October has been a gloriously beautiful month here in southern Wisconsin. The mild weather has enabled everyone to get out into their yards to get all that extra raking and mowing done. That could be a good thing as last year earned us a record snowfall and so as not to be outdone the weather man is predicting even more snow for this winter. What a fun it is to watch the students from south of the Mason Dixon line as the snow and temperature falls.
As the natural growing world slows down so does the pace of activity at the college. This Thursday through Saturday mark Maranatha's 40th anniversary celebration and next week runs right into the annual missions conference. After those two events the fall sports seasons soon will cease and the students can catch their breath and concentrate on those papers, projects and exams.
What a blessing it was to witness one of our dorm societies get involved in the community over the weekend. The women of Weeks and men of Spurgeon got together and raised money to provide an "all you can eat" steak and chicken and all the fixin' meal for the Watertown Police and Fire Departments. All the food and beverage was purchased through donations by the students in those dorms. Eight students at a time manned the tent and grill which stood next to the Police and Fire Departments. In order to accomodate all the departmental shift changes our students worked from noon-midnight. Friday night was a cold, rainy night as our students served those who put their lives on the line for the rest of us in Watertown. On Friday night it was great to see one fireman come out with a big bowl of hand shaken over the stove like grandma used to make bowl of popcorn. The students were thrilled to get that and the promise of more to come. Both the police and fire chiefs and the mayor were amazed and pleased at this show of thankfulness. The police chief told me that the city of Watertown is truly blessed by the Maranatha family. Please do pray for us as we strive to be a witness in this city that all of us, even for 8 months call home.
That's one parent's perspective