by Philip Bustrum

Since Cornerstone initiated this slogan for the coming school year, I’ve wondered what a “best year ever” would look like for me. I’ve dreamed about perfect classes where all my students got A’s, someone paying off all my debts (read school loans), winning the million dollar lottery, traveling the world, championships for Cornerstone’s soccer and basketball teams, and finally, no arguments with my wife (read getting my way all the time). This certainly would be my best year ever. Or would it?

As I reflected, my cognitive processes kicked in and I thought, in order to be the best year yet, this coming year has to exceed my best year so far. So I journeyed back in time (I have a few years to consider) to find my best year so far. I was astounded at what I discovered.

I was 32 years old, married with three very young children. We were on a plane flying to far off Africa to live in Kenya as missionaries. I was overwhelmed with how God had met our large prayer and financial needs in a very short time. The thrill and excitement of the ministry that lay ahead was intoxicating. But living in Africa didn’t make it the best year ever (we ended up living there for 14 years). What did make it the best year ever was what happened after we got there—trials, tribulations, and struggles that I had never envisioned.

My wife Bonnie and I had taken just enough money with us (in fact, it was all we had) to see us through the first month. The expenses of food and setting up housekeeping in Kenya quickly depleted all our funds. So we anxiously awaited a statement from our mission telling us how much money had been deposited into our account. The statement arrived and we happily tore open the envelope. Our hopes were dashed as we read, “You have $0.00 in your account.” No money had been deposited. Questions flooded our minds. How are we going to live? How were we going to feed our children? Then, why would God do this to us? After all, we left our family, church, and country for Him.

Whether we were too scared to tell anyone or just plain stupid, I don’t know, but Bonnie and I decided to just pray asking God to meet our needs. We didn’t tell anyone about our crisis. As we prayed, God did amazing things in that month. People invited us for lunch and after the meal gave us the “left-overs” to take home. The leftovers soon became our dinner.

A milk truck broke down near our home and the driver could not get the truck repaired so he gave us milk to last a week. Money appeared in envelopes in our mailbox and on our doorstep. We made it through the month and never went hungry or without. When the next statement arrived, God surprised us again with a $ 0.00 statement. Maybe God thought we hadn’t learned the lesson that He “will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory.” In hindsight it was worth another month of unexpected miracles and anonymous gifts. I can’t relate how many times during those two months that we simply said, “Thank you, Jesus!”

Struggles and trials characterized our first year in Africa as we attempted to adjust to a strange place, a different culture, and perplexing languages. At every bump in the road, however, God reminded us that He had been with us when we had nothing. The trials strengthened our faith and trust in God and in God alone to sustain us in the tough times of life.

So I asked myself the most important question, “What made this the best year ever?” It was the trials. It was the unparalleled joy in seeing God work when we lived on the absolute edge of faith. Trials allowed us to see God work in our lives in new and exciting ways. Through it all His sustaining presence and grace demonstrated that He is sufficient to meet all our needs.

I’ve asked many people to describe their best year ever. Most pointed to a time when life stretched them to impossible lengths or when major life changing decisions had to be made. These circumstances created unusual opportunities for personal growth and trust in God. They allowed God to show Himself strong in the midst of our desperation, suffering, and trials.

As a school and as individuals, the best year ever might be one filled with immense and overwhelming trials—trials that have no answer or reason, and trials that will cause us to cry out to the true and living God for strength. But as God did for me and my family in Africa, I believe that He will show Himself as the wonderful, always present, all loving, all sufficient Savior that He is. And it will be the best year ever.

by Russ Pullium

Charles Darwin’s groundbreaking “Origin of Species” is 150 years old this year.

As part of the celebration, Indiana University is offering its first “themester” on “Evolution, Diversity and Change.’’ It’s a cross-disciplinary approach, including lectures and the play “Inherit the Wind” about the 1925 Scopes trial in Tennessee.

Scientists have taken the occasion to lament the scientific ignorance of Americans. Surveys suggest that more than half the country believes in special creation by God, as opposed to Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.

There certainly is ignorance about science. Some of us did better in math, English and history than in chemistry or biology. It’s easy then to miss the distinction between observable data and speculation and opinion.

Yet in the debate between evolution and creation, those on the Darwinian side of the discussion often make the same error that they see in their opponents. They observe nature and evolution within species, or adaptation. From there came Darwin’s evolutionary hypothesis that humans evolved from the amoebas.

Many scientists contend that the theory has been proven, or rendered undeniable, by so much research. Yet there’s a leap of faith involved in Darwinian theory.

Part of the problem is defining science, which is traditionally limited to observation and experimentation.

Bloomington Reformed Presbyterian Pastor Richard Holdeman also has a doctorate in cell biology and is a lecturer at Indiana University. He sometimes finds himself in the middle of this debate.

“Charles Darwin made careful observations and laid out an elegant theory explaining how biological organisms change over time,” Holdeman said.

What troubles Holdeman is how some followers of Darwin have taken his work and turned it into a theological treatise about the origins and purpose of the universe. “Science by nature does not answer questions related to meaning and purpose in the universe,” he said. “It is wrong to use science to justify what are essentially religious beliefs. The result is that many religious people are offended by and reject evolution because of its supposed religious implications rather than its scientific merits or lack thereof.

“In addition, some scientists have underplayed the significance of the unanswered questions relating to evolutionary theory. For example, where did the first cell come from? Thus there is a general mistrust of the scientific community among many people of faith.”

The debate has become as much about philosophy and politics than science. Followers of Darwin have won many of the arguments at a political level, cloaking their philosophy under the banner of science.

The other side, however, isn’t walking off the field.

Or, as Holdeman puts it, “As long as evolutionary theory is advocated in semi-religious terms, this debate is not going to go away.”

by Christina Woolard

As I sit here thinking about what to write, I’m realizing that God truly has, and is, doing a marvelous work in me. He is changing, molding, shaping and forming me into a young woman that knows beyond all doubt that all she needs is her Savior. It’s stretching, exciting, painful, uncomfortable and amazing.

This summer was huge for the whole God-teaching-me-new-stuff thing.

I had the privilege of counseling at a summer camp for two months of my summer, which proved to be one of the toughest experiences I’ve had to face. But as the summer ended, not only was I physically exhausted, but my relationship with Christ was restored.

Perhaps the biggest thing that I walked away with is the enormity of God’s perfect love for the shameful, measly little me. It’s so big that, well, I can’t even describe it. His love is pouring out, bubbling over, and immensely overflowing for me. He is absolutely insanely in love with His people! And for me personally.

Now, before I continue, I do realize that perhaps this may seem like something that is discussed too often in the modern church or sounds cliché, but I truly believe that it is foundational to who we are in Christ and should not be just brushed over. Finding my identity in Christ begins with understanding His love for me. Everything else about me as a Christian revolves around this basic principle. The life-changing experience of Christianity begins with grasping the love of my God.

I was hit so hard with this reality this summer. Multiple times, in several different ways, I could just hear God whispering in my ear about His love. I had to allow myself to accept it.

In the past year, a long series of events caused me to reject God. I had no hope, no belief in His love. If He loved me, He definitely wouldn’t have put me through all that heartache and pain.

Wow, was I wrong!

It took several months for God to peel off those layers of lies that had so quickly covered over my heart. But I began to realize that He had never left me, I was just looking in the wrong places to try to find Him. All summer long, He consistently not only taught me, but proved to me that His love is real, and it’s all I need to get through life.

I don’t want to say that I’m more in love with God than I’ve ever been, but my love for God is more grounded than it ever has been. It’s based on hard fact, not wavering emotions. The ways that God works is mysteriously beautiful, and I praise God for who He is, and thank Him for loving me all the time.

I’d like to close with these lyrics from Tenth Avenue North’s Times:

“My love is over, it’s underneath.

It’s inside, it’s in between.

These times you’re healing, and when your heart breaks.

The times that you feel like you’re falling from grace.

The times you’re hurting. The times that you heal.

The times you go hungry, and are tempted to steal.

The times of confusion, in chaos and pain.

I’m there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame.

I’m there through your heartache. I’m there in the storm.

My love I will keep you, by My power alone.

I don’t care where you fall, where you have been.

I’ll never forsake you, My love never ends.

It never ends.

E-mail: christina_m_woolard@cornerstone.edu

By Rachel Higginbotham

 Five years ago, I slept in a dorm, ate in a cafeteria, worked in a college office, spent as much time on the free and plentiful, wifi points as I did studying and thought life was a wee bit stressful. The Lord must have a bright and beautiful sense of humor within His boundless love and mercy to see a future for college kids like I once was. Most will say it is a certain amount of drama laced with a spirit of invincibility that gives college freshmen their well deserved reputation.

I was such an unstoppable force in college that it took three years of questionable performance and the wisdom of two parents who refused to co-sign anymore loans before I realized that, with my current methods, I was not going to make it through in a manner that honored my Lord and Savior.

It is so irritating to have to stop something right before its completion. With debt, 85 or so college credits and no degree, I entered the workforce in 2005 with a bunch of high schoolers trying to compete for at least 30 hours at minimum wage so I could pay the loans from the last 3 years. I had no car and no way to live on my own — talk about one step forward and 67 steps back. I felt like crawling under a rock in shame unitl the world forgot I was a college dropout.

Sometimes, there are lessons in life that God intends for us to learn before we go any further, and no amount of running against the wall, trying to push through, is going to budge the Creator of the Universe. I was against a wall—blind to what I had to do, learn or realize to go forward—and nothing to go back to that would have made me a light in the darkness for Christ. Rather, I felt as if, in my failure, the darkness was coming from me. There was nothing to show for my efforts, plenty of disappointment from those I loved and an enormous amount of self-disappointment and loathing.

We all sin and fall short of the Glory of God. Somehow I figured, in my youth and zeal, that I was going to give that part of life a pass. How much greater must the shame of Adam and Eve have been? Or the dispair of Judas? Or the grief of King David upon being confronted with his sins? And my greatest failre was not making the grade in accounting, twice.

The impact of sin in our lives may be little or great, but the magnitude does not change the nature of the beast. Our fallen nature gives us only once choice, and that is to crawl under that rock and die. Christ gives us another choice. His Grace is an outstretched hand, ready to pull us through our lessons in life.

What I learned is that it is in His time that life flows, and no amount of stubborn will stop the passage, and no amount of zeal will speed it up. For me, the degree will come later, but what wisdom have I been given from having to work myself out of a hole of debt! I have the blessing of taking my degree in hand next year knowing the industry I want to work within, and what it means to pay bills every month. God knew that, in order for me to become what He intended for me, I needed to walk that path, and learn that lesson before graduation. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

by Katherine Wisen

I came home Monday afternoon to a picture of repentance.

Kona, my family’s perpetually mischievous 1-year-old puppy, stood at the opening of my bedroom door with guilt written across her face. Her eyes were glossy and lowered, her nose slightly tilted to the ground, her giant ears tucked neatly against her head and, I’m sure if I had looked closer, I would have seen her four-inch legs quivering.

This was not the first time I had seen Kona like this, and I knew it was just a matter of time until I found out what she had destroyed.

But, oh, that face! There was no way I could look at that face — that raw demonstration of remorse — and not melt into a giant mushball.

But what if she hadn’t come to me when I got home? What if I had caught her with garbage between her teeth? Or she had run when she saw me? Would I be eager to forgive then? Or would chasing her throughout the house cause my anger to exponentially increase?

Forgiveness is easy when it’s asked for.

It seems that one of the hardest consequences of sin to accept is the fact that people disappoint. No matter how close the relationship is or how long the friendship has been, any time we put our trust in a fallen creation we are let down.

But this is something we should expect. As Dwayne Adams, associate professor of Bible, recently said to one of his classes, “It shouldn’t surprise us when sinners sin.” Sin is part of our nature, and it affects everything — including our relationships.

So, when a friend commits a sin against you, they repent, you forgive and the relationship is restored. Easy as pie. End of column.

Oh, wait — not everyone asks for forgiveness, and not everyone admits that what they did was wrong.

Then what?

You still have to have the spirit of forgiveness. And this time, the pie ain’t so easy.

This is an area where I’ve really struggled in the past. I get angry, and bitterness sets in. I wonder how the person who sinned against me could continue to act like nothing happened. Doesn’t she know that I know what she did? Doesn’t he realize what he’s done to our friendship? How can she not see that what she did was wrong?

Sin hurts, breaks, ruins and destroys — but sin doesn’t change the fact that we are obligated to forgive. We are not given the choice to show mercy or not. God expects us to show true forgiveness regardless of how the other person responds.

And what is true forgiveness? It’s when you don’t bring up the sin to anyone else, you don’t bring it up to the person who sinned against you — and you don’t bring it up to yourself.

Every time you walk past that person and you dwell on what they’ve done, you haven’t forgiven them. Every time you remind them of how much hurt they caused you, you’ve missed the mark. And every time you let bitterness eat away at you, you’ve allowed their sin to become your sin.

So, how can we successfully forgive those who appear unforgiveable?

First off, pray. This type of forgiveness goes against human nature; therefore, we need to call on the only one we know who inherently has the capacity for this type of forgiveness. God knows we are limited, and He has promised to give us what we need to get the job done if we call on Him (James 1:5).

Second, look to scripture. Research how Christ forgave, and what we have been forgiven of. My good friend, and forgiveness hero, Donna Kamps said, “When you think about what Christ went through on the cross — by choice! — for you, what you’re holding on to seems pretty petty.”

When you look at volume of your own sin and realize the love that Christ showed to you when you weren’t seeking forgiveness, you’ll find a desire to live out Colossians 3:13 and forgive like Christ forgave you.

Want something a little more direct and to the point? Look up Matthew 6:14-15. If that doesn’t motivate you, I don’t know what will.

Third, realize that forgiveness does not always equal trust. Forgiveness does not mean that the relationship is immediately restored to what it once was. There has to be repentance for there to be trust.

But sometimes, the reason they aren’t repentant is because they want to sever the relationship — and that’s something you can’t control. This is where you need to have faith that God does things for a purpose, and that He’s working through the situation in a way you wouldn’t understand even if He explained it to you (Habakkuk 1:5).

Either way, we have to live with a spirit of forgiveness so that, if repentance does happen, we are prepared to work toward restoring the relationship.

Fourth, know that a negative reaction doesn’t do any good. While you dwell on their sin, they’re probably not even thinking about it. Why wait around for an apology may never come? Become angry and bitter, and you’re only hurting yourself. Realize that God will deal with them in His time, and a forgiving heart will cause you to find healing faster.

Today, Kona may wreak havoc on the household again and, this time, those big glossy eyes may be stubborn and cold. But it’s my choice to either become angry and bitter, or to quietly clean up the mess and get on with life.

Cornerstone University is beginning to really emphasize study abroad trips.

There are professors who lead study abroad trips every year and some majors, such as Spanish and humanities, require students to study abroad in order to complete their degree. Spanish majors have to complete a semester in Spain and humanities majors have to go to Oxford, England, for a few weeks in the summer.

But why should students go abroad if they don’t want to?

Provost Rick Ostrander said he would like to see students go on “a three or more week study abroad experience,” during their years at CU “to expose students to the world outside the United States.” He said the trip would also “prepare students for global influence.”

Being a global influencer can be important, but many times traveling abroad is a global budget buster. In addition, not everyone wants to be a global influencer, leave the country or even leave their state.

The humanities requirement to go to Oxford, England to complete an Oxford tutorial during the summer will hinder a student’s ability to work throughout the summer in order to save up and pay for enrollment at CU.

In addition, some students are married or wait until the summer to get married and could find it difficult to be apart from their loved one for such a long time.

To address the elephant in the room, college students are known to be financially broke. Some students are unable to get additional loans to cover study abroad expenses or are reluctant to take on more college debt.

There are major benefits to studying abroad. Humanities Division Chair Michael Pasquale said the summer Oxford trip will “challenge students academically,” and help students to understand another culture. He also said students go to Spain because CU does not have the extra classes and faculty to complete the major. Plus, he said being immersed in a language would “really hone their skills” in a language.

However, not everyone can afford such a trip.

Pasquale said that if a student couldn’t afford the trip, other arrangements can be made.

“If they can’t go, we are not going to force them to go,” Pasquale said.

Ostrander said that if CU requires students to go on a study abroad trip, they would not be able to opt out.

“If the university decides that a student needs to have an international study experience to be truly prepared for global influence, then such an experience would be required for students,” he said.

Ostrander said he realizes that funding is the main reason why students do not go on study abroad trips and that “we will need to find ways to keep the costs as low as possible, [and] hopefully, find some external funding sources to help students out,” if study-abroad trips become more of a requirement. He also said that CU “will need to find ways to subsidize student travel.”

The provost said that CU is not currently working on a study abroad requirement, but “at this moment, we’re just trying to provide more opportunities for students to do so. Also, we’re looking at building some sophomore year programming that will begin preparing students for cross-cultural engagement.”

But does that mean that an education at CU is not good enough and we need to have global influence? What about all the CU alumni who never studied abroad during their years are CU - were they not equipped to influence globally?

America is so culturally diverse that all a student has to do now in days is go to a different neighborhood or another state to learn about another culture.

In addition, when a student enrolls at CU, he or she gets the most important tool needed to have global influence sitting right on the coach: a computer. If someone wants to change the world, he or she gets on the World Wide Web.

Yes, a global experience would be ideal. And yes, if someone has the means and drive to go, they will learn a lot from the experience. However, whether a student goes abroad or not, staying within U.S. borders does not make he or she any less equipped to globally influence the world.

For all you freshmen out there, here’s your first lesson.  It’s only two words, so you should be able to remember it.  Get involved.  The end.  Seriously though, it’s a must.  College is nothing but a bunch of Thursdays strung together if you don’t.  Meet people.  Get out of your bubble.  Go to campus events.  Get involved.  They say that the friends you meet in college are the ones you have for the rest of your life- no pressure.

“Especially for your first couple of years on campus, it’s really important to get involved to establish your group of friends,” said Reagan Boomershine, junior.  “Shared experiences are vital to relationship.”

Speaking of being on campus, if at all possible, you need to live on campus for at least a year.  Yes, need.  There’s something about living in the dorms that you can’t get by just going to your classes.  Maybe it’s just that community aspect that people are always talking about. 

“Living in the dorms gives you a community to fall back on, a place to belong and a group of people to support you through thick and thin,” said Charis Cooper, senior.

by Lauren Hines

Last, but not least, don’t take a minute of any of this for granted.  Not because you’re spending money out your ears to be here, but because these really are the best days of your life.  Yeah, yeah, I’m cheesy; put me on a cracker.  But most of us will probably never be fortunate to live in a community like this again.  Take advantage of that.  Join a small group.  Find a mentor.  Do your part in the growing process.  I promise you won’t regret it.

        The popular conception of homecoming seems to be that of a bunch of superficial teenagers getting together to show off their gowns, limos and slow dancing skills. However, CU does this event a bit differently, and it is our belief that every student should become fully engaged in homecoming activities.

            The homecoming scene at Cornerstone has always been unique. Events like Mudbowl have helped set our school apart from others. This year though, a whole slew of changes have taken place to make traditional CU homecoming even more memorable.

“There are many added activities [this year]—multiple outdoor concerts by both current and past groups, a symphonic winds concert, food, activities etc,” Peter VanDessel said. “It will be a festive celebration.”

VanDessel is a professor of music at CU and also a member of the homecoming leadership team.

A theme of this year’s homecoming week is “dress the decade.” This requires students to dress in the style of a different decade every day, beginning with the 40’s/50’s and concluding with the 90’s.

“I think that it’ll actually be really fun. I’m really looking forward to dressing up for 70’s day,” CU sophomore, Hillary Poynor said.

There are plenty of other activities scheduled as well, including a movie night, alumni volleyball game, midnight madness and Mudbowl, of course. There is also a special student viewing of the upcoming play “Something’s Afoot” on Friday.

All of these events are designed with idea of bringing three different communities in mind, that of students, faculty, and alumni. This is an extremely important and valued concept here at Cornerstone. However, this unity will not be achieved without our active participation as students.

“[Homecoming] is supposed to build community with alumni, so it’s important to have a bit homecoming so that we can get more alumni to come,” junior Katherine Wisen said.

Some of the CU faculty have shown their support for participation in homecoming as well.

“Students who participate in homecoming this year will nurture a sense of connection with past generations of CU students,” VanDessel said.  “An exciting thing the music department is doing is having 20-30 alumni join in the Symphonic Winds’ concert on Saturday, nearly doubling the size of that group.  I can’t wait to hear the sound.”

So whether it’s dressing for your favorite decade, cheering for the girls’ volleyball team, or just attending one of the many events planned for the coming week, it’s important to participate in homecoming activities so that we can build community and connect with one another, no matter what stage of the game we’re at.

Crowded out by many other anniversaries this year, “Ben Hur” is looking for applause on the other side of the Atlantic. This classic story of a Jewish prince’s encounter with Jesus Christ is on stage in London this week, including 46 horses for the chariot race.

But in Indiana, where Lew Wallace wrote much of the original story, the 50th anniversary of the 1959 film of “Ben Hur” is passing without much notice.

The movie swept the Academy Awards for 1959, with 11 Oscars — a feat matched only by “Titanic” and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.” The book, released in 1880, has never been out of print.

Lew Wallace, a Civil War general, wrote much of the book, which became the best-selling novel of the 19th century, in Crawfordsville.

The book tells the story of Christ, from the perspective of Judah Ben Hur. Ben Hur is unjustly accused of an assassination attempt against a Roman governor and wants revenge for the injustice. The story follows his stint as a galley slave and his daring feats in the famous chariot race.

With the Heartland Film Festival next month in Indianapolis, President Jeff Sparks wonders how to honor this classic.

“Ben Hur is a tough one because it already has proliferated in the market,” he said. “Everybody’s seen it, and it’s on TV all the time.”

Far from Indiana, though, Ben Hur has recaptured the dramatic imagination. In London this week, “Ben Hur Live” makes its world premiere, with real horses on stage, in a 360-degree arena. Then the production tours Europe. The promoter, Franz Abraham, is hoping to at least break even after spending $14 million on the operation.

A past Formula One race car driver, Abraham understands the risk of bringing the great story to the stage. He calls the production an “opera for God,” and tickets in London go for $190.

English choreographer Liam Steel put it a little differently in an interview with the London Times: “Franz is a mad genius attempting the equivalent of climbing Everest naked.”

Wallace has not been completely forgotten back in Indiana. In Crawfordsville his old study is a historical site. Indiana Historical Society editor Ray Boomhower wrote a solid, if brief, Lew Wallace biography in 2005.

Wallace reflected on his life as a Civil War general, governor of the New Mexico territory and diplomat in Turkey when he had returned to Crawfordsville in retirement. “I shall look back on ‘Ben Hur’ as my best performance,” he concluded.

Russell B. Pulliam, journalist, book author, associate editor and columnist at The Indianapolis Star, is a syndicated columnist, whose columns focus on topics ranging from politics to social issues to family life. He may be contacted at: russell.pulliam@indystar.com

      Time and time again throughout my childhood I sat astonished and open-mouthed as I listened to the missionary speakers give their testimonies at church.  They’d lived a sinful life, done drugs, were addicted to alcohol, and had done time in prison.  Their mothers abandoned them and their fathers beat them.  They were avowed atheists, set in their ways, and it was only through an incredible miracle that they realized their need for a savior.  Now, they’re living in deepest darkest Africa witnessing to the cannibal natives.

 I was always amazed and inspired at their testimonies and secretly wished for a similar or even a better one.  But no, I was destined to have a boring testimony.  I was born to two Christian parents, grew up in a loving home, and was saved at the age of five.  How dull can a testimony get?  I longed for an amazing testimony like the missionaries’.

I was born with a cancerous brain tumor in my cerebellum.  The doctors discovered it when I was five years old.  They were able to remove the tumor with minimal damage to my body, and no chemotherapy or radiation treatments were needed.  I recovered quite quickly and completely.  Undoubtedly, though, if I had been born even 40 years earlier, either my brain would have been severely damaged or I wouldn’t have survived.  It is only by the grace of God that I am alive.

When I was thirteen years old, I struggled with severe doubts about my faith.  I couldn’t understand such concepts as how time could have been created, how God was never created, and eternity.  That summer, I went to a Bible camp for a week and learned that it wasn’t for me to understand, I just had to believe.  I rededicated my life to Christ that summer.  It was only by the grace of God that that particular speaker was there that week and that my counselor had the right words to say to me.

The summer after my freshman year at Cornerstone, I felt God calling me to work at that same summer camp as a counselor.  Well, as we all know, college is expensive and Bible camps don’t pay much.  God graciously provided for my all my needs and allowed me to work at Lake Ellen not only that summer, but last summer as well.  By his grace I was able to witness many lives changed for Christ and see him at work in my life as well.

God’s grace makes everything possible.  It is by the grace of God that I am alive.  It is by the grace of God that I had loving parents and an amazing childhood.  It is by the grace of God that the missionary speaker survived his abusive childhood.  It is by the grace of God that he is now called to minister to others.  It is by the grace of God that we all draw our next breath, and it’s by the grace of God that I have a testimony just as amazing as the missionary’s, because it is the grace that makes it amazing.

e-mail: sarah_k_schaefer@cornerstone.edu

I took a test to evaluate my style of learning and teaching.  The results were extremely unusual.  For those who know me; that’s no surprise. For those who don’t; let me explain.

There’s an expression, “Those who can, do.  Those who can’t, teach.”  For me teaching is not a lazy cop-out.  I love what I do and you couldn’t pay me more to do anything different.  I hope you might be blessed to find a career-path as rewarding as this has been for me.  I have taught at a various universities for over 25 years; ten at Cornerstone.  I especially like teaching undergraduates and I feel called to work with select students to prepare them to teach. I presently have 25 students who’ve earned Ph.D.s and have positions teaching on the darkest mission field in the world—academia.  Many more have earned advanced degrees only to find other rewarding careers. I believe mentoring young scholars for academic careers has the capability of impacting a generation of students.

I’m supposed to teach history but in actuality, I’m a storyteller, embroidering into my tale personal experiences from my fieldwork, from teaching overseas and from my ongoing research.  I always bring priceless artifacts to class to give students opportunity to touch the past.  It’s not uncommon for me to pass around tablets from Ur from the days of Abraham, or manuscripts and scrolls over a millennium old.  I’m energized by my work and I think my class is too.  Each day is like learning a new secret!  I feel comfortable navigating terra incognita.  I comfortable with the vulnerability of not knowing and I love the thrill of discovery. I invite students to join my Odyssey and to work with items that no one in the world knows exists!  This entails teaching students the languages necessary to study these documents.   Older students mentor younger ones.  Many of these students present their research at scholarly conferences and go on to graduate school.

I’m most comfortable teaching outside the confines of the classroom.  I’ve taken students to Greece over the past 25 years on an adventure!  I love hands-on learning.  This semester I’ll have students following monastic rules and copying a 1000-year old manuscript, eyeglasses off, by candlelight!  Many more will attend my Reel-to-Real-Meal where they will be exposed to a wide variety of rarely scene classics and will be asked soul-searching questions about the films.  You’ll see others standing on the rock defending ideas they DON’T BELIEVE!  If you see them waxing eloquently, stop and challenge them to defend their new-found faith!  Aristotle said a sign of an educated person is the ability to argue the viewpoints of their opponent.  I            agree!

I see the tremendous benefits of technology.  Years back, I created a program that transported students, live, to the world of my excavation in the Sahara.  The program received international acclaim and is on permanent exhibition at the Smithsonian as an innovative use of technology in education.  I want to transform the learning process.  My students get over 35 GB of materials that I have painstakingly created and constantly update to enhance their experience and to give them tools for lifetime learning.

I take a saying from the ancient synagogue and make it my mantra, “Study is worship.”  Worship with me one day in class, on an excavation, toiling over an unknown manuscript or on a cliffside in Greece!

I’m engaged. And it stinks.

Don’t get me wrong. There was a time when being engaged was amazing.

Once upon a time, I went camping with my boyfriend and his family in Ludington. We spent a nice family day at the beach, and when evening came, Colin Hunter(that’s his name) took me out on a romantic date.

We went to Ludington’s cute downtown and ate dinner in a cute restaurant.

Then we got ice cream at a cute little ice cream shop.

Then we went to the beach again where Colin proceeded to serenade me with his guitar as we watched the sunset.

After that, Colin said he had something for me. He went to the car and brought back a photo album that he put together, with cute pictures of our adventures together. The photo album ended with a love letter, and when I looked up…

A ring! Colin switched from boyfriend to fiancé. It was magical.

Fast forward a year and a month. Not so magical.

When Colin proposed to me a year ago and I accepted, the original plan was not to have a long engagement. We were thinking the next summer.

But alas, my brother decided to get engaged first, and get married in June. We didn’t want to steal his thunder, and I didn’t want my parents to crack under the pressure of getting two kids’ weddings together.

So we decided: December 18, 2009. What’s six more months anyway? Everyone says that time goes super fast when you’re engaged because it takes soooooo much time and planning to get everything perfect.

Wrong.

I know that I have no one to blame but myself for this long engagement, and I take full responsibility for it. But, I won’t say it doesn’t stink.

Being engaged was fun for the first few months. I got to look at the sparkly thing on my finger and think about all the things I wanted for my wedding.

But, I couldn’t really plan anything yet, because it was too soon. It’s not really necessary to book a caterer a year in advance. Or flowers. And, when I went to look at dresses, and I told the consultant the date was December of the next year, I could tell she was judging me.

The worst part? We just want to be married. Yeah, now that we’re actually close to the big day, planning is getting more fun. But it’s been a year.

I asked Colin his thoughts and he said, “The excitement sort of wore off. We couldn’t plan when we wanted to and now that we can, it’s not as exciting. I just want to be married now and I’m tired of waiting.”

According to TheKnot.com (the ultimate wedding planning Web site, if you ask me), the average engagement in America is 12-18 months. I think that’s crazy.

Women, haven’t you been thinking about your wedding since you were a little girl? Don’t you basically know already exactly what you want your wedding to look like?

I know I did. I had everything planned out in my head before I was even engaged. It shouldn’t take 18 months to get it all together.

There is a lesson to be learned from here. We all know Cornerstone’s reputation of engagements, and there’s nothing wrong with that. I don’t want to crush your dreams of the perfect engagement.

But, consider yourself warned. Men: don’t pop the question unless you know the timing is going to be right.

Because being engaged for a year- It stinks.

Most economists, or for that matter, most academicians, errantly think they are doing their analyses in a theologically amoral vacuum. However, each one—either explicitly or implicitly—is enrolled in a teleological school of thought that sits on a continuum somewhere between love of self and love of God. The same could be said for journalists who think their reporting is objective. And while that might even be the case for a particular article, the decision regarding what to report on, how to report it, the headline itself, and the story’s placement, all reflect the values of those responsible. Some have gone so far to say that all ‘facts’ are value-laden in that when, how, and where we speak a ‘truth’ imply that there is also a ‘why.’

 Christian economists must certainly incorporate an integration of their faith with their economics, but also must have the conviction that telos, that is, our purpose, our goals, and our ends, are everything. Our chief end in life directly affects the means by which we approach the economics discipline. Thus, a Christian life that is correctly ordered will produce results and embrace economics that are glorifying to God.

An economist whose heart is set on pleasing the Lord and whose mind is under spiritual reconstruction will be enlightened regarding certain unjust economic means of distribution such as the marketplace of adoption and the market for bodily organs. Cost/benefit analysis and even present value become irrelevant in light of a teleological ordering with God as the ultimate end.

Christian economists need to consider adding a theology grounded in biblical truth concerning Christ and the Trinity to their abilities in sophisticated economic analysis, all within an ecclesiology centered on pleasing God the Father. If they cannot gain that knowledge, they must consider working in tandem with those who have it already. The potential benefit to the economist will be a new or revised orientation away from the secular and temporal economic emphases on consumerism, profit maximization, market solutions, and scarcity, toward a telos that glorifies the Lord and works itself out in love through acts of goodness and policies that promote goodness in remembrance of God’s gift to us through Christ Jesus.

Thus, the more we learn to think like Him within the boundaries of what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy, while simultaneously avoiding the vain philosophies from the world around us, the better conduits we become for his Kingdom principles to be made manifest where we live and His divine will to be accomplished on earth (Colossians 3:2; Philippians 4:8; Matthew 6:10). And as we gain the mind of Christ, what prior seemed to be an amoral vacuum, now becomes separated into darkness and light.

This summer I was a part of the GO Sichuan team that went to China to teach English to victims of the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. When I first arrived I fell in love with everything and everyone around me. I had always wanted to go to China, and I couldn’t wait to start getting to know the people there. My team and I’s teaching experience got off to an interesting start, when after spending days training on how to teach teenagers we were asked to teach kindergarteners and very low level English speaking children. After that first day with my kindergarteners I returned to my room feeling useless and confused. I asked God why I was there. Why he would bring me to China when I wasn’t doing any good. I felt so alone and I was pained that I wanted to leave the country I fell so in love with. As days went on God began to show me the joy He was bringing into the community we were teaching. Each day as I watched the children’s faces light up as we arrived, I could see the light that God was shining. I felt so thankful that our plans had changed.

                For our last two weeks we were moved to a different city to teach teenagers. After the previous week I felt ready and excited to meet older kids and really form bonds with students, yet somehow after my first day I left with a heavy heart. I felt like a failure. I didn’t feel like a good teacher, I didn’t feel like my students connected with me,  and I didn’t feel like I was ever going to do any good. As I sat and listened to each of my teammates talk about how much they loved their students, again I felt useless. The first few days were rough but God placed me with an amazing team that loved me. Even when I felt like a failure they reminded me that I wasn’t and that I was here for a reason. They gave me hope and reminded me to trust what God was doing. By the end of the first week everything had changed. I didn’t feel cut out to be a teacher, yet God was so faithful. He gave me the words to speak and the courage to do so. He showed me how to connect with the students even though there was a language barrier. He opened my eyes to a new kind of love and helped me form solid relationships with students.

Each person that I met in China has impacted me forever. The love that the students have for each other and the love they had for my team and I was inspiring. They were so concerned with helping us, though they barely knew us, and were willing to do whatever it took to make us happy. I want to love like that. I want to take that love from China and apply it to my life in America. I can see how God used my team and I to touch lives and shine His light into China, but I can also see how much God used His people there to touch my life and the lives of each one of my teammates. I never thought I would be able to do some of the things God brought me to, but He knew I could. And after this I feel ready for anything and excited for whatever He has next for me.  

email: amanda_j_ciofu@cornerstone.edu

by Dr. Judith Fabisch

            Moving away from bathroom words, consider the word, “awesome.”  The NIV Bible uses it some thirty-four times, almost always in conjunction with the person or works of God.  We sing, “Our God is an awesome God,” and five minutes later we talk about someone’s “awesome” hairstyle, or someone’s “awesome” vacation, or someone’s “awesome” blue jeans, equating the holy with the insignificant.  We need to remember how specifically God uses language, how particularly He chose His Son to be the Word, the exact representation of Himself here on earth, and how specifically He chooses words to express what He wants us to know.

            We need to pay attention to what we say.  God’s glory, God’s presence, God’s holiness are not less real because we lose sight of them.  Every word we speak, we speak in His presence.  Every word we speak tells our listener something about our relationship with the God of all the Universe.  We need to pay attention.  We can encourage and strengthen others, we can have conversations, both serious and light, and we can tell the stories of what God has done in our lives without coarse language.

            Our greatest strength can also be our greatest weakness.  Because I love words and use them so easily, I know that I have enormous potential to misuse them; we all do.  Let’s commit our tongues to reflecting the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives in the thoughtful ways that we use words every time our lips open to speak.

by Amena Anderson

Every semester I take a class that I don’t have to take, but instead I want to take. I enjoy learning and I like a good challenge, so I usually take a class that frightens me or interests me. When I say frighten, I mean to say that I don’t know if I have the background knowledge to do what is required of the class.

For example, I took a “Principles of Finance,” class last semester. Since I am a journalism major, that class is not required, but I felt like I should take it. I was extremely nervous because math and I don’t always get along. Growing up I always struggled in math because I had teachers whose instruction I couldn’t understand. It wasn’t until I attended a community college that I had a professor whose teaching I understood and started getting A’s on exams. But even with all those confidence building accomplishments, math and I still had a rocky relationship.

So with all that taken into consideration, I entered “Principles of Finances” hoping to just survive. I hadn’t taken the accounting class that was required in order to enroll in the course, so I was at a disadvantage compared to the other students. Because I didn’t know some of the basics, I had to work to learn what the other students already knew and learn what was being taught in the class at the same time.

Scott Morter, associate professor of business, said that finance can be intimidating because it takes a certain level of math to be able to understand.

“It’s a whole new language with the investment world,” Morter said. But, “it’s not as difficult as it seems on the surface.”

Gross profit margins, return on assets, return on equity and quick ratio are all terms I knew nothing about before I took this class. I learned about the stock market and how easy it is to understand and invest. I can watch the financial shows on television and actually understand what’s being said. But most importantly, my mind was opened up to a whole new world of understand that I had never considered. After taking that class, I endeavored to learn more because I enjoyed understanding.

“One thing that makes life worth living are challenges,” said Andy Smith, associate professor of bible.

Smith said that if a student is taking on something unfamiliar, he recommends that the student find someone who is already in that field for mentorship and encouragement.

With all the said, I hope to encourage other students to step out of their comfort zone and take a class outside of your curriculum that seems difficult to learn or that seems interesting. If you find yourself struggling, lean on the Holy Spirit for understanding. The only thing you have to lose is nothing.

by Joe Stowell

My summer had a lot of highlights, but near the top of the list is the YouTube video of Susan Boyle wowing the judges on a nationally-televised British talent show with her unlikely appearance as a singer.

Among a long menu of flashy artists, she appeared on the stage in a way less-than-fashionable get up, with way less-than-cool hair and with a lot more years than anything that stage had ever seen before. The audience and judges were understandably skeptical as they rolled their eyes with lots of “what’s-next-after-her” looks. Until, that is, she put the mike to her lips and began to sing. Wowing the crowd with the beauty of her talented voice, the scene changed dramatically as the crowd rose in thunderous cheers and as the judges were riveted with amazement written all over their faces.

I have to admit that I still don’t get tired of watching the video and more than once I’ve felt a little teary-eyed as I saw an unlikely person unlock the potential within to bless and benefit her world!

My experience with Susan Boyle has brought me once more to the realization that one of the really bad things about me—and maybe you—is my tendency to judge people by how cool they appear to be. You’d think I would have learned my lesson by now, but some things take awhile. Why is it hard for me to remember that I’ve met a lot of outwardly appealing people who when I get to know them really didn’t have much to offer from the inside. And that I have met a lot of Susan Boyle types who have surprised me with the power that emerges from within them when you get close.

Which brings me to a passion that I have for our CU community. The passion is that we will value each other regardless of appearance and believe that deep within all of us is lots of potential to benefit and bless our world—regardless of how we look on the outside. We are all different. Some of look really cool and others of us—most of us—are just average. There are even some of us who may even be a little like Susan Boyle; we look and feel like maybe we don’t quite measure up. But at CU, it’s OK, because we believe in each other and the potential that is waiting to emerge from all of our lives.

I like Jesus for a lot of reasons. But one thing that I find so compelling about him is that, to him, people matter. Regardless! No one escaped the embrace of his interest and love. From housewives to hookers, rich to poor, Jews and Samaritans, pharisees and scribes—to say nothing about sinners and tax collectors. He believed that within everyone there was great potential that He could unlock if they would simply believe and follow Him. Several really unlikely people did just that and our world has never been the same!

So let Jesus unlock your potential—rise up and follow him! And, while you’re at it, believe the same for that person on our campus who’s just a little different from you.

Ever have this nagging sense that you don’t pray enough? During my first year of college, I read “Too Busy Not to Pray” by Bill Hybels, and decided that it was time to become a real prayer warrior. My friend Steve decided to join me in my quest and we committed to wake each other up every morning at 6 a.m. for an hour of solitary prayer.

On the first morning, I woke up full of great intentions. I read some psalms, spent some time confessing my sins and pondered a glorious sunrise with genuine thanksgiving. Then I poured my heart out to God, bringing up numerous requests. When I looked down at my watch, I was deflated to realize that only 15 minutes had passed. I soldiered on, repeating a few requests and reading another psalm or to, trying gamely to make it to at least half an hour.

Steve didn’t have much success either, so we tried a different approach. We decided that we would walk around Chicago on our own, praying aloud as we walked. Again, I headed out with great intentions and quickly discovered that I was a little more self-conscious than I thought. As I walked along praying aloud, I would clam up every time I passed someone, fearful that they’d think I was talking to myself (which wasn’t uncommon with some of the street people in our neighborhood!). Strike two for my prayer life.

Here’s the problem. I had heard great testimonies about various methods of prayer and confused those methods with the ultimate goal—communicating with my Father! While those methods worked for others, they simply discouraged and frustrated me.

Finally, I decided to try a different approach. I went to the bookstore and picked up a prayer journal. Rather than recording lists of people to pray for, the journal became a place for me to write letters to my Father in heaven as I prayed. The discipline of writing my prayers as letters slowed me down long enough to think carefully about what I was praying for–without falling asleep. As a bonus, the written record of my prayer life would eventually provide great encouragement when I looked back over what I’d prayed for and how God had answered. Over the years my prayer journals record the fears of a father anticipating his first baby, the joys (and struggles) of youth ministry, and the wrestling match of countless decisions.

There’ve been some embarrassingly long gaps between some of my prayer journal entries, but I have found it to be the method that has kept me most consistently in prayer over the last 18 or 19 years. And here’s the thing; the method isn’t the point! You can pray silently in your room, pray while you walk around the pond (I promise, I won’t think that you’re talking to yourself), sing your prayers or fill up journal after journal.

But whatever you do, don’t give up until you find a way to regularly, joyfully connect with your Father!

by Katherine Wisen

Let’s face it – the Corum was made to be eaten in.

There are tables for two, and tables for four; short tables near couches and high tables near stools; big wooden tables and a small coffee shop counter top; and now, one glance out the window and you’ll see shiny new picnic tables. So many places to hold conversation, so many tables to hold plates.

So, what’s missing from this picture between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. every day?

Lunchers.

As most of you know, Food Service no longer allows students to take food out of the cafeteria. The decision, although supported by Spiritual Formation and Cornerstone’s president himself, has sparked grumbling and complaining from nearly all meal plan patrons.

Many, like CU junior Kyle Dougherty, think it’s “really dumb” that we can’t bring our food into the Corum.

Others, like freshman Carrie Carr, think it’s “stupid that we have those picnic tables and can’t use them.”

And we, the people of The Herald, can sympathize – because we want the Corum back.

We want to be able to eat cafeteria food somewhere other than at a round table. We want to be able to eat with our commuter friends who brought their own lunches. We don’t want to have to wait in the Grab and Go line for 20 minutes.

However, we also want students to know the real reasons behind Food Service’s decision.

The first reason is that Food Services is trying to get an upper hand on food waste. Cindy Wiltheiss, the director of Food Services, is a part of the Community Sustainability Partnership and said she became convicted about the amount of food that ends up in the trash.

Most of this food waste happens in the Corum, and most of the time it’s from students who bring extra food to their friends.

“I would see students carrying trays with five meals on them and it’s like, I know not all of that is going to be eaten,” Wiltheiss said.

But others feel that this problem has already been solved with another change Food Services has made recently.

“They already took away trays,” senior Jake Erickson said. “People can’t bring food to their friends anymore.”

But Wiltheiss said that, trays or no trays, extra food would still be brought out.

“Students are very creative,” she said. “They would find ways to bring extras to their friends, and then we’re back at food waste.”

And food wasn’t the only thing ending up in the trash.

“We were losing a lot of silverware,” Wiltheiss said. “You would pick up the trash bag and hear the jingling of forks. That was a major problem.”

Wiltheiss also had answers to many of our complaints.

“We encourage people to eat out on the picnic tables, and students can still eat lunch in the Corum,” she said. “You can get your food from the coffeehouse and go eat.”

Wiltheiss said Food Services has bulked up the Grab and Go menu by adding hot sandwiches, and they are currently working on a way to speed up the service.

“Our goal is that no one waits in line for more than five minutes,” she said.

But students still want more options than just Grab and Go’s selection – and Wiltheiss said nothing is set in stone.

“Give us some suggestions,” she said, adding that students give suggestions via e-mail or the ongoing surveys that will be occurring. “There are a lot of good ideas out there, and we want to hear them!”

So, fellow students, work with us to get the Corum back. Send in your suggestions, and hope for the best. But realize – we’re not going to get the Corum back if we’re throwing away food and silverware. If we want privileges, we need to be responsible with them.

I was only three years old when my parents divorced. I was too young to understand exactly what was happening, but I understood the basics. From that point on, “family” became a mess of step and half relatives.

 The strange thing about how divorce affects the children is that it affects them more each year as they grow up, not less, as with other tragedies. Psychologists call it “The Sleeper Effect.” The worst effects arise not at the time of the parent’s divorce, but at the time when the child reaches their early 20s.  Sophomore year I came to understand this.

 You see, as children of divorce grow up they start forming their own relationships and seeking to build their own families. Because a healthy marriage has not been modeled for them, they struggle. Although I have never been in a relationship of that kind, I was beginning to think of my future and—instead of pleasant dreams—I encountered fear. I feared that if I ever did marry, eventually my husband would want to divorce me, and I just could not handle that thought. Never marrying seemed like a good idea, a good way to escape harm and be safe.

 Sophomore year I realized there was a part of my heart that I was holding back from the Lord with clenched hands.

 I encountered a book entitled Generation Ex: adult children of divorce and the healing of our pain. The author, Jen Abbas, is a child of divorce herself. This book had previously gathered dust on my shelf—I considered myself “way over that” a long time ago. But the truth was that I never once grieved. The book caught my eye at just the right time my sophomore year and it led me through grieving, forgiveness, and healing—all the while pointing to God as the one to hope in. I began to learn His design and purpose for marriage and family. Through the process, most importantly, I came into a better understanding of the character of God.

 Though there may be other issues that arise if I marry, I am now prepared with how to battle those trials and identify the roots of certain buried fears. The Lord has taken my broken heart and has made me whole. I am ready now for whatever God has for me. I will marry only if my union with a man with let me know God more. If it is not God’s design for me to marry, then I will embrace the single life knowing that His love is more than enough. Through my trials I have come to understand firsthand how God truly is the only one who can fulfill our deepest needs.

 Sharing the personal struggles in my life is hard for me, but if we do not share our stories then we are not taking an opportunity to help others who may be struggling with the same hurt. The devil wants us to not talk about it, to not share how the Lord has transformed our lives. But if this testimony can help at least one person—just one person—then it makes sharing this scar worth it. If you are a child of divorce and have never come to the Lord for healing, I encourage you with all my heart to do so. The book I mentioned above I recommend to you.  Please, open your heart to your heavenly Father and let Him restore your soul.

email: anne_l_ostrander@cornerstone.edu

Though all the winds of doctrine were let loose to play upon the earth, so truth be in the field, we do injuriously by licensing and prohibiting to misdoubt her strength. Let her and falsehood grapple; who ever knew truth put to the worse, in a free and open encounter?”

– John Milton, Christian poet

The Journalism major within the Communication and Media Studies Division of Cornerstone University strives to provide a bedrock foundation of truth with a small “t” and a capital “T” as students are educated, mentored and trained in preparation for various fields of journalism.

Journalists the world over regard the searching out and reporting of truth as a guiding principle for communicating news stories and photos via print, broadcast and online media. Christian students, who possess the Truth via their relationship with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, will be encouraged to diligently seek out truth in all of their journalistic endeavors.

Scripture can serve as a guide to truth-seeking student journalists:

by Tim Devaney

It was really steamy in the locker room when Bob Becker waddled through the shower and sat down next to Joe Namath.

By the way, Bob was naked.

But that was the only way he could get the story.

Namath, a Hall of Fame quarterback, was devastated after a big loss, so he sat weeping in the shower for hours after the game. Bob waited until everyone else left, stripped and went in.

He could have been fired, maybe even jailed.

“What the (heck) are you doing here?” Namath barked at Bob when he saw him pop a squat on the floor.

Bob explained, and fortunately, they both laughed it off. Then they chatted for a while, and Bob got the story.

Not many reporters would have the guts to do that today. But then again, not many reports have the courage Bob had during his nearly 30 years as sports editor at The Grand Rapids Press.

I’ve learned a thing or two from Bob about courage. I don’t plan to strip naked and take a shower with Joe Namath next time I cover a football game, but I do plan to pave my own path with Bob’s footprints.

Footprints that taught me to do whatever it takes to get the story. Footprints that taught me to be bold. Footprints that taught me to trust myself more than the consensus opinion. And footprints that taught me the best move isn’t always the popular move.

I’ve been following Bob’s footprints to the “X” that marks the spot for two years, picking up pieces of treasured wisdom along the way.

And you won’t find anyone as passionate about sports writing as me. God touched my heart with a joy for writing I can’t explain, and I only hope you can taste my enthusiasm.

I live for this.

I live to break news. I live to paint features. I live to inject passion into my columns. And I live to be the best.

God’s given me the energy to sprint this marathon and I plan to win.

This determination is wedged inside my soul and it’s driving my efforts each day. It pushes me to go the extra mile, dare deadlines, discover ground-breaking stories and write emotional columns and jaw-dropping features.

I’m just now unwrapping God’s gift, and I haven’t fully discovered what’s inside yet. But I have a hunch it involves newspapers, and I’m excited to see how it plays out.

I’d love to write for USA Today or ESPN.com within the next 10 years and become a leading voice for sports writers in America. And it would also be exciting to write for a newspaper with regional significance to me, such as the Detroit Free Press or Boston Globe.

Journalism is still important in this nation. I believe people still want good reading, and as long as we keep it fresh, they’ll continue to read.

The newspaper is the friend people wake up with at the breakfast table. We’re the friend who delivers the bad news and comforts them while they cry. And we’re the friend who offers hope and sprinkles a little fun into each day.

We can make people laugh. What’s better than that? I love it when people start laughing so hard they can’t stop. In difficult economic times like these people need to let loose sometimes. And that’s what I provided in my “Need a side-bump?” story.

We can also share joy. That’s what I attempted in my “Katey Kingsbury Returns” column. The car accident tore apart the campus and the community felt it all – grief, shock, fear. And upon her return, I hoped to add joy to that list of emotions and spark campus-wide celebration.

I’m only one person, one journalist, one sports writer. But I’ll do everything in my power to be the best I can be for Christ’s Kingdom. And I believe He’s blessed me with the talents to do just that.

Tim Devaney is sports editor of The Herald and the winner of the inaugural $1,000 Elijah P. Lovejoy Journalism Scholarship & Commentary Writing Contest. The award is named after a pastor and newspaper editor who opposed slavery in the mid-1800s in the United States and was eventually shot and killed for his abolitionist

commentary.