Semana de Numero Dos

The beautiful mountains I get to see every single day.
My roomie, Kara. I kind of like her lots!


Once again, here are my thoughts from this past week. I hope you enjoy. My grammar\sentence structure probably needs some work(my dad corrected me on last's week blog hehe)(does my title need correcting, dad or mary kate??), but honestly, I try to write all this down as fast as I can when I get the chance. I try my hardest to use my grammar skills, but sometimes I mess up. :) So don't judge me. :) Thanks for reading though!

September 19^th 2011 Monday

Our first outing!

My classmates, all the staff, and I traveled to the “Switzerland of Colorado” today. It took us three hours of winding, mountainous roads to reach our destination. But the car sickness was definitely worth the drive. We drove so high into the mountains that some snow was visible. And the leaves have begun changing, so the scenery was gorgeous-filled with greens, reds, yellows, and browns. The mountains, hills, streams, and small towns were lovely. The small, tourist town(about 7,000 feet in elevation) of Ouray was completely surrounded by towering mountains. Main street was lined with antique shops, jewelry and clothes shops, restaurants, hotels, pubs, and coffee\ice cream\chocolate shops. I window shopped through most of them(not the pubs of course), and also took some time to call family while staring at the enormous mountains around me. On our way back to Snow Wolf Lodge, we stopped at Wal-Mart(YUCK) to buy some essentials. Some of my purchases included hiking boots(for our six mile hike next Monday), ear plugs(I have to study and sleep in complete silence), and milk(I guess milk is too expensive for them to give to us every day). For dinner, all of us girls dressed up in crazy clothes. I’m kind of liking these chicas a lot. J So that’s what an outing day is like here at Summit Semester!

I’m definitely excited to start my second week here at Summit. It has been incredible so far. I’m still learning to adjust to all the changes and homesickness has been a bit overwhelming the past couple days. But I’m looking to my Savior for strength, and He is providing it like usual.

September 20^th 2011 Tuesday

Earplugs=the greatest invention on earth. I used them last night while studying Experiment in Criticism, and I could barely hear myself type on my laptop! Success!

September 21^st 2011 Wednesday

Yesterday we had a discussion during lunch about the American Revolution. The main question was: was the Revolution biblically justified? The “Americans” rebelled against the King. They weren’t rebelling against his authority as the Bible says not to do, but they were rebelling against him because he didn’t fulfill his end of the contract. While reading Historians of the Christian Tradition I realized that in a way God rebelled or in other words, was against the Israelites, because they didn’t keep their end of the covenant. This occurs many times throughout the Old Testament. So in a small way this relates to the American Revolution, and I believe that their rebelling was, in fact, biblically justified. Correct me if I’m wrong, though. That’s why I’m at Summit: to be corrected, to think things through, to formulate reasons and proofs, etc. I just wish I was able to come up with an answer on the spot instead of a day later. L oh well. That’s another reason for my being here!

Tonight I joined a discussion group. Yeah, little shy Abi, hehe.. I thought it would be beneficial to learn how to express my opinions verbally in a smaller group of people instead of among all 31 students. Plus, I have so many questions I need to answer somehow, and there’s very little time here to sit down and try to figure them out( I have a document on my computer labeled. Therefore, if I’m part of a discussion group, I kind of questions”, and I’m writing down every single question that I have or that Bauman asks us and an answer isn’t provided). Tonight we went around the group telling about our academic interests and any classes we’ve taken to help us in our pursuit of those interests. It’s so awesome to see how God has brought people from all over the country to this one place. And everyone has incredible talents and diverse interests, but everyone has the same goal: to serve and glorify our Savior by learning to learn and think and live better. It is so very exciting.

September 22^nd 2011 Thursday

I think the devil is attacking Summit Semester. Even before the Semester started, people began to get hurt. So far we have had or have the following: pulled leg ligaments, a finger bone shattered into eleven pieces, an ear infection, a car accident, a high fever, a pulled neck muscle, and several colds. I wonder if I’ll be next. L

September 23^rd Friday

I think we had the most heated debate\discussion in class tonight. The topic was politics so I was expecting to hear more about political parties. No way. We discussed abortion. Dr. Bauman had us list all the argument for abortion that we could think of. He then wrote them on the board and picked one that we were supposed to prove wrong. The first one, I believe(my brain is a bit muddled because I’m exhausted), was if the baby was a human. I think we came to the conclusion that the baby is a human because it has it’s own genetic code and it develops like a human. People say that it’s not a human because its development is tiny compared to mature adults, but so is a toddler compared to a fourteen year old. Some say it’s not a human because it’s dependant, but all humans are dependant on all humans(we’re dependants on our parents’ insurance policy. just because we’re dependants doesn’t mean they can kill us). So we all concluded that it was a human. The next thing he asked was if your wife was pregnant and got in a car accident and her life and the baby’s life was at stake, who would you pick. This one discussion went on for an hour or longer and everyone came up with different sides. It was insane and by the end of it my mind was completely baffled. Dr. Bauman pointed out something that at first I thought was insane. He said that the couple had sex and knew that it could lead to pregnancy so it’s their moral obligation and responsibility to save the child. The child is innocent and had no part in the parents’ decision, so it should not be punished. Therefore, the baby should be saved instead of the wife\mother. Like I said, it sounded insane at first, and I think it would be the hardest thing ever for a husband to do, but it’s our moral responsibility. Now, so many other factors came up that I can’t even remember, but the responsibility argument was favored by most. I agree with it as well. But the moral of the story or one moral of the story: make sure you discuss this kind of situation with your spouse before you go ahead and have sex. Think about what you could be getting yourself into. I have never thought about this, or thought about it in detail. Like one classmate said, I have thought about it but I didn’t know what I would do, so I just let it go and quit thinking about it. That’s what Dr. Bauman is teaching against. He is teaching us to think, look, think, look for hours, days, weeks, years, until you arrive at an answer, a proof, a logical conclusion. I thank God for the privilege of being here and learning from someone who really cares about us and our minds.

September 24^th Saturday

I’m definitely being humbled right now. At home, I always thought of myself as a really studious student. I studied long and hard for all my tests and quizzes. I planned in advance for everything. And I became proud(although I’m only now realizing it) that I was “better” than my other siblings. I’m truly sorry, guys. L Here, however, everyone seems to study better than I do and get better scores than I do. So I’m definitely being humbled. And I’m trying to figure out how to study well without comparing myself to others. Some classmates have given me a few tips, so I’m beginning to use those, and they’re pretty helpful. God is great. Realizing how proud I am is such a challenge and is quite discouraging at times, but I know it’s a lesson I need to learn.

Wow. Another heated discussion\debate occurred during class this morning. However, it wasn’t as intense as last night’s about abortion. We were discussing Tertullian, an ancient Christian theologian, and his views on heresy and Christian values. He believes that a woman should not adorn themselves (piercings, tattoos, jewelry, etc.) because it’s immodest and glorifies her body. I have reached a decision, a very complicated decision.

First of all, since God doesn’t say in the Bible that you can or can’t adorn yourself, I think it mainly depends on the motive. If you are adorning yourself to impress others or to draw attention to yourself(which is a very fine line), then you’re probably doing it for the wrong reason; pride would be the main motive. Or if you’re adorning yourself because you don’t believe that you are beautiful without those things, such as make up, then that is an insecurity motive.

I wear jewelry and have my ears pierced(however, I’m thinking now that the pain isn’t worth my initial desire). I normally do not wear jewelry or clothes for that matter to impress people; if I catch myself doing that, I know it’s sinful and try to turn away from that. I do not adorn myself because I believe even without I, I am created wonderfully and beautifully, and I don’t need those things to make myself beautiful. I wear jewelry, clothes, shoes, and make up because it’s fun to look nice and dress up-at other times it’s obnoxious and gets in the way. I go without make up at times to make sure that I know that I can live without it and that I’m not dependant on it.

Some say that women adorn themselves because it enhances their beauty. It may enhance our beauty, but we are still created beautiful without it. That’s the main thought that we need to keep in mind.

Maybe it’s not that complicated of a decision, but it’s hard for me to explain in logical, thought out sentences. Perhaps after you read this, it sounds illogical. It may be, but I’m trying my hardest. I still have a lot to learn though, so bear with me! J

September 25^th Sunday

Sundays are super hard for me. I miss my church-especially the worship(Vineyard worship, at least where I attend seems so free, and I love it for that)-and I miss my youth group. And I miss my family so much. Sometimes I just want to go home, especially when the “community” life gets difficult. I love the people here for sure, it’s just hard to be with the same people every single day. And I’m still getting used to this new schedule where I can’t just go and be by myself whenever I want. I love it here though, and I know that I am doing God’s will by being here. Prayer would be greatly appreciated though. Thanks! I’ll blog again next Sunday!

PS I'll be posting some pics on Facebook-there are some of Ouray; it's such a beautiful place. :)