My morning routine is pretty typical. I’m up at 6:00, I shower, get dressed, read a devotion as I eat my breakfast, and grab my lunch, water, coffee, and backpack. I try to leave the house around 7:00 for my ten-minute commute to the seminary. Class begins at 7:30. Our professor, Dr. Nordling, likes to begin each day with a greeting and song in Greek. We review the previous day’s lesson and address any questions we have. After a short break, we are introduced to the next lesson. On Mondays and Fridays, we wrap up around 9:20 with a brief vocabulary quiz.
The best part of every day is chapel at 9:35. We use different orders of worship throughout the week with communion being offered at least once a week, usually on Wednesday. It’s especially nice when Pamela and the boys can join me. Following chapel is coffee and conversation with faculty and fellow students out on the plaza or in the commons. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we return to class at 10:30. We review some paradigms (noun declensions or verb conjugations) and take a grammar quiz. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I use this hour to work on vocabulary.
Sometime around 11:30 I have lunch. I take leftovers with me but eat in the cafeteria to enjoy conversation with others. We have one more whole-group session at 12:30, this time with our tutor, Mr. Harrington. This is a very valuable opportunity to ask questions. Although Mr. Harrington isn’t as knowledgeable as Dr. Nordling, we have more time to discuss topics and work through examples together.
The rest of the day is ours to use as we deem appropriate. I head over to the library following tutoring to work on assignments with classmates. Most assignments include some paradigm work, translating several Greek sentences into English, and translating a few English sentences into Greek. It’s common for this to take somewhere between two and three hours. I spend the rest of the afternoon studying vocab until the short chapel service at 4:35.
A wonderful change to our lives now is that Pamela is no longer teaching 30+ lessons a week, so when I get home around 5:00, we can actually see each other and talk! I also play with the boys and help with household chores. The increased freedom in our evening schedule has helped our bedtime routine as well. We’ve done better since being here about getting the boys started at 7:00. That gives us plenty of time for baths if needed, teeth brushing, books or a game, and family devotions before 8:00. This is the time I get my clothes and lunch ready for the next day, too. Once the boys are in bed, I check email or work on other odds and ends (more Greek if necessary), Pamela and I get some more time to talk, we read another devotion together, and I watch a little something for entertainment. I try to be in bed between 10:00 and 11:00, and I’m ready for another day.
The initial posting gave me a little concern. Seeing the Greek letters, my first thought was the email was a Russian phishing attempt! I'm delighted to hear it's going well and will keep you and the family in my prayers. Earl