Blog
Wheaton College Homecoming: I’m Getting Old
posted in: The Stuff of Life
Tuesday, September 30, 2003
Man, am I getting old. I just returned from my 15th year class reunion at Wheaton College and what was particularly amazing to me is that the students there now were my kids' ages when I was a student there! As I said in chapel, "I remember looking around on Homecoming Weekend when I was a student and thinking, "Is THAT what I'm going to look like in 15 years?" (That got a laugh from the students.) They didn't laugh at my next comment, "Now, from my perspective as a father of a 4 year old and a 2 year old, I look at all you students and ask, "Is THAT what they're going to look like in 15 years??"
It was a real honor for me to perform a song in chapel. I did my song, "Not My Own," which speaks of letting God even use our brokenness and wounds to serve Him if He wishes. The theme of Homecoming was "Perseverance: Rejoice in Hope." I told the students there's only one way to learn perseverance: the HARD way.
The apostle Paul wrote that "we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." (Romans 5:3-5) As I've been moving through a couple of challenging years, I've seen this borne out in my own life a bit. It's not always easy, but it's great to know that God can and will use everything to transform us more into the image of His Son.
I'm so grateful for how God has "poured out His love into my heart by the Holy Spirit" this past year or more. That has made all the difference in these experiences for me.
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