To God be the glory, I graduated from Colorado Christian University!!

   Today I graduated from Colorado Christian University!  I now have a second B.A. in Youth Ministry, and I give thanks to God!

   (I edited this piece at a much later time.  I was so tired that evening, it is amazing I was able to write a coherent piece.)

   This accomplishment is a dream come true!

   Boy, in this fallen world, going for dreams requires much sacrifice, yet being obedient to God, going by His loving guidance and encouragement, results in goodness.

   CCU is a great university, and graduating summa cum laude is due to God enabling me to persevere during the smooth times as well as the rough times.

   I have a passion for learning about God, and I went all out in my studies at CCU!  I gave it my all!  In four and a half years as a part-time student, I think I only missed three classes, though it may have been four.  

   CCU is academically challenging.  In the course of my studies over four and a half years, I wrote 187 pages worth of papers, not counting bibliography pages and cover pages obviously.  There were countless sacrifices.  For Thanksgiving my first year, after three days of distributing flyers in a Denver neighborhood that week to make some needed money, I spent the bulk of Thanksgiving Day working on a history paper.  Then there was my birthday which is always near final exam time.  My first year, I spent much of my birthday working on a fifteen page paper for my Biblical Interpretation class.

   Giving it my all, I could not go another semester, yet on the flip side, I feel totally ready to teach Bible.  I only was able to do what I did because of God.

   My CCU adventure has been one of the best and most unique things I have done.  Starting at age 41, and having graduated from the great Virginia Tech, the "rational" thing for me to do would have been to study at a seminary.  However, years before, I gained a desire to study at CCU, because of the devotion to CCU by my mentor and friend, Dr. David Beckman.

   After applying, I was starting to question whether I had made the correct decision.  I gained unique affirmation from God, of all places, during my lunch period at my part-time job, from the head manager of the entire store.

   And there was affirmation to carry on, which happened when I was extremely frustrated about something which happened during the second semester of my first year.  I was standing in a corner of my room praying.

   If you go for a dream, and if you have God's affirmation, I have learned to do it even if it seems a little crazy.  I know I had God's blessing to study at CCU!

   Colorado Christian University is a special school, an inter-denominational university, which is rare for an evangelical university.  How special there are students and professors from a vast variety of denominations and doctrinal convictions, all learning together at the same college.  Being inter-denominational obviously has it challenges.  Student and professor convictions were across the spectrum.  For example, one professor, who I like, who is no longer teaching undergrad at CCU, taught that the biblical book of Jonah is fictional.  He said it is the only one of the sixty-six books which is fictional.  He claimed the book of Jonah is meant to be a lengthy biblical parable.  That is one example of some of the variety of teaching you have at CCU.  I add that I spoke up giving evidence which supports Jonah being non-fiction.

   I had some disagreements with some of the professors over the course of my time there, but the key about CCU is that almost all professors allow all students in class to give his or her opinion.  I think this is a needed standard for good inter-denominational teaching.  And permitting students to express themselves, in my view, is the only enriching forum for education.  To allow open discussion fosters learning for those who genuinely seek the truth.
   I have heard of Christian colleges and seminaries where students are not permitted to discuss disagreements in class.  I would never recommend such colleges, since there is a difference between preaching and teaching.  Teaching needs to involve discussion, and there needs to be the acceptance, even by professors, that not everyone is going to agree.

   Unlike my first undergraduate degree years ago, I entered CCU knowing my passion.  The key to my success, first and foremost, was the fact I was studying what I have a passion for.  Though some classes veered away from my passion, wild enough, I was engaged in the entire learning process.  I honestly believe only God was able to be me in such a position for four and a half years.

   And there were some extraordinary classes!  And a professor can make or break a class, and CCU has many special professors!

   My favorite class was my New Testament survey class.  In retrospect that is ironic, because that class was my first semester.  Yet it set me off to a good start.  The adjunct professor made the class fun!  Most people in the class liked him.  And New Testament is my grand subject.

   The biggest surprise: "Research Writing" taught by Dr. Windy Petrie.  This class benefited me more than any other class in the long run.  I like to write.  Dr. Petrie taught basic writing principles!  Learning those lessons, my writing improved in an epic manner.

   What was the best part of CCU?  The students.  I love my fellow students at CCU!

   And I thank Jesus for enabling me to be a loving big brother-in-Christ with numerous students.  Seriously, a primary hope for me as I prepared to enroll at CCU was that I wanted to be an encouraging big brother-in-Christ to at least one student in some special way.  I was, in unique ways, to several students.  It was God who put me in a special position to be a big brother, being twice as old as most students, and having been a Christian for nearly two decades.

   Even on the second day of classes, there was a freshman who was perplexed about something discussed in a class, maybe even disturbed.  I had the opportunity to comfort her with an explanation, and the opportunity to encourage her.  That would be the first of many opportunities to encourage.

   And the outstanding moral standards exemplified at CCU are not for the sake of showing off.  CCU moral standards are about living a life that is good, resulting in more and more love poured out for God and for other people.  Sin blocks love.  Living God's way results living by true love.  We people at CCU are human.  Yet I experienced Christ's love from students and faculty throughout my years there.  There was both forgiveness for my wrongs from some others, and forgiveness from me.

   One huge blessing at CCU was my job in the CCU library for three years and four months.  I liked working in the library in a big way, because I liked helping students, and I liked seeing the oodles of cool biblical books we have.  I worked darn hard in that job, and I miss serving students already.

   I am thankful to the Director of the CCU Library, Gayle, who gave me a huge compliment at our Christmas party, saying that I offered the best customer service of any student worker since she had been at that library.  Also the going away gift, a CCU blanket, is great and useful.

   Then there was my tutoring job.  The privilege of tutoring students for New Testament and Old Testament general education classes for one year was one of the most blessed activities of my life.  I only did it for one year, since I could not continue to give my all to my course work and to the tutoring.  Yet for one year it was an incredible CCU experience.  Supporting students in a manner which fit my passion was awesome, and I thank each student who worked with me to learn more about the Bible.

   There were challenges being an old and single student at CCU that I would never have imagined, since some people were uncomfortable with a student my age, 41, who is single.  I know in my heart I would have been treated differently if I had been married.

   However, had I been married, I would have never gone for such a second degree, because it would have been too much for me to be devoted to a wife and devoted to getting a second degree.  I am an all out kind of guy.

  And God used the unique circumstance for good.  Having the dream of doing vocational ministry work, and the dream of being married one day, I have confidence that my CCU education will contribute to both of those dreams, even after such a long wait.

   I want to thank every single person who supported me on this challenging journey!  I give a special thanks to those who supported me all along, and I was thankful I took the opportunity to personally name them in my Christmas letter.

   And I am grateful to those who came last night to the graduation banquet: Mom, sister Holly, Becky and Dave.

   Today after my last final exam, I went out to the edge of the duck pond and cried!  Then I gave God the glory for enabling me to flourish at CCU.  Then I knelt and prayed.

   After my time beside the duck pond, I went to the classroom where I had my second class at CCU, starting on Monday morning, August 25, 2008.  That was the New Testament survey class.  I sat in the exact chair where I sat for the whole semester.  Then I went to the classroom where I had my first class at 8:00 am that same Monday morning, a great American history class!  I sat down in my same seat and said the Lord's Prayer.  It was an incredible time of acknowledging the finish.

   For my success at Colorado Christian University, I say, "To God be the glory!!!"

love, Hunter

[Picture from the fantastic spring CCU graduation, which I attended, after having graduated mid-year!  A happy alumnus!!]

Note in retrospect: The fact that I was even able to write this shows how excited I was.  Originally written on that Thursday evening, this is what had taken place before:

The mid-semester graduation banquet was Wednesday the 19th.  Then Thursday the 20th, I had my last final exam.  Though drained, against all odds, I aced it.  Quite rare to get a 100% on a final.  I could even feel myself fading near the end of the exam.  Yet I went for it.  I was one of the last students left in the classroom when I handed in the exam.

Then I went on an afternoon outing with my mom.  We did not return until it was dark.

Then I somehow wrote this piece, which has since been edited, since I rambled a bit :)

   Honestly, looking back, succeeding at CCU was against all odds!

   I remain ever thankful for God's help!