ser g/o / Foter / CC BY-NC-ND The dissertation is almost done — final steps! I’m shooting to finish it near the end of this month (Feb. 2015).This is my Doctorate of Ministry (D.Min.) degree that I hope to receive should my dissertation be accepted. If it isn’t… well… disappointment will be an understatement, but it’s in God’s hands. So am I.

Rest in Peace, Sunny — or in your case, in Play. The One who made all dogs is tossing your toy around with you right now, and I’ll be there shortly. Love you, good dog.  

I’m thrilled that my first full-length book is nearly done — “nearly” as in “waiting for the final proof copy.” I wrote it as part of my D.Min. program, and it’s the next-to-last ministry project before finalizing the dissertation. Yea! The book is a true story called “Escape from the Green Mansion: The Extraordinary True Story of Ordinary Church Women Freeing San Francisco’s Brothel Slaves.” From the back matter: In the late 1800s thousands of Chinese women sailed to America’s West Coast. Many of them were enslaved as soon as they stepped off the freighters and were forced into prostitution — the “green mansion.” American prejudice against the immigrant Chinese…