bolting for freedom... temporarily

this is the stained glass window in the chapel

this is where we meet for chapel and church, it looks sweeto at night.

this is a closer view of the guardrail, and brick.

this is a bridge my daddy designed, it's in Indiana, and i was driving and taking picture, so it was tricky. it's on I-465 or something, whatever the bypass is. i think there's 3 of them being put up.

the balcony at the crown center

this is a view out my window.



It's long, and rambly, for which i warn and apologize, but it took me longer to write, the amount of times that i've hit z,x,c,v, and b without any response are huge. then i must hit "B" and hit one of those other 4 letters quickly, and in turn, deleting that "b."

OKAY. I'm at Pensacola Christian College. My keyboard's "Z" through "B" keys don't work, unless i press and hold down "B" first, and then QUICKLY hit the other ones. weird. so bear with me as this takes very much longer than normal, and i have less than normal time. I'm not allowed to go onto really any sites at PCC. Desiringgod.org is blocked, and YES it was requested to be unblocked already. Yet Marshillchurch.org is not, and neither is the sermon jams site laura showed me. All internet is blocked. my email address is ssalzm7553@students.pcci.edu, where Gabby lovingly emails me her posts, i would appreciate any other posts you'd want to send me. ANY of your own (even the ones you think are silly) or really good ones from somebody else. helps me feel like there's a normal outside world.

i'm currently at panera bread at the mall, and ordered a chai tea latte something. it was delicious. i'm kind of still in dress code, so i'm hoping nobody comes and shoots me on sight. the reason i came here was to pay my bill.

ANYHOW. Update on my life, since I have nothing profound, and won't be able to read anything for the next month probably.

- I am on the 8th floor of Young tower, with 3 roommates.
- I'm a freshman, I had to take PCC's science classes anyhow, and the program starts sophomore year. there are 120 slots, and about 300 freshman, i believe
- There are many cool people down here, there's a 24 year old guy named Jonathan Tinnes who is ALSO a freshman nursing student. He makes me feel normal. other than the fact that he makes me feel short. he's 6'7''
- Most of the girls I've met so far make me appreciate the girls from BBC a lot more.
- The food is fine, but exceptionally greasy. There are frozen yogurt machines. there are 7 lines in one building, and 4 in the other. salads are always an option, and though they do have iceberg lettuce, they also have spinach, which I use instead.
- They've just added a 60 foot climbing wall that opened this monday, and also have indoor surfing?, and waterpark, which have not opened yet.
- The official campus pastor "Pastor Jackson" is awesome, Christ centered, and gospel oriented. (a lot of the rest of the staff makes me wonder.)
- I'm taking chemistry, biology (both have 3 hour labs), english, history, bible, and student success seminar.
- i just read "the purity principle" by Randy Alcorn for the third time and if you're a guy and haven't read it, you should, girls would probably benefit from it too, if not personally, then how to help guys (it's like 93 small pages)
- I'm ready "the Cross-Centered Life" by C.J. Mahaney, and it's fabulous. I think it's only 85 small pages, and very worthwhile.
- I REALLY want to go swing dancing, especially the lindyhop with Samwise.

Yeah. I'll stop listing things because it's not really a list anymore, just a paragraph separated by minuses.

The last few days not here were incredible. The weekend before I left was also wonderful, Chicago to visit cousins, Rachel, Emma, then Gabby and most of the Huertas. Much could be said about that weekend. But Wednesday night, I went over to the Huertas to drop off a book for Sami, and as always, though i was interrupting family time, Mr. Huerta welcomed me in. It started raining really hard. We hung out for a bit, Esteban fed me some delicious gormet chicken wrap that he had made. I'm pretty sure the Huertas pray together as a family every night (which I've been a part of a few times, and been told via telephone that I would be called later.) I was there when they prayed for Emma as they sent her back home (and off to college), which was sweet. Well, they did the same for me, and it was incredibly encouraging, it still is actually. And the Huertas have also been an example for me to follow me to pray more (because of this night and others), which has proven to be also a huge blessing. I thank God for their family, they have been more of a blessing in my life then I could ever dream to repay. When I left, I gave everyone a final last hug, and ran out to my car with an umbrella-wielding escort because it was pouring (thanks Micaela). doh. i had left the window open. I drove home feeling ridiculously well loved, and then packed until I basically passed out from tiredness. The next morning, I packed, and packed, and packed. It took longer than expected. I finally left at like 6:30 Thursday evening. I had told Gabby I'd come visit her sooner, but that didn't quite happen. I rolled in later and we sat and smoked cigars and talked for awhile. I wasn't tired because of coffee and I'm a night owl. Best cigar I've ever smoked. Not the smoking part, but just hanging out with Gabby by the lake. She's a wonderful friend, and is totally normal to hang out with- she's the closest thing to a sister you can have without being related. And though it's cliche- she really is a sister in Christ, and I'm sure her girl friends would amen that even more. i like her phone guidelines "family first, girls, THEN boys." I was happy to drive the last two hours to Chicago, don't know if i'd have made it without the stop at Madison.
Friday Saturday and Sunday I stayed at the Johnson's. Uncle Stu, Auntie Vicki (mom's sister), Joe, and Claire. (Deenie was at Bethel University- O the irony.) Auntie Vikki is an wonderful hostess, and makes good food/healthy snacks all the time, and finds joy in doing so, plus has god a great sense of humor that keeps me laughing. Uncle Stu is wonderful, laid back, and very friendly and outgoing. He makes all people feel welcomed and loved. He's the one who will go to the person who's alone at a party/gathering and engage them, and make them feel loved. "not a shy bone in his body." he loves going to see movies, usually the slightly more obscure ones. He took Joe and I to see Hellboy 2. I can't wait to see a movie with him at Christmas. Also, he's got a head full of silver white hair- it's awesome. Claire and Joe are both tall and rail thin. Both geniuses. Joe's currently going into business, and very good at it. Claire reads like none other, and is very very smart- she had to be in the marching band for band class, so we went to a football game to watch the half time show- and impressive show of James Bond: 007. From the Johnsons, I went to visit Emma (the same one we prayed for at the Huerta's), who lived a half hour away at Wheaton. I met her at her dorm, where she opened a care package from Micaela, and ate cheezits. she knew like 50 people already, the first week of school, and that's the type of person she is. Emma is a wonderful friend. She treated me like a good friend, though I'd known her for a month. Inside connections surely helped that, but I saw how she treated the guys and girls she had just met- and it was the exact same. One of the biggest hearts ever, and very fun to be with. She kept me laughing with her humor and quirky slang. We got coffee at the campus coffee place, and then played air hockey, shuffleboard, electric hockey (the little foosball type guys), and foosball. Then we went to McDonalds and I got an icecream cone (a tribute to scottie o'neal). She got a parfait. everybody loves a parfait. The next time we hung out, we went to starbucks and walked downtown wheaton, which was small. "i think we've already been here" said a couple we walked past, which made me laugh. She was meeting a friend at the train station, so I dropped her off there, and headed back.
I stayed until Monday. Sunday night was spent with Rachel, a good friend that I met through Benny a few thanksgivings ago. We cruised in her sweeto new car and listened to dominant spanish music (she's an MK from Bolivia who speaks fluent Spanish). She's got a 6 cd changer, and we've got similar taste in music, so it was an enjoyable ride. We got "the orphanage", because I'd seen Pan's Labyrinth , and it was really good. It was in spanish, so she understood it, but i found i needed the subtitles to catch more than 1/10th of it. It was scary, and not as good as the other one. I wouldn't recommend it at any rate. So before she left, we watched all of Orison Piper's youtube videos, and laughed really hard. "i love you, i love you, dern dern dern" was my favorite. I gave her a hug goodbye, and crashed. I woke up, and drove for like 14 hours. I slept off and on at a rest stop in tennessee, and woke up and drove 2 more hours to PCC. A guy named Dan helped me with everything. Now, I'm here. I have tons of homework every day, and it's hard to find "free-time". But it's not as bad as i thought. And I know God wanted me here. I have a bedtime of 11:00, so i usually lie awake in bed and pray for people (because i can't read my bible-no lights).

I didn't mention moving in Pears. I think Tuesday we moved her in. Carrying a carpet up 4 flights of skinny stairs, walking halfway around the dorm to get to her room. But it was good to see her place, and spend a last few hours with her. I miss her a ton. My family has been so supportive, my daddy and mum have helped me through everything, and have been praying for me constantly. Smash-o sent me a letter, on the front was drawn a lot of things with BIG RED DO NOT circles through them, including cell phones, music, and my favorite "whitty titey"- with a lovely drawing of men's undershorts :). I'm just reminiscing over the past few days. Benny is always the best brother, and my best friend. I miss him more than ever now, and miss the little things- like going home to lunch during work together, and laughing about dumb things. I'm trying to keep up through writing letters- so basically whenever i get around to it updates-like this, but they're more fun to receive, i've found. If I did not mention you in this blog, it does not mean I don't love you a lot. My battery is about to die, and i need to get back on campus. Maybe I should just list the rest of you on here. but i'm not going to. I just scrolled through the whole post and it's way too long. who will be the ones to read it? Christi, maybe? (this one might be pushing it.) I love all of my friends from Minnesota. I miss you all A LOT. I can't wait to see yall at Christmas.

much love,
-Scotty

P.S. If I were reading this post, I would first, if not eventually scroll down to see when it was going to end. So I'll put prayer requests down here.
please pray:
-That God would make me obsessed with the gospel, that Jesus would be of first importance in my life. That's really my biggest prayer down here at Pensacola. I'm not expecting it to happen overnight either. But I can't make that happen, genuinely, if at remotely at all.
-That I would become more like Christ and be more servant like - I've become increasingly selfish these last few years, so humility along with that.
-Diligence in studies, and daily devos. I'm going to start doing them early morning before class, and see how that goes.
-That God will be glorified through my life, and use me for His glory SOMEHOW while I'm at PCC. (or at the Air Force Reserves too)