Sunday, May 3, 2009

He did it! Congratulations, Geoff!!! We're proud of you!

We have had a full and wonderful weekend celebrating Geoff's graduation from Phoenix Seminary with a Masters of Divinity in Counseling and Family degree.This is the culmination of 6 years of going part time (except for the year we were in another state), while still working and maintaining family life and everything else that came along.


This is a day we had been looking forward to for some time, especially the last few months, though I hadn't really had (or taken) the time to mentally process what it all meant until the past 24 hours.

There is so much to be grateful to God for: Safety in all the traveling back and forth to Phoenix on a weekly basis over those years; Geoff's diligence in studying; not having debt; for all the family and friends who came from near and far to be with us and so many who supported us in various ways over the past 6 years.
We've been thinking about the statistics involved:
Approximately 71,000 miles of driving (about 290 miles round trip), 2100 hours in the car, 1500 hours of class time, 94 credit hours. Our first-born has tripled in age. We've added a family member, changed jobs and churches, been away for a year. And just this past month, we passed on the '93 Infiniti he drove for that whole period with 201, 000+ miles on it.

Waiting for the ceremony to begin:A word from the president: Spouses were included in the ceremony. He graduated with "highest honor."Wayne Grudem praying for the graduates:Family came from near and far:Some who made the 5 hour round trip drive to be there:More family:And a nice reception afterwards:There was a breakfast for the graduates at the seminary Friday morning at 8am. We left our home at 5:30am and met Grandma there, who took the kids and kept them busy for a few hours. After that, we met back up with them and were eventually joined by my mom and dad who flew in from Indiana that morning, for lunch. The kids went swimming for a bit, then had some quiet time (and a little nap for L) while Geoff went to the rehearsal. We all met up again at the graduation a little before 7pm and got back to the hotel at 10:15pm. As you can see, this one was wiped out.

5 comments:

  1. Congratulations to the entire family - as this definitely was a united endeavor!

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  2. It all seems kind of surreal. That last pictures sums it all up.

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  3. Congratulations! Finally an end for all the hard work- or is that a new beginning? LOL!

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  4. Yay!!! Congrats to all of you!

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  5. Geoff - Dude, did you trip on the stage or what??? Congrats!!! You're a stud!!! So, now that you're a family counselor... Mary is really getting on my nerves... What should I do? This conversation is private, right? Patient client confidentiality or something??? - Dan

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