On January third, the students of Fairwood Bible Institute returned with pounding hearts and bated breath, ready to charge into a gripping new semester. Okay, it might not have been quite that dramatic, but all the same, we were ready for more.
Bright and early Monday morning, the students cheerfully dragged themselves out of bed in hopes of quickly readjusting to the humdrum schedule. Success was ours, and by the time class came around we were all thrilled to launch into our new courses. The first and second year students were privileged to learn about the awesomeness of God's handiwork in Creation vs. Evolution, while the third years dug into some treasure troves in the writings of Frank W. Sandford.
On Tuesday afternoon, we piled into vans to go to Concord and attend an indoor press conference in support of getting the right to vote for the definition of marriage. Of course, having been led to believe that we were attending an outdoor rally, we nearly suffocated under the weight of our layers. Thankfully they were removable.
Wednesday night, everyone was eager to recommence heart groups. These pursuits included movie watching, honing nerf gun skills, and getting chlorine poisoning. (The guys might prefer to call this last activity swimming.)
The next day, we ventured forth to the nursing home on outreach, where the elderly had the joy of enduring our musical talents. Fortunately no glass was broken, despite our best efforts. If for some reason they didn't adore our singing, we redeemed ourselves with the hearty conversations we held with them thereafter.
On the arrival of the weekend, the guys found their numbers sorely diminished, since most of the gentlemen were gone to celebrate the life of a fallen friend, Mr. Harry Gates. Not to be outdone, our celebrations included a Lyceum, also known as a talent show that requires no talent. But talent was certainly exhibited, and even those who didn't participate contributed their laughter. These skills partially consisted of chipmunk vocals, work out programs, high kicks, and the desperate need of water . . . for your hair.
To finish the weekend, we all glided over to Aaron and Cara's house to have a jolly good time on their icy pond. Slipping and sliding about, we managed to remain upright the majority of the time, however ungracefully. Even though the weather was bitter, we succeeded in fending off frostbite by exploring new territory in the swamp, roasting our dinner on the fire, and racing wildly about in an intense game of hockey.
Upon our return to Fairwood, we were greeted by two prospects: the less exciting one was the mad dash of the first and second years to finish up their Apologetics notebooks (the copiers in the office were rather unappreciative) while the other was the delight of seeing the lovely young lady, Abigail, who had arrived again in our midst.
Monday, after a thought-provoking and highly amusing video talk by Otto Koning on yielding our "pineapples" to God, all of us students gathered in the large classroom to begin our study on the Life of David, taught by Mr. Murray. However, while we might have been expecting to immediately embark on the life of this great man, our Teacher had better ideas. Instead, the Holy Spirit spoke to us through Mr. Murray by inspiring us with fresh encouragement to sign up for the White Cavalry, to be a spotless Bride of Christ, and to pursue "Only Thee," without being distracted. This first class was only the beginning. Since then we've gleaned many gems from the life of this incredible man after God's own heart.
What happened on Tuesday, you might ask? Not much. Of course, breakfast, nine o'clock hour, class, lunch, work, dinner, and sports are always delightful, but not unusual for a Tuesday. Work was slightly different in that we spring cleaned our rooms and did a lot of library work.
Come Wednesday, in nine o'clock hour Shawn reinstituted "coals of fire." This is simply a chance to share what God has given us in our daily Bible reading. It was rich and thought-provoking, and, overall, lovely.
One oddity of the day was the fact that two of the girls appeared to be having an identity crisis. That is, Mary had adopted the charming wit and attire of Klara, while Klara had attained the unceasing kindness and garb of Mary.
When the evening rolled around, the surprises were still coming when nearly half of the young ladies descended upon the dining room in "formal wear," already prepared for that night's heart group. This smashing group of gals invaded Panera Bread with their extraordinary elegance, avoiding the stares of bystanders when possible. One man, however, was difficult to ignore. Wondering if this were the norm, he rendered us speechless with an offer to appear on his television show. Back at Fairwood, the rest of the girls were less properly inclined. They were engaged in a fearsome nerf battle in the dark depths of the church basement. At the same time, the guys sedately sipped hot drinks while they tried to figure out what their spiritual gifts were.
For nine o'clock hour on Thursday, Mr. Murray held an uplifting service in which all we did was blast our lungs out in many a glorious hymn. Although we may have exhausted our vocal cords, we did not exhaust our faith. Later on, we were again blessed with fabulous men's and women's meetings, led by Dan and Gretchen, respectively. We don't know about the guys', but the girls' message was excellent, and we assume that the guys' must have been too because they were all five minutes late to the following meeting. Hence, "2 o'clock meeting" became "2:05 meeting." In this meeting, Brandon enlightened us on some of the intricacies of healthcare by assigning roles to some of the students. Throughout this illustration, we learned little-known facts, like how Erinn is a surgeon who doesn't know the difference between an appendix and a stomach, how Tony is the government, and how Aaron weighs four hundred pounds. Then we prayed that "Tony" would deal with this whole situation according to God's will.
We were relieved when the Sabbath at last fell into our laps. As usual, after a peaceful meeting we ate dinner and the guys did the dishes. Yay! Next, we relished the opportunity to gorge ourselves on pineapple upside down cake and popcorn before settling down in the parlor with a crackling fire to listen to Mr. Murray read us a soothing tale of Samwise Gamgee slaying Shelob. The arachnophobes among us were unable to fully appreciate this passage, but the story moved on and they were comforted.
The next day was just like any other day, except this day was Saturday, which is unlike any other day, because it's Saturday. This particular Saturday, most people decided to take advantage of New Hampshire's glacial climate by going sledding, snowboarding, or skating. To round out the week that evening, Craig started teaching us how to avoid butchering Hebrew. Naturally, we all are excited to learn more, and if not, we should be.
And now, our dear reader, you have reached the long-awaited ending of our verbose account. We hope we have not discouraged you from wanting to tune in again.
(This post was written by Erinn and Kayla.)
