Burgers’ Thanksgiving 2024

For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His faithfulness is to all generations. —Psalm 100:5

Ben

My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. —Psalm 84:2

  • I finished my final high school semester at Marian University taking Calculus I, General Chemistry I, and Microbiology. I got to commute five days a week, and by the end of the semester I felt that I was finally prepared for college as I had learned how to spend more time devoted to learning and focusing on studying. I was thankful to have a few friends from Wisdom Builders and elsewhere to talk to and workout at the gym with.
  • I continued studying Latin this year with my friend Aiden. We would often meet for about two hours once a week at a Panera Bread restaurant between our houses. We started our meetings exclusively in Latin, and usually after an hour or so we would speak some in English, and at the end we would catch up as normal friends. For my birthday he gifted me a new hardback copy of the Vulgate, which I love to read when I have the time.
  • This time last year I bought a blue 2013 Honda Civic Coupe from my brother-in-law Stefon. Because he took such good care maintaining and repairing it, I have not yet paid a dollar on repairs!
  • I graduated with Wisdom Builders and had an open house at our house. It was certainly an undeserved blessing to receive so much support from so many friends and family members.
  • I worked at Eagle Creek Nursery & Landscape again this summer, but this time I got to drive work vehicles! Rather than installing trees, I spent most of the summer on the maintenance crew mulching, pruning, weeding, and doing small warranty replacements. I was thankful for a mild summer and much better air quality this summer than the previous summer, but I certainly missed working with Everest.
  • In the late summer I had the privilege of driving Grandpa Ron and Grandma Dianne to Wisconsin Dells for our annual family vacation. John and I got to stay in the same unit as Mariah and Isaac. Mariah was kind enough to teach me how to cook a few simple, tasty meals. After not having a vacation last summer because of going to cross-country camp, it was extra refreshing and enjoyable to have this vacation. I had too much fun, and after driving my grandparents home, I felt a lot of hip pain again. I guess I re-injured my hip by simply walking too much and too hard on vacation. I had to stop landscaping a few weeks early because of that. I also finally had to stop my 10,000 steps a day challenge which I had completed for 123 consecutive days. I went to the doctor and got an MRI, which showed that I do in fact have a labral tear and that my femoral head is deformed. I have surgery scheduled to finally fix my right hip on December 12.
  • In June I attended the summer scholars program at Cedarville University again, and I surprisingly enjoyed it even more than I did the previous summer because of finding even better friends and rooming with Kaleb Korner, my roommate from last summer. My understanding of salvation and the metanarrative of humanity was grown in the Bible and the Gospel course.
  • On August 16 I drove with John to Cedarville while my parents drove the big van with the rest of my belongings to move me into college. I have been grateful to have Kaleb as my roommate for this school year. Moreover, finding some of my friends from the summer greatly eased the transition into college, because I never felt alone.
  • After a few days of adjustment and orientation activities, I began my courses: Engineering Professions, Old Testament Literature, Introduction to Literature, General Physics I, and Calculus II. It has certainly been the busiest semester of my life! In the beginning I had a little bit of free time, but after getting a 3.75% on a Calc. II quiz, I realized that I would no longer have free time if I wanted to have a good GPA. So, my life has basically become a Calc. II party since then! I spend many, many hours studying with friends. I have a notoriously difficult Calc. professor, but he is the best professor in Cedarville’s mathematics department. He makes students need to truly understand and communicate clearly in order to attain a good grade, and he is always willing to meet during his office hours to answer questions. There are also peer tutors who are available to help 10 hours a week in a room so that any student from any math class can receive help there. Needless to say, I was there almost every day during the beginning of the semester, so now I know every tutor by name. Some of them missed me if I didn’t show up! Because Calc. II has basically become my life (and many of my friends’ lives), my grade has actually been steadily rising through the semester, which is quite amazing and unusual.
  • Early in the semester I and three others from my Engineering Professions class designed and constructed a cardboard canoe for the annual cardboard canoe race. It took our team about two hours to design and 10 hours to build our canoe. We all laughed at the fact that our building material was called cardboard, when it was clearly cardstock paper that was lightly waxed on one side. The materials we were given were a 300 foot roll of tape and waxed cardstock paper with dimensions of 55 feet by 44 inches. Within 24 hours of the race, my friend who planned to paddle the boat with me notified the team that he was unable to make it to the race, so I ended up paddling in the canoe with another team member who weighs 200 pounds, which is not what the canoe was designed for. We were probably one of the heaviest canoes, but fortunately we just barely made it across Cedar Lake!
  • I am thoroughly enjoying attending Cedarville University and have grown very much spiritually and mentally. I had forgotten how much I love learning! The electric longboard that I purchased using graduation gift money has been super helpful with my daily commutes around campus, especially because my hip is often in pain when I walk.
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