October 4th!

It has been exactly a month - today, since I arrived here at Summit! What an amazing month it has been.

This past week, we had a guest speaker, John Stonestreet. He was one of my favorite speakers from summer camp, so I was looking forward to having him teach again. He spoke on Christianity and Culture. The time we spent in class was so productive, informative, and challenging. I'm keeping a little notebook that I write all my questions in, so that I have them with me, wherever I go.

Some of the questions I've been pondering this week from culture class are:
-Is faith developed prior to engaging the world, or via engaging the world?
-What does it mean to be a Christian in a culture?
-What ought to be the impact of redemption and reconciliation on human cultures?
-What ideas have become embedded in our culture?

That's just a fraction of them - but it'll give you an idea of what I'm thinking about and studying, particularly this week!

One of my favorite things we studied this week was about the history of the different denominations of the Church. I'd never studied that part of Church history, so it was incredibly interesting! I now realize why we have so many different "types" of churches.

Being able to discuss ideas with our teachers, outside of class, is also such a blessing here at Summit. One night I was up until 11pm talking with John Stonestreet and a few other people about different aspects of our lectures, and being able to ask some of my questions. I am so thankful that when they're here teaching, they make time to talk with us individually. Besides from discussing things with the teachers, I've been able to have so many amazing conversations with other students and staff. Everyday, I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be here.

One of my favorite quotes from John Stonestreet this week was, "Education is an active process, not passive." How true that statement is! Sometimes students (including myself) can get into the mindset that we just need to "get through" school. But how much more effective and productive it can be if we take learning seriously, engage our minds and think critically about ideas. Ideas form culture - and ideas have consequences.

I'm also enjoying our weekly art and Bible survey classes. We're having a "art festival" in class on Tuesday, so I've got to finish my project sometime this afternoon when we get back to Snow Wolf Lodge. In Bible class, we're reading all the way through Deuteronomy right now. How great it is to read the Bible in full context - and understand it as a meta-narrative.

This week Dr. Bauman will be back teaching, and I'm looking forward to discussing spiritual gifts with him...I'll let you know how it goes! :)

Hope you're doing well too.
I'm enjoying hearing from you all, via mail.

Thank you for your prayers. I miss you all!

Love,
Mae