New Orleans Bound

After two years of seminary, I finally decided to move to New Orleans this past fall. I lived in an apartment with three other guys (two of which are probably now married) for two and half weeks until Hurricane Katrina disrupted our lives. My roommates and I were–scattered over Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi–homeless and unemployed. This past semester, we have had to complete our course work utilizing a variety of alternate delivery methods and some, I am afraid, may have sought to continue their education elsewhere. This has been a difficult adventure for all, though in varying degrees.

Four months after Hurricane Katrina shattered my plans, I am returning to New Orleans next week. In the days before the storm made landfall, I interviewed at Ochsner and about a month ago they called and offered me a position. A long story short, I will be employed at the hospital in the inpatient pharmacy on January 1, 2006.

I am very excited about this opportunity. It is a change of pace, a change of location, and a change of environment–all of which are desperately needed. It is also an opportunity to return to classes on the campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Again my excitement is difficult to contain. Simply stated: I am ready to go back!

Family Christmas

Yesterday evening, we had our family Christmas dinner. Everyone came, save Chris and his fiancee, Patti (because they live in North Dakota). Shep, Shanna, and their kids, Alexandra Jade, Christopher Michael, and Samantha, were here and Benji, LeAnne, and Logan were also here. I mentioned all this to give you a few pictures of the night. Here they are!

The Spread

The Kiddie Table

(Where I thought I was going to eat.)

Picture of the Picture Taker (Benji)

The Reason Why They Came: Presents!

Family Christmas

More Presents!!

Mom checking out Dad’s gift.

Logan says, “How does this thing work?”

Christopher Michael Acting Up

(They say he’s a chip off the ol’ block.)

The Family Picture!

How Demeaning

Last night I went to see the UL Ragin’ Cajun basketball team play the McNeese State Cowboys. The game was hyped as a throwback game because they were playing in historic Blackham Coliseum, where the likes of Bo Lamar and Andrew Toney played, and because the rivalry stretched from the days that UL played in Blackham on a regular basis.

My dad and I arrived while the Cajuns were completing their pre-game warm-ups and there were a few McNeese players on the floor; however, they were not wearing matching warm-ups. After a few minutes, my dad, who was listening to the pre-game show on the Radio said that the McNeese had forgotten their uniforms at home—this was now less than fifteen minutes to game time.

The solution: they played in UL’s practice uniforms. Instead of having a throwback feel, the game seemed like an intra-squad scrimmage with the varsity team wearing the “real” uniforms. As the game continued, I began to think about how difficult it must be to wear the opposing team’s uniforms. It was apparent that some uniforms did not fit very well (some shorts were way too long for the player) and just having their colors on your body must take some of the fight out of the player. Also, they were wearing blue shoes which totally did not go with the vermillion uniforms.

Here is a picture in case you do not believe me.

Brad Kemp/bkemp@theadvertiser.com

Louisiana's Michael Southall, right, goes hard to

the basket against McNeese State's Jarvis Bradley (3)

on Thursday at Blackham Coliseum.

Return to Bethlehem

Last night, I attended a musical by my church’s choir at the Opera House. The Opera House is where our local theatre company, the Evangeline Players, hosts their plays. Every year, our church presents our Christmas program at the Opera House.

This year, the production was Return to Bethlehem. The musical focused on one gentleman who had just participated in his church’s Christmas play. After only he and his friend arrive at the dressing area, they return to the stage to find the other characters remaining in character. While cynical at first, the actor soon realizes that he has missed the point of Christmas—Jesus. His return to Bethlehem prompts his return to the true meaning of Christmas. The only question I have is, “Does this count for Sunday?”

The play was really good and it will be performed at the church tomorrow. The nice thing about the evening is that it helped me get in the Christmas spirit, which is hard to do with the rigors of school and final exams bearing down on me the past few weeks. I also got to hang out with a few friends.

Here is Ian!

Ian, Heidi, and Chet (Heidi is not photogenic, I guess.)

Here is another one of the performance

My mom is in this picture.