Well it’s taken me a little longer than I anticipated to get a blog post up of me actually at Moody. Things have been crazy.
I flew into Midway Airport on Wednesday afternoon. Circling the airport and seeing Chicago from the air caused me to smile. It’s big. I landed in the late afternoon and was picked up at the airport by Moody students, who had been shuttling to and from campus since early in the morning, they were both looking slightly sleep deprived. We passed Soldier Field and drove through the downtown area on our way to campus. Before I knew it, we had pulled up to 820 N. Lasalle Blvd. The Moody Bible Institute.
Things continued to move fast as I hauled my stuff to my dorm room to find that two of my aunts had graciously driven down from Wisconsin to help me move in. An hour of unpacking and meeting people later I was headed for dinner.
My first Moody dinner was a memorable experience. I knew absolutely no one. I had come in a little later than most new students and wasn’t familiar with the campus or any of the RA’s yet. I finally found a place to sit with some people, and managed to quietly get through my first meal. It was painfully awkward.
After dinner I went back to my dorm room and finished straightening things up. My roommate was not arriving back for several more days so I had the place to myself. At seven that night we had a dedication ceremony for the new students. The president of the school stood up and spoke about the coming year.
He said that the Moody Bible Institute was the premier bible school in the world, and studying here was a privilege and honor. He said that for every student sitting in the room, there were three or four who hadn’t been accepted. He instilled in me a feeling of responsibility about studying here at Moody. Not to take it lightly but rather work hard because I’ve been blessed to be able to study here.
After all the planned events were over, I headed back to my room and began meeting guys on my floor. We all walked down to the beach and played ultimate Frisbee. I’ve never played with a backdrop like the Chicago Skyline at night before. I don’t think I caught a single pass, I was too lost in the lights behind me. Chicago is beautiful.
Thursday began our official orientation. From the time I woke up to dinner time was scheduled orientation classes, tours, and the usual craziness involved in moving in four hundred brand new students.
At Moody each floor in the guys dorm is paired up with a floor in the girls dorm, called our Sister floor. Throughout the year we do Bro/Sis events with them etc. Thursday night was the first of these, we all went down to a park and played games including kickball. Once again, I was easily distracted by the city lights.
One of my favorite things about Chicago is that when the sun sets, it doesn’t mean the city goes to sleep. The beach has huge spotlights enabling us to play ultimate Frisbee late into the evening, the park we played at was the same way, lights so we could see everything we did.
Friday was more of the same, orientation and more orientation. The coolest part of all of it to me was to see the different faculty speak. We heard from everybody, from President Nyquist, to the dean of students, to the food services, public safety and the finances office. Each person that spoke shared something in common, they all said if it weren’t for the students they wouldn’t be here. At Moody everyone really wants to see you succeed. Everyone who works here is dedicated to the lives of the students. It’s awesome to have that kind of backing, and to know that everyone who works here is on our side.
Friday night we were all invited to a game and skit night put on by the older students for our entertainment. It was pretty funny, they preformed skits about health services and made fun of all of us freshman moving in.
Saturday was finally a day to sleep in a little and then we broke up into our orientation groups and competed in an X-Games. My team didn’t win, but I still had fun competing and continuing to get to know people.
Sunday was a much needed day off with not much planned. I have explored the city a few times and built some good relationships. Classes started Monday, but more on that later.
Through all of this God has been faithful. One of the theme songs here at Moody is the old hymn, ‘Great is Thy Faithfulness’. We’ve already sung it several times and at first I didn’t like it because of the traditional sound it had. However, as we’ve worshiped with it the words have really begun to resonate with me.
“All I have needed, Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.”
It’s true. God is faithful, everything I’ve needed has been provided for so far. God is with me, and not only with me but actively helping me and being faithful to me. We serve a great God.
A prayer request is just that I continue to adjust to fitting in here. Back home I had a clear cut role, and knew exactly who I was and how I fit in the church, youth group, home and other places. Here everything is different, it feels as though everyone is a leader and I’m just lost in the sea of faces. I know God has a plan, and I realize that this is an adjusting time in my life. Prayer in that area would be greatly appreciated.
Sorry for the long entry, but I wanted to catch up on what’s been going on recently.
Thanks for the prayers!
