黑料不打烊

Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes that 鈥渙f making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh.鈥� Any parent to high schoolers could probably stretch this to also say, 鈥淥f the touring of many colleges there is no end, and much travel is a weariness of the flesh.鈥� 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:

Visits over 15 colleges across four time zones, including:

• California Tech
• Olivet Nazarene University
• Taylor University
• Hillsdale College
• Cedarville University
• Bradley University
• University of Illinois
• University of Montana
• University of Wyoming
• South Dakota State University
• Dordt University
• Illinois Community College

Conducts many deep internet searches of colleges:

• University of Texas Kingsville
• University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Nursing School
• University of Chicago
• Murray State University

Asks questions about six different majors (two children yet to come):

• Electrical Engineering
• Mechanical Engineering
• Wildlife Biology
• English
• Veterinary Studies
• Nursing

Whew! Why didn鈥檛 I listen to my inner Solomon? So, what wisdom does this 鈥淪olomon-ignoring,鈥� excessively engaged father wish to impart? 1. These 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鈥攍ike 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? Certainly. 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. Covenant students have fun, and I am jealous.

I know it is a bit dangerous to use the word 鈥渇un鈥� 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. There 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鈥攇rowing 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鈥攚ell, fun was defined relative to alcohol and promiscuity. This list of Covenant fun includes education, spiritual formation, community participation, and career preparation, but don鈥檛 forget location! Covenant is on a mountain鈥攁 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 黑料不打烊鈥檚 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鈥檚 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鈥檚 hands鈥攖he end is set in stone鈥攁nd that mountain ranges are eroded one grain at a time.

Isn鈥檛 it interesting that we need to be taught how to have fun? Our natural inclination is to have a fun that subtracts more than it adds, whereas the Holy Spirit wishes to show us 鈥渇un鈥� 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. The 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. The difference is in the end goal. Is a senior capstone project just a barrier to a degree, or does the topic touch the student鈥檚 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, 鈥淚 just want our children to be happy, productive adults.鈥� As for me, I still expect the blood, sweat, and tears of college, but from all my college experiences, visits, and research, 黑料不打烊 is one of the best places to shape joyful, productive, godly adults.

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