Pipe-Snaking School

All around us the leaves are changing to their red and yellow colors, falling to the ground. The bursts of color make the season of fall a reality. It’s hard to believe how much of this year has passed and how much we have done already. Among many other things, Katie and I were blessed to celebrate out first anniversary back in April, we enjoyed many exciting vacations over the summer and more recently our lives were dramatically changed when we moved to West Virginia for college. We are now almost half way through the first semester at ABC. Last October I couldn’t have seen to this point in the future. We knew God wanted us to go to Bible college but didn’t know where. We didn’t even find out about ABC until January of this year. But what I haven’t been able to predict God has known since the beginning of the world. I’m very amazed by that fact and I find great confidence in it for the future.

There were no classes on Friday because of homecoming but there were seminars for us to attend. The word “seminar” may convey a lot of different ideas but basically we had a few visiting speakers teaching on subjects of their choice. We could choose two out of the four subjects to listen to. Katie and I picked “Reaching out to the homeless and addicted” and “Creative ways of effecting your community.” Both were interesting but the latter was especially interesting. A pastor from Abingdon, Virginia shared some ways that his church has used the resources God has given them (their building, property, etc.) to be a witness to the community in Abingdon. He left the impression on us that if God has given us possessions and talents we should use them in every way possible for his glory.
After the seminars we went to work and had no reason to suspect anything out of the ordinary until…we walked in the back of the store and were greeted by a hair-raising stench. The drain under the main sink had become clogged and was barely letting any water down. Our handy-dandy operator brought in his shop-vac and “plunged” the drain of all it’s rotten contents. He removed buckets of a substance that should be sealed and thrown away in a radioactive landfill. Excited by his accomplishment and glad he had become immune to the stench, our operator proudly told one of his employees to let water out of the sink and test the revitalized drain. The clog had become worse and wouldn’t let any water down. At this point John, the operator, made the wise choice not to fool with it anymore but to call a professional plumber. Two guys barely older than me showed up to put their craft into practice. Even though it looked like they had just graduated from “pipe-snaking” school last week they did the job successfully and we all rejoiced together.

On Saturday evening after work we went to Wal Mart for some overdue grocery shopping. Now the void in my refrigerator’s life is filled with milk, eggs and lunch meat. Saturday night we went with our neighbors, Dan and Jennifer to check out Young Chow’s a Chinese restaurant on the other side of town. Afterwards we enjoyed frozen custard at a local stand and hung out together until midnight.

Sunday we took a relaxing walk around campus and snapped a bunch of pictures to show everyone what we have been surrounded by lately.

We are excited that it is now spirit week on campus, the schedule is as follows:
Monday we will have a Combover/Pigtail Day
Tuesday will be Layers Day. It is still class dress, but wear as many layers of clothing as you can.
Wednesday will be Wing Color Day. As a wing you need to choose a color and have everyone on your wing wear that same color.
Thursday will be Represent Your State/Country Day. Wear something that represents your State or Country. The idea is more the entire state than merely a particular sports team in the state, though that is allowed for the unimaginative. Class dress is still expected with the addition of these elements.
Friday will be Twin Day. Plan to dress the same way as someone else.
Saturday we will have a Warrior Day so wear your Warrior T-Shirts.

We will have pictures for you throughout the week.