On December 14th, 2007 at 7PM in the Arnold T. Olson Chapel at Trinity International University, I was awarded the Master of Divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. This culminates five years of mostly full-time study while working a full-time job. It was, by far, the hardest five years of my life. It was only by God’s grace that I made it through the program, remained married, and actually learned anything. My family endured life without a father/husband during much of that time. Even during the summer breaks, I wasn’t mentally “there” and even took a Hebrew class during one of them.
But it is over. I am now a TEDS alumni with a Masters degree. I’m getting used to these strangers who live in my house and have started courting the women who lives here with me. I hear that she’s a recovering seminary widow. ;)
I am pretty sure that this is the end of formal education for me. I am not a very good student and doubt that I could make it through a Master of Theology and/or PhD program.
My family was present except for my son who was working on his finals at Wheaton. My mother and older sister came to be there and my friends Brad and Kim Anderson came too. The ceremony was great. The major graduation ceremony is in the spring. This one was smaller, only 45 Masters and Doctoral students graduating. At the end of the ceremony, the faculty surrounded the students and prayed for us and for our future ministry. There was a wonderful reception afterwards. I loved it.