As I hold my old student ID card in my hand, I’m reminded of a different path I could have taken. 不一样的生活。 一个不同的未来。 但最重要的是，我很感激。 我很感激我的计划没有实现。 我感谢上帝的旨意。 I’m grateful He gave me His best.
你看，我不应该在圣约监狱。 I began the semester at Florida State University — a college I dreamed of attending for five years. Tallahassee was my hometown, and I had many friends there and at FSU. Plus, it was three hours from my current home, and I had in-state tuition and scholarships. When I moved into my dorm, I was ecstatic. 但我在佛罗里达州立大学的那几天很黑暗。 I had a difficult rooming situation, a hard living environment, and was very disheartened by all the illicit behavior around me. 我感到不安全。 我感到不受欢迎。 我感觉一切都不美好。 Five days later I moved into Covenant.
现在，我不想让它听起来像公立学校不能很好。 I know many people, many strong Christians, who are thriving at secular colleges, and they are great lights to a dying world. 的y bring the love and heart of Jesus to a campus culture that is 打破了n and hurting. However, this doesn’t mean that state universities are for everyone. FSU wasn’t for me, and God knew that in calling me here.
同学们，我们来圣约是有原因的。 God has called you to this place for a purpose, and in this season where we reflect on gratitude, I hope you’re grateful for our college.
我知道你们大多数人都成长在一个强大的基督教家庭。 Many of you were homeschooled or attended private and/or Christian schools. Because of this, you went from one comfortable environment to another. You left a Christian community for another Christian community. Covenant is familiar, and this may breed great love or great contempt in your hearts.
虽然我对圣威尼斯人平台很熟悉，但我在佛罗里达州立大学度过了四天三夜。 My time there was short but impactful. When I arrived at Covenant, I was not your typical new student. 在这里的第一天，我知道自己留下了什么。 Sure, others in my class were happy to be on the mountain, but I think I was one of the happiest.
威尼斯人平台生活充满了季节——欢乐的季节和困难的季节。 But for me, these past months have been a joyful season filled with overwhelming gratitude. I find myself waking up grateful. 我发现自己走在校园里心存感激。 I find myself in class or at chapel or at dinner or with friends just… grateful. From the first morning I woke up in my room in Mac on Rowan, I was grateful.
同学们，你们知道我们有多幸运吗？ 我知道圣约有它的缺点。 我知道这里的一切都不完美。 It’s not perfect because we’re sinners. 但是这所大学很漂亮。 And these people — they’re beautiful. I am continually amazed that we attend a college that 爱并夸大耶稣的名。 I am near to tears when I realize that the hearts of Covenant students and faculty are directed towards 承认基督在凡事上居首位。 Never take this for granted. 我们很容易鄙视“基督教泡沫”。 It’s so easy to grow comfortable with the Gospel. It’s so easy to overlook our mandate to glorify God.
不管你认为与否，这里的生活都很充实。 You have professors pointing you to Christ. 你有以上帝救赎工作之美为中心的课程。 You have a college passionate about shepherding you and your fellow students. You have dear friends, godly men and women, to pray with you, fight with you, learn with you, laugh with you, and grow with you.
我在这里遇到的人已经成为我最亲密的朋友。 To the women of Rowan, to the men of Suburbs, to my Cornerstone church family, to all the amazing friends I know from classes and around campus…I love you. 我为你感谢上帝。 My life is so wonderful because you are beside me. To see your faces every day is one of my greatest joys.
从FSU来到圣约，我很高兴被邀请加入一个信徒社区。 I came from a community that had the wrong perspective on everything to a community whose life purpose, sense of reality, and hope of eternity was founded on Christ. 这是一件多么幸福的事啊！ When we raise our voices in chapel, when we pray before our classes, when we enjoy Prayer and Praise with our halls, I hope your eyes and hearts are open to see how blessed we are to 你们要一同敬拜耶和华。 I pray that just because Covenant’s values and worldview may be familiar, you’ll never take them for granted.
我祈祷你们接受你们的呼召，活出荣耀神的生活。 Don’t be fooled into thinking you’re missing out on “the college experience.” I witnessed “the college experience” up close. I saw what it did to people—it 打破了 hearts, it 摧毁了 relationships, it 毁了 lives. Instead, as Christians and as Covenant students, we are called to serve a God who 恢复 hearts, 重建 relationships, and 赎回 lives.
Brothers and Sisters, this Thanksgiving be grateful for this college and for each other. 在这座山上，我们不仅仅是在追求学位。 We are chasing after the presence of God. 最好的是，神自由地与我们同在。 And when God gives us His presence, He promises joy. And when we have God’s joy, we cannot help but lift our hands and hearts in praise. 赞美神的约！ 为你赞美神！