update (or " dear brother ryan")

hello all- below is an excerpt from an e-mail to my brother-in-law ryan. by the way, if you're reading this blog, please drop a comment to let me know. there's no need to be a member to do so. just click on the comments link below! thanks,

here's the excerpt:

"thanks so much for your e-mail. its great to hear from "home". things are going well here. busy and stressful -as to be expected- but well all the same. i'm enjoying my classes immensely. they tie together in strange and exciting ways. in one of the classes we've been studying how we know truth and how we know that what we believe is true. ultimately it comes down to faith. but its a confident faith grounded on substantial, meaningful and consistent claims (contrary to the popularity of postmodernism which makes the claim that anything is true... it just depends on the individual). greek is going well, it seems to be coming back to me a good bit.

i'm hoping to get involved in a writing group called "the sword and thistle". its main purpose is to provide students with a venue to give/get feedback on each other's creative writings (not class work stuff, but poems and stories, etc.).

work at "the kings'" has been great too. i enjoy cleaning windows. go figure. its nice to be outside. to move around. and we service some very nice homes (one home had a big screen t.v. mounted above their fireplace. it must have been almost 6' x 5'.... another home had a nice little wine cellar in their basement).

maia and kelli are well. its been tough on kelli at times. transition to finding friends has not been a quick one. but we're developing good relationships now. kelli's doing a great job caring for maia and supporting me (especially emotionally and spiritually). moving here has certainly drawn us closer. maia is smiley, joyful and delightful as ever. she's getting quite big (in the 97th percentile for height and weight at 3 months). She provides much joy and relief to us.

we're getting to know lots of people at the seminary and in our neighborhood. we're surrounded by some great folks. we've got wonderful neighbors and have met some great people at seminary gatherings. one of my new friends is finishing up a book (with another friend) on his journey along (the entirety of) the Appalachian trail. i've read (and heard) a few excerpts already. its a great story... or group of stories rather. i think they have the potential to see it published.

we're settling into Central presbyterian church (evangelical pres., different from my church back home (PCA)), at least for now. we'll try it out for a semester and see how it goes."

all for now,
trying to keep my head above water,
matt