If you took time this week to pray for York College: Thank you. If not, there is no time like the present! We believe prayer changes things because if there was ever a visible demonstration of God's response to prayer, it is York College.

I​t's great to have faculty members that really care. It is what defines this place.

Just one example is Dr. Milton Eckhart. Dr. Eckhart is a MD who had been preaching in Colorado. He and his wife Holly assist with medical missions in Haiti as well as a preacher training school. He applied for a position in our science department a few years ago. At the time he applied, he also had opportunity to go to a much larger school for a better salary and be closer to his aging parents.

I have opportunity to visit with a lot of prospective students during the year. I always mention our mission and how it impacts us, mainly due to the size of the school.

We know each other.

It is hard to convey to people who are just looking for a good place to get an education what a difference it makes to be in an environment where people know you personally (not just your name) and care about you (not just your grades).

We just completed the first chapel of the semester. It is so encouraging to have students back and engaged in our lives.
We talked a bit about the world we live in and how it is increasingly negative, but that here, we can create an environment that is positive and supporting.

After chapel two young men approached me (separately). One indicated that he had encountered several deaths of loved ones during the summer and that he needed to be with family. He then clarified that, "I needed to be here with THIS family." The second young man said that he had been thinking about the same things and that he wanted to work together to make our culture and experience here positive and uplifting for everyone. What a great heart.

Last Friday we were blessed to feed one of the women's athletic teams at our house. At the end of the evening the coach asked the girls to share a hero, an inspiring moment and a hardship they had to endure. The hardships they shared were poignant and revealed the pain that this world is inflicting. I listened to stories of mental illness, abuse, loss of fathers and mothers, physical injuries and a host of other situations these young women have endured in their lives. Their courage and desire to find something better for the future became my inspiring moment.

Going away to college for the first time (or the second in the case of transfer students) is an emotional experience for families. Probably more so for parents. Each year at Parent Orientation I talk to incoming student's parents about some of the challenges they and their student will face. Here are the top 12 tips I always tell parents on the momentous day when they will drive away and leave their students behind...