May 10, 2008

Our day began fairly early...around 6:15 we crawled out of our cozy beds and Greg, Ryan, Allison, and I headed back to Lynchburg. I had time to enjoy a cinnamon crunch bagel and decaf coffee (Panera) before arriving at the soccer field at about 7:45. I met lots of other great grads during the llooonnnggg wait for the processional. Thank God for lots of sunshine and perfect temperatures! By 8:45 or so we began to wind our way through the soccer field around to William's Stadium. By about 9:15 I was in my seat, and the 1st ceremony began just after 9:30. Chuck Norris did a good job, considering it was his first commencement speech. It was more of a personal testimony than a challenge to graduates, but it was interesting, nonetheless. The music was excellent, as always at Liberty. Sounds of Liberty is a 6 member vocal group that has very tight harmony. They usually do contemporary/worship music. The choir does a lot of acapella pieces, and they did a great job, also. Charles Billingsly is an artist in residence at Liberty. He is the worship leader at Thomas Road Baptist Church, and he sang "You Raise Me Up". He has a powerful voice. I can't remember what he sang last year, but it was incredible, as well.
Senator Jesse Helms' wife and daughter were there, and his daughter presented an award to the late Jerry Falwell. His sons received it in his place.
The ceremony lasted approx. an hour, then we were off to the DeMoss Center (the building with huge white pillars) for the ceremony for the Center for Counseling and Family Studies. That ceremony was probably more special to me because the setting was more intimate and I was able to meet distance learning classmates and professors, as well as the founders of the LU counseling program and current dept. heads. Dr. Tim Clinton (founder and president of the American Association of Christian Counselors and LU professor) spoke, and gave an excellent challenge. After taking some outdoor photos and spending a little more time in the campus bookstore, we left for a "celebration" dinner at Logan's Roadhouse. Around 4 p.m. we loaded into the minivan for the 9.5 hour trip home! Mom and Dad left for Richmond where they would trade that pretty silver Marquee for a plane trip back through D.C. and then land in Dayton. About 1:30 a.m. Sunday, we pulled into our garage, thrilled to be back home safe and sound. We logged approx. 1300 miles and spent way too much money in gas, but it was a good time and we enjoyed it!