Wow, things have been crazy busy here the last two weeks! We basically hit the ground running, not realizing that we're in for a marathon... such fun!

No, really, it's been awesome getting back into the swing of things and reconnecting with friends from last semester. It's also been neat meeting the new students.

Classes have been great so far! At least, Romans class has been fun. :-) Tech class... not so much. I don't understand pretty much anything in Tech class, but it's been fun getting to do the labs. I got to solder for the first time (for those who may not have a concrete concept of soldering, it's basically melting metal with lots of smoke and fire and stuff... lots of fun!).

Soldering (with cool glasses :-) )

We just finished Romans class last Friday, and it was really great being reminded of so many foundational truths. One concept that I really appreciated was the idea that our relationship with God is like a marriage or an adoption. It is final and secure. This promotes intimacy between us and God. I thought that was a good way to succintly describe our relationship with God.

One interesting thing is that we now have a new crop of babies on campus that were born over break. As some of you remember me saying while I was on break, the joke goes that those who enter MTC married end up leaving with five kids (basically accurate) :-)

So for the benefit of all those back home who are insanely jealous at the moment (ahem, Mrs. Debbie ;-) ), here's a picture of me with one of the babies, Hudson, who is a month old.

Baby Hudson!

Starting Second Semester

(like my nice alliteration?)

We just arrived back at MTC. It feels like forever since I've been here, but in another sense, it seems like I just left for Georgia yesterday. I know God is going to continue growing me and teaching me a ton.

Here's the week's schedule:
-Tuesday: free day to relax, unpack, and get ready for the semester
-Wednesday: Kick-off
-Thursday: Missionary Technology class for 1st and 2nd period, Romans 5-8 class for 3rd and 4th period, and work detail in the afternoon
-Friday: same as Thursday

It's been interesting seeing a few people from our class, and we've already met a few new faces, which is cool. I'm very excited to see everyone!

I had so much fun getting to see a lot of you back home over break! Thanks again for your prayers! I'll be posting a few new pictures as the week goes on, so stay tuned! :-)

Happy New Year!

It seems like yesterday that we started 2012, and now we're beginning 2013! I'm reminded of Psalm 90:12: "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

Speaking of numbering our days, it's been quite a few since I've posted! Several pretty big events have occurred since I last wrote. First, I finshed my first semester at MTC!!! Super exciting! We had a ceremony on the 21st for all of the third semester students who were graduating, and it was really neat to hear how God has used their time at MTC to challenge and grow them in the Lord.

Another neat thing that happened was a wedding on campus for two MTC students. It was a beautiful but simple ceremony, and it was a lot of fun for me helping out and getting to dress up a bit. ;-)

Our Winter Break officially started the 21st, but we didn't drive home until the 23rd. We had a wonderful Christmas celebration! It was interesting coming home and then two days later opening presents, but it was fun! I got a new, small camera that can fit in my pocket, so now I can take more pictures on campus! I know my parents would appreciate the thank-you notes from all of you, haha!         :-)

I've had a great time here sleeping in and getting to re-connect with people that I haven't seen in several months! I'll be here at home until next Monday, and then Josiah and I will be driving back to Missouri to spend a week with friends in Kansas City. Then, we'll head back to MTC on the 14th. Classes start again on the 16th.

Some more pictures for those interested!