this year; I could not have finished this course without you. To the Class of 2008: congratulations on finishing, now keep going for our Lord and Savior. To the Class of 2009: you have begun well, finish your course. I look forward to seeing what God does through all of you.
Oftentimes in a good book, the end of a chapter will contain a transition into the next chapter. At this time I do not know what all my transition to the next chapter will hold, but I know Who is writing the book. So while there is some fear of the unknown, there is comfort in trusting in the Almighty Creator of the Universe. What a ride it has been!
May we always...
Live for Christ, Leave a Legacy for Him, and enjoy the wondrous ride that is life.

Ian Lawrence