Incredible (Almost) Surprise
A week ago our InterVarsity staff—Annie and Julie—WCF students and WCF alumni surprised us with a dinner and tribute for our 36 years of being WCF’s faculty advisors. Almost surprised us. We had received a note earlier in the week from someone who could not be there, so we had our suspicions. Knowing Julie, and her abilities to create a party, we should have been prepared; however, the people who came and the extent of the party/tributes blew us away. Alums represented all four of the decades we’ve been here, all very special people, including the girls’ babysitter during the years Karen had so many seizures. I recalled that we paid her a dollar an hour, and she recalled the dandelion bouquets the girls brought her! Laurie and her husband and family live about an hour away. One of the most astonishing surprises was the daddy of our honorary grandkids, Mark, driving nine hours from Virginia to be with us. (He was the person who “needed a place to stay” that Julie had asked to provide ☺). Beth and the kids did not come because what family with three pre-schoolers can make a drive like that, stay less than 24 hours and drive back? She was with us in spirit, though. People came from Kalamazoo and Louisville. The young couple at whose wedding I read scripture last June came from Chicago (attaching it to their first visit to her family since the wedding). These are just examples.
The college chaplain attended (I learned today that the Office of Interfaith Campus Ministries contributed generously to defraying the cost of the invitations and dinner), and she spoke warmly about the, if not unique, at least unusual relationships we have at Wooster among the Protestant liberals, Jews, Catholics, Buddhists and Muslims and evangelicals, and attributed it to our presence here on campus and our willingness to work across divisions. (Her personal and institutional support for IVCF is also unusual and I count her as a dear colleague.) Our IV divisional director (Julie’s boss and mine when I was volunteer staff here) gave up some time out of his youngest daughter’s first college break at home to attend. He spoke glowingly of our family, saying that no family is perfect but ours seems to be healthy…as witnessed by the girls’ commitments and occupations. Mark himself said that we were the “family he hadn’t had” growing up. He means that emotionally, not physically…. And speaking of family, Julie and Annie really had wanted Jenny, Ellen and Karen to come, but it just was not possible. They read their email tribute instead, and everyone laughed when Karen’s response to Jenny’s “interview” question about our moving to Michigan was “It’s about time!”
Julie prompted remembrances by asking the group what they thought about when they thought of our house: Things like the large yard of leaves to be raked each fall, the deck covered with people, the shoes piled in the entranceway, the piano around which we love to sing, the Pakistani prayer rug under the coffee table, the living room/dining room filled with students playing games (such as Set). She asked about food, which prompted things such as brownies (of course), the gazillion burgers Chuck has grilled, the hot chocolate for the caroling parties, and even tabouli!! I so regret not having purchased a guest book when we moved to 912 twelve years ago. It would have hundreds and hundreds of names in it, if I had. On campus, kids remembered Chuck’s patience as a math teacher/encourager, and one, who has gone on to do staff work herself and now write the small group Bible study guides for a huge church in Columbus, said that Chuck’s talk on the authority of scripture settled the matter for her back in the early 80s. My interactions with internationals and African Americans and Muslims came in for special notice as did the prayer vigil/protest of the Planned Parenthood president's speech in 2000.
Not all people who want their lives to count for the Lord’s kingdom are so fortunate as to have their work remembered as ours has just been. It doesn’t mean that our work is any more important than anyone else’s, but being in such a public place that gathers its alumni each year has made such a tribute possible. In addition, we were only too keenly aware of the opportunities we missed (particularly with colleagues as opposed to students) and how firmly our feet are still in the "mirey clay." We only hope and pray—and the evening itself seemed to give witness to this—that what we have built into the lives of others they in turn will build into yet others as well. We had role models before us—for example, Chuck is wanting to seek out the Dean of Engineering at U of M (who now lives in a retirement village in Holland) who spent a critical evening with him when he was a student and to say thank you to him. Such a simple act that bore fruit is what we want to pass down through the generations. Someone out there is going to be baking a lot of brownies, listening to a young person share a heart break or a triumph, praying and studying scripture with others, who in turn will do the same until the Lord comes again.
The college chaplain attended (I learned today that the Office of Interfaith Campus Ministries contributed generously to defraying the cost of the invitations and dinner), and she spoke warmly about the, if not unique, at least unusual relationships we have at Wooster among the Protestant liberals, Jews, Catholics, Buddhists and Muslims and evangelicals, and attributed it to our presence here on campus and our willingness to work across divisions. (Her personal and institutional support for IVCF is also unusual and I count her as a dear colleague.) Our IV divisional director (Julie’s boss and mine when I was volunteer staff here) gave up some time out of his youngest daughter’s first college break at home to attend. He spoke glowingly of our family, saying that no family is perfect but ours seems to be healthy…as witnessed by the girls’ commitments and occupations. Mark himself said that we were the “family he hadn’t had” growing up. He means that emotionally, not physically…. And speaking of family, Julie and Annie really had wanted Jenny, Ellen and Karen to come, but it just was not possible. They read their email tribute instead, and everyone laughed when Karen’s response to Jenny’s “interview” question about our moving to Michigan was “It’s about time!”
Julie prompted remembrances by asking the group what they thought about when they thought of our house: Things like the large yard of leaves to be raked each fall, the deck covered with people, the shoes piled in the entranceway, the piano around which we love to sing, the Pakistani prayer rug under the coffee table, the living room/dining room filled with students playing games (such as Set). She asked about food, which prompted things such as brownies (of course), the gazillion burgers Chuck has grilled, the hot chocolate for the caroling parties, and even tabouli!! I so regret not having purchased a guest book when we moved to 912 twelve years ago. It would have hundreds and hundreds of names in it, if I had. On campus, kids remembered Chuck’s patience as a math teacher/encourager, and one, who has gone on to do staff work herself and now write the small group Bible study guides for a huge church in Columbus, said that Chuck’s talk on the authority of scripture settled the matter for her back in the early 80s. My interactions with internationals and African Americans and Muslims came in for special notice as did the prayer vigil/protest of the Planned Parenthood president's speech in 2000.
Not all people who want their lives to count for the Lord’s kingdom are so fortunate as to have their work remembered as ours has just been. It doesn’t mean that our work is any more important than anyone else’s, but being in such a public place that gathers its alumni each year has made such a tribute possible. In addition, we were only too keenly aware of the opportunities we missed (particularly with colleagues as opposed to students) and how firmly our feet are still in the "mirey clay." We only hope and pray—and the evening itself seemed to give witness to this—that what we have built into the lives of others they in turn will build into yet others as well. We had role models before us—for example, Chuck is wanting to seek out the Dean of Engineering at U of M (who now lives in a retirement village in Holland) who spent a critical evening with him when he was a student and to say thank you to him. Such a simple act that bore fruit is what we want to pass down through the generations. Someone out there is going to be baking a lot of brownies, listening to a young person share a heart break or a triumph, praying and studying scripture with others, who in turn will do the same until the Lord comes again.
posted by Barb @ 1:21 PM
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