In this issue of Biola Magazine, the alumni board is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s Alumni of the Year Awards. These great alumni were recognized in chapel on Feb. 27, 2015, along with our current class of Golden Eagles, those alumni who graduated 50 years ago in 1965 or before. It was a great day!

What makes me most excited about these awardees is not their amazing accomplishments, their cultural impact or their deep wisdom and insights — characteristics of several on the list. No, what makes me most excited about our  alumni award winners is the commitment that each of them has to the work of Christ’s kingdom in their everyday lives. Now that’s true success!

As alumnus Michael Horton (’87) has identified in this issue of Biola Magazine, our calling as Christians is not primarily to “make a difference” or to change the world. Instead, we’re called to be content and obedient in the vocations God has given to each of us as disciples of Christ. And a key part of that is being faithful and seeing value in the ordinary, unglamorous moments of life — going to work, caring for our children, feeding and housing our family, attending or teaching a Bible study, or even taking the car in to get new tires. Ordinary faithfulness, not extraordinary superstardom, is the true defining characteristic of the Christian life.

Perhaps what makes me most excited is that nominations for the awardees came from family members, friends or outside observers who have identified faithfulness as a primary attribute in their work and service. This year’s list includes pastors, missionaries, educators, medical service providers, writers and counselors. And while some of these people have received accolades for their work and are publicly recognized as leaders in their profession, most are not. It is our desire as an alumni office to honor alumni of all vocations, callings and visibility levels for their faithfulness — the same faithfulness that so many of you, our nearly 65,000 alumni, demonstrate every day.

So, thank you! I sincerely want to congratulate and encourage each of you for your faithful work in the daily grind of ordinary life. Not a day goes by here in the alumni office where I don’t hear of inspiring — and usually uncelebrated or unacknowledged — work of Biola alumni around the world. And we want to hear more of those stories. If you have a story to tell of someone who you know who has demonstrated faithfulness, let us know, and let them know that you see it too. It’s the perfect time to honor someone for their everyday work and service.

Even better, nominate someone for next year’s alumni awards. We would love to celebrate their “success” with you. For together we are alumni for life!

To tell your story or the story of someone you want to recognize — or to nominate someone you know for next year’s alumni awards — email us at alumni@biola.edu.