的 蓝色的论坛 is your place to learn about all things Covenant and keep up with stories from campus and beyond. By guiding you through the different aspects of Covenant, we'll help you decide if you want to pursue your very own Covenant experience.
一个家长的契约推销
Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes that “of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.” Any parent to high schoolers could probably stretch this to also say, “Of the touring of many colleges there is no end, and much travel is a weariness of the flesh.” As for me, simply being the father of eight has been a soup of weariness, but stir into that soup a strong mixture of child diversity and spice it up with being a highly (overly?) engaged parent, and you may end up being one of those dads who:
访问了四个时区的15所大学，包括：
- 加州理工大学
- 橄榄拿撒勒大学
- 泰勒大学
- 经营大学
- 斯德维尔大学
- 布拉德利大学
- 伊利诺伊大学
- 蒙大拿大学
- 怀俄明大学
- 南达科他州立大学
- Dordt大学
- 伊利诺伊社区学院
对大学进行深度网络搜索；
- 德克萨斯大学金斯维尔分校
- 德克萨斯大学格兰德谷护理学院
- 芝加哥大学
- 默里州立大学
问关于六个不同专业的问题（两个孩子还没出生）：
- 电气工程
- 机械工程
- 野生动物生物学
- 英语
- 兽医研究
- 护理
唷! 为什么我没有听从内心的所罗门？ So, what wisdom does this “Solomon-ignoring,” excessively engaged father wish to impart? 1. 的se college searches, combined with my own large state university education, have given me a strong appreciation for Covenant College.
When I look back on the last three years, as one daughter heads into her final year at Covenant while the other is about to begin her second, what were the factors that led me to prefer Covenant over so many other quality schools? It is a challenging question—like asking which leg of a chair is most important. Certainly, the observation of vibrant classrooms, meetings with academically solid professors, and the robust integration of doctrine into the whole of life played into my preference. However, what I think sealed the deal for me was the contentment, happiness, and friendliness of the students I met and observed. It was distinctly different from what I had seen at other schools. Many of the other schools gave me the feel of a large, impersonal state university, but Covenant had more of a family feel. Is this an unfair, statistically poor, observational conclusion? 当然可以。 But such is the nature of all our assessments, and after three years of additional observations, I still hold mine as accurate, which leads me to my next point: 2. 圣约学生会玩得很开心，我很嫉妒。
I know it is a bit dangerous to use the word “fun” in a widely parent-read article that advocates for a Christian college, but I am sticking to it because the fun that happens at Covenant is so rich, so deep, and so wide that I must.
At the experiential level, the fun at Covenant occurs in the classroom, dorm life, spiritual formation, and student participation in a way that is inconceivable at most other schools. Fun reaches into the classroom, where truth is real and worked out by caring professors who know their students and see them as beautiful image-bearers. 的re is fun in the dorms, which draw in all students to the spiritual formation that does not pamper with protections but strives to disciple students into adults who wear an armor made for engagement. And finally, fun flows into the college-level preparation of every student employee, athlete, actor, or musician—growing the breadth of their abilities and experience without sacrificing a balanced life.
What a contrast to my own BS/MA large state university education, where sport was limited to the full-time athletes, music to the future professionals, robust work-study to the chosen few, and meaningful professor interaction to fantasy. And fun—well, fun was defined relative to alcohol and promiscuity. This list of Covenant fun includes education, spiritual formation, community participation, and career preparation, but don’t forget location! Covenant is on a mountain—a mountain with views, trails, caverns, history, forests, hang gliding, valley lights, drifting clouds, and all the other natural beauties of the surrounding states. In the last 40 years, I have visited 15 colleges, attended two, and have probably seen another 20, but none of these have had the environmental presence of 威尼斯人平台’s mountaintop location.
So, while these aspects of Covenant are great, it is amidst the fun that Covenant is working to lay a foundation that enables a lifetime of joyful fun. Covenant draws students into the miracles of science, enchants them with Shakespeare, deepens them with Coltrane, awes them with DiMaggio’s swing, and helps them to flesh out and desire what is true, honorable, just, pure, commendable, and excellent. Covenant wants graduates to leave with contagious excitement for the good challenges God has prepared for them, laboring in the knowledge that God works all things for His good, that victory is in God’s hands—the end is set in stone—and that mountain ranges are eroded one grain at a time.
我们需要别人教我们如何玩得开心，这不是很有趣吗？ Our natural inclination is to have a fun that subtracts more than it adds, whereas the Holy Spirit wishes to show us “fun” by filling us with the joy and knowledge of God (Romans 14). Aquinas, Augustine, and even Tim Keller would tell you that evil only exists by reducing good. It roams the world looking for good to devour, but for His children, God has provided another meal: Himself. Instead of consuming us, this meal feeds us and restores the damage that our worldly fun has caused. 的 goal of Covenant fun is to build where evil desires to consume.
This should not be interpreted as saying Covenant fun does not involve long hours, sweat, frustration, periods of boredom, tension, and even failure. 的 difference is in the end goal. Is a senior capstone project just a barrier to a degree, or does the topic touch the student’s heart? Is a business degree only going to give a student a solid income, or are they going to build something to the glory of God, be it a church building or the church wastebaskets?
For much of my parenting, I showed more concern for the 4.0s and future employment but gave limited thought towards the 4.0 of godly fun. This is a bit odd considering how often we as parents say to each other, “I just want our children to be happy, productive adults.” As for me, I still expect the blood, sweat, and tears of college, but from all my college experiences, visits, and research, 威尼斯人平台 is one of the best places to shape joyful, productive, godly adults.