It has been a while since writing, and there is good reason for it that I will discuss momentarily. Although not the level of 2020, this year so far has been interesting - we have a bunch of godless Democrats running the government now, and we also have weird things going on in our churches that almost looks prophetic (in the case of our Catholic Church, we are being warned by godly leaders such as Archbishop Vigano about this, but that is a theological issue). But, it is also been fairly stable for me financially this year so far, and I hope to keep it that way. But, many factors - sans COVID-19, which has relatively little to do with my personal affairs honestly - have precluded me from writing a lot, so I wanted to just talk a bit about those things. Without further elaboration, let us get into that now.
The first factor that has been contributing to a more busy life is my schooling - I am about to wrap up my second semester in my Ph.D. program and it tends to be intense. While many of the classes are interesting, I also have the challenge of having some professors who honestly seem to confuse an 8-week class with a doctoral dissertation. One of those in my Atlantic World course I am finishing up in a couple of weeks is a young lady who facilitates the course - she is a nice lady as a person, but she is a bit over-ambitious as an instructor, which leads me to believe this may be one of the first courses she has taught. It is my hope that in due course of time her teaching methods will settle and mature, and she can make the class flow with a more reasonable level of work. Doctoral-level courses are a bit more intensive honestly than either Master's or undergraduate-level, and they require a lot of reading, a lot of writing, and a lot of time. So, therefore, that would explain why I haven't done as much blogging in recent months. This will be more intense next academic year, as the second phase of my program - the reading comprehension courses - will take up even more time. At the rate my doctoral program is going, if I maintain my good GPA (which at present is 3.73) I will complete the program by the end of December 2023. At that point, it also will mean that I will be finished with school for good, as I will be 54 then and it will be time to move on. Therefore, expect to see less blog activity for a while.
I am also in the process of reconfiguring my blogwork and maybe consolidating all three of my blogs into one, as at times some of the material does overlap. Also, given that Blogspot is a product of Google, which is increasingly hostile to the views of people like myself, I may have no choice in the near future but to consider an alternative venue for writing. This is still in development, and there is much to plan and think about concerning that, so updates will happen as needed on that.
The second factor that has been occupying much of my time is of an even more serious nature. I mentioned at the end of last year that as of June 24, 2020, Barbara and I have decided to separate and end our marriage. The factors entailed in that are complex and are not things that need to be discussed here, but our parting has been amicable and we are still close friends. We filed the final divorce papers on April 22 of this year, and we are now awaiting the final judgment and/or hearing. This alone has more or less compelled me to reorder my life, as I am more or less getting back to where I was before I was married. There have been adjustments, but they have been met and both Barbara's and my outlook is generally good, as this ultimately was the best decision. For those reading this who are my friends, please do not bear any ill-will toward Barbara - she and I are in a good place now, and I only pray and wish the best for her as she begins a new life as well. Also, this is not something I have widely talked about, so at this point I would ask that the readers would refrain from any speculation or gossip about it - for one thing, it is our business and no one else's, and also it protects Barbara's privacy as well in all of this. Thank you for your understanding, and as we step into this new chapter of life, I ask for your prayers for both Barbara and myself, as we are at peace with the decision yet will face challenges with the adjustments it brings.
That pretty much wraps up what I wanted to talk about today, and as I am able I will be back with more good insights in the near future. God be with and bless all who read this.
