The wind up, the pitch, and...

What is it about the sound of breaking glass that just has to make you laugh sometimes?

I was studying out in the backyard yesterday afternoon and there were a couple of guys throwing a baseball back and forth. All was going well until one of them launched the ball from way back. It's up, up, up, over my head, behind me, I wonder....... CRASH! Right into one of the windows in the finance office. LOL! Oops. :)

I feel nice and settled in here at school. I am really enjoying the classes and I must say even the homework. It just takes up a lot of time. But that's what I'm here for.

Speaking of classes, off I go!

Fall 2007 registration

We have finished two days of orientation, we have been assigned our "Personal Campus Ministry" (more blandly known as "work detail"), and I am gradually learning more names. Gradually....

"There you go, Esther" he said as he let me in the building.

"Thanks! Uh....."

"Mike."

Oh, yeah. That has happened at least three times today. Aargh!

On another note, how many colleges can you go to where you'll find children running up and down the halls? I love it!

Classes start tomorrow. (Thus the title of this blog.) This semester I will be taking Biblical Foundations, the Pentateuch, Old Testament History (Judges through Ruth), Proverbs, Hermaneutics 1, Evangelism in a Postmodern World, and Bibliology. For my electives I will be taking Contrasting Foundations for Counseling, Each One Reach One (developing a heart for discipleship), and the Emerging Church. There will be 16 credits all together. Whew! The classes are on a block schedule, so I will only be taking Biblical Foundations, Bibliology, and Evangelism between now and Sept. 13. My elective classes are only 1/3 credits each and will be a total of five days per class and won't be starting until November.

So here we go!

Current weather: pouring rain

I think it rained a good part of the night too.

Well, we just finished the first two hours of two days of orientation. Thank goodness for those three flights of stairs to help get my blood moving again. Yes, I'm in love with the stairs already. (Although I must say, Matt, I think I would prefer three to six flights.)

Did I mention that it's raining?   :)

Our last speaker played the Newsboys's "He Reigns" at the end of his session. What could be more perfect?

Arrived safely

Over the last four days Peter and I traversed Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Illinois, skirted Indiana, and finally arrived in Michigan. I really enjoyed watching the scenery change as we traveled further and further east. It was a good trip. We went to Mt. Rushmore and found our way through the masses of pedestrians to the John Hancock building in Chicago. At the Hancock building the elevator launched us to the 95th floor at sixty miles per hour. It was an amazingly smooth ride, but you could definitely feel the pressure in your ears when we came back down.

And now I am trying to get everything settled in my dorm. The girls' dorms are on the third floor, so I'll get plenty of exercise going up and down the stairs if nothing else. Hurrah! I have two room mates and a total of twelve dorm mates. I have heard our dorm referred to as "the Pent House." Ours is the only dorm with a full kitchen and our own bathroom.

It has been gray and rainy all day. So different from August in CA.

I am glad to finally be here. It still doesn't seem real. Thank you again to all you who are praying for me. I really appreciate it.

"All my bags are packed - I'm ready to go" etc. etc. etc.

The plan is to hit the road around 8:00 tomorrow morning with Salt Lake City being our first destination. Tomorrow will also be our longest driving day of 714 miles. No problem. My poor car is weighted down more than it ever has been.

I am looking forward to settling in to a new "normal" at school. I haven't forgotten about posting pictures from our Washington trip.

TTFN!

Patches of godlight

"We - or at least I - shall not be able to adore God on the highest occasions if we have learned no habit of doing so on the lowest.  At best, our faith and reason will tell us that He is adorable, but we shall not have found Him so, not have "tasted and seen."  Any patch of sunlight in a wood will show you something about the sun which you could never get from reading books on astronomy.  These pure and spontaneous pleasures are "patches of godlight" in the woods of experience." 

C.S. Lewis - Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer

Home

We are once again home safe and sound. As expected, we had a wonderful time with family and friends. I will post more later, pictures included.

God is good, all the time. And this morning I was reminded of it again. We received a call from my aunt in Oregon checking to make sure we had arrived home safely. She heard a report on the news this morning that highway 97 between Bend and Klamath Falls, OR is closed indefinitely due to a four semi-truck nonfatal accident. I don't know what time the accident occurred, but thankfully we passed through that way prior to its occurrence.

And now my thoughts are fully turned to this last week of preparation before leaving for NTBI.

"This is the day the Lord has made. Let us REJOICE! and be glad in it."