New Habits in My Mind.....

....inspired by "Habits of the Mind" by James Sire

At Semester, we talked a lot about being an intellectual and what an intellectual looks like. During our family meetings we discussed a book called Habits of the Mind; however we never were able to finish it. So when I got home, I finished it, and loved it so much that I thought I would blog a little bit about what I grasped from it and how I’m practically applying it to my life. And why not start off with intellectualism?

What exactly is an intellectual? A dictionary definition says this: possessing a highly developed intellect. A Christian intellectual possesses a highly developed intellect but it is used for the glory of God. A Christian intellectual pursues two things: holiness and truth. To be holy one must set themself apart to serve God alone and to form their character to be like Christ’s. Pursuing truth encompasses knowing the truth and obeying it. The author of this book brought up a point that I had never considered before. To know the truth, one must obey the truth. To believe the truth, one must act on it. However, even as Christians, how many of us really obey and act on truths we believe in the Bible? How much fuller would our lives be if we obeyed the truth that Christ presented? I find this very convicting in my life. There are many things that I “believe” in, however, I don’t obey them. Does this really mean then, that I don’t believe in them? For example, I believe that God is trustworthy; however, many times I don’t find myself trusting in him especially in not knowing what the future holds for me. So it follows that I really don’t believe that God is trustworthy. And this is a major dilemma in my mind. I want to trust God, but I do not. My weakness saddens me, yet I know that God is merciful and will have compassion on me as I slowly learn to trust him wholeheartedly.

Being an intellectual does not mean that the main focus is the mind. The mental life is directly related with the physical life, or in other words, the thoughts with character. What one thinks about, what one spends its time studying and reading in turn affects the way one acts. What one thinks about is what they do, or at least should do. I know I am not yet an intellectual, but I long to be one. I do not love ideas as I should. I do not play with them, laugh at them, turn them upside down, or judge them as I should. I give up too easily. I don’t find the answers I need. I give up to easily. However, I can see a great difference in the way I thought and acted on my thoughts from before I went to Semester compared to life at home again. And I will press on towards being a Christian intellectual, glorifying God in all that I think about, read, study, and talk about.

Reflections on Summit Semester

For our last project at Semester, Dustin had all of us write a reflective paper on our time at Semester. Mine summarizes my time there and the most important changes that occurred to me; there was so much more that I could write, however I remembered how long my blog was. :) My sonnet written for the English Literature class is located at the end of this blog as well. It definitely describes what I am going through now that I'm home. So I thought I would share them with ya'll. Enjoy reading.

Months before coming to Summit Semester, I imagined what life would be like here, having many aspirations in mind. What excited me most was the privilege of living among like minded Christ followers, being challenged daily through work and study, learning and gleaning wisdom from scholars, and having my Creator shape my character to look more and more like his. I never imagined my yearnings to be fulfilled in the ways they were.

Through the community aspect, I have learned exactly what relationships are. A relationship is Christ centered and is not one way but consists of two persons. In order for a relationship to be fruitful, I must give all my efforts into it without expecting anything in return. I must be selfless, not focusing on what I need, but on what my friend needs. In addition to this, I learned that relationships are vital in this life. At one point during this semester, I had the inkling to give up on relationships. I did not see growth, and my desires were not being fulfilled. However, the Holy Spirit revealed to me the wrong I was committing. My focus had only been on myself and my needs, instead of on the other person’s needs. Once I discovered this, I began to change my attitude towards relationships. I started to focus on a few friendships instead of trying to become friends with all thirty students. Due to this revelation and repentance, I now have a few kindred spirits with whom I spend most of my time. Moreover, I learned how to communicate, whether confronting another student with a problem or expressing my thoughts on a particular subject. Communication is key to healthy relationships and to every aspect of life in general. This knowledge I applied even to relationships among family members and friends at home through phone calls, letters, or emails. Because of it, I have peaceful, honest relationships that I have longed for a long time. I learned much about myself and the reasons for why I act the way I do. The students at Semester encouraged me to be patient with myself as I strive to act and think like Christ. Also, I learned to respect their beliefs and opinions, although not always the same as mine. I thoroughly enjoyed living among like-minded believers. I have seen young guys act like polite and caring gentlemen and young women defend and fight for their beliefs with fervor. Their words and deeds are an encouragement to me that I will not forget.

Challenges at Semester were evident daily: trying to glorify God while sanding with a painful wrist; formulating my thoughts to verbally defend my beliefs; reading page after page of thought provoking books; studying for quizzes; sharing my struggles in small group; lacking sleep due to late night conversations; being patient with extroverts who verbally process all their thoughts; surviving two bouts of head colds; and not being able to drink milk daily. I would not trade these difficulties for anything simpler or easier because through each trial, my character improved slightly. Although I have a long way to go, I can tell that I have become less impatient, less proud, and less frustrated when challenges come my way. I can count it all joy when trials are prevalent because I have seen how I have grown through the trials here at Summit Semester.

I am overjoyed and so grateful to my Father for the privilege of studying and learning under Mike Mandt, J.P. Moreland, John Stonestreet, Eric Smith, Donald Williams, and especially, Dr. Bauman. My mind is compressed with information regarding physics, philosophy, culture, the Bible, poetry, philology, church history, politics, and English literature. Although all the professors instilled in me new ideas and subjects, methods of study, and a desire to learn more, Dr. Bauman impacted me the most. He taught me to think logically, concisely, and deeply. His voice will ever be in my head: “Do your theology like Jesus did. Think and act like Jesus did.” His style of teaching, questioning and attacking everything, scared me to death when I first arrive at Summit. I feared him calling on me, and when he did, I fumbled, I shook, I sweated. But as time went on and I was called on more often, and when not called on, I began preparing my thoughts just in case he did call on me again. That was his purpose, to cause me to think hard about consequential ideas. He desired for me to have solid, sound beliefs and opinions based on Jesus’ way of thinking and acting. Because of Dr. Bauman, my thinking, my writing, my teaching, and my reading methods will never be the same.

All these aspects of Summit Semester have shaped my character into one that reflects Christ. I am aware of how much more I have to learn and accomplish, but I believe that I am well on my way to finishing the race set out before me. I will endure the trials that are before me with perseverance through my renewed trust in Jesus Christ my Lord. His faithfulness and patience towards my failings have cause me to love and adore him more than I ever have. His showers of grace have caused me to realize the sinner I am, but also how much I am loved by him. He has shown me my need for his presence and his word when I become discouraged in this fight for his kingdom. His compassion and mercies are new every morning. My character and spirit have been strengthened, restored, and renewed in great many ways here at Summit Semester. I do not believe I would be the person I am today without going through the trials and joys in the beautiful Rocky Mountains.

I thank God for this “once in a lifetime” chance to live at Snow Wolf Lodge among the beauty of creation and people, the grandeur of ideas and beliefs, the thrill of study and work, the delight of discovering and learning, and the joy of being shaped and challenged. I give my Lord Jesus Christ all the glory and honor for what he has done in me and through me at Summit Semester. He is an outstanding God who has given me an exceptional experience. May he be praised forever.

Future Free

His plans for my life are vaguely hidden.

Troubled, I contemplate what will come next.

Striving to listen, my heart is perplexed,

Asking what precisely has He bidden.

Imagining life in the world after

These three months of living in solitude

Causes great apprehension in my mood.

Assurance in His promises shatter.

Faintly He speaks to my burdensome heart,

“Remember, always will I be with you.

My faithfulness to you is indeed true.

I will not forget to fulfill my part.”

I shall not dread the unknown days to come,

Instead will trust in Him, the Faithful One.

Final blog from Summit Semester

November 28^th, Monday

Eric Smith has been finishing up his last hours of teaching with us today. We have three hours left tomorrow, and then no more lectures left for the rest of Semester. L His teaching today really intrigued me. We were talking about covenants, old and new. Here’s a bit that I learned…. There can be either one way or two way covenants. One way consists of God promising something and the other party not having to do anything in return. Two way is described as God promising to do something only if the other party will do something also. There were four covenants in the Old Testament: the Noahic covenant, the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, and the Davidic covenant. The Noahaic covenant was one way: God promised to never flood the earth again. Noah didn’t have to do anything in return. The Abrahamic covenant was one way: God promised many blessings to Abraham. The Mosaic covenant was two way: God gave the law to the Israelites promising to protect and care for them only if they obeyed the law. The Davidic covenant was another one way covenant: God promised to give David an offspring that would last forever. David had nothing to do with it.

Hebrews 8,9, and 10 presents the idea of a new covenant, a covenant that is superior to the old covenant. This new covenant replaces the Mosaic or Sinaitic covenant. It has nothing to do with the Noahic. Jesus fulfilled the Davidic. And the Abrahamic is yet to be fulfilled if you believe that the promised land is heaven and that Abraham’s descendants include all people. Differences between the Mosaic covenant and the new covenant are the following: Jesus only had to sacrifice once and for all while other priests had to sacrifice over and over again. Priests were never allowed to sit down in the temple because they had to sacrifice constantly; when Jesus sacrificed himself and ascended into heaven, he sat down at the right hand of God. Jesus is the high priest; he couldn’t be a regular priest because he wasn’t of the line of the Levites. People had to sacrifice every time they sinned, but Jesus didn’t have to enter heaven again and again, just once.

I find it quite interesting to see the differences between the four covenants in the Old Testament; to see whether they are fulfilled by Jesus or replaced with the new covenant; and to study the differences between the old covenant and the new. I’m really enjoying studying the Bible and learning so many new things I have never pondered before. God’s word has so many surprises in it, and I don’t think I’ll ever be done studying it, which is fine by me.

November 29^th, Tuesday

Today was a day of lasts…last work crew, last small group, and last day of classes. It’s so strange to think of leaving this place in three days. I’m trying to prepare myself for going home, however, I don’t know what to expect. I keep thinking it’ll be just like when I left, working constantly, exhausted constantly, driving everywhere, packing, doing lots of youth events, etc. I didn’t enjoy that time very much, and honestly I don’t want life to be that way when I get home. So I’m trying not to think of it in that way. It’s incredibly difficult to not try to imagine life the same. I know it won’t be the same though. My character, my values, my thoughts, my relationship have all changed drastically. I do not think life can go on in that similar way with how things have progressed here at Semester. We’ll see I guess.

November 30^th, Wednesday

More lasts today… last regular breakfast together, last “field trip” together( we went to Durango for a couple of hours), and last dish crew( that made me want to cry when I realized Delta Force didn’t have dish crew again. )

During our family meeting this morning we discussed going home. It has been described as a culture shock by alumni, so Dustin warned us of this and what to expect and how to adjust. He said that a depression will probably set in for the first couple of weeks. He also reminded us that we’re not the only ones who have changed; our families and friends have changed as well. I’m glad I know a bit of what to expect instead of just expecting it to be just like when I left.

A couple weeks ago when I figured out we would be leaving each other so soon, I teared up quite a bit. Now that we’re two days away from leaving, I feel like I don’t have any emotions in me. And yes, I do feel that way. One of my new pet peeves is when people use the word, feel, to describe everything. Anyway… Super weird, especially for majorly emotional Abi Metzger. I didn’t even cry when I had my exit interview with Dustin this evening. We went over what my goals were when I got here, if they had been fulfilled, what my goals for the future are, and what kind of schedule I would be implementing when I go home. Very practical and important, I think.

December 1^st, Thursday

Happy December 1^st!!! Only one day left. I’m super excited to go home, honestly, but I know I’ll be a wreck leaving. Another family meeting was held this morning in which we discussed a book called “ A Little Exercise for Young Theologians”, which I have yet to read. It’s supposed to help us in our transition back home, teaching us to have grace towards people and to not treat people like they are stupid. Hurrah. We also discussed how to find and choose a church and what are important priorities for a church to have. All in all, it was an interesting meeting and helped prep me more for going home.

After dinner, parents began arriving for graduation tomorrow. It’s a pleasure to meet different families and see how they are like my friends, but with them here, I know that our time here at Summit Semester is coming to a close. And that makes me pretty sad. My family arrives tomorrow, and I am so stoked! I can’t wait to see their shining faces!

This evening all the students took part in a cleaning party with chips and soda and sugar!!!! Kara and I packed a lot of our stuff and started cleaning our room. Super sad to see my shelves and desk and closet become empty. I don’t think going home is a reality yet, but at the same time it is. Hmmmm…

December 4^th, Sunday

Well, I am now home. Friday was spent packing, writing my blurb for graduation, and waiting in expectation for my mom, sister and brother to arrive. They finally arrived at 4 in the afternoon. I almost cried seeing them! I was so excited. Graduation occurred at 5. After the girls got dressed up, the guys came over to our lodge and escorted us to the main lodge. We ate a 3 course meal and dessert, then all of us students stood up and said something about our time at Semester. I bawled the whole time I said mine. However, I wasn’t embarrassed because they are my family. J Then we were each given a diploma, a rose or shirt depending on the gender, the book “Pilgrim Theology” written by Bauman, and a booklet with our blogs, sonnets, and information. After we had all graduated, a slideshow of pictures was presented, bringing a few tears. Once we had cleaned up the dining hall and kitchen, the long lasting dance party began. Twas super duper fun with reels, swing dancing, and just jumping around. I stayed up until 3 talking, eating freshly baked French bread, crying, and trying not to fall asleep. I then woke up at 6 in order to say goodbye to six of the students who had early flights. I entered the lodge with Kara, my room mate, and found mostly everyone crying and hugging each other. As I hugged the six good bye, tears flowed and didn’t stop for a long while. I then packed up the rest of my belongings, wrote Thing 1(Kara) and Thing 3(Maggie) letters, and prepared to leave. After crying a ton more and hugging everyone goodbye(goodbyes I will never forget), I walked down to the car with Maggie, Kara, and my siblings. On our way down, Steven summit saluted me from the porch, never will I forget that either. I finally had to say goodbye to those girls whom I love, the worst thing I’ve ever had to do. L After many hours in the car with more tears, I arrived home at ten. It was very different and strange to be home; it still is. I really wish I was back at Semester with everyone, but I know I am where God wants me. I know that we couldn’t stay there forever. It was just a time of preparation and now we’re equipped to further God’s kingdom all the more. I know that it will take a while to adjust to life back at home, but I’m trusting in my Father to give me strength and courage to do so. I will never forget Summit Semester. It was the best experience of my life. I love everyone there so dearly and will miss them immensely. But I am the Real Man and I will make it through this with perseverance. And so endeth my blogs from Summit Semester.

6 days left.....

...and I'm trying not to count them. I'll try to catch you up to date with the happenings here at Summit Semester for the past two weeks.
Last week(13-19) was a normal week of work crews, study times, solitudes, and class with Dr. Bauman. Actually, it was our last normal week. Finals for Bauman were taken on Saturday. I studied as hard as I could with as much time as I had, however, I studied a bit incorrectly. I thought that Dr. Bauman would be asking us to defend our opinions and beliefs. Instead we were tested on what we had learned over the ten weeks he had taught us. By reviewing all that we had studied, I think I remember and understand a lot of what we learned better now. We had finals for three hours in the afternoon and an hour and a half at night covering Church History, English Literature, and Politics. English Lit was the easiest, while Politics was the hardest. But I think I did pretty well. It was definitely a good experience for me.
Dr. Bauman spent two hours that night answering questions that we as students had been wondering for our entire time with him. He is an amazing man, I must say. I am privileged to have studied under him. As alumni have said, Dr. Bauman will now be a voice inside my head which I don’t mind at all; in fact, I’m very thankful for that. One student asked how we could thank him for what he did for us. He said the way that we have thanked him is by improving in the way we think and speak. That’s why he does what he does, to see us improve in those ways. Dr. Bauman excels in his intelligence, teaching methods, and physical strength. Although sad to see him leave Summit Semester(at least for this year), I never will I forget him.

This past week(20-27) was a very abnormal, yet super awesome week. Eric Smith came back to teach on Tuesday night, and Wednesday morning and night. He finished an overview of the Old Testament and covered the intertestamental period. I found that period to be quite intriguing because of never hearing the history of "the 400 years of silence" before. Next week, he will finish by teaching on the New Testament. The Tuesday work crew was our last Tuesday work crew. We spent our time preparing for our holiday guests( I think around 60 people came) by making lots of food and cleaning. The guests began arriving Tuesday night and didn't stop coming until Thursday.
For our Thanksgiving meal, all the students signed up to make either a family tradition dish, a favorite dish, or a "required" dish. I made frog eyed salad! It turned out pretty well I must say so myself, except for the clumpy noodles. Baha. The kitchen was full of people and dishes and food for hours on Wednesday and Thursday. At one on Thursday afternoon we celebrated Thanksgiving(my first thanksgiving away from home; however, it wasn't especially difficult to be away from my family. It was kind of exciting to be on my own in a way) by eating tons and tons of food. Then for dinner, we ate the leftovers. Super duper yummy. We ended the night by playing games.
Friday was a free day, which meant I got to sleep in until ten thirty. :) Awesome. I spent the day studying IVP, the Intro to the Bible( last book due), making Christamas ornaments for the humongous tree that Nathan and Shelly and some of the students went to chop down in the morning, watched Home Alone, and concluded the evening( at 1:30 am) by playing two hilarious games of picture telephone. Our mentor, Jeremy, also came "home" that evening. He had gone home three weeks before to be with his dad who passed away. I am so grateful to God that Jeremy was able to come back to spend the last week with us. It's so good to have him back.
Saturday was a semi free day, however, with planned optional events. The afternoon was spent in a gingerbread making contest. Teater, Kara, Maggie, Matt, and I were on a team. We started out by making a ski lift(worked out perfectly), and began building our ski resort, when the building wouldn't stick together. All of us were frustrated for a while until we came up with an idea( with Clara's help): the ski resort was destroyed in a practice run by the Swiss army. It consisted of two demolished buildings, little people covered in blood, tanks, and canons. Lots of blood and death, which was super awesome. My fav. just kidding. kinda. We got second place though. That surprised us because we didn't think anyone would vote for us. Everyone else's houses were quite creative. Pictures will be on facebook next week when I get home. In the evening we had a quite entertaining white elephant Christmas party with delicous foods. Afterwards we watched Elf, typical. :) It was super funny.
All in all, this week was quite relaxing with lots of holiday decorating, games, music, and food. However, I'm ready for another week of semi structure. I guess I get antsy when there isn't any structure. Haha.
This morning the chuch body at Grace Fellowship "sent us off" with their prayers since it was our last week with them. I cried. That was probably just the beginning of the tears that I'll have to face this week. I think I am ready to go home; I'm not afraid of the future, but filled with the hope of Jesus. And this week I was reminded that the Holy Spirit will always be with me. I am not alone in this journey of defending my worldview and my faith and my opinions, this journey of learning and sharing. I am extremely sad about leaving this community of amazing people, and I know that it will be a drastic change to go home. But this is God's plan for my life, and I will follow him with courage.
Next week will be my last blog here at Summit Semester, and it won't even be posted here in Pagosa Springs. Thank you for reading and joining me on my journey. I know that the journey will continue when I go home.

Short Note

This blog will be the shortest blog compared to the others. My power cord for my lap top committed suicide yesterday so I wasn't able to copy my blog posts from this week. I'll post it next Sunday though. So yeah. I'll post next week!

Time is Flying By...9th week.

November 7^th, Monday

I was just laying on the couch pondering God’s awesomeness and faithfulness, when I realized how dark the room had become. Hearing a loud crash like thunder, I went to look outside! As I looked through the window it began snowing softly and fog began covering the mountains. Strangely, thunder boomed and lightning flashed in the midst of the snow. Never had I seen snow, thunder and lightning all at the same time. Then occured a downpour of hail-like-snow, more thunder, and more fog. No longer could I see the mountains. The incredible sight made God’s awesomeness even more awesome. God, full of surprises is a God of restoration, of love, of comfort, of faithfulness. He is indescribable and wonderful. Psalm 148:7-12 “Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children.”

November 8^th, Tuesday

Yesterday, in addition to the snow storm, was simply wonderful. More than half of our group traveled to the Grand Canyon Sunday morning(they camped in snow!), so it was very quiet in both lodges. I was able to spend peaceful, alone time with God, finish my sonnet for English class, study “Philosophy Made Slightly Less Difficult”, and ponder life in silence. It was exactly the atmosphere I needed after these three insanely busy weeks.

The group arrived home around ten last night very satisfied with their journey. So life is back to “normal” again here at Snow Wolf Lodge. J.P. Moreland arrives tonight and begins teaching tomorrow. Hurrah!

November 9^th, Wednesday

This morning and evening in class Dr. Moreland gave a case for the evidence of God. Here is my summary of it:

The universe exists right now(obviously). It either had a beginning or didn’t have a beginning. This beginning was either caused or uncaused by something or someone. The something or someone had to be personal.

® Proofs for the beginning of the universe: 1) the second law of thermodynamics states that the amount of useful energy in the universe is being used up day by day(like a tank of gas). If something is running out then there must have been a time when it was full or complete. So there must have been a beginning to this energy, the beginning of the universe(I think this makes sense). 2) The universe is expanding and galaxies are getting further away from eachother; therefore, there must have been a time when the universe and galaxies were at a perfect spot, hence the beginning of a universe.

® Proofs for the universe caused by something/someones: Scientists have discovered that if certain constants in the universe(charge of electron, mass of proton, gravity) were off by a billionth of a second, life would be impossible. Chance could not have gotten that close. Also thinking about the complexity of DNA and the cells. There just must have been a causer who could create such intricate, working things. Moreland continually reminds us that if there are two explanations, complex or simple, it’s more knowledgeable to believe the simple explanation. I’m still thinking about that theory.

® Proofs for a personal causer: our free will and our consciousness. These couldn’t have come from a non-spaceless, timeless, immaterial, supernatural, invisible causer. Looking at creation, there are proofs for an intelligent designer.

November 10^th, Thursday

Today Moreland lectured about picking a religion and the problem of evil. Summarizations again? I think, yes!

Picking a religion requires four criteria(according to Moreland): 1)Pick a religion whose picture of God harmonizes with what we know about God from creation. He said that Buddhism and Hinduism do not explain the origin of the universe while Christianity, Judiasm and Islam do. 2) Pick a religion whose diagnosis and solution of human condition is most profound. Or in English(hardy har har), pick one that tells or analyzes what’s wrong with us and helps us fix that problem. What is wrong with us? Humans everywhere experience alienation from God, others, and themselves; experience shame and guilt; desire for life after death; desire for meaning in life; have a need for help and empowerment to live a life of character; and desire intimacy with God. 3) Pick a religion whose origin/continued success is best explained by miraculous and supernatural activity. If it doesn’t have the supernatural, then there is no reason tha God is behind it. 4) Pick a religion where you get all of Jesus, not just a watered down version of him.

Problem of evil is a bit more complicated and confusing. In a nutshell, evil is a privation or lack of goodness that should be there. A defect is evil. Evil came from humans’ (and angels?) choices due to free will. God created us with free will; we disobeyed his commands, hence, came evil. Free will is a very good thing. If God had forced us to choose and love him instead of letting us choose, it wouldn’t have been real love; it would have been forced love. Moreland presented an important point: God paid a high price by giving us free will. He was willing to be rejected by his own creation by letting us choose. This point really stood out to me. Evil serves as a warning to humans that something is wrong, and it also points to the fact that there is a way things are supposed to be. Summarizing it, God didn’t create evil. He created humans, gave them free will, and due to our disobedience, evil arose.

During our evening class we also learned about epistemology, the study of knowledge. One point that Moreland believes was the fact that when you believe something it has to be between 51% and 100%. I had never thought about this before. He said if you believe something 60% then it doesn’t mean you don’t believe it; it just means that it’s a weak belief. But the point is to continue to grow in the belief until you reach 100%. Pretty interesting I thought.

November 11^th, Friday( My brother Caleb’s birthday!)

Today we learned about empirical knowledge and states of consciousness and how the states of consciousness are not physical. Just like there are 3 states of water, there are 5 states of consciousness or so Moreland believes. These are the following: sensations, thoughts, beliefs, desires, and volitions(acts of free wills and choice). This intrigued me. The difference between a thought and a belief is that a belief can exist without thinking them while thoughts can’t exist unless you think about them. Makes sense! I won’t go into all that we learned, just because it’s complicated and I don’t want to bore you with all this philosophy. But I’m really loving learning all these important facts about knowledge and beliefs and truth. Although it’s complicated and takes me a while to comprehend, I enjoy it a lot.

Today is our nine week anniversary, which means that we only have three weeks left. Insane. I’ve been thinking a lot about how life will be at home after these three months. It scares me honestly because I’ll be out of this “bubble”. But like I said, I know God has plans for me at home, so that’s where I’ll go. J

November 12^th, Saturday

Dr. Moreland wasn’t exactly what I expected him to be. I found myself either disagreeing with him or being skeptical towards what he was teaching us quite often. He talked a lot about words of knowledge, the presence of angels and demons, experiences of people dying then returning to their bodies, and his belief in old earth creationism. His beliefs in the first four caused me to think about my beliefs in those, and I realized that I am very very skeptical towards miraculous things occurring today. I’m trying to figure out if that’s a bad thing that needs fixing or just something that needs looking into. I didn’t dislike Moreland; I just disagreed with him on a few points. One student said that we’ve been spoiled by Dr. Bauman. He doesn’t tell us what he believes or thinks. He teaches us the facts then forces us to make a decision about what to believe in. It seems like Dr. Moreland teaches us facts, but then adds his own beliefs into it. This is important though because it causes me to not just believe in what Moreland says. I have to think about his beliefs and compare them with what I have been taught and then decide which best fits into God’s story. Dr. Moreland deserves praise, however. He has spent years researching, studying, preaching, and teaching. He has gone through depression and anxiety, yet has remained faithful to the Lord and continues to serve him. He takes his vacation time to come to Semester to teach us. I am very grateful for his service to us and to God.

Speaking of God….he’s super duper amazing. His faithfulness is unending; his love is continuous. He rewards when I obey him and brings peace to my troubled soul. Joy fills my heart as he restores my broken relationships and teaches me to trust people, to be more relational, and to be intentional in my conversations and listening to others. In addition to those, He is teaching me to be slow to speak, to be patient with those I don’t get along with, and to not be legalistic in many areas of my life. He reveals, teaches, and rewards with patience and love. Serving my Savior is so fulfilling.

Other aspects of this ninth week: late night conversations with my roomie as she massages and beats out the stress in my shoulders( as she did this one night, I had a thought: there will be no stress or anxiety in heaven. that’s awesome ); reading and learning about the life of a president to whom I never gave a thought: Ronald Reagan(I have to write an essay about how he beat communism); eating breakfast in silence as all of us pray for a mentor’s father who was close to death; rejoicing that God is allowing the father to live at least for a little while; and thinking about the future.

Thanks for reading!

Two months down...

...only one short month left. :(

October 31^st, Monday (My sister Charity’s 25^th birthday!)

This was definitely the best Halloween I’ve ever experienced. We(students, staff, director and family, some alumni) started off our day down at the game field where we ate a delicious breakfast in the freezing cold. After breakfast, some students and alumni ran\jogged\walked a 5K while the rest of us waited at the field. My friend Teater and I took part in “negative cheering”. hehe..as people ran past us, we yelled at them and told them to quit running, that they were going to die from the cold, and that they should have been sleeping not freezing their butts off. It lasted about three minutes before we went back to the field. Hehe. Once the 5K was finished, we cleaned up and took part in a photo scavenger hunt. I was in a group with six other people and we had to take pictures of different activities listed on a sheet of paper, such as doing a chore, or doing what we were meant to be doing at Summit( playing volleyball). The rest of the afternoon was spent carving pumpkins, making and eating caramel apples, and shooting guns( I did not take part in this and people were quite angry with me J). There was also a volleyball tournament. Then for an hour, all of us girls got our costumes, make up, and hair ready for the costume\dinner party in the Echo Canyon Lodge. My room mate and I were from the eighties(pics on facebook eventually); we looked pretty amazing, I must say so myself. At six all the students and staff arrived in their costumes at the transformed lodge. there we ate dinner, played games, and took lots and lots of pictures. Finally, the dance party started. Yup, I did dance. I even danced the reel, with a guy no less, and a guy I didn’t even know(he was an alumni). Very awkward, but entertaining. The night ended in exhaustion, but happily. the whole day was a blast, way better than any other Halloween I’ve experienced.

November 1^st, Tuesday

For the past couple of weeks, the girls have been planning an appreciation day for the guys. Yesterday was the day it occurred. For breakfast, we, the girls, helped make breakfast and three of us covered three of the guys’ dish crew duties. At lunch we did the same for dish crew. I was part of the kitchen work crew, which consisted of four other girls. In addition to baking bread and cinnamon rolls and croutons, cleaning the stove, grill, and griddle, organizing dishes and utensils, we also made a delicious chicken and rice entrée with salad and juice and decorated the tables. In addition to those “extras”, all of us girls wrote letters to each of the guys(including staff and mentors); every guy got 15 letters. It was so awesome to watch them standing around the mail basket reading our letters. Somehow they caught on to us doing something special for them because they all came to dinner dressed up. They were super surprised with the festivities and appreciated it immensely. I loved doing that for them; we all did. And we never thought it would turn out that well. After the stressful and tiring week we had last week, we didn’t think it would turn out very well. But it was definitely a success.

The guys here are amazing, I have to say. Never in my life have I met more mature gentlemen in my life. They are all unique and talented in their own way, but they share the same desire: to glorify God in all that they do and to learn to be studious, learned leaders. Someday they will make amazing husbands and fathers. I am so blessed to be sharing these three months with them.

November 2^nd, Wednesday

Woooooow. I finally feel like life at Semester is getting back to normal. These past two weeks have been insanely busy, stressful, tiring, and packed. I’m sure I have mentioned that at least twice. J They definitely weren’t as bad as I was expecting though. I managed to read a plethora of articles, chapters, and books in addition to many extra hours of class, the sand dunes trip, lunch with a different family, alumni weekend, farvest hall, and lots of emotional, physical, and spiritual “trauma”. Hehe. I’m glad that things are back to normal though. I spent over three hours today catching up on studying my history books, a book about Switzerland’s incredible army and free\warless country, and sonnets by Milton.

During the family meeting today, Dustin brought up the fact that we’ve been here for sixty days and only have thirty days left. In one month we’ll be graduated. So depressing. I want to go home, but I want to bring Summit Semester with me. I wish this was a 2 or 4 year college, not just a semester. I am so thankful to my Lord for bringing me here. This was honestly one of the best decisions I have ever made. The skills and knowledge I am acquiring I will keep close to my heart and use daily. And I am praying that these relationships will last a lifetime. I am also praying that I will be able to function after leaving this amazing haven.

November 4^th Friday (my niece Naomi’s 3^rd birthday!)

8 week anniversary; 4 weeks left. I don’t know why I keep reminding myself of this. Haha.

Dr. Bauman arrived Wednesday night, and the regular Summit school week began. For politics class that night, we learned about how the Constitution was made. It was a topic continued from Saturday. Dr. Bauman definitely gave me a new appreciation for our Founding Fathers. There were 74 men elected; however only 55 showed up. Just imagine 55 fallen and flawed men trying to agree and compromise on what laws and systems their country should abide by. But they did it. And I think they did it very well. They made it as hard as possible for changes to be made to the Constitution and they gave as little power to the government as possible. I applaud them for their efforts and their success.

In our English Literature class we have been reading through John Milton’s sonnets, which, though hard to read at first, are very impacting. Milton lost his eyesight, was imprisoned, and buried his young son and three wives during his lifetime. Yet despite his many struggles, he stayed true to his calling, to write the epic poem, Paradise Lost. He is an example to me to never give up on my calling and to continue to obey God despite whatever may happen. Dr. Bauman called on me in this class and asked what I thought my calling was. I said youth ministry. He asked if I could still do that if I was blind or a parapalegic. I said I could, however, that would be insanely difficult. But Bauman continues to get us to put ourselves in other people’s shoes and see what we would do if we were them. It’s a difficult matter to mull over, but so important. Why is it important? Because people like Milton are heroes and examples for us to follow; in order to imitate them we need to know what they believed and why the believed it and why they did what they did. Looking at history’s successes and failures causes us to be changed, if we are willing.

Writing those last two sentences was difficult. I’m so used to making a statement such as, it’s so important, but not proving why it’s important. I’m not even sure I like my argument for why its important. But this is a vital fact I’m learning at Summit: to defend, support, and argue for everything, even small things like that one statement. It’s hard to change these habits that are ingrained in my mind and lifestyle, but I know it’s necessary to change in order to glorify my God in the fullest way that I can.

November 5^th, Saturday

The past two days have been a bit rough due to a head cold. Paying attention in class is majorly difficult with a pounding head ache and runny nose. Just sayin. J

We’re all finished with politics class, sadly. I guess we got behind in Church History class because that’s where we have the most discussion, so we’re focusing mostly on that and English Literature. Next week, philosopher and scholar, J. P. Moreland is coming to teach us. I have been awaiting his arrival for 8 weeks to be exact; therefore, I am super excited! In two weeks Dr. Bauman comes for the last time. And the week after that Eric Smith comes again to finish up our Biblical Foundations class. And then comes our final week, sadly.

During all three classes today we learned about pre-reformation reformers: John Wycliffe, John Huss, Giralamo Savonarola, and Desiderius Erasmus. Erasmus took up much of our time. These men are amazing. Despite opposition, slander, torture, and death they fought for what they believed to be truth. Although I feel like some of their opinions and beliefs didn’t correspond with the Bible, I still applaud them. They’re flawed just as we all are so of course their beliefs will be flawed. But they still fought for what was right. They taught, preached, wrote books…their lives were dedicated to their Lord. I desire to imitate them in that way. One of the discussions that stood out to me regarded Erasmus. He used satire to mock the Pope, to share the truth about what he thought about the Pope and his methods. He did this through a book called, Julius Excluded. Bauman questioned us, asking what our biggest problem in America was and if what our approach is to fix it. He brought up abortion and if we should use mockery to get rid of it. Abortion is a problem. 3,000 babies are dying a day. But would mockery actually help? Would mocking abortion doctors and those who get abortions do any good to our cause to get rid of abortion? I don’t think it would. I guess I’ll have to think more about it, but I think that by mocking people it wouldn’t be showing Christ like love. But did Christ show love when he criticized the Pharisees, when he overturned the tables in the temple, when he called Peter Satan? Is there a line between criticizing and mocking? Can I love a person and criticize or mock them at the same time? Is that telling the truth in love? Arg. Sometimes I just want questions answered right away, but it’s not possible to answer them that quickly. I have to keep looking at them and searching and questioning. And I have to think deeply. That’s the main reason I came to Summit Semester, and it’s working out pretty well however difficult it is.

Thanks for reading this week’s blog! Hopefully it was semi enjoyable and not too monotonous. J 4 more weeks and I’ll be home. J L

2 Weeks Have Passed-6 and 7

I apologize for any confusion or mistakes within my writing; my time is limited, so I try to write as fast as possible when I get a minute.

October 17^th, Monday

Dr. Williams began teaching us this morning about the importance of literature. These are some main points that I learned.

• In the fall, the mind was corrupted. We usually focus on the soul being redeemed, but the mind was redeemed as well. The renewing of the mind is just as important as renewing the soul.
• I am to study, write papers, and participate in class with all my might to the glory of God. Anything less would be sinning.
• Study-the deliberate, serious, and sustained application of the mind in dependence on the Holy Spirit, and in submission to the scripture to any given topic or problem for the purpose of attaining knowledge, understanding and wisdom.
• Deliberate: choose to do. Serious: requires mental attention. Sustained: devotes time on a regular basis. Topic: everything and anything. Intelligence: processing speed(mine is slow J). Knowledge: possession of facts. Understanding: Seeing how facts relate to each other. Wisdom: knowing how to use the knowledge and understanding effectively in creative and constructive ways to advance God’s kingdom.
• “God has room for people with very little sense, but he expects us to use all the sense we have.” C.S. Lewis
• We, as humans, find out who we are by telling stories. Why? Because we are created in the image of God, and He is the greatest Story teller.
• We were made in the image of God. We were created by an articulate and creative God: He said, and it was made. Adam showed his creativeness and articulateness by beginning to talk and name the animals.
• Basic plot of the Bible: There’s a Hero(Jesus), a villain(Satan), a damsel in distress(mankind), a dungeon(the world), rescuing by a great, personal sacrifice(Jesus’ death), and a happy ending(eternity with Christ). The majority of stories follow this plot, whether they’re fairy tales or fiction. Everyone loves this plot. It’s the plot of the gospel. All stories follow the plot of the gospel. I think this is awesome!
• “Every time a person opens his mouth, he shows that he was created in the image of God.”

I’m already in love with this English Literature Class, and this amazing professor. Thankfully, I have four more days with him! The time in class goes by so quickly while my brain and papers are absorbing everything he I feeding to me. Oh, and by the way, my reading list is growing longer every single day.

October 18^th, Tuesday

Three more hours of English Lit occurred today. Here are some various thoughts regarding the issues we talked about today.

Humanism: Renaissance vs. Secular

• The need for people outside of the church who could read and write was great. Dictatores then came onto the scene. They dictated what the government officials needed to have written down. Later on, they became known as secretaries.
• Greco-Roman Classics were preserved, but not read. No one in the west knew Greek; therefore, when the Byzantine Empire collapsed, refugees who spoke Greek came from the east to the west.
• Renaissance can be known as the rebirth of interest in old, classic works.
• People began using the Grammatico-Historical Exegesis method which asked questions about what was being read: what does the grammar\history say? Why was it written for this certain audience? Who wrote it? This was a new way of reading, finding the original meaning. This saying was introduced: Ad fontes which meant back to the sources.
• Nature of early humanism was not an ideology(lots of Christians, such as Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, were humanists); it was an educational reform movement; it was not putting man in the center but putting humanities in the center; and it involved anyone who wanted to read the ancient books using the grammatico\historical exegesis.
• Ad fontes + the question of religious authority= sola scriptura
• People then began wanting to apply Ad Fontes to the Bible which introduced the Reformation. The Reformation flows directly out of the Renaissance.
• Erasmus edited\published the Greek New Testament in 1516. Through this, Luther posted his 95 theses.
• What went wrong then? 1) Some failed to read the Greeks through the lens of Scripture, 2) Greeks didn’t understand the fall. They believed that evil came from ignorance, 3) They thought human nature was good or neutral.
• Thus began secular humanism. Their response to evil was education or enlightenment.
• If human nature is good, evil comes from ignorance. Salvation lies in eucation. Education becomes a false messiah or idol. This is what went wrong. Anything good that is idolized becomes evil.

Besides learning about secular humanism, most of the students and staff went to Pagosa hot springs in the evening. It was wonderful, warm(ok, hot. one pool was 111 degrees.), and relaxing. It was a great change of the same schedule too, so I liked that mucho.

October 19^th, Wednesday

As I am sitting here during solitude time(this probably doesn’t count as solitude time, but I needed to write it down before I forgot it), my mind goes back to the night Mary Kate and I were driving home from Summit(where I got the idea of Summit Semester)in May. We were traveling through Wyoming at about 8pm, which then stretched to 9pm, 10pm, 11pm as we drove 25-30 mph instead of the regular 75-80 mph. A terrible snow storm had come upon us. Kate was driving anxiously while I was tensely gripping anything I could and praying whenever I remembered to do so. I was so terrified. Whenever she tried to switch lanes to avoid some slush or semis entering the highway, the car’s tires or semi’s tires would cause snow to cover our windshield, blinding us. It took us around 4 or 5 hours to get from Evanston to our house; I think it usually takes like 2 or 3. Even now as I think back to it, I tense up and remember how scared I was. But as I think about it, I realize that we could have been killed easily, either by semis running us off the road, driving off the road due to slush, or something else. And I remember that we had just finished two weeks of intensive learning and training which would affect our worldviews and lifestyles. The enemy could have used that stormy night to perhaps end or ruin our lives. But instead, I think God kept us safe from any possible danger, because he had great plans in store for us. For me, part of this great plan of his includes Summit Semester. It gives me shivers to think of none of this ever happening due to a car accident. And it causes me to thank God for his protective and guiding hand. I’m not trying to say that my life is majorly important and God kept me safe because I’m awesome. I’m just trying to say that he had a plan that not even the devil could ruin. God wanted to teach me so many things over the summer and here at Summit Semester that I will use every day from now on. He is teaching me so that he can use me to teach others by being an example. It’s so hard to explain this, but that’s the best that I can do. God didn’t want Mary Kate’s life and my life to end in May; He wanted it to go on for a purpose. And I believe Summit Semester is part of the reason why. I don’t know about you, but that makes me feel incredibly loved by the Creator of the world and incredibly thankful to Him for his protection and care for me.

October 20^th, Thursday

Last night was pretty amazing, I must say. I went to a public speaking class(something very necessary for my health) taught by a mentor, Marcie. I didn’t think that by going to a public speaking class I would have to speak in public…hehe. One exercise we did was to write an outline of a speech within a small group. Terrified and shaking, I gave the outline in front of thousands of people(more like fifteenJ). But it still scared me. Oh well. I need to get over my fears. 95% of Americans list public speaking as their worst fear. So they’d rather be in the casket at the funeral than be giving the eulogy. Marcie stressed the importance of Christians needing to get over their fear of public speaking because we have the most important speech to give-the gospel. So I now know that it is important that I get over this fear and learn how to speak in public. I can’t use the excuse that I’m not a natural public speaker and that God didn’t create me with public speaking skills. Therefore, I need to get past my shakiness and fear and begin to speak in public more often.

Right after the class, I was able to practice this “skill” of public speaking by reading parts of Romeo and Juliet in a study group of about ten people. It was a hilarious study time. At one point, my friend Maggie was Romeo and a guy named Cliff was Juliet and it just happened to be the kissing scene. It was extremely awkward, but oh so funny. Reading it all out loud really helped me understand the play’s language better.

October 21^st, Friday

Although I didn’t come here to learn directly about youth ministry, I was expecting to learn a few things or be presented with a few ideas about how to affect teenagers effectively. And today during English Literature class, I was given a few. Dr. Williams was speaking about how poorly the Evangelical church is doing, how no one reads anything, and art is not in the church. Therefore, I am hoping to change this in at least a small way at my church(if I’m allowed, hehe). I was thinking a long the lines of an art group, probably among the youth. Many of the youth at my church are incredibly talented in dancing, singing, playing an instrument, and probably more talents that I have not even seen yet. I really want to teach them that God gave them these talents for a reason, and to use them to glorify him. I don’t know how exactly this would work; perhaps by talent shows or teaching other people their talents. I’m not sure yet. But it sounds like it’d be pretty cool! I also really really want to teach the youth at my church how to appreciate reading more . Most of them are not interested in reading at all, and I don’t think they realize how important reading is. It causes us to learn from past mistakes, experiences, etc. It enlarges our being. It helps us to see with eyes that are not just our own. Honestly, before I went to Summit in May, I didn’t realize how important reading was. So I want to pass this new knowledge onto the teens of my church, and hopefully to everyone I come into contact with. Hurrah!

Oh, today is the six week anniversary! It is now half over.:( sad day.

October 25^th, Tuesday

Busy, busy, busy. Yesterday began our busiest week yet, We have double the lecture time: 28 hours instead of 15, plus all of our normal duties. Therefore, I don’t have a lot of time to blog. Or read the required reading. Or commune with God, Or sleep. L Anyway…We spent Saturday at the sand dunes. I guess it was the second highest sand dune in North America. It was pretty impressive. Someday I’ll have time to upload pictures of it onto Facebook. Pretty much, it looked like a bunch of sand was dumped in the middle of nowhere.

Dustin, the director of Semester, and the pastor at Grace church came up with the grand idea of having families from the church “adopt” Summit students and feed them(it sounds like we’re starving or something). So that’s what occurred on Sunday. Groups of students (who don’t normally hang out together, or so it seemed) went to different houses for lunch and possible internet. I went with three other students, Cliff, Peter, and Mary Faith, to an older couple’s house. We discussed what our lives would look like in ten years, small unknown facts about ourselves, church, Summit Semester, and a bunch of other random topics. I had a splendid time, especially getting to know the other students better and learning facts about them that I didn’t know before. We also drank beer and shot guns..hehe. Root beer and bb guns. I wasn’t even bothered that I didn’t get to use the internet; hence, that’s why this blog is doubled. J

John Stonestreet arrived yesterday afternoon to teach for a few days. So far we have had seven hours of lectures and discussion about culture. We’re learning about what culture is exactly and how we are too live within culture. I’m a bit overwhelmed at this point due to lots of information during class, many articles to be read, and realizing truth that I never knew before. Therefore, I won’t continue writing about culture until I can think more about it in depth. hehe..until then.

October 27^th, Thursday

Culture, culture, culture. That was our main discussion for the past three days. I really enjoyed learning about it, although, it was pretty depressing to see where the state of our country and world is. Here are some of my thoughts regarding the lectures.

A main point Stonestreet began with was Christians do a terrible job understanding culture, and culture does a terrible job understanding Christians. Christians react to culture by panic. For example, when something like Harry Potter becomes popular, Christians(conservative ones at least) will panic and shield their children from it without even knowing about the book or understanding the author.

Usually when I or most people think about culture, we think about specifics instead of generalities, such as cards, music, or dancing. The specifics are the fruit, not the root problem. Instead of reacting to the specifics, we need to find the root problem.

Culture is not the world, but what we do with our world. It’s not the structures of society, the institutions, but those who run the institutions. Culture comes from the word cultura, which means to plow or till, or to develop. At the core culture isn’t a bad thing, it’s how we develop it that makes it bad. It also comes from the word cult, to worship. At the root of a culture is religion. What we worship becomes culture. Stonestreet described culture as the flesh on the skeleton of religion.

What does culture do? It communicates visions of and for life and orients members of society around these visions.

In a nutshell, we, the human race as a whole, create culture, but then we get so used to the culture and it starts created us. We start conforming to the culture.

October 30^th, Sunday

I’m really relieved that this week has come to a close. The first three days were emotionally and spiritually draining. The next three were physically and mentally exhausting. However, through the struggles God taught me a few things about myself that led me to repentance.

Since I didn’t have time to blog throughout the week, here are a few highlights:

I read Romeo and Juliet for the first time, and I hated it. Ok, I hated the characters and their actions. I loved the discussions that I had with my classmates about it. We had to answer questions like, what is a good love, what is a good death, what good is love, and what good is death. Was the story based on fate or on flawed teens? Is love at first sight possible?(infatuation at first sight is).

Alumni from past years came for the weekend, so it was interesting to meet different students who have attended in the past six years.

Learning about the history of fundamentals and evangelicals was incredible. It’s so crazy how everything I participate in and see today within the wide Christian community is traced back so many years ago to various people and movements. Hopefully someday I’ll be able to blog about this topic more in depth. I’m really hoping to get a book about the history of Christianity in America. I’m so fascinated by it.

Once again, I’m amazed at how fast time goes by here, or in general. I only have five more weeks here. Of course, I’m excited to go home. But as I think about my future and what God has in store for me and how difficult it will be to get used to home life and living without my “bubble” here, it scares me. I think God is preparing me for it though. It’s going to be a major change. And I’m going to miss this place and the people here so much. Ok, I’m done thinking about that now.

Well those are my various thoughts for this week! Sorry so short, but you have to read through last week’s thoughts too. J If I could say one major thing I’ve learned this week, it would be this: relationships are two sided. You have to sacrifice for the other person, just as much as they have to sacrifice for you. And don’t give up even when it becomes difficult and it feels like you don’t connect with anyone, because maybe people connect with you and you just don’t know it. God is so faithful. J

Thanks for reading!

Week Number Five Has Arrived

October 12^th, Wednesday

Well, I learned the Greek alphabet on Sunday night. That was exciting. Greek letters are so much harder to write than the letters I have grown up writing. Perhaps that’s just because I’m not used to them yet. In addition to Koert’s Greek class, another mentor, Marcie, will be giving a public speaking work shop on Wednesday nights starting next week. That is something I definitely need to work on. I have, however, been speaking up in class a few times. And Dr. Bauman has called on me a number of times. I definitely looked like a fool though. Speaking of Dr. Bauman, we get him back tonight. I’ve really missed his lectures and questionings, even though we’ve only gone a week without him.

God has really been working on my heart the past couple of days. He’s revealing some bondage and I’m trying to relinquish it to him; however, it’s incredibly difficult. I’d rather not go into too much detail. You’d probably rather I didn’t either. J

I feel like relationships are beginning to deepen here, which is wonderful to me. For a while I thought that the relationships I had made were going to remain shallow, but I see them deepening. That’s an answer to prayer for me. I’m getting a lot closer to my small group as well. I’m beginning to open up more and more to them. And I love getting to know each of them on a more personal level. My mentor, Sarah, is so amazing too. She is definitely a gift from God. She is praying with me and encouraging me as I struggle to relinquish my struggles and burdens to God.

It’s warm again here. The weather here is a lot like Utah, probably because they’re so close together. hehe.. It went from snowing last week to in the 60’s this week. I like it a lot though. I can still take my tri-weekly walks without worrying about snow or rain.

Pretty sure I’m almost a pro sander by now. Actually I lied. Nathan, the property manager who directs work crews, says you become an expert at something after you’ve done it 1200 times. So I have about 1194 more sanding jobs to do. Two weeks ago, Dr. Bauman told us that at our age, most of us have watched about 1200 movies. So I’m definitely an expert movie watcher. Speaking of, I have to go watch Leap of Faith with critical eyes. I might just take notes!

October 13^th, Thursday

Well, in my honest opinion, Leap of Faith disgusted me. Probably because Steve Martin is the main actor, and I can’t stand him. However, it was important for me to watch, because afterwards Dr. Bauman asked us what we saw. As my classmates brought up point after point regarding camera angles, music, actions, dialogues, articles, themes, etc. I realized that I don’t watch with critical eyes. After my two week Summit Session, I started watching movies more critically, however, that faded after a while. So now I’ll definitely be trying harder to watch more critically. The film producers and directors have place everything in a place for a reason. The actors act and talk a certain way for a reason. Certain music is played for a reason. The camera angles are placed strategically for a reason. I need to remember this and watch better.

Right now I’m reading Mere Humanity by Donald T. Williams. He will be our professor all next week. Dr. Bauman claims that he is a brilliant poet(I do thoroughly enjoy his poems in the book) and writer. I am definitely excited for next weeks’ teachings. His book is pretty confusing to me, so I’m hoping I can read it a second time during next week. And hopefully he’ll explain it a bit. His book focuses on G. K. Chesterton, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and the Human condition. It makes me think of my Dad a lot, especially the parts about Narnia. It even quoted, “Further up and further in!” hehe…

We are continuing to read through Historians of the Christian Tradition and Church History in Plain Language. Dr. Bauman gives us a quiz each week on a chapter.

October 14^th, Friday

Social security…debt…welfare…macroeconomics…microeconomics…utility…value…money…working…wealth…marginal value…brains………We’ve been talking about economics. And I have a test on Ronald Nash’s book, Poverty and Wealth, tomorrow afternoon. I really want to study economics more in depth. For some reason it just intrigues me. And confuses me. So I don’t know how I will do on the test. L I guess I’ll let you know tomorrow!

October 15^th, Saturday

Woo hoo! I only got one question out of forty one questions wrong on my test today!! Technically I got two wrong, but there was an extra credit question that canceled out one wrong question. I’m so happy with my results! However, I need to change my study habits. I need to read slower, memorize important terms, take more detailed notes, etc. So that’s what I’ll be working on. I’m so stoked for next week. Donald Williams arrived this afternoon, and he’ll begin teaching English Literature on Monday morning. We’ll actually be acting out a play some time during the week(definitely out of my comfort zone) and going through a lot of his own poetry.

I’m also starting a new book: Romeo and Juliet. We students might be acting this out together in a study group; that’ll be pretty awesome. And we’ll be watching the movie, not the most recent one, the week after next. Hurrah!

I can’t believe that I’ve been here for over five weeks. It’s going by fast. I’m trying to take it day by day and enjoy every minutes of it; it still goes by quickly. L

One Month In....

...two months to go. hehe, that makes it sound like a bad thing. But it's not. It's a great thing! I am surprised at how fast it has gone! Here are my thoughts from the past week:

October 3^rd Monday

Now that I’m finally used to the schedule here at Summit Semester, it gets interrupted. But it’s a good interruption. Eric Smith has come to teach us about the Bible for a week. He taught our first class tonight from 7 to 9. Usually we don’t have class on Mondays because it’s our free day, but he has to get 22 hours of class time a week in order for the college credit(which I didn’t take part in) to apply. He is an intriguing teacher; his knowledge of the Bible and his teaching methods cause me to want to pursue learning about the Bible on a deeper level. In preparation for his arrival, we were supposed to read the first six chapters(139 pages) of The IVP Introduction to the Bible. I completed it today. It took many, many hours, but it was so worth it. It goes through an amazing overview of the Bible(the first six chapters covered the Old Testament) and describes the main themes, messages, relevance for today, main characters, etc in very plain language. I would definitely recommend this book(or what I’ve read) to anyone who desires to get an overview of the Bible in a simple, easy, yet intriguing way.

In addition to The InterVarsity Press Introduction to the Bible, I am also reading Habits of the Mind(Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling). I’m only on the second chapter, but I’m enjoying it. It talks about what an intellect is and how to be an intellect. And I want to be an intellect(though not a snob about it), so it should be very useful. At our family meetings, we are discussing the messages in this book.

In case you’re wondering(since I love schedules), this is my schedule of the week(a little bit changed this week).

Monday is our free day so other than meals or planned events(hiking\camping, trips to town) we have the entire day to ourselves!

8- breakfast(serve yourself if you sleep in)

12:15-lunch

5-Dinner

Tuesday

8-breakfast

9-10:30: Family Meeting

10:30-12: Study Time

12:15: Lunch

1:30-4:30: work crews

5: Dinner

6:30: reading aloud together as a group(right now we’re on Sir Gibby-not a children’s book)

8: small groups

Wednesday

8: breakfast

9-10:30: Solitude

10:30-12:00: Study time

12:15: Lunch

1:30-2:30: Exercise

5: Dinner

7-8:30: Class with Bauman

Thursday

8:breakfast

9-12: Class

12:15: Lunch

1:30-3:00: Class

3:30-4:30: Exercise

5: Dinner

6:30: Reading together

7-8:30: Study time

Friday

8: Breakfast

9-10:30: Class

10:30-12:00: Study time

12:15: Lunch

1:30-2:30: Exercise

5: Dinner

7-8:30: Class

Saturday

8:breakfast

9-12: Class

12:15: Lunch

1:30-3:00: Class

3:30-4:30: Exercise

5: Dinner

6:30: Reading together

7-8:30: Study time

9-10: Bauman’s reading from his book

Sunday

10:Church

12: Lunch at park

12-4: Internet!

5:dinner

7: Movie and discussion(So far we’ve watched Minority Report, The Village, and The Diary of a Mad Black Woman(TERRIBLE!)

October 4^th Tuesday

This morning, in order to figure out what to wear for the day, I looked out the window. To my delight and excitement, it was raining! This is weird for me, but I’ve really been wanting it to get cold. Usually I dread winter’s arrival. I’m pretty sure I want it to get cold because I didn’t bring very many summer clothes, so I’m sick of them. Or maybe it’s just because lodges in Colorado are super cozy during the cold season. Or perhaps it’s because Colorado is prettier than Utah in the fall season. I don’t know what it is, but I’m super excited. It rained all day long and fog drifted among the mountains so beautifully.

Tonight is a bit different than our usual Tuesday nights. The pastor and worship pastor, their families, and the rest of their small group came to eat dinner with us. We also worshiped together for about an hour. Then for small group, both girl small groups got together to make brownies and watch Sabrina. That was pretty fun, although I fell asleep a lot during the movie.

Also I’m super excited because for work crew today I got to bake and cook for three hours. Ha! Plus, I got to learn about the Bible being inspired or not for three hours! Exciting day altogether, I must say. On a sad note, listening to Anberlin makes me miss my siblings. L

October 6^th, Thursay

I LOVE RAIN! It’s been raining for the past three days, and I’m in love with it. I love hearing it pour down on the roof as I sit in class learning how to summarize the Bible into one sentence. I love feeling it on my face as I run to the lodge at 6:30 in the morning to pray with some of my fellow classmates. Ah. I thank God for rain and the beauty it brings.

I’m really enjoying my classes this week which are focusing on Biblical Foundations. So far we have covered the inspiration, transmission, and translation of the Bible, schools of interpretation, theories about inspiration, theories about inerrancy, the canon, the apocrypha, the Bible’s authority, and how and why to study the Bible. Eric Smith is a great teacher, I must say so myself. And IVP is a very helpful book, however, I wish it were more in depth. I guess that’s why it’s an Introduction.

I didn’t expect snow this soon, but it has arrived. Right before lunch we saw the first white signs, and everyone ran excitedly onto the porch yelling, “SNOW!” “It’s snowing!!!” It was a pretty sight and hilarious to watch everyone freak out about it, especially Devon from Florida who has never seen snow. During sports time, the volleyball addicts actually played while it was snowing. I think they are crazy. They’ve been out there for over an hour now. Crazy heads. I’m not much of a snow person, so I’m kind of a loner. But that’s ok. I like watching everyone else get excited. Plus I think the snow is much prettier and nicer out here since I don’t have to drive in it or get stuck in it or shovel it(at least not yet).

October 8^th, Saturday

Evangelical Christians need to change the way they read the Bible. I’m an evangelical Christian. I need to change the way I read my Bible(hehe..those are the kind of argument type things I’m learning to use). Most of what I’m about to write comes from Eric Smith or is a paraphrase of what he said. I agree completely with what he says. “Evangelicals don’t know, broadly speaking, what the Bible teaches. It’s possible to memorize, and not know what it means. It’s possible to be around the church, but not be part of the church, not understand what’s being taught.” “We read the Bible in bits and pieces. We take “pretty” verses and apply them to ourselves(Philippians 4:13, Jeremiah 29:11)(We take them and apply them to our lives even though a lot of the times they aren’t directed towards us at all) And we put them with pretty pictures(this isn’t bad all the time, we just need to watch ourselves). We latch onto verses without understand them or their context. When we know verses here and there, we don’t really have a Christian worldview. We need to know the whole Bible.”

My thoughts: Christians need to change. We need to start reading the Word in it’s context; we need to understand who the author is and who the audience is; we need to stop applying everything to our lives and just read the Word for what it is; we need to know the Word better, so much better…It’s honestly pretty discouraging to see how badly the church has become. We take God’s inspired Word of truth way too lightly. We study it in our “quiet times” because that’s what we ought to do and because we’ve been told to do it for so long. We need to question why exactly we’re studying the Bible; we need to question our motives.

Looking back on this week, I honestly must say, it was exhausting. I took the most naps I have since I got here, and I had to drink lots of caffeine to stay awake during class(it wasn’t boring. I was just super tired). It was spiritually exhausting too. I feel like I’m a mess right now. So prayers would be greatly appreciated right now. J

October 9^th, Sunday

Tonight I get to learn some Greek! One of the mentor’s, Koert, is going to seminary next year, so to refresh his Greek, he decided to teach us what he knows. I’m very very excited. For a long while I have been wanting to go to seminary just to take Greek and Hebrew, so being able to learn a bit of Greek for free is super duper awesome. Hurrah!

Third Week At Summit!!

September 27^th Tuesday

Yesterday I completed the dreaded six mile hike to V Rock. Thankfully, it wasn’t as bad as I had expected. I imagined it to be super steep and slippery with my no-traction-shoes(I didn’t break in my hiking shoes, so I couldn’t wear them). But it was actually a very enjoyable hike. I hiked up the mountain with my friend, Maggie. She hikes and breathes at the same rate that I do, so when we took breaks neither of us were annoyed at the other. I don’t enjoy hiking with hikers who never stop to breathe. I hike with lots of breaks so that I can actually breathe, enjoy the scenery, and take pictures. I got a great work out too, so all in all, hike=success. Our next hike is in two weeks, I believe, at the sand dunes. That should be interesting.

September 28^th Wednesday

“Is there any forgiveness for the things I’ve done? Is there pardon for sinners, I know that I’m one, before you. Would you take this heart of foulness and make it clean again? Would you pour on me your mercy as I confess my sin before you? Point my feet in the way they should go. Place your holy spirit in me. Lead me in the ways everlasting. I long to have a heart that’s pure. I need to have a heart that’s pure. Before you. Oh Lord, forgive me. I need your mercy. Oh Lord, forgive me.”

This is my “theme song” right now. I’m feeling overwhelmed with sin and struggles. For some reason, I didn’t think God would be working in me like he is now. I thought my time here would be all about relationships and learning, not so much about discovering my weaknesses and putting my hope and trust in Christ. But I had it wrong. That’s not a bad thing though. It’s just coming to grip with reality instead of continuing my beliefs about how I thought Semester was supposed to be-some kind of paradise, I guess. I don’t know why I ever thought that.

How did Christianity emerge from Jewish roots? That is a question from my “Church History in Plain Language” book that I will be quizzed on tomorrow morning. The Jews had been expecting a Messiah for thousands of years, but when Jesus came, they didn’t believe he was the one. The disciples, however, did. The Jews rejected Jesus; the disciples accepted him. Stephen, the book says, believed that the temple and the law were temporary while the Pharisees believed they were forever. Everything the Old Testament describes in relation to the law pointed towards Christ. I think that the main difference between Stephen and the Pharisees’ belief (in my own language) was that Stephen believed the law pointed towards Christ and a new law while the Pharisees believed that the law pointed towards their own righteousness. Hopefully this makes sense. It’s a new concept that I’m trying to wrap my mind around.

Tonight for our first lecture of the week, we discussed movies. Bauman focused a lot on the importance of understanding how film producers and directors make movies; they want you to feel or think a certain way. The angles in which the cameras are placed, the music, the themes, the film clichés, etc are all important to watch for when watching a movie. Everything is strategically placed somewhere for a reason and a purpose. So from now on, I’ll definitely be trying harder to watch movies critically and watch for those exact thing.

What really hit me(when he called on me which caused me to look like a complete fool L) was I don’t know why I choose to watch the movies I do. Violence doesn’t affect me, but does that mean I’m desensitized to it? Sexuality and language really affect me in a bad way; I find myself thinking impure thoughts and cursing(in my head) a lot if a movie focuses on those topics. But what is my rating system? When is a movie “bad” or good”? Am I watching movies that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy? And if not, should I be watching those movies? Honestly, this topic of movies is so hard for me, probably just for selfish reasons. I want to watch movies without questioning them too much; I want to be entertained. I don’t want to quit watching movies. But I’m understanding that I need to have a critical view when I’m watching movies. I shouldn’t just be entertained, but figure out what the producers are trying to get me to think and feel and do. And honestly, it’s so hard to be obedient to God when it comes to sacrificing my wants(even for something so small as movies) for the purity He desires in my life. Entertainment is one thing that the world is so good at throwing at me without my knowing that it’s being thrown at me, without knowing that it’s consuming me. Ugh. My brain hurts from thinking so much.

September 30^th Friday

Philosophy is killer. We’ve discussed it the past two days in Church History class. It confuses me profusely, but it also makes me want to learn more about it. I’m excited for philosopher, J.P. Moreland, to come teach us later on this semester. And I’m excited to read “Philosophy in Plain Language”. Maybe then I’ll understand it better. Hopefully.

October 1^st Saturday

I discovered something today. I want to solve every problem this world has to offer me. And I want to solve it right now. By the end of our discussions in class, I want to figure out how to end abortion, if Polycarp’s martyrdom account is really true, how to fight terrorism and war justly, if philosophy and theology can be used simultaneously, how to choose a right spouse, etc. But these topics and issues cannot be solved in an hour and a half of thinking and discussing and debating. They can’t be solved in a day or a week or maybe even in a year. I’m finally understanding that Bauman doesn’t want us to solve the issues in class. He is just teaching us to question and think carefully about everything. When we’re presented with a problem(especially when we leave here), we need to look at it and dig around for answers. Before accepting something at face value, before saying I believe something, I need to think about why I accept or believe it. I need to question everything.

He keeps emphasizing the problem with Christians. Christians aren’t loving God with all their minds. They emphasize loving God with all their heart, soul, and strength. But not their minds. “Christians just skate on the surface of ideas.” We never dig deep to think about things we believe and why. We need to change this. That’s why I’m here, although, I never realized the problem was this complex. When we reason for things we need to base it soley on Christ, not on the church. The church is flawed and led by flawed human beings. “It’s Christ-ianity, not church-ianity.” Our churches may hold traditions or beliefs that can definitely be wrong or faulty. Don’t base beliefs on the church. Base your beliefs on Christ. Ask yourself “If Christ isn’t thinking it or doing it, should I?” Christ needs to be in charge, not the church?

I think this lesson is very important, and I plan on trying my hardest to follow these guidelines and trying to teach others about it.

October 2^nd Sunday

Saturday nights are a highlight for me. Dr. Bauman reads from his “memoirs” book for an hour. His life stories and experiences are hilarious and very interesting. When he reads, it’s nice to see him as a “real” person instead of an interrogator or teacher. And it’s crazy to think about him as a teenager or a marine. haha..I guess you’d have to know him now to understand what I’m talking about.

Yesterday I went on a walk all by myself for some alone time. I’ve realized that I’m pretty much not human without alone time. Anyway, the walk was incredible. All the leaves are changing colors, it smells like fall, and it’s not freezing cold yet. I took lots and lots of pictures and just enjoyed God’s beautiful creation and his company.

PS I thought I'd add this. I think I am finally adjusted to life here at Summit Semester: the intense schedule, tons of reading and studying, small groups, meals, lectures, exercising, solitude, etc. So thank you very much for your prayers. I appreciate them a lot! Relationships here seem to be going to a deeper(and more difficult for some) level as we get to know each other better. I'm very thankful for that.

Thanks for reading! Hopefully it's not too boring or confusing. :)