Countdown to Chicago

Trinity Christian College 1970

On Thursday I will leave for Chicago. My Alma Mater, Trinity Christian College, will be celebrating her Year of Jubilee. Trinity turns 50! Many fun activities are planned for this exciting milestone, and I am looking forward to participating in as much of the excitement as I can! As I look forward to the big event, I do so with eager anticipation but also with a little fear and trepidation. Why? Well, for one thing, I don't look as good as I did in college! I hope people will be kind to this one-time-cheerleader who, today, could not do the splits if her life depended on it! Actually, come to think of it, I probably couldn't do the splits back then, either!

Here are a few of the things I'm looking forward to:

• Going to chapel on Friday I always loved going to chapel at Trinity. Back in the 70's, chapel was held in the clubhouse of the former golf course. It had a huge stone fireplace, beamed ceiling and grand piano. Hymns never sounded as good as they did when we sang in chapel. And our professors had inspiring and wise counsel to share with us, helping us to discover what it meant to be re-formed by God.
• Meeting former professors Many of my professors were there from the very beginning. I hope to see Dr. Bergsma, Dr. Seerveld, and Dr. Diephouse. Some of them will be participating in a "Last Lecture" series, sharing what they would want to lecture about if they knew it would be their last time to teach. One professor that I will miss is Dr. Bos. She passed away a few years ago, but I know her presence will be sensed. She had to be one of the finest English professors this world will ever know.
• Singing with the Alumni Choir I sang with the choir for two years. During my freshman year we traveled to Denver, Colorado. When I was a sophomore we went to Grand Rapids...guess what trip I liked the most??? Today, my daughter, Elise, sings with the Concert Choir. It will be fun for me to be sharing the same risers!
• Seeing old friends I hope that I will be able to see old friends and get to catch up on all the things that have transpired since we rocked the campus. My former room mate is flying in from the Netherlands! We are sharing a room together for the weekend...just like old times. But I don't think we will stay up til the early hours of the day playing cards and listening to Cat Stevens...but then, you never know!

And here's what I hope people see when they see me again:

It’s no longer all about me.
I’ve come to prefer authenticity over sizzle.
I’m way more comfortable with myself.
I’ve come to value meaning over money.
I’m in touch with the fact that I’m not going to live forever.
I no longer care about what people think...most of the time!
I think about how much I am blessed.
I’ve experienced some painful, challenging times and have come out stronger.
I’ve learned to trust myself more.
I’ve taken some big risks and survived.
I’ve learned that being true to myself is more important than security.

I hope that we can look beyond who does what and who lives where and who drives what car and who has held up the best over the years. I hope, instead, that we can savor the wonderful reality that, for a brief moment in time, we were all students at an outstanding little college, where our professors tried to prepare us for our time to make a difference in this world. They trained us well. They taught us, in every class, to examine the things of this world "through the lens of Scripture". I hope we can joyfully share with each other what we have done with what we learned. I hope that our hearts will be full of thanks for the way God used Trinity in each of our individual lives to shape us into who we are today. And I hope we will leave with a strong commitment to see this college continue into the future...and to realize that it is now our turn to give back to the college that gave so much to each of us.