Adjustment

Update: I am currently taking Physics, Microeconomics and Wellness. I was accepted into Wheaton’s Men’s Glee Club, which I am really excited about. I will also be working at the Marion E. Wade center, which I am also really excited about. If you’re curious: www.wheaton.edu/wadecenter Those of you who know I am planning on majoring in engineering may be surprised that I am not taking any math classes. It’s a bit complicated, but for blog purposes, I’ll just say that I am reviewing Calc I this semester to make sure I’m ready for Calc II in the spring. I think in a future post I will have to post some pictures of the new science building where my Physics class is. It really isn’t totally complete yet. The museum in the basement is still being organized, the pendulum is in place, but its display is still being assembled, and a few of Perry’s (the mastodon) skeletal components are not quite in their proper places yet. In any case, the classrooms and labs are just fine and it’s a really nice building, with lots of room and natural lighting. I haven’t decided yet how much detail I want to go into on this blog, but I’d love to e-mail you about any questions you have, or if you want to know more about something.
I’m still trying to get into the routine of things. It’s a little weird just being on campus and being a student here. It’s especially strange (and in a way less strange) because I have visited here a few times as a non-student. It really is different. I remember sitting in the library by myself when I was visiting Andrew here before. I had this sort of feeling like I was in a place I did not belong. I remember going into the basement of the library and finding David Copperfield (which I had been reading at home). For those of you in book club, this should give you a hint as to how long it took me to finish it. I found my place in the different edition, which sounds easy, but remember David Copperfield is a big book, and I had not read it in a week or so. Then I sat down at a table. I remember the whole time, having this guilty feeling like I was doing something wrong. I don’t think I would have felt much different if there had been a sign right next to me reading, “Students only”. I hoped that I blended in, and that everyone would think I was a student, but everyone else I saw had a backpack (and a heavy looking one at that). I had no backpack. So I sat and read and hoped no one asked me any questions.
A few days ago, it must have been Friday, I went into the library. I had to print a worksheet. So I sat down at a computer and tried to login. I did something wrong, so I went to the desk and asked for help. He showed me some little thing I had missed, and of course he asked if I was a freshman. Maybe he was trying to be polite, because it seems obvious that only a freshman would not know how to log into the library computer system. After I finished printing, I went downstairs to the basement, and I went to the same table, right by the Shakespeare section. This time I didn’t have to try to look like I had something to do. I pulled some textbooks out of my backpack and started reading. While I was there I began thinking about how perfect this contrast would be for a blog post. I think you can see the contrast. For one thing, the basement was empty because it was too early in the year for any tests or research assignments. Beyond that, I actually belonged there. I had my student I.D. card in my wallet and I was actually a part of the community. About one quarter of the people I saw (upstairs) looked vaguely familiar. And I knew the names of one or two of them. It was an interesting experience. I’ll leave it at that.

Arrival

I spent the 10th through the 18th at Honey Rock. It was a really great camp. All the guys in my cabin spent a lot of time together and we got to know each other really well. We were always the last group to go to bed because almost every night we spent time around a campfire talking and stargazing. When the moon set, the stars were incredible. I don’t have a lot of pictures, mainly because I didn’t want to take a digital camera to a lake or bog or to play basketball. I did get a few pictures at my cabin though. Here I’ve posted two pictures of Roz, our cabin night guard. The first is a picture of her with a can of her favorite soda, and in the second she is carrying a picture of our faculty member, Dr. Mark Thorne in front of the wailing wall in Jerusalem. He teaches Greek and Latin.  Dr. Thorne came for the second half of the week and did almost everything with us. Our group will be meeting together with him later in the year. I should also add that we had a really great group leader named Matt who is a Junior at Wheaton. He led 9th graders on wilderness trips at Honey Rock for most of the summer. He reminded me a little bit of Wooton Basset.

We did some pretty exciting things at Honey Rock. It really is a great camp. They have horseback riding (which our whole group did), mountain biking (which I did with Phillip, Jay and David and was really sore afterwards), sailing, archery, riflery and a lot of other activities. There were also challenge courses which our team had to work on together. In one we were strapped into a harness and climbed up a tall pole. Then we had to jump off the top of the pole and grab a handkerchief hanging in front of us, while the rest of our team stood below and held the ropes that kept us from falling. We also had to get our whole team over a twelve foot wall while some of us were given temporary disabilities.

Wednesday night we arrived at Wheaton. I moved all my stuff from camp into my dorm room. Mom and Dad and Andrew met me on Thursday and we spent some time moving everything into my room and doing laundry and getting things set up. Since then I have gone to a lot of floor meetings and events, and some speeches about what Wheaton is about and rules for residence halls. Fortunately, I was already somewhat familiar with the rules and with the layout of campus, so that has not been too overwhelming. Now I an just trying to make sure my room and my books are organized and that I am ready for classes to start Wednesday. I’m looking forward to classes starting, but I feel like if I don’t have everything organized before they start, I’m going to have trouble keeping up. I still do not know what clubs or groups I will be involved in or what kind of job I am going to get. There is an organization fair tomorrow, and a part time job fair Wednesday. I would appreciate it if you pray for me to make decisions about how to spend my time. I have a feeling it will be really easy to overwhelm myself.

I look forward to hearing from you all.

Goodbye

I am leaving early tomorrow morning to fly to Illinois where I will get on a bus which will take me to a camp in Wisconsin. I will be spending a week there, and then I will go back to Wheaton’s campus where I will begin orientation. Classes start after orientation. While I am at the camp I will not have access to the internet or a phone, so this will be my last blog post for a little while.
If you have worked with me in plays or TeenPact or book club you know that I have a tendency to be a little worried that I am not prepared for whatever I need to do. I tend to think that I did not spend enough time working on my lines, or that I should have printed extra copies of a certain paper, or that I was not very clear when I explained to another person what they were supposed to do. By the front door I have a duffel bag, a large suitcase and a backpack. All three are filled with various items that I think I will need with me when I leave. There are probably some things that are already packed that I will not really need, and there are other things that I have not packed yet that I really should pack (I think I would miss my toothbrush a lot). If I know myself, even after I am on the plane I will still be wondering about what I left behind that would have come in handy. Maybe I’m right to worry. After all, in all probability, I will not see anything that I leave behind for several months. I know that I am capable of forgetting important things and I would not be a bit surprised if I did forget something important and shockingly obvious. It really is not an unreasonable fear.
There is just one problem, in the last few days, I think there have been three different times that I have either read or heard in a song or heard someone say that “God is all I need.” I said it myself along with the song. Then, I thought about it. If someone asked me what I need, I would give them a long list. It would be pretty similar to the list of things by my front door right now, and it would include a few other things like air, water, food and people. The idea that God would take care of me even if I boarded the plane tomorrow with only the clothes on my back seems ridiculous. However, it really comes down to a question of which I trust more, God or my duffel bag. Maybe that sounds like a dumb question, but when I really think about it, that question really bothers me because I know I put a lot of faith in my duffel bag’s ability to get me through the week.
I know all the answers. God wants me to do more than get through the week. He wants me to know him better next week than I did this week, and He is way more than able to make it happen. He also can give me everything I need to survive next week, even the things I might forget to put in my duffel bag. There is still something in me that doubts. It wants to worry about packing my duffel bag until it is overflowing with things I do not need. It makes me want to reach in my pocket to make sure my wallet is still there every few minutes. It makes me want to put my duffel bag at my feet where I can see that no one else with a similar bag will carry it off the plane. My head is on track, I do not know where the rest of me is. I can only hope that something in my head finds a chink in the armor of that other something in me.
There is one more thing I need to say. When I leave for the next few months, I will be leaving behind more than my house. I will also be leaving most of my friends here. I have had some great friends over the years. Some have come and gone, others I still see at least once a week. I can’t say how each of them has impacted me. I just know God has blessed me far beyond what I deserve. This blog is meant mainly for you. So I thank you and I thank God for you. I guess it is time to say goodbye now. I will be back, but until then, stay in touch. I would love your comments, mail, e-mail, etc. sorry, tweets and profile pics do not count. May you all farewell.
Romans 15:13.