Gettin' Good

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

So we are 2 weeks in and school is going very well. The classes, while full of information, are set up in a way that I'm able to keep up very well and even be ahead on some days. I've actually just completed my first paper on the purpose of Jesus' ministry as we read about in Luke, and also had my first test on the historical reliability of the New Testament. All in all, the classes have been really full of great information and learning. I'm feeling very confident already that while I am not where I need to be yet, that by the time I reach the end of school I will have all the tools (or at least the vast majority of them) needed to start my life in ministry.

I've also learned that having been through college helps a lot with knowing how to handle work loads, study, and generally keep up with everything going on without too much problem. The program is intense to be sure, but it is advantageous to be able to know most of my strengths and weaknesses going into the program so that I can adjust more easily when needed.

Most importantly, I'm becoming able to defend my faith in ways that I had never considered before. From being able to strongly defend against those who say the New Testament cannot be historically reliable for whatever reason to the young/old earth theories in the creation story of Genesis that Christians discuss, the introduction of this information is not only exciting to me, but to everyone that I am in class with. It's amazing the things you find and learn even in a single class.

Well, this is where I will draw this post to a close. It's 2AM, which means it's time to get to bed so that I can be bright and ready for the 'morrow.

All the best things we wish upon you.

Jared, Danielle, and Haden

First Day!

Well, the first day of school has come and gone. It went very well, and we are all still alive after being informed of just how much work is involved in the program. :-)

The day started at 6:30 with us getting ready and feeding Haden, then eating some breakfast and leaving for the school at about 7:50. Chapel today was a special one, with a flag ceremony and the reading of the Great Commission on probably 20+ languages.

The rest of the day was spent in orientation, with another round of it tomorrow. We've so far gone over classes, gone through registration, and learned the in-and-outs of how the school works. We also got to meet a lot of new people, and found out that we are the only first-year couple with a baby, which is unusual for the school, but you do what you can I guess.

We also discovered that on average there is 3-4 hours of work and studying to do every night, which means that it's a very good thing that I sleep polyphaisically. Polyphaisic sleep is where you sleep a small amount at night and supplement it with scheduled naps during the day time. Currently I sleep from 2 AM - 6:30 AM with two 20 minute naps, one during our lunch break and the other at around 10 PM. I've been doing it for several months now and have much more energy than I did when I slept monophaisically (the normal 8+ hour sleep that most people get), but now I am totally off topic.

Haden did very well today in the nursery. He laughed and played and only got really angry a couple of times. When I went to pick him up at the end of the day he saw me and gave me a really huge grin, which made my day.

My course schedule is as follows:

Chapel daily at 8:35 AM

Mon/Wed AM: Christian Evidences
Mon/Wed PM: Confident Preaching and Old Testament History

Tue/Th AM: Spiritual Disciplines
Tue/Th PM: Confident Preaching and Life & Teachings of Jesus

Friday AM: Introduction to Ministry Studies

In 4 weeks we will have a Research Week, which we can use to catch up on whatever we are running behind on, and after the 9 week mark we will have a free break week to rest and renew ourselves. Following the break week, there will be a whole new set of classes to take, at which point I will update with a new course schedule. The classes, while short week-wise, are extremely intense and count for full college credit. By the end of these 2 years, I will have 128-132 credit hours. Kind of scary, but I am looking forward very much to having the tools needed to enter the ministry.

Well, this post has gotten rather long, so I will end it here. The next post is scheduled to be on Monday the 24th, so look for us then! Until such time, we thank you as always for all you do for us and wish all the best blessings upon you.

-Jared, Danielle, and Haden

Preface

Welcome, everyone, to the Kemp's blog about attending the Sunset International Bible Institute. With this blog I am hoping to keep everyone up to date with everything that is going on while we are in Lubbock. The posts here pertain almost exclusively to our experience at SIBI, but if you want to keep up with our personal lives (mainly having to do with our son Haden), feel free to use the link on the right to get to our family blog, Here Be Monsters.

As I'm sure you have heard many times before, thank you so much for supporting us in any way that you happen to be, whether it be monetarily, in prayer, thoughts, or commenting on the blog. The plan right now is to update every 2 weeks on Monday night, but depending on school that schedule may change, and I will make a note of it.

Danielle and I are so blessed to have met wonderful people at the Sunset church. We are thrilled (and a little nervous!) to be here and to begin school and begin preparing for the journey ahead. It is an honor for us to be able to be in this situation.

I plan on doing a special "first day of school" post next Monday, when things really get going.

So thank you for taking the time to catch us on the blog, and we hope that everything is the best that it can possibly be for you!

-Jared, Danielle, and Haden