Breakfast, Fish and Ziplines, Oh My!

If Saturday was great and exciting then I have no idea what to label Sunday. We all know that a picture is worth 1,000 words. If you will allow me to give you some of the preceding details I will then let our pictures and videos tell most of the story. The day began with a breakfast complimentary of ABC. Katie and I woke up at 7:00, running on 6 hours of sleep. I would say that because of the previous night’s lack of sleep it was difficult to make it to breakfast. However, you all know me as one who doesn’t pass up a good meal. Tired as I was, the motivation of a growling stomach overcame drooping eyelids.

Our first official event of the day was chapel. The school does not normally host chapel on Sundays because it encourages students to be involved in local churches. However this morning was an exception for the purpose of allowing the new students to meet and spend time together. We enjoyed the preaching of President Anderson, a brilliant preacher and then proceeded to lunch. They tend to feed us a lot here, it’s definitely best that I don’t have a school meal plan or else I would need a fuller keyboard to accommodate my plus size fingers to continue writing these posts.

After lunch we went to Servant’s Staff seminar #1. The Servant’s Staff is the name of the rulebook for ABC campus life. Personally I am not one for rules as I find them offensive to my young and immature nature. Joking, of course. On most Christian campuses the rules can be overdone and very limiting. At ABC they have a very good balance of basic rules and leaving the gray areas to our individual convictions. This first seminar gave us an introductory look at the guidelines we need to abide by.

Then came the fun at 3:00 with “Activities with Alpine Adventures.” Alpine Adventure is a camp area which is associated with the college. To our benefit the staff at ABC are very interested in involving the students in the Alpine ministries area on campus. At this point I give you the pictures.

Me, apparently confounded by the cryptic design of a climbing harness.


Me again, ascending to great and unknown heights.


A proud, but shaky man reaches the top at last.


Katie, excited to take a crack at the rock wall.


Wouldn't it be funny if this was as far as she got?


Fortunately she made if to the top and repelled her way back down. Right about the point of this picture she knocked her knee on the wood and now has a bruise to show for it.


Katie brags about how she can back flip off of this ladder with no effort. I'm kidding of course, it seemed like a dull picture so I needed to spice it up.


Several strong fellows pull a rope to lift Katie to this highest point. They are told to brace themselves and she can then pull the ripcord and fall.


Katie comes flying towards a tree on her first swing. In her mind she exclaims "woohoo."


Awesome video of me on the big swing.


Can you see me flying like a retarded superman?


The zipline concludes with a back-skid into fishy water. The fish actually move aside as you walk to shore. None of those skiddish yankee fish down here, these water-dwellers are bold if you don't have a hook.


With all the water pouring off of me I actually smelled sweat from the helmet, not fish. Makes you want to go ziplining right now, doesn't it?


The video of Katie flying down the line. The dialogue at the end is funny. Katie didn't want to touch the bottom of the pond so she tried swimming to shore. She obviously forgot that before land water gets too shallow to swim.


Me playing the very interesting game of human fooseball. It is what it sounds like and while it is fun it also kills your hands.


Katie and I still soggy from the pond have our friend Rodney take a picture before dinner.

After all this we had an evening getting to know the President and faculty. We are having a ton of fun this week but we are very busy. We go out early and don't get back until late. When classes start Wednesday everything should become normal, whatever that may be. I hope to post on Wednesday night letting everyone know how the first day of school has gone. If it gets crazier than I expect then perhaps I will wait until Thursday. Thanks for reading. Pray extra hard for us these next few days as we set the pattern for our whole first semester.

Behold The Frog Prophet

Wow, what a day. We went through a lot of registration and orientation procedures, all were completely painless and even fun. It began this morning with a long walk from our house down the lower end of campus up to nearly the farthest building on the property. A solid ten minute trek, uphill in the heat just to grab a folder full of freshman forms for this week. The walk back was easier, being a downhill trudge the whole way, but just as hot. After this preliminary endeavor the clock struck eleven a.m. and we had no other events until five. We had all intentions of making an appearance at the Emily Dickenson event but found ourselves weary and in need of rest around 1:15. When I say “ourselves” and “weary” I mean that is when Katie took her nap. This may be presumptuous of me to say but: I don’t imagine many of my West Virginian neighbors showing up for a poetry reading. I imagine Katie and I as being the only ones there which causes the following philosophical question to plague my mind, “If a single actor reads Emily Dickenson poetry aloud in an empty theater, does she make a sound?” That’s my take on the age-old tree falling in the forest question.

Time flew by and five o’ clock arrived so we drove up to the Servant Center with our new neighbors Dan and Jennifer. Typically we would have walked but the threat of a pending rain shower made the idea unfavorable. The four of us enjoyed dinner together, courtesy of ABC and proceeded to the chapel, Anderson Hall, afterward for an introductory speech from President Anderson and Dean Childs. I’m sure these minor details are just dripping with interest for all of the readers, but I must move along. After President Anderson’s speech all the new students migrated to the lounge area for further activities. We split up into groups and were given scavenger hunt assignments. We received pamphlets with eight pictures in them, we were to find the pictures and in close proximity to these areas would be Resident Assistants who would sign our pictures (validating that we had found them). This event sets the scene for the frog prophet. Don’t be deceived, I don’t write this story to be entertaining, this was a real live event. As we were traveling to the location of our third picture I saw a frog in the road. It’s the first one I’ve seen here and since I am easily entertained by small creatures I picked him up. We exchanged pleasantries then he urinated on my hand and I released him. Upon sitting him down one of the members in our group announced that he would be dead in seconds. Several of us looked puzzled but then saw a red SUV approaching our spot in the road. We cleared the path, but the frog, perhaps still mulling through our social encounter in his mind did not pay attention. The tension in our group was obvious as we all watched this large vehicle approach the small amphibian. The tires aligned with the creature’s silhouette and POP! The car ran right over him without even noticing and it literally made a loud “pop” sound. This event was traumatizing to our lighthearted group, but we were amazed at the word spoken by such a gifted fellow. Tomorrow I will ask the frog prophet what lottery numbers to play. Well, maybe he can only tell when things will be run over. Still a good person to have handy.

After the scavenger hunt we had pizza and ice cream and received our next group assignment. Over the course of this week our group must create a fictional country. We must draw a flag fitting for this country and we must invent a national game that we would perform in the Olympics. Without opposition I was nominated leader of the group, a great honor on my part regardless of the fact that nobody else wanted the position. Details of our fairy tale country will come soon and with yours truly as the leader you can expect something interesting. Katie also participated in the evenings festivities but in a different group. Her group has already made progress in the creating of their nation. They call it Naihcalappa, which is Appalachian backwards (creative, I know). Their flag features a colorful frog which is fitting because their home sport is leap frog. I’m not making this up folks, all the freshmen are subjected to this. We must also wear gold painted paper plates as necklaces for the next week. If we are caught around campus without our disposable “bling-bling” we must, in slow motion, act out an Olympic sport of choice.

Thanks for reading, come back soon and don’t forget to subscribe your e-mail address on the right if you haven’t already. By the way, I have inquired of the frog prophet on behalf of all my friends and family. He foresees no harm to any humans in the near future but recommends you keep your pets on a tight leash.

Finger Puppets, The Only Substitute For Television

Lately we’ve been missing some of our Baltimore family. We have also been wanting to send Timmy a gift. The fusion of these two emotions has created an idea that is now subject of this article. First I need to say that the reason I wanted to send Timmy a gift is because during our previous visit to Baltimore, on our way to Keswick, we also gave him a gift. This former gift was an official Appalachian Bible College t-shirt. Cool? Yes, but Timmy’s impression did not match the hype that I awarded the mystery gift before he received it. My five-year-old brother being unmoved by the apparel gave a peculiar grimace and asked “do you have something else for me?” I did not, the closest thing I could offer to another gift was an I.O.U. for a future gift of greater splendor. He accepted, after pouting in a corner, and now you are caught up to the present so I can continue with my original story. I wanted to give Tim a gift, and it certainly had to surpass the ABC t-shirt. Katie and I being the big spenders that we are went to the most prestigious children’s toy store in the area--Dollar Tree. We searched up and down the designated aisles for the perfect toy. Some were too dangerous, others too small so that he would lose it as young people often do, still, some were too large and would be pricey to ship to Maryland. Naturally, we settled on finger puppets. Because what child doesn’t need a new set of miniature puppets to put on his candy laced hands? They looked entertaining and easy to ship, score. But, Katie and I are creative people and when put together we morph into one mind and our creativity ascends to levels which would put Martha Stewart to shame. The concept we developed in a matter of seconds was perfect. We don’t send the finger puppets, instead we use them to create a video that can be e-mailed to the kids.

That very night we began set design: cutting holes in and coloring a shoe box. We also recorded the audio for the movie. Production would have gone ahead as scheduled if it weren’t for some equipment malfunction in the form of dead camera batteries. It happens to the best of us, be not dismayed, filming continued the next day. In our modern time of digital cameras, high speed internet and youtube.com we were able to finish the project within an hour. This very movie is available for viewing right now. Before you watch I must say, it looks high class but the entire process only cost $1. You can see it here on MattGoesToCollege by pressing play below.

In less whimsical news we have occupied some of our free time with DMV visits. For most people the phrase “visit the DMV” is similar to the sound that a rusty nail makes as it is drug across a chalkboard. Not so in Beckley, West Virginia. The DMV here was a blissful day at the beach compared to Baltimore. To begin it was near empty, did not wreak of sweat and feet (always a plus) and the employees were friendly. We exchanged our driver’s license’ for $6 total and were out in 15 minutes. We are officially West Virginians now.

Keen readers will have deduced that being at home gives us ample free time. We are looking forward to starting school and work. Not too long ago I wished for a month long vacation. Now I can say that two weeks is a long enough vacation as I’ll ever need. It’s crazy what people will do for entertainment when all their time is open and they have no television.

Katie and I hope we’ve made you smile with our blog. Come back often as we fill you in on all the juicy happenings in our lives.

Like Chewing Up A Glass Plate

Today it came, the most prayed for, most anticipated, and most worried over event that I can recall in the past few years. I got a job. Many will find it ironic that I am again working at Chick-Fil-A after I professed that I wouldn’t go back. I do find some humor in it myself but at least my bank account will no longer be laughing. I say that for humor because the situation was certainly far from dire. In the 33 days I have been out of work God has found it fitting to provide for us in very interesting ways. I’ll not divulge the dry fiscal details but the reader must know that unexpected things have happened to us--good unexpected things that is. Why do I bother saying this? Because credit must be given where credit is due. It doesn’t do justice to worry ourselves to death about something, complain to God in prayer and doubt it will ever come if we are not going to match that same level of worry and complaint with thanks and praise when He comes through and proves us wrong yet again. I am thankful to be working for Chick-Fil-A again and I’m thankful for everyone who has prayed for me during this time. Continue to pray for Katie she is still uncertain what she will do.

With employment secured for myself it’s now easier to look ahead to the school year which begins next Wednesday. Katie will be attending my first class with me because the school accords one three credit hour class per semester to her for free. Eight ‘O Clock on September third we will kick off the school year with biblical hermeneutics. If the sound of that class causes your mind to crinkle have no fear. Hermeneutics is simple teaching us how to interpret the Bible with common sense. Most people like to forgo basic thought process when interpreting scripture in favor of finding some means that will transform the text into what they would like to hear. Sounds crazy right? I know, none of us ever does that. Hermeneutics accounts for three out of sixteen credit hours I am taking this semester. Several of the upperclassmen have informed me that it is one of the easiest classes I’ll be taking this first year. At this point I am enjoying the challenge. The task does seem daunting, like chewing up and swallowing a glass plate. I’m sure I can swallow it at first but hope I don’t get indigestion later.

Stick around as we set sail on this next part in our lives, I trust you will find the stories intriguing as I begin my college career. Come back often and don’t forget to sign up for our e-mails to the right.

In The Land Of Tomatoes The Man With Strawberries Is King

Down here for as far as the eye can see there are houses side by side composing the underbelly of the Appalachian Bible College campus. Well, in reality it’s only 24 units, but if you are near sighted then I guess they are as far as the eye can see. These 24 units consisting of 12 individual houses, each split down the middle, all have gardens in front of them. The vast majority of the inhabitants have found it practical to grow vegetables in their garden instead of flowers. Upon taking notice of this I made a secondary observation: they all like to grow tomatoes, squash and cucumbers. So, being the ingenious man that I am, I found it profitable to grow something different so that I may both enjoy the fruits of my garden and trade for what others have in abundance. Well wouldn’t you know, the previous tenants in our unit have raised up a strawberry plant. In addition to that we have a blackberry bush out back. In village talk that makes us hot stuff I suppose. We have already investigated the demand and found strawberries to be a desired and rare item. Next year when summer rolls around we’ll have our pick of vegetables in exchange for some of our delectable berries.

We are really enjoying ourselves down here. The town is very charming, the people are incredibly friendly and the weather is a dream. I love the college already and I’ve haven’t set foot in a class--some would contend that is the reason why I love it.On campus we have a workout room which is accessible almost any time. A pool that we have access to when we really want to swim. A gym, tennis courts, soccer field, game room, and snack shop. The library has impressed me so much that they are still mopping drool off the floor from my first visit. Plus we are surrounded by other married couples our age. We feel very blessed to be here.

Beckley’s main industries are restaurants and hotels so the town really caters to tourists. The welcome center, called the Tamarack, is no exception. They host regular events (mostly bluegrass in nature) and conventions. This Saturday they are having a local theater performer put on a one woman show acting out Emily Dickinson poetry. It sounds interesting and it’s free so I believe Katie and I will go. It seems a bit odd to watch one person get paid to talk to herself for hours at a time. We had people like that in Baltimore, but we just called them hobos and their theater was the street corner. Oh well, art has mysterious ways.

Speaking of art Katie’s first quilt is still on eBay, in case you haven’t read the previous post. It’s on their for only five more days. You can check it out here.

You have been a lovely reader but this post is becoming too long. I must lay my keyboard to rest for now, lest someone should find my blog and think I am a novelist or an aimlessly rambling hobo with no regard for time.

Yes Ma’am I would like another $600 check

Saturday we attended a cookout for all the Appalachian Village families (the village is the name for the married housing units here at ABC). Yes, that’s right, we attended a cookout for the village people. We’re not too good at the YMCA but we do throw a pretty mean cookout. We roasted hotdogs for dinner and marshmallows for s’mores afterward. Several of the families were flabbergasted that someone had brought pink marshmallows. They appeared to be strawberry flavored but 9/10 taste buds beg to differ. The flavor might have resembled a marshmallow truck full of pine tree air fresheners crashing with a train of strawberry milkshake whoppers on a hot day. One person from the cookout is quoted as saying “this just tastes wrong.” Now I don’t want to discourage any of our readers from doing their own taste-test of these peculiar deserts because life is just too short not to try the pink marshmallows. Maybe pink marshmallows are up there with caviar. It’s worth one try but don’t let people fool you into thinking it’s is delicious--it’s not. Saying it tastes good is just everyone’s way to not feel like an idiot for spending a lot of money on salty fish eggs.

You might say that I’ve become a little paranoid since our accident several days ago, so today when some lady in a silver eclipse decided to draft me all the way to Wal Mart I was significantly nervous. Some might say I’m crazy for worrying about it. Others, like Katie, would take a slightly more optimistic view saying “just let her hit us we could use another $600 check.” But me, I stick to my paranoia. She did not hit us after all, just left a dent in my otherwise sane mind.

Since we don’t expect any more mystery checks we have been watching our spending very carefully. As soon as the book list came out we snagged a copy and started buying my books at half.com instead of the school bookstore. On the four books we have purchased so far we spent $48; if we had bought them at the bookstore we would have spent $150. How’s that for thrifty? Makes me wonder what else we could buy used online for cheaper….I’ve always thought underwear was very overpriced.

To bring in some money while we wait for jobs we have started listing things on eBay. This week we have only put two things up just to see how it works out. It’s something we would like to continue doing to help offset the cost of tuition and school books, so we are praying it turns out well. Ladies, we have listed a quilt table topper that Katie spent about 5 hours making this week. If anybody wants to support us this is a convenient way to do so. You can go directly to the page on eBay by clicking the picture below.



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A Day On The Town Just Isn't Complete Without Bluegrass

Today has become our most advantageous day of exploring the town yet. When this morning began with no immediate plans in mind, foresight declared that this would be another ordinary day but destiny had a different plan. As Katie and I sipped coffee in the living room, as civilized people often do early in the morning, we came to the realization that yards sales were being conducted all around our town. “Why don’t we go yard-saling?” said Katie “By George that’s a splendid idea my dear.” Of course our actual conversation was less stunning and without the proper English. Continuing on, we quickly made plans to set out and within two shakes of a lambs tale we were off to nowhere specific.

Our first excursion proved rather fruitless as we wound down back roads in search of a phantom yard sale. When no progress could be made towards the first location we allowed ourselves to be distracted by another path. On this second trip we followed posters to an unimpressive collection of railroad spikes, old clothes and weird gloves. I know, I know, sounds like a winner but we were able to contain our buying impulses and leave. At this point the yard sale search started to seem like a hunt for an expired piece of chewing gum underneath one of a cafeteria full of tables. Meaning, it’s hard to find and when you do it’s not much to look at. However we are persevering people and would not give up, so further down the road we went. Somewhere along the way a temporary case of A.D.D. broadsided us and we changed our minds about the yard sales in favor of a flea market and a walk downtown.

This is where the good stuff was. Imagine the scene: tables and lawn chairs lined strategically for over 400 feet, on a backdrop of pickup trucks old enough to be my mechanical grandpa and just to complete the mood: the heavenly sounds of bluegrass and 80‘s rock serenaded our walk. Overall it was enjoyable, we only bought a magazine but there is just something entertaining about looking at other peoples junk. After 45 minutes in the sun spying out Atari game systems and discount circular saws we headed downtown.

The first store we visited was Uptown Antiques and Collectibles--it also turned out to be our last. Not because we were scared away but because in that store we met one, Mr. Crous. He was a talkative man of about 63 years and very friendly. He gave us a much intriguing history lesson on downtown Beckley. Apparently downtown used to be the main attraction but in the last few years has become a business place for law offices and banks. The old coffeehouse was bought out by an attorney, the Montgomery Ward’s became the courthouse, you know how it goes. Mr. Crous also informed us of a large arts and crafts festival that was going on today. He pointed us in the right direction and off we went, not that his instructions helped us any. But, lucky for us, Beckley has a handy sign on each corner downtown pointing you in the direction of all landmarks and hot spots. In this case we were going to the armory. We gained admittance after paying $2 for parking and $8 in entrance fees but it was worth it. This craft show was monstrous, and believe me I know craft shows. We wandered, meandered and gandered until hunger over took us and we left.

In all this we didn’t buy much, but we sure did have fun seeing the town, finding new routes to drive and meeting interesting people.

Now if you would, ladies and gentlemen, clear your minds of all aforementioned imageries and mental pictures so that I may create a new verbal portrait for you. This one was set only a day ago in a mall not too far from our home. A young lady about 20 years of age had brought herself to the JC Penny location at this mall for a 11:00 interview. She had primped and prepared herself for this occasion only to find that her interview was nearly forgotten. But at her plea a manager agreed to meet with her briefly. She had her doubts that this interview would go well and after a few sentences were exchanged her doubts proved correct. This young lady was Katie and the interview didn’t work out because JC Penny could not offer her what she had specified in her application. They said they could only give about 30 hours per week, and she had to be flexible in her schedule as well as work Saturday night and Sundays. Katie, with as much politeness as she could exude, let the interviewer know that the job was not right for her so they needed to waste no more time speaking. All this came to pass in about 7 minutes.

As it may sound the job search continues, tomorrow being one full month since we left Chick-Fil-A in Baltimore. But God is certainly providing. It is nerve racking looking to start school with neither of us having a job but we trust God to make a way because he has given us no reason to doubt yet.

To the right we have added an e-mail subscription feature. If you enter your e-mail address and click subscribe you can get an e-mail notification whenever a new post is made here. At this time we are updating about every other day, so that is as often as you would get an e-mail. You won't get any junk or spam just a summary of the new post to let you know that we have updated so you can come check it out. We hope everyone will take advantage of that, because having Matt and Katie in your inbox just makes the day shine.

The Problem With Patience Is That It Takes So Long

This morning we went to our first interviews at United Bank. I don’t need to tell you it went well since the large majority of our readers know of the vast amounts of knowledge, charm, creativity and goodlookingness which Katie and I possess. That whole sentence was just a very haughty and round-about way of saying the interviews went well. They did not succeed to the point of earning us jobs yet, but we did score a second interview. Mrs. Kris, our interviewer seemed to like us both, she was a very kind woman willing to lend a helping hand to some poor young college students. However, she warned us that the second interview is of a much harder and more professional nature. To prepare our minds for the interrogation to come she provided homework, how thoughtful of her. We have a pamphlet of United Bank’s checking accounts to memorize and prepare into sales form. The goal is to “sell” a checking account to our future interviewer. Our second meeting remains to be scheduled so Katie and I will be musing over pamphlets and selling pretend checking accounts to each other as we wait for a call. For those who know our phone numbers give us a call if you would like to practice with us.

This past Tuesday we attended our first official college function: a married student cookie exchange. Apparently a cookie exchange does not consist of what it implies. It is more of a bring-your-own-and-share cookie party, but I suppose the former title is favorable due to it’s brevity. Semantics aside, the exchange went very well. We met several new people and spent more time with some we already knew. There were good cookies to be had, particularly Katie‘s. Is it bad to go to a cookie party and eat mostly the cookies that you brought with you? Katie made peanut-butter chocolate chip cookies, nothing too fancy but they are real good.

Should anyone find their mouth watering you can make your own with this recipe: ½ cup butter, ½ cup smooth peanut butter, ½ bag semi sweet chocolate morsels, ½ cup granulated sugar, ½ cup light brown sugar, 1 egg, ½ tsp. vanilla, 1 cup flour, ½ tsp. salt, ½ tsp. baking soda. Preheat over to 350 degrees. In large bowl mix shortening, peanut butter, chocolate, sugar, brown sugar and egg together. Then add vanilla. Sift together flour, salt and baking soda into separate bowl. Now add to the peanut butter batter. Stir together (batter will be stiff). Put onto ungreased cookie sheet with teaspoon. Bake for 10 minutes. Makes 20 cookies. Emeril would be proud.

The local newspaper has cited a recent report which announced West Virginia as the second fattest state in the nation. This was no surprise to us as one can make this observation at the local Taco Bell. A fast food joint may not be the ideal place for a personal fat census but the rest of the town seems to confirm this note. In related news this recent report has made it clear why West Virginia also has had the lowest crime rate in the nation for over 50 years, the people are just too lazy to rob anyone. These statistics offer Katie and I great comfort in this unfamiliar land. They mean that people are less likely to try to harm us and even if they try we can most likely outrun them. Just some lighthearted humor, I mean no offense to the obese.

A Fairy Tale Beginning and a Happily Ever After

Today we traveled to the magical land of Two Brothers Collision Repair Shop and met a jolly elf named Robert to estimate the damage done to our bumper in last week’s fender bender. Robert worked his appraising magic for over 5 minutes before returning to the collision shop cauldron to input his ingredients and produce a number. Ok, ok so it wasn’t really that magical or exciting--but it did have a happy ending. Robert the elf wrote us a check on the spot for $589, not bad for some scuffs, scratches and no serious damage. Robert gave us the option of keeping the money or having it repaired, so that check will march it’s way to the bank where it will lay to rest. In time I’m sure I’ll sand the bumper down myself and repaint but it’s not something I am going to pay a shop $589 to do for me.

In other non-mythical but equally as important news Katie and I both have interviews tomorrow at United Bank. Yes, Michael Phelps wins 8 gold medals and gets a call from the President, Matthew Schmuff hands out a record number of applications and gets a call from United Bank. So I guess every dog has his day, I wouldn’t have minded a call from the President myself but I guess the news hasn’t reached him yet. President Bush, I’ll be waiting. Pray for us as we go for our interviews around 9:00 Thursday morning.

I tell you what, it’s absolutely beautiful down here in the country. Mountains all around us, green trees in every yard, birds singing, kids playing, and the aroma of skunk butt wafting through the windows at night. Seriously, we have a resident skunk near our house. Last night was the third and by far the worst attack in the past week. Katie caught nose of it first, then as I was speaking on the phone with my mother the invisible assailant stormed the fortress of my nasal cavities. It was terrible and to escape it I went upstairs only to find that the demonic odor had ascended to all heights of my personal kingdom. After 20 minutes had passed the smell seemed to subside--until--we got into the car this morning and found that the scent had locked itself in there all night prepared to barrage any unsuspecting victim who might stumble upon it. I’m sure if the skunk were a Christian the Holy Spirit would be convicting him with the golden rule saying “How would you like it if Matthew passed gas in your home?”

That’s all for now but check back often as we let you know how the job interviews go and keep you posted on the Skunk War battlefront. Don’t forget to leave your comments and ratings right below this post so we can know what you think.

Making "Head"lines

My hair has made it’s own friends this week. Our neighbor Emily made the comment yesterday that her husband(Drew) thought he and I would get along well because I have a faux-hawk. For the older crowd, a faux-hawk is a merge of the words faux-a French term meaning imitation or fake and Mohawk-a haircut where the sides of the head are shaved and the top is spiked. It refers to my hairstyle which has a little spike in the front.

I guess the way you do your hair says something about your personality. What does your hair say about you? Are you outdated and haven’t changed your style for decades? Are you uncreative and lacking originality? There are also certain hair cuts that say specific things, for example:
Mullet-you must be an outdated country star to legally possess one of these. A mullet is the perfect fusion of business in the front and party in the back.

Bowl cut-you must be a has-been child movie star to wear one of these. It says I know I’m cute and I love my inner child.

The George Washington-In past times these were frequently donned by judicial figures, political leaders and bald men. It says “I am a powerful and stylish force to be reckoned with.”

Folks, these are just three out of a myriad of examples. Do some soul-searching find out what your hair says about you. I know I did and I’m happy with the results.

On to a more serious note, today marks the first full week we have spent in Beckley. The more we explore the more charm we uncover about this little town. At first glance all areas of interest appear to reside on the main road (rt. 19), but digging deeper many other attractions are unearthed: churches (some of monumental proportion), nice little neighborhoods, shopping centers, etc.. Beckley is starting to look like home and that is a relief, because our original impression was of a small, remote, hick town.

We may have found our church. We visited Maxwell Hill Baptist Church this morning by the recommendation of our neighbors (the ones who made the hair comment). We loved it, it had exactly what we have been looking for in a church. It has about 250 members, a good age blend, plenty of young married couples and ABC students, it’s not legalistic and the preaching was exceptional. We went back for the evening service, making this the first church to be visited more than once.

My mom and step-father came to visit. The 6 hour hike from Baltimore had taken it’s toll on them when they arrived at 11:40 pm Friday night. Regardless of a late bedtime the kids (Timmy 5, Lily 3 and David 1) still woke up at 7:00 am on Saturday morning. Needless to say the kids weren’t the only ones who took naps on Saturday. We spent the day guiding my family around the ABC campus and the town. Unfortunately they had to leave soon after church Sunday morning, but not too soon to treat us to lunch at Cracker Barrel. Glad they keep their priorities in order.

The job search continues for us. Yes, it is a bit unnerving to wait for a callback after we have already been out of work for over 3 weeks. But we are trusting God to provide for us because he has never given us a reason to doubt.

Thanks for reading, Katie and I hope you have enjoyed the humor and insight into our lives. We would love to hear from you either in a comment on this post, a phone call, letter or e-mail. Stay classy my friends.

A Crash Landing into Beckley

Our second official week here in Beckley, a small section of Raleigh County WV, was started with a bang. As we were traveling down one of the three main roads (I use "main road" loosely because it is a one lane highway) here, we were forced to stop abruptly in a line of traffic. I was able to apply my brakes quickly to avoid hitting the car in front of me, a brand new Corvette. The lady behind me didn't seem to be paying attention and was not fortunate enough to stop in time. She hit my bumper and pushed me two feet further. At the moment all i could think of was not hitting the Corvette, so i pushed my brakes harder and we both came to a stop. Everyone was o.k. thankfully, with the exception of my Park Avenue bumper. The red Chevy Cobalt had left red scuff marks on the top of the black bumper, several scratches and dents on the middle and a decent scratch on the muffler which appears to have been bent. Those who know my car and I know that the back bumper is it's worst feature and i am sensitive to that. Adding more damage to my precious bumper was just plain traumatic.

On a serious note, we go to have the car inspected next Wednesday at 10 a.m.. Please pray for a good outcome.

No humans were harmed in the making of this accident.

A Letter To Grace Pointe

Dear Grace Pointe Family,

We miss you all and think of you often so we decided to inform everyone on how life is going in Beckley West Virginia. As most of you know we moved several weeks ago but only stayed 4 days after our initial move before leaving again for vacation at Keswick in New Jersey. We arrived again this past Monday, the 11th. Our second official week here started with a bang. Literally, as we were traveling back home from job searching we were rear ended when stopping in a line of traffic. It was a little nerve racking since neither of us had ever been in an accident before. Don't worry both of us were fine except for some minor stiffness. Thankfully, the girl who hit us was very apologetic, and had good insurance. It hasn't been a hassle yet but we still need to have the damage inspected by a shop.
Other than that our lives have been a bit uneventful. The people are very slow here, I've never rode my brakes so much. We have spent most of our time applying for jobs, unsuccessfully so far. Work seems to be scarce here and incomes lower, but we trust that God will provide for us. We have spent the rest of our time preparing our house.
We are looking forward to school which starts September 3rd. Please pray for me as I begin to study for a Bachelor of Arts degree in Bible and Theology. Pray for Katie to find a job that fits her and can support us. Also, we would appreciate your prayers in finding a church. This is the first time Katie and I have had to pick our own church. It is bittersweet because we are excited to find the church that God wants, but the prospect of searching is tiresome. We were rather happy after attending Cranberry Baptist Church on Wednesday night. It's no Grace Pointe, but the people were very friendly and inviting.
In a further effort to keep everyone connected to our lives, we have begun working on a website that contains pictures, updated prayer requests, praise and other stories about life in West Virginia. We invite you to check it out frequently and stay in contact with us. We have plans to update it every Sunday night with what is going on and coming up with us. The web address is http://www.mattgoestocollege.blogspot.com

For anyone wishing to mail us a letter it must be mailed to
334 N Sandbranch Rd
Mount Hope WV 25880

Instead of the original address that was posted in the bulletin a few weeks ago. After we arrived we found out that the town we live in is such a small place that it's post office only has 1 worker and none of the mail is delivered. In order for us to have mail delivered to our home we must use the zip code of the next largest town, which is Mount Hope. Sorry for the confusion, we were a bit puzzled by it also. If anyone would like to call my number is 304-421-0075 and Katie's is 304-421-0244.
Please keep in touch Grace Pointe, you are in our prayers, we hope to be in yours as well.
With love in Christ,
Matt and Katie Schmuff

Our House

This is our new home, we are on the left and that's Matt unsuccessfully running out of the cameras view. It's an upgrade from our $700/month one bedroom apartment in Baltimore but still modest. We are very thankful that ABC had married student housing, in fact, it was one of its best features.


This is our lovely bedroom with remnants of the move still visible in the form of Chick-Fil-A boxes. All of these pictures were taken 3 days after we moved, the house is a bit more organized and decorated now. More pictures will pop up as our house becomes fully decorated.


The guest bedroom. We are in the process of developing a better name for it. It just adds class to a house when you have a special name for your guest room (ideas: the white room, the rose room, the visitor suite, etc.). If any man wish to grace the presence of our dwelling he shall abide in this room.


The much anticipated "office." I've looked forward to having an office for the last two years so even though it's small and not yet decorated it is my favorite room. Here is where most of the studying and writing and procrastinating will take place.


This is where all the living takes place, the living room as some may call it. It is becoming a very beautiful part of the house, which is convenient because it's the first thing a visitor walks in to. We have our lovely furniture, nice lamps, another bookshelf, but no t.v. (Matt sobs).


The kitchen, where I put Katie to work. Our entire marriage we have worked at Chick-Fil-A which provided at least five meals a week for us. Now we have a fully stocked kitchen and have to prepare all our own meals. Believe it or not this is much healthier than fried chicken everyday.


The dining room, where we get our eat on. Katie has also been using this space to sew. She has been practicing her quilting skills lately.

That's all for now folks look for updated pictures soon, as our house becomes more fully decorated and settled.

Welcome

This website project is the brainchild of Pastor Dale Goodwin, Katie, and myself. The idea is to provide a way to let all of our friends, family and church family know what's going on in our lives on a regular basis. It is a way to let everyone know of prayer requests, events and needs as well as a way to encourage everyone with what God is doing in our lives. Katie and I hope for this site to be a great way to stay connected with everyone even while we are away in Beckley, West Virginia.

Specifically we plan to post: pictures of the events that we attend, essays from sermons I have worked on, news about our lives and information on how to contact us.

Your welcome to post your thoughts on this concept as well as ideas of your own. Thanks for reading. I hope to see you back soon, Matt