Well, this morning I said "farewell" to an old friend. No, nobody died. Nobody moved away. Relatives, don't worry... Kari and I are still on good terms. But the separation anxiety I feel today is almost as intense as a death, departure, or divorce.
Yesterday was my last day of Summer vacation, ever.
I thought Summer and me had bid our goodbyes once before, in 2002 when I graduated from Oklahoma State University and moved to Dallas to work full-time while attending Dallas Seminary.
But I became reacquainted with my old friend when we decided to move to Plano last year so that I could serve at Fellowship Bible Church North and ramp-up my class load. I had forgotten how much I missed him.
It's a good thing though. Nine months from now, I'll be a seminary graduate - armed and dangerous. I'll have to work a "real job" at "real hours" for "real money," and summer vacation and I won't be able to be friends any more.
I'm sure gonna miss that guy.
If it wasn't for the sad goodbye to my friend summer vacation, today would be a great day. I love the first day of the fall semester at DTS because the campus is flooded with a new class of first-year students pursuing their dream of a Masters-level education in theology and the Bible. Many of them have stories you wouldn't believe, and are making sacrifices to be here that would give you a lump in your throat.
Too many seminary students lose that dream somewhere around third semester Greek, and it's a shame. Somewhere along the way too many of us learn to argue but forget how to love others. We learn how to be right but forget how to serve. We learn to be accurate but forget how to apply. And we learn how to write but forget how to dream. We begin to serve the god of knowledge above the God of the Bible.
There's hope on the campus today. Today I see a few hundred students with desire, passion, intensity, and a genuine love for Christ who haven't yet learned to forget that seminary can be an unbelievable extension of our worship, if we let it.
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