Snow-volleyball, Green eggs and Blue Potatoes, Apology to the citizens of Pagosa, and Why I'm a Christian

I'm not going to start by saying that nothing happened this week...like I have for the past two weeks. Although, it wasn't the most eventful week, several things worth noting did happen.

We had a different speaker this week! Eric Smith is here and we've been discussing the Bible. It's “Bible Class”, so obviously we talk about the Bible. But we're not just discussing whats written in the Bible. We started out talking about the reliability and why we believe the Bible is true and God inspired. More importantly, I had to write down why I am a Christian. I thought I'd share those reasons with you.

Why are you a Christian? Because its true. Just because something has the best answers does not mean its true. I believe Christianity has the best answers, but I also believe its true. Sometimes I wish it wasn't... there are a lot of rules and things we need to do...but it's worth it, and I do it because I love God. If you love God you'll want to obey Him. Its like when you're in a relationship, you really love someone and care about them, you'll want to please them. Right? In the beginning you try to impress them...of course, but with God it's totes different.

SO here are my reasons for being a Christian:

1. Nature- design needs a designer. Everything around us points to a God, the God of the Bible. Origin of the universe- best explanation.

1. sin- need for redeemer is true. Best answer to sin and evil.
2. It's the only religion not based on works, which is necessary because we are sinful beings incapable of keeping perfect law
3. It's historically accurate/ reliability. Jesus was the son of God and we're called to be Christians.

• No one can deny that Jesus existed, but Christianity has the best answer as to why. Not just ancient, but how has Christianity shaped cultures where that world view has been dominated.
• No other religion can compete with christianity for what it's done for other human beings. We love our enemies...not many other religions truly love their enemies.

4. Christianity has sustained many trials over time, and has prevailed
5. It makes more sense than other “far-fetched” religions
6. Only religion in which the God came down and died for sinners/humans
7. Only religion where the God has a relationship with the human, we need to be fearful and in awe, but we also have a relationship with Him. Other religions are afraid of their god, and they don't have the relationship with him/her/it.
8. Most logical
9. Destiny
10. God's work in my life- personal and transforming...satisfying

I write differently, when I take notes, its not as personal... but you get the point. I didn't expound on point 9 because I think its obvious.

Anyway, on to more exciting and less controversial things! Here's a little peek at what I did this week:

            Monday I had my first official day off! I slept in for the first time in a month :) Then I went to town and sat in a coffee shop and used the Internet and drank some amazing coffee and read. It was a very relaxing and much needed break. Everyday here has a packed schedule. Since Eric Smith is only here for one week (and then one more week later on) we have to pack a lot of class in during the 5 days he's here. It's been very educational, and I've learned a lot. But I have to admit that I get really tired of sitting in class... from 9-12 Tuesday-Satuday we have class, and then again from 7pm to 9pm. So I get pretty antsy during the morning session. Especially during the 11-12 hour, because thats right before lunch...

            Tuesday, we had class in the morning and then work crews in the afternoon. I usually enjoy work crew, last friday I got to work in the kitchen and my friend Cliff and I made 10 loaves of bread, ruined a batch of croissants (because Cliff killed the yeast so it wouldn't rise), chopped up like 20million lbs of carrots, and cleaned a giant oven that (and I kid you not) I climbed into to be able to adequately clean the back. During work crew I've also cleaned barf (not my own) off a 15 passenger van, gotten high off of paint while painting a bathroom, dusted 2 giant lodges, and taught 3 people how to drive and park 15 passenger vans, as well as sanding the walls of a giant lodge. But for some reason I did not enjoying painting bathrooms on Tuesday... it just put me in the worst mood.

We had a few families from the local church over to eat dinner and have a campfire with us. It was really fun. Then for our small group time all the girls got together and made brownies and watched Sabrina (the old one...I like the new one better. Fact: Harrison Ford > Humphrey Bogart).

               Wednesday, I started training for our 5k that takes place on Thanksgiving...ran three whole miles on mountain roads and in mountain air. IT KILLED...but I finished. The road I run on is all down hill for the first mile and a half, but the second mile and a half is all up hill and is absolutely killer, so I'm going to find a different place to train on. We also had class...

                   Thursday, an odd thing happened...while we were eating lunch, big white stuff started falling out of the sky! It really freaked me out, until someone informed me that the white particles were called “snow”....IT SNOWED!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so exciting it just started pouring down snow. And it just kept snowing all day.

The view from my front porch :)

Floridian in the snow! And yes I did go running in the snow, thats why Im dressed like that :)

SNOWBALL!!!!

By 4pm there was enough snow for us to have our first snowball fight, and it was so much fun. I've never had a snowball fight before...but apparently Florida girls are really good at them, because I bruised a guys face...and I also accidentally punched Andy in the face... Its a long story, but basically he hit my friend Sarah in the face really hard with a snowball. So I took a snowball and smashed it in his face, REALLY hard...and one of my knuckles happened to slightly graze his upper lip, needless to say, he got a swollen lip from it. But no worries, he's fine now, his lip is just the size of Angelina Jolie's lip...nbd. I got hit pretty hard a few times too. My biggest complaint though is how sore your back and arm feel after throwing snowballs for 2 hours straight.

We also played snow volleyball (its like sand volleyball...but in the snow). That was really painful, if you've ever hit a rock covered in snow hurtling toward you at 20 mph with bare arms...then you know exactly how we felt while we played snow volleyball. To top off my amazing day I got a huge package of food from my family!

! I also learned how to play cribbage...its a card game thats all about adding. Not as fun as Dutch Blitz in my opinion though. While playing cribbage I over-heard two fellow students pull some of the staff aside and ask permission to do something, and then I watched the staff talk amongst themselves and then heard them give permission for them to to whatever they had asked to do. Curiosity got the best of me, and I followed the two girls outside and asked them what they were up to. They wouldn't tell me...so me and two other girls (all dressed in black and carrying 3 snowballs each) decided to follow the mysterious other two girls around. After an hour of careful spying we found out that they were just moving all the tables and couches and stuff in the class room around so that when everyone came into the room in the morning everything would be mirrored to how it usually is. Not as exciting as I had hoped for. But it was really funny to watch people's expressions as they walked in the next morning.

              Friday, I woke up and looked out my window and everything was covered in a beautiful white dust. It was as if God had shifted powdered sugar over everything. There are few things, in my humble opinion, that can top looking out your window and seeing mountains sparkling with snow in the early morning light. It was truly awesome. The snow started to melt, and fell in large chunks off the roof, barely missing my head as I walked to breakfast. Wouldn't it be embarrassing if I died from having a chunk of snow fall on my head?! I can see the headlines in Pagosa now “ Floridian girl dies from snow falling on her head!”... that would be embarrassing! Death by snow is not what I would consider a good death...

After a delicious breakfast of pumpkin cinnamon rolls, we went to class and talked about sin and Genesis 3. Then Eric asked us what sin was. Now, me being a Pittman I like to show off my catechism skills, so I raised my hand and when he called on me I proudly stated “Sin is any want of conformity unto or transgression of the Law of God”. After a long pause, Eric looked at me and said “that was not what was running through your head when I asked the question”. I replied “ Actually, it is. Would you like me to explain my answer? Conformity is not being or doing what God requires, and transgression is doing what God forbids.” Eric laughed and put the definition on the board and said that it would be our definition of sin from now on.

I cherish my academic accomplishments (since they are few and rare), and am rather proud of them as well. But I want to thank my mother for making me sit through hours of catechism at the breakfast table every morning...as horrible as it was at the time, it sure has payed off now. I'm convinced that the topic of sin might just be my area of expertise...what with me being reformed and all...I know quite a bit about how sinful we human beings truly are.

                 We had work crews again on Friday afternoon, I continued painting bathrooms. I actually enjoyed it this time...maybe it was because I had a better painting buddy...maybe because I finished one whole bathroom. The feeling of accomplishment I felt after working on one dirty ugly bathroom for 5 hours (over two days) and turning it into a beautiful bathroom, with new light fixtures and everything, was a great feeling. Working hard on something ugly and turning it into something beautiful is so satisfying. If I had the talent of being artsy, I would totes become a painter (like the kind that paints pictures not walls and buildings). I really admire anyone who can capture the beauty of creation through paint/ink/lead/etc...

I also learned Jujitsu on Friday night! I learned how to flip people, peg people down, get out of holds, etc...Next person who tries to give me a hug when I don't want one... GETS FLIPPED!

Ever since it snowed, I've had to watch my back or I'll get pegged with a snowball. I was wearing a button-up and nice jeans and some rude boys pegged me with snowballs as I was walking back to the classroom! Fact: Looking classy while living in the mountains is hard. AND if you walk around the little mountain towns wearing classy/preppy clothes, you get weird looks. To the citizens of Pagosa: “ I'm sorry I don't wear hiking boots with everything! I'm sorry I don't own any flannel. And most of all I'm sorry I don't wear hiking boots and flannel to church on Sunday!”

Today is Satuday, and nothing exciting has happened. Unless you count having green eggs and blue potatoes in our breakfast burritos this morning. Which I think is more disgusting than exciting...We have our Bible Mid-term later today, I'm not too worried about it, seems like it will be over really basic information.

Some pics of my room:

My bed and desk

Roomie's bed and our shared closet thing

roomie's desk

classroom!! if you look  close enough you can see my laptop on the last table in the middle row, on the the left side. thats my seat!

Next week on “Dear Bob”- Walmart Trip, Picking Anna up from the airport, and the return of Bauman!