A daughter’s marriage, Muse Magazine, and The Beyond

When my daughter Rachel – our first born child and only daughter – was born, God laid it on my heart to kneel at her crib every evening after she had fallen asleep, to pray for her life.

My husband and I both prayed so many things for our daughter, as we did (and do) for our other four children who came after Rachel – and first and foremost is that they would come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, and that they would love Him in a real and genuine way; and that God would guide all their days, and protect them and make them kind people who love others, and that they would sense God’s hope and peace and leading of the Spirit.

And, I pray (prayed) from day one, that God would bring a wonderful, godly person into their lives to be married one day, and that He would be preparing their spouse for them.

As a mom, we think about our children’s future from the day they are born. That is, we plan for the “the beyond” at every turn of parenting, from before they are born really.
Beyond the pregnancy for a healthy birth.

Beyond waking up in the middle of the night to when they sleep through the night.

Beyond crawling to walking.

Beyond first words to sentences to reading.

Beyond kindergarten to grade school.

Beyond faith of the parents to their own faith.

Beyond high school to college to real life.

Beyond dating to marriage.

Beyond living for themselves to truly living for Christ.

As our oldest child first left home after high school to attend Bodenseehof, a Torchbearers Bible school in Germany, she had a solid, genuine, think-outside-the box walk with the Lord. I was so grateful. And God was leading her to study journalism (okay, biased here – so happy about that!)

Yet, regarding relationships, that third prayer, she said to me, “Mom, just so you know, I’ll be 30 before I get married, IF EVER.” The age part did not bother me, but the part about “if ever” regarding marriage did give me pause, (though I said nothing) – I have always wanted my children to find that special person to serve God with.

And, indeed, God did have plans for my daughter. And, before she turned 30. My Rachel was married just this last March 31, 2012 in a beautiful ceremony at The Academy Chapel in Vancouver. At the age 22.

Who would have thought? God. God knew, and, I just had to trust. I was never worried. As I had prayed for the beyond, from the day my daughter was born (and before she was born), that God would direct her days in all ways, and then we just waited. He continues to direct her and my other children.

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We look beyond in so many ways in our lives. And, of course, not just parents. Faculty consider what outcomes they would like for their students to accomplish by the end of the school year and students think about what they want to be when they “grow up” from day one.

As our Muse staff contemplated our theme for this last edition of the 2011-2012 school year, the beyond theme seemed a perfect fit. The majority of our Muse staff are seniors, and other students, faculty and staff look beyond the school year to the summer and fall.

And, we look to the beyond for the direction of Muse.

With the school’s journalism program and student newspaper sunsetted last year, and me being hired to teach-out the last classes and help launch a new student publication this past fall, so much was in the air.

So much to think about for the beyond.

Last fall, we prayed and planned and mused and toiled over this new student publication that had yet to be named. We so wanted this publication to honor God and Multnomah, and for it to be embraced as a way to share the important voice of the students. We prayed a lot. And trusted. And, God gave us our name, Muse (Multnomah University Students Engage), after much deliberation and contemplation. And, we decided to have themes each month, which has been great. We wanted our magazine to be literary and artsy and intelligent and well-read and to honor God.

I so appreciate how the student staff and others have taken ownership of Muse, and how they really want to keep this publication alive and thriving into the future. And, I am truly grateful for the way the Multnomah community has embraced Muse and how people have communicated with us and submitted stories for publication.

In a very small way, birthing words and a new publication can be compared with raising children. You pray beforehand a whole lot. You pray during a whole lot. And you pray for the future a whole lot. You dream, you create, you plan, you get on your knees. You trust.

And, just as with my kids, and God guiding, I believe God will continue to lead Muse into the future.

Into the beyond. For now. Thanks for reading and for your support. See you in the fall.

–Cornelia Seigneur has been the Editorial Director/Faculty Advisor for Muse student publication since helping launch it on October 6, 2011. She looks forward to returning as Faculty Advisor for Muse in the fall.

Reach Cornelia at www.corneliaseigneur.com or via E-mail at cornelia@corneliaseigneur.com.