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A Friendship Shaped by Covenant Community
They first became friends while cleaning toilets.
In the mid-nineties, Covenant had a program called 鈥減ractical work鈥� where students completed service hours around campus. (These days, it鈥檚 called the SERVE Program). Christine (Griebel) Baker 鈥�96 and Michelle (Williams) Harris 鈥�96 both did their practical work for B.E.S.T., the department which was responsible for cleaning the buildings around campus. Then, as today, Covenant鈥檚 culture of community encouraged student workers to develop friendships and learn to work side by side in Christian community. 鈥淲hile cleaning toilets together, we bonded over our mutual love of NYC and Billy Joel,鈥� Christine said, laughing over the memory.
Their friendship has only grown since then. They were roommates for a time after college. They were in each other鈥檚 weddings. And they鈥檝e walked with each other through times of immense joy and deep sorrow.
Christine struggled with infertility for a number of years and finally learned she was expecting a daughter in 2013. She named her Eilidh, a Scottish name meaning 鈥渞adiant one.鈥� A few months later, Michelle was unexpectedly pregnant with her fourth, also a daughter, whom she named Ellie. These girls, like their moms, are as close as sisters.
Christine and Michelle love to travel together and have done so since college. When their girls were younger, they dreamed of taking them on a Laura Ingalls Wilder tour to see the sights found in the stories they both loved as girls. In the fall of 2017, they decided their girls were old enough to go and made plans to do so. Shortly before the trip, Christine learned that Eilidh had leukemia. Instead of a trip to see the 鈥淟aura sites,鈥� Michelle and Ellie came to be with them, and supported them through the hard journey that lay ahead.
It wasn鈥檛 until 2021鈥揳fter Eilidh rang the bell announcing that her treatment was over and after the pandemic restrictions had passed鈥搕hat they were finally able to make their dream come true. In 2021, they took a road trip in the lower 鈥淟aura states鈥� including Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Kansas鈥搘here Little House on the Prairie took place. In 2022, they went to New York and saw Almanzo鈥檚 house from Farmer Boy. And in 2023, they did the rest of the 鈥淟aura states,鈥� including Minnesota, Wisconsin, and South Dakota, where On the Banks of Plum Creek and Little House in the Big Woods took place.
Christine and Michelle reflected on their time at 德赢体育 as a time that fostered and shaped their friendship with each other, teaching them what Biblical friendship looks like. Christine commented that friendships formed at Covenant are 鈥渄eep and strong.鈥� 鈥淲hen you meet someone who went to Covenant, there鈥檚 an immediate connection,鈥� she said. Michelle agreed and said that the Covenant community is 鈥渁 family鈥� and 鈥渁 small picture of what the Church is to look like.鈥�
Covenant values Christian community and strives to create a culture of lasting friendship, one that endures beyond the four years spent on the mountain. Christine and Michelle鈥檚 friendship is just one story of many that have endured throughout the years.