I’m Back! (A look at Peter’s Fall Term and Christmas Break)

In the three months that have transpired since the last time I made my presence known on this blog, my days have been extremely full and my nights extremely short. Anyone who’s been around me can testify to my odd hours (as evidenced by the time of this post). It’s amazing that I stayed healthy all through the school year, especially after all I put myself through this semester. I can’t say that I did everything the best way, or the right way, but this I can say—God has given me just the amount of grace I need to get through each day as it comes.

Being home on Christmas break has been good, although in many ways it has been almost as full as last semester. I’ve been working part-time, playing my viola for Christmas events, and staying busy around the house. However, not having morning deadlines on most days has been a wonderful part of being home! It’s been a good change of pace.

One thing I was not really looking forward to about coming home was getting my wisdom teeth pulled—all four of them. Well, it happened Friday morning (yesterday), but there’s quite a story to go with it. Let me begin… I was fortunate to get an appointment with Dr. Poupard, the surgeon, while I’m home on break, and it was scheduled for Wednesday the 19th, a day without any musical commitments I needed to be involved in. This Sunday our area was hit with a blizzard, so the church’s Christmas cantata was moved from Sunday night to Wednesday evening so more people could attend. Well, what do you know—my surgeon is a member at our church happens to sing in the church choir. When he put the two-and-two together, he called me up on the morning of the appointment and offered to reschedule me so I could play my viola in the Christmas program! To top that off, he surprised me with a huge discount on the procedure.

I couldn’t ask for a smoother operation—I got to watch my heart rate and blood pressure on the monitor for a bit before they induced me into a state of unconsciousness. When I came to about an hour later, my mouth was stuffed with gauze, and I was out the door with four teeth in my pocket. So far there has been no real pain worth mentioning. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I had been dealing with a sinus infection all last week, and it wasn’t until this morning that God brought about healing—just in time for the surgery!

Through the past couple of months, I’ve taken hundreds—no, thousands—of pictures. Many belong up here on the blog, but I find it easier to refer you to my Facebook photo albums (login required). However, I think I’ll post some pictures here that record the way I’ve felt throughout the last semester and beyond.

There have been many special times of prayer and praise to lift our hearts back to God.

Kristina and I have enjoyed our Sunday afternoon walks in the park together.

I’ve gotten involved in several vocal and musical numbers, this time a Nickel Creek song.

Just because I’m seen here playing guitar doesn’t mean I’m good at it, but it’s something I’d like to learn.

I inherited this comic strip on the monitor from Paul Jordan, and it speaks to me of my life right now!

The Verity Staff put on a fabulous Christmas Banquet (with lots of help, of course).

Lily Schrader and I enjoy looking at pictures and “typing” on my laptop.

Savoring the Christmas cookies before I’m put out of commission with my wisdom teeth removal.

All I want for Christmas is my four wisdom teeth…(removed, that is). Merry Chrithmath!

It’s amazing how much can happen in one month’s time! These past four weeks have been packed full with getting ready for the Verity Class of 2009’s arrival, packing up offices, moving dorms, working all through the night to meet deadlines, driving to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, allowing God to examine my heart, enjoying the outdoors, playing volleyball, taking pictures, getting stuck in Wisconsin with a broken-down bus, proctoring tests, fixing student’s laptops, fighting Internet problems back at the campus, and doing just about anything else except for sleeping, it seems! Through it all, God has shown Himself to be very good—a rest for my weary soul as I put my trust in Him.

That’s the basic rundown on what’s been happening in my life lately. I’ve been so caught up in work and just life in general that there hasn’t been much time to prepare posts on any sort of regular basis. Even though there’s so much I could write about, this post will focus only on the week we had in the Northwoods for the Journey to the Heart.

Verity’s Journey to the Heart

For the first week of the incoming class’s orientation, the entire body of Verity students and staff traveled by bus/van to the lovely setting of the Northwoods Conference Center nestled among several lakes in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

In all, there were over 100 of us who went on the Journey.

We split off into teams of 11-12 for small group discussions of the material.

On the first day of the Journey, my group kayaked across the lake to get to our meeting area.

Each group found a different place to meet. Some decided to stay closer to the lodge.

No matter where the group met, there was plenty of room to split off and find a place to get alone with God.

David Waller, one of Dr. Gothard’s assistants, was my team leader.

We heard powerful messages from speakers such as Dr. Gothard, Pastor Pierpont, Bob Norvell, and Gary Smalley (by video).

God gave us beautiful weather while we were up north.

Just before going up to the Northwoods, I bought a fisheye lens. It was fun to take 180^o view pictures of my surroundings!

Volleyball is one of the favorite Verity activities.

It was a treat to be able to play on the sand right by the lake, too!

Sand volleyball at sunset is hard to beat!

We had bonfires several nights while we were up there.

Some of us talked amongst ourselves…

…and others sang praise songs around the fire.

On Saturday, the guys and girls took turns out on the lake.

Wolf Lake was perfectly suited for tubing.

So yeah, tubing was pretty much amazing! (Thanks, Cameron, for this picture.)

Whether tubing or sailing, being on the lake was a lot of fun!

This was the view that greeted us each morning—beautiful, is it not?

A fisheye view of our suitcases, the lodge, and the sky prior to loading up the bus provides an interesting perspective on things.

A replacement bus came up from Chicago to transport us the rest of the way home. Our trek ended at 3:30am!

Returning, Running, Relaxing, Recording Records, & Reveling with Relatives

Highlights of my weekend thus far:

• Getting up before dawn on the weekend—what was I thinking?
• Returning “back to the bricks” of downtown Flint for the CRIM
• Being seeded in a race of 8000 participants, thus having an excellent starting position
• Finishing the 10-mile race in 72:15 (Praise God!) which was very near my goal
• Connecting with an old friend from the Character Inn
• Relaxing my muscles in a hot tub
• Riding bikes with Dad
• Being allowed to run for free in a local 5K race (I missed the registration deadline by 10 minutes)
• Setting a new PR in the 5K—19:32
• Fellowshipping with extended family
• Eating wonderful home-cooked food!
• Taking a nap

The amazing thing is, there is more of this weekend yet to come! Several days ago, I had a tough choice to make regarding how I would spend this weekend. After much deliberation, I chose to go visit my parents and run in the CRIM. Even though I’m disappointed to miss out on the great opportunity with my friends, I’m happy with the choice I made. There’s something to that verse, “Honor your father and mother, so that it may go well with you…”

Here are some pictures my mom took of me at the CRIM

Since I was a seeded runner, I was able to get a warmup run in before the start of the race.

Behind me stands the Riverfront Character Inn. Unlike years past, it was not used at all for the CRIM. It may be sold soon.

Mom and Dad were waiting for me right at the finish line!

22nd Birthday Celebration with the Family

Last weekend, Kristina and I met our parents at a beautiful state park in Indiana mid-way between Indianapolis and home. We had a great time of fellowship in the cabin, complete with candle-light dinners!

The main reason for our get-together was to celebrate my 22nd birthday (which is actually today). Canoeing is a favorite family activity, and Chain-O’-Lakes State Park was perfectly-suited for such a recreation. Out of the 11 lakes in the boundaries of the park, 8 are inter-connected by channels. I can honestly say we passed through some of the most beautiful scenery I’ve seen while canoeing!

God is so good to create such beauty all around us—all we have to do is take a moment to get out and enjoy it. The water all around was so refreshing, the stars at night were incredible (I even saw some shooting stars!), the forest breeze and sounds were calming, and I suppose I could go on, but that gives the basic picture. To summarize, I can’t wait to go back!

Mom had a nice candlelight dessert awaiting our arrival on Friday night.

Mom and Dad surprised me by bringing loads of birthday stuff!

Mom

Dad

Kristina

Peter

This family picture was taken by one of our nice cabin neighbors.

Dad and I were a team.

Dad and Peter

Mom and Kristina

In reflecting on all that’s been going on in my life recently, I will close with the words to Almighty Father, another song from Sounding Joy that I have grown to love.

Almighty Father, You alone are holy
You are my Refuge—I will trust in You
You are the Tower, the Mighty Fortress
You are my Strength and Shield
You are God.

Almighty Father, You alone are holy
You guide my footsteps that I may not fall
In joy or sorrow I will exalt You
You are my RighteousnessYou are God.

Almighty Father, You alone are holy
You are Creator, You are all in all
Yours is the power, Yours is the glory
Yours is the majesty
You are God.

Trip to New York

I’ve been meaning to get this post put together sooner, and now that the month of July has just about slipped past, I finally decided to take the time to bring it all together.

At the beginning of this month, my family took a trip out East to Pennsylvania and New York. While in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, we witnessed an incredible live dramatic production about the Creation called “In The Beginning.” I wasn’t allowed to take pictures during the show, but I can safely say that it was one of the most profound theatrical performances I have ever seen!

On our way to New York, we stopped in a park famous for its numerous waterfalls. Of course, the camera and tripod came along, and our walk through the woods turned into a photo shoot. Kristina and I both took some neat pictures of the waterfalls.

Farmland in Lancaster County, PA

One of the many waterfalls in Bushkill Falls Park

Closeup of one of the waterfalls.

Looking up the rock walls.

Family portrait on the rocks (compliments of a tripod, timer mode, and nimble feet)

The main purpose of the trip was to visit Nana, my Dad’s mother. We spent several days with her at my aunt and uncle’s house enjoying each other’s fellowship.

Nana and me

A lot has happened in the 4+ weeks that I’ve been back at Verity. However, I think I’ll just have to save those stories for another post sometime down the trail. Duty calls!