The Freshman BBQ

Tonight, the cafeteria was closed, prompting me to head over to the SOS barbecue and join the miles-long line of incoming freshmen and their parents who are currently traipsing around campus during orientation.

I watched the students. They look young -- like high schoolers, but with bright eyes and better vocabularies. But they look distinctly "Biolan." They have an innocence and a purity about them that you just don't see from jaded high school students, used and abused sorority girls.

Some of them had their hair pulled back and wore jeans and t-shirts -- t-shirts from summer camps and mission trips, from volunteer days and 10k runs.

They talked to their parents about school stuff -- like anatomy labs, like meeting up with moms during school weeks for coffee after the women's Bible study. They talked intelligently and respectfully. They smiled at strangers.

The parents, though they look wide-eyed and lost too, cling close to their children. One dad held his daughter's hand.

I can see why it's hard for them to let go, because some of these freshmen entering Biola are the greatest kids ever. They're the youth group leaders, the band members, the mentors, the camp counselors, the compassionate volunteers, the brave young missionaries. These parents believe their kids are special. And just from seeing these kids' eyes, I know they're right.

These kids have faith that's real. And I just hope that these next few years at Biola will only serve to strengthen that.