Jewish Studies.

Well, last week in our study of the Old Testament, we brought in a guest teacher to help us brush up on our knowledge of Jewish studies. It was fairly enlightening how knowing the culture of the time really helps you better interpret the traditions of the people of that era. For instance, we discussed the translation of the word law, a word our culture associates with judge. Definitely a word with a few negative connotations. However, the meaning of the Hebrew word is more aligned with, "Loving guidance of a compassionate father." I like that so much more. The Romans chose the word "law" because in the Roman culture of the time, the people loved the Roman law. Thus they thought it'd be fitting. This view of the law, or Torah, brings the character of God into a slightly new, and more glowing light.

We had our second and third groups come in this weekend. A JR. High group at the farm, and then a senior citizens group down at the Linck Hill Inn. Both groups were larger than the capacity of the location, which made for a very busy and tiring weekend. I took like a million hour nap today after the group left. LHI was particularly tiring because you have to serve each person individually like a restaurant, where as at the farm, it's just a buffet line the kids go through. It was a good change of pace though, and I enjoyed it. This week Field trips start, which means we'll be even busier than ever. For field trips, each of the interns is paired up and placed at a post. The pairs then switch off, one person doing one day, then the other person doing the next. Except me. I'm the only one assigned to turkey presentation duty (which I mentioned in my last post,) which means I'm on for every field trip.

Let me quickly run through this weeks schedule, just so you get an idea. Monday morning we have off, because we are coming off a full weekend of retreats. Tuesday and Friday we have field trips coming in the morning, and a retreat coming in Wednesday morning and staying until Thursday. Then another retreat coming in this weekend. On top of all this, we have cleaning days, daily chores, work projects, and three hours of class everyday to fit in. I'm getting tired just thinking about it.

Well, in the spirit of being busy, I need to go work on my Turkey presentation so that it's ready for Tuesday.

Cheers

Thank God it's Monday!

Oh how blessed it is that the weekend is over. Not the usual sentiment I realize. However, this past weekend saw 110 senior high kids on the farm, all of whom know how to make a lot of noise at 2:30am.
This was our first group as interns, and throughout the weekend, I belayed, led a mountain bike trip, and was on kitchen duty. It was really great, but I for real slept in til like 8:30am this morning (the horses got a little extra time in the pastures!) One of the best parts of the weekend was the opening worship session on Friday night. To start, their worship leader had this amazing voice, like for real! It was awesome to be in a small room with a 110 kids praising God, and he really revealed himself to me. It was totally unexpected and really caught me off guard.
Upcoming this fall, we have a full lineup of field trips from local schools coming to visit the farm during the week. Each year they come up with a new theme for the field trips, and this year the theme is turkey's. I get the distinction of being the "turkey guy." This means, I'll be educating 1200 school kids all about turkey's! So in the future, if you need to know about the bird that Ben Franklin wanted to make the national bird, you know who to ask.

Oh the Mysterious Majesty of Horses

It was pitch black when when myself, a fellow intern, and the horse hand Mike climbed over the fence leading down to the gate by which we would let the horses out for the evening. Off towards the barn these great black shapes loomed back and forth, snorting with discomfort at the presence of strangers. We swung the gate wide open, and Mike sauntered in to urge the horses towards the pasture.

Meanwhile, my fellow intern, Corrine, and I waited anxiously by the gate. Thoughts of our possible imminent danger flashed through my mind. Slowly a steady rumble moved toward us. Suddenly we were face to face with a herd of horses galloping past us into the dark of the night. That moment was so powerful to experience, a taste of the wildness, and might of God.

The next day I got to chase that same herd of horses on an ATV and coral them back into their pen, and then we went on a trail ride the day after. It's been suh-weet with the horses, basically everything I've ever dreamed of.

What a long day!

Dear Friends and Family,

I experienced some real farm work today, and I must say, it was thoroughly enjoyable. We spent a few hours "Throwing Hay," (I'm getting to learn all kinds of farm lingo,) Which is when you stack hay that's been baled in the storage area. This entailed climbing high in a million degree barn. In case you don't know, hay is quite sharp and my arms are currently burning from being pricked all day.

This evening the regular Thursday youth group came to the farm and all us interns got a chance to participate. We had fun playing baseball with eggs and wrestling in ketchup, baked beans, mustard, pears, and a variety of other foods that are great, except when your in them.

Before all this, however, we started our day (at 8am per usual) with a continuation of our study in Genesis. This year we will be going through the whole old testament looking at the narrative of the authors. It's super so far, and it's really neat to see what God is revealing to all the Interns through the course of the read. We had fun discussing the Nephilim and Sons of God.

That's about it for now, cliff jumping and horseback riding this weekend, as well as some more rock climbing tomorrow.

In other news, I've decided to take requests. so if you have any specific questions, or don't understand what I'm writing, please email me questions, and then I'll answer them! clb732@gmail.com. Also, I have a couple pictures uploaded on FB.

Cheers,

Chad