A few weeks ago on November 1 – All Saints’ Day, I stood by the picnic tables outside Rohlwing Commons and looked toward I-70 and the rock outcropping above. Across the highway you’ll find a rest area with Wilmore Lake – fed by a natural spring and supposedly boasting lake trout, brown trout, and largemouth bass. But that’s not what I was looking at.
My eyes were fixed on a cross – a cross affixed to the end of a metal culvert – with water flowing from Wilmore Lake out to the Eagle River. On that cross are the names of three Saints – Vail Christian High School and Jesus Christ’s – Dick Gyde, Lauren Mutter, and Dan Rohlwing.
As we celebrate our school’s 25th Anniversary it’s important to pause and reflect upon the men and women on whose shoulders we stand. Without each, Vail Christian High School wouldn’t be the amazing school we are today! Dick Gyde was a courageous Board Chair and stalwart VCHS friend. Lauren Mutter ’05 served as a coach and administrator, and played a major role in helping create the highly relational and fun-loving faculty and student culture we have today. And Pastor Dan Rohlwing (and his wife Kathy) had the vision and spiritual calling to establish Vail Christian High School.
When the new school campus along the Eagle River opened in 2006, Dan Rohlwing referred to it as ‘Living Waters’, and referenced the words of Jesus in John’s Gospel – If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ And today, ‘rivers of living water’ flow through the past lives of Dick Gyde, Lauren Mutter, and Dan Rohlwing.
Serving as the graduation speaker for the Class of 2018, Pastor Rohlwing shared from a passage in Deuteronomy – The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. He described the passage as words of action and urged each graduate to later in their lives ‘look back and say, what a story God has given me.’
As we approach Thanksgiving, my heart is filled with gratitude for ‘what a story God has given us.’ As we celebrate 25 years of God’s faithfulness toward VCHS, we also do it by honoring and celebrating the lives of His Saints!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Steve O'Neil
Head of School
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