I arrived early Thursday morning. The School of Christian Ministry’s Oasis in Taylor Chapel was quiet—still, except for the whisper of memory. Empty seats waiting for voices. Walls remembering laughter. A room waiting for words.

I sat there, before I spoke, before the crowd came, and I remembered.

I remembered myself, decades ago, as an Emmanuel student. I remembered faces—some I can still name, others I can only feel. I remembered chapel gatherings that shaped me, songs that became prayers, and prayers that became stories I still tell.

Then I focused on the present—

that room, that morning—

preparing for a few days of visiting memories and crafting new ones.

So many students and former students. So much joy. So many conversations and tears and hope and beginnings. So many prayers whispered in corners and shouted in praise. So many songs sung, declaring that God is near—even when we didn’t feel Him, even when we didn’t know what came next.

This weekend—Emmanuel’s Homecoming—felt like a reunion of time itself: Friday, Saturday, Sunday—moments mingling. Past and present shaking hands. Stories still alive, echoing through that room and many more, carried in hugs and laughter and the scent of food.

We gathered for Homecoming—students, faculty, staff, alumni, board members. We shared meals and memories. We clapped for awards. We cheered at ball games. We sang familiar songs. We told old stories and started new ones. We talked and listened and ate again.

Before the gatherings, I shared my heart with Emmanuel’s board and decision-makers—words of hope, faith, and a vision of what could be next. Because this place, this Emmanuel, continues to live up to its name: God with us.

That truth holds weight when I look back over my almost two decades of serving here as Campus Pastor. Twenty years of conversations that matter. Twenty years of tears and laughter and prayer. Twenty years of students who became friends, who became leaders, who became the next wave of voices telling the same story: God is here.

And as I sat in that chapel before and in many other places after others arrived for the weekend, I wondered—Do we notice? Do we see how present He has been through every celebration and every storm? Do we remember that He still walks among us, in classrooms, dorm rooms, and gym floors?

Homecoming reminded me why we come and why we go, what really matters, why many return. Because Emmanuel—God with us—has been, and is, and will continue to be.

The question is not whether He will stay. The question is whether we will notice. Whether the time together will help us remember He is here.

The weekend concluded on Sunday with my Goldmine family—a morning of worship, prayer, fellowship, and a sermon. A Sunday evening of honoring staff. More food, more conversations, more appreciation.

The weekend ended, and I smiled—grateful. For years long ago. For the present reality. For a future of opportunities.

Isn’t that the right way to remember and reflect and rejoice? Appreciating days gone by. Accepting present responsibility. Anticipating what is waiting.

I’m not as young as I used to be. And that is okay. The weekend reminded me: God is good. He is with us. These years and decades—those speeding in the fast lane—are moments to cherish.

I’m trying not to miss them.

I don’t want you to miss them either.

There’s so much good around us. God really is with us.