This Summer: In Summary

Well, it has been quite the busy summer. As you may know, I have been working over the summer with my school, providing IT support. I will be working into the fall with them as well. Anyways, summer has been filled with stuff, and lots of things have changed. Maybe the biggest changes are with Alyse.

Alyse, my girlfriend, has been attending Pratt Institute (an exclusive art school in Brooklyn) this last semester. She also stayed at Pratt over the summer, working with the America Reads/Counts program and taking some classes. However, fed up with her living conditions and the exorbitant cost of attendance, she started looking at other schools in the city. The school she had her eye on, the School of Visual Arts (SVA), had four spots open for the fall and hundreds of applicants. Alyse applied and got in (amazingly), placing her at a school that is less than a fifteen minute walk from my apartment. However, it seemed things were not destined to end well. SVA has housing space for only a third of its students, and all the residences were full by the time Alyse was accepted. She started looking for apartments, eventually widening her search to New Jersey, but to no real avail. The good opportunities kept falling through.

One day, fed up with the whole situation, she decided to ask my Asst. Director of Residence Life (Jacinda) if there was any way she could get housing at King's. Surprisingly, Jacinda said that was a real possibility. After a few weeks of deliberation and working out the details, King's is putting Alyse up in one of their apartments with three senior girls. The apartment is one of the best in the building, Alyse's total cost for school is about half of what she would've paid at Pratt, and I am a sparse two and a half minutes away from her building. God is working in some really cool ways!

Alyse and I have learned a lot about each other this summer, and we have spent a lot of time together. I have seen her every day this summer (Wow! I didn't realize it was every day), as she usually comes over to my apartment to eat, avoiding her mouse- and cockroach-infested kitchen. We have been attending church together at the Brooklyn Tabernacle, and we've managed to take some time to get away, once to the Elizabethtown (NJ) IKEA, once to Pittsburgh to see my family at Uncle Dave and Aunt Karen's house, and one weekend to wander around the city with Linda Wilde.

That was actually this last weekend - we saw a lot, but there is still much more to see. I have some pictures on Picasa online of the weekend, so feel free to take a look. We spent most of our time in the Financial District, but we also took Linda to the Brooklyn Tab and St. John's cathedral. The cathedral was amazing - it includes the longest open length of any cathedral worldwide (601 ft), and it even included a special message with my name on it (link coming).

As to what has been happening with me: I started meeting with our Dean of Students, Eric Bennett, a few weeks ago. If I have ever met a man who is right with God, it is Eric - he respects students, yet speaks with authority; he's willing to listen to what you hear from God, and he is so in tune with God that he doesn't hesitate to do everything in his power to help you; he is humble, strong, and yet human, as he freely admits his struggles. I respect him immensely. Anyways, God has been using Eric to prod me in completely new directions, putting me in positions where my strength is insufficient, where I need to depend on God completely or fall flat on my face. This is exciting and scary at the same time. I will be sure to keep you updated as the year progresses.

One of the other things I will be doing this year is House leadership - you may be familiar with the House system at King's, where every student is assigned a certain House (like a fraternal organization) that provides inter-student fellowship and support. There are four male houses (Lewis, Reagan, Churchill, and Bonhoeffer) and five female houses (Thatcher, Barton, [Susan B] Anthony, [Queen] Elizabeth [I], and [Sojourner] Truth), with 20 - 50 members. They are pitted against each other throughout the year in various intellectual, artistic, and physical competitions. Each house has a President, Chamberlain (an R.A. of sorts), Helmsman (to help freshmen students integrate into the school and House), and a Scholar (charged with the intellectual development of the House). I am the House of C.S. Lewis' Chamberlain, so it will be interesting to see how that works out. Additionally, one of my roommates is the Lewis Helmsman and another is Churchill's Scholar.

This year will be challenging in entirely welcome ways. My relationship with Alyse will be challenging as we will both be too busy to spend much time together alone (if that makes sense), and much of our relationship before was exactly that. Time together alone. My schoolwork will be challenging - three philosophic classes will make sure of that. My leadership role will be challenging - learning how to combine justice (from my R.A. role) and love (from my new calling). My relationship with God will be be challenging as I strive to give myself up every day so He becomes blatantly evident in my life. My friendships will be challenging as I feel called to be much more "social" than I was last year - for what good is love if it is not shared? My future will be challenging - if only because I don't know what will happen. I do know that it is good hands, however. I pray that God will continue to be my strength and direction, and hope that you will pray similarly for me.

I am looking forward to coming home in five short days - but I still need to pack some stuff up. I will be leaving with all my stuff packed, ready to move into my new room the day after I get back from Iowa. It will be a fun time all around. Alyse and I are traveling Tuesday morning, and we are both looking forward to seeing our families and eating food in generous portions.

God bless you for taking the time to read this rather long post ... your thoughts and prayers are always appreciated.