Update on Braedon

I have not written in a while, and I feel like I need to give a little bit of an update on my life. Life has been busy over the past month or so, and it’s been difficult to find time to sit down and write for a while, so I will try my best to catch you all up to speed:

Just a week and a half ago, I “graduated” from Financial Peace University, a video seminar by Dave Ramsey. The idea is to educate people about personal finances so that wise decisions are made financially, in order to 1.) get out of debt, 2.) become financially secure, and 3.) build wealth so that one may be able to pass down security and blessings down to later generations. The hope with wealth, also, is to bless others in abundance, giving without worrying about taking care of one’s own home (shelter, food, work, etc.). Honestly, going into this class I was a bit hesitant, perhaps with a stubborn pride, thinking “Damn, I shouldn’t have to take a class to learn how to manage my own finances. I should have this stuff figured out already.” And honestly, a lot of what Dave teaches in the class is common sense stuff, like getting rid of debt before worrying about investing in the future, or saving up for big purchases like cars or a down payment on a house instead of borrowing money and paying significantly more for longer. But, I swallowed my pride when my friend Jake Rodriguez recommended I take the class, and I am very thankful he did. I have been taking the class since the beginning of January, and it has been a great experience. Not all of it applies to me (credit card debt), and I need to put much of it in my back pocket for later when I run into things (IRAs, Mutual Funds, Mortgage, etc.). But just getting into the mindset of thinking about budgeting, planning to support a family in the future, and so on is really good and I am glad I took it. Plus, getting to work through some financial successes with other great people face-to-face was beneficial in itself. So thanks, Dave, for pouring out your knowledge and wisdom…

Many of you know that I am a musician, and that I have written a small amount of music in the past few years. I have really struggled to accept it, but music is one gift God has blessed me with that can really impact His Kingdom in significant ways. No amount of “good jobs” or “you sound goods” will help me realize this (sorry). Really it takes me sitting with Pops in this and hearing Him tell me His heart behind my music. And it takes me really accepting His faithfulness and Love before I begin to see that my music might actually carry some weight. So I have had many opportunities in the past few months to play music, both my own “entertaining” music and in worship settings. I will be writing more along the way, and I will be working on where my music is taking me. Keep your ears open for music to come.

A couple years ago, I had the privilege of working alongside Jana ‘Grant’ Snyder at First Presbyterian Church of Lewisburg with the youth group. Though youth groups are not really my thing (getting pied in the face actually pisses me off), it was a great experience and I learned a lot from it. Well, I am now volunteering for a small youth group here- North Georgia Church- playing guitar for the band and speaking, both in front and in small groups. God is doing some crazy good things with it and He is impacting the students in ways that I would never have imagined. There is great favor and blessings on this program and I am excited to see the continual fruit born from it.

Work is keeping me very busy, but it is good. I have been working on getting my CDL (Commercial Drivers License) so I can drive buses for training camps, I lead worship for some of our Monday-morning staff meetings, and I am still working on my original duties. Most of my time is spent setting up our ministry partners around the world so they can host our World Race teams in places like Mozambique, Australia, and Nepal. However, I will be getting a small break from these responsibilities in the next few months in order that I may focus most of my efforts towards the Evaluation system for all of our international ministry partners. This tool is essential in developing stronger partnerships with churches, ministries, and organizations we work with, and it opens up communication in honesty and care. I love this aspect of my job, because I not only get to read all of the successes from our teams being in different places, but I also get to see how we, as an organization, can improve the way we do things and how we can better function as an international ministry. It is, indeed, difficult to process and report all of this information when we have teams in dozens of locations each month, and I hope to take the next few months to organize and streamline this process.

I am originally from Pennsylvania. I was born in State College (Penn State), lived in Michigan for 12 years (until 2002), then moved back to Lewisburg, Pennsylvania where I graduated high school, I went to Messiah College (2005-2007), located just south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and my parents moved to Lancaster, Pennsylvania just after I left Messiah. But after the long Tabor legacy in Pennsylvania (not really that long, historically), all of us Tabors are out of the state. That’s right. There are no more Tabors living in Pennsylvania (at least not directly connected to me). Randall and Vicki (aka Dad and Mom) just moved to Seattle, Washington to be close to my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. My younger sister is still in New York City, and I am still in Georgia. So we are all over the place now, but we still keep in touch, thanks to Skype!

God is doing incredible things in my life right now, and I cannot do anything about it but thank Him for His faithfulness. He is providing huge abundance for me, and He is placing beautiful things in my hands. I know there are very big things that will be happening over the next few months and I am very excited to see how God surprises me throughout it all.

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