One minor goal was to get Oreo and our family van back to Indiana. Oreo flew in her pink crate on Missionary Flights International's old DC 3 ...
Our van was waiting for us in Fort Pierce, Florida and we were able to head north just minutes after departing the plane.
(Our family will be hightailing it out of Haiti at the end of May directly to Indiana for our niece's wedding and we didn't want to be encumbered with a long drive or a doggy companion.)
Our second day of driving brought us to Waleska, Georgia. Reinhardt University is there, but our purpose was to spend a few hours catching up with my old seminary pal, Jamie Hudgins, who is now working there in campus ministry. It had been YEARS since I last saw Jamie and it was a great visit. Reinhardt, though, is a bit out of Caleb's preferred range of schools. We are looking for something within a few hours of Columbus, Indiana - where both Grandmas and a gaggle of aunts and uncles and cousins live.
We got to Indiana in time to attend our home church, CCC, for Sunday morning service. Caleb got to hang out a bit with his big cousin, Alex. After church, Grandma Gross treated Caleb and me and my brother Spencer's family to lunch at our favorite local Mexican restaurant - a good way to power up for our hectic week ahead.
Our first stop on an early, cold, and rainy Monday morning was Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky.
We took the official tour and attended chapel but then had the pleasure of spending a few hours with one of Asbury's top salesmen, Justin Spoon. His enthusiasm for the school (where he is just finishing up his freshman year) is absolutely contagious. Justin's mother, Robyn, is now a member of the Cowman School Board but is best known in my family as the one responsible for setting Melissa and me up on a blind date over 18 years ago.
After leaving the University, I couldn't resist crossing the street to wander down memory lane through Asbury Seminary - a very formative place in my life. Here we are with John Wesley:
We decided to end our first day of college visits with an overnight stay in Cincinnati. We arrived early enough to catch a showing of Black Panther. The seats were awesome but the movie could not possibly live up to all the hype...
The next day it was on to Cedarville University in Ohio, another Christian school. They had a fairly large group on campus for visitation and their presentation was pretty slick.
Chapel was like attending a mega-church staffed and attended exclusively by college students. (I haven't decided yet if that observation is meant as a compliment or a slam.)
We got to sample quite a bit of college cafeteria food throughout our week. I thought Cedarville's was one of the best.
Caleb's eyes lit up at the thought of getting to classes on a skateboard.
His eyes lit up even bigger with each sports complex we visited. I noticed athletic options were a big selling point with each school. Caleb can't wait for intramural basketball...
On Day 3, we visited two schools. The first was my alma mater, Wabash College. (Still cold and rainy!)
We sat in on a physics class. Caleb was impressed with the professor's knowledge and the research he is currently involved in.
During our campus tour, we had to stop in at the chapel. Even though Wabash is definitely NOT a Christian school, I have a lot of great memories associated with this spot, including my brother's wedding.
After a quick lunch at Wabash, we headed south to Terre Haute and Rose Hulman, a school for STEM nerds. This was our most expensive prospect - ringing in at $63,000 per year.
Caleb was most impressed with Rose Hulman's giant garage, where you can find nerds working on a variety of projects amid organized chaos.
Again, Rose is a secular campus, but the chapel, perched on the edge of a tranquil little lake, is a place of beauty and peace.
Back at home base, Grandma Trudy's house, Caleb found some time in the evenings to do a bit of guitar practice in the backyard.
Day 4 took us to our biggest campus - and cheapest option (since we maintain our Indiana residency), Purdue University. 40,000 students. We were especially glad to have Caleb's good friend Matthew along for the day. Maybe they could be roommates together here??
At the end of the day we had a few minutes for some ice cream with my cousin Jennifer's son, David, a current Purdue sophomore. He gave us the inside scoop on student life and the engineering program and the wonder of internships.
Day 5 took us to our final stop, Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. Our schedule and the schedule of my best friend from college days, Mark Kline, just happened to miraculously align so that he joined us on this leg of our roadtrip. Mark lives in California but his daughter will be attending Taylor this coming fall.
One last tour ...
Another great chapel ...
And more college food ...
And suddenly our tour was over. We had covered 1,700 miles and seen 6 campuses. Each one had its legitimate bragging points and numerous students and admissions officers reassured Caleb that it was perfectly normal to not be decided on a major by the end of your junior year in high school. Honestly, I think he could be happy and find great friends and a great education at any of these schools. His decision may boil down to scholarship availability ... and we're ok with that because these are good schools.
I came away with so much excitement for Caleb's future. I think he's going to have an awesome experience and INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITIES of every shape and size. I have never felt that we have harmed our kids socially or academically or spiritually by moving our family to Haiti, but I have to admit that I feel a bit guilty at times over the limitations that life in a third world country has necessarily imposed on each of our kids. (This weekend Facebook has been inundated with prom pictures snapped by friends and family members in Indiana and I have VERY mixed emotions.)
Anyway, to get our minds off big life decisions and unknown futures (and the accompanying price tags), we hit the theater for another Marvel film - the latest Avengers saga. Our friends and family members back in Haiti still have not gotten over their jealousy...
Our final Sunday morning in Indiana just happened to coincide with a special "homecoming" service at the Shelbyville UM Church I grew up in, so Mom and I decided to attend. I was so glad we did.
My little brother Russ and his son Jacob surprised us with their presence, too. There were plenty of old friends to catch up with and a real belt-breaker of a potluck lunch after worship. A great ending to our week!
Monday morning saw Grandma Trudy driving us to the airport in Indianapolis at 4:15 to catch our flight to Miami and then on to Cap Haitien.
Amos was waiting at the Cap Haitien airport with the "cattle truck"...
And at 1:15 p.m. - exactly 9 hours after stepping out Trudy's door - Caleb and I were at our own front door, happy and exhausted.
Our family is blessed to have some incredible prayer support and as Caleb - 17 years old as of this weekend - stands at the threshold of some major life decisions, I would like to request some prayers specifically for him (and for Melissa and me as we spend one last year with our firstborn under our wings). Please pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance and for wisdom and peace and provision along the way.
Even as we celebrated Caleb's birthday yesterday, I could feel the ground shifting under our feet. Things are changing. But God is good and, I believe, the best is yet to be.
Awesome report! Awesome trip!!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a great adventure!
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