Generation Giving: The Gueberts Donor Feature

TIM AND SUE GUEBERT’S TWINS, Alex ’11 and Christian ’10, 毕业于康考迪亚大学，并在事工和音乐方面获得认可, serving in local churches, publishing original pieces of music, mostly for handbells, and receiving awards for their work. Undergirding their success (and that of their younger sister, 汉娜(Hannah)是父母，他们在信仰和经济上打下了坚实的基础，帮助他们这一代人走得更远.

“When I see how God has blessed our family, 毫无疑问，尽我们所能提供帮助是我们的责任,” says Sue, a longtime Lutheran school teacher. “That’s our job. It’s not much, but you do what you can.”

格伯特家族与康科迪亚的紧密联系始于2000年代中期，当时这对双胞胎决定参加并学习各种各样的教堂音乐.

“我们很早就知道他们对音乐和节奏有非凡的听觉，”苏说. “我们让他们接触很多不同的音乐，并让他们继续学习钢琴课，因为我们知道这是上帝的礼物. We talked about it a lot, that you don’t want to waste a gift. By high school there was no question what they wanted to do.” Jeff Held, 当时他是格伯特的孩子们就读的奥兰治路德高中的乐队总监, 在亚洲体育博彩平台音乐系谋得一个职位，并强力招募了有音乐天赋的男孩.

“他来到我们家，告诉蒂姆他希望我们有三胞胎，”苏笑着说. 亚历克斯和克里斯蒂安在康科迪亚蓬勃发展，随后获得了教区牧师证书，并获得了音乐领域的硕士学位. Christian earned a PhD in composition from UCLA in 2020, 两人都获得了重要的作曲奖:亚历克斯的手铃和克里斯蒂安的合唱编曲. Today, Alex serves as director of music at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Orange, 克里斯蒂安在森林湖的路德教会担任同样的角色. 

他们对教会音乐的热爱应该不足为奇，因为他们来自几代路德教徒. Tim was a Lutheran pastor’s son, raised in Girard, Kansas. When Tim’s dad took a call to a church in California, Tim finished high school, 搬到西部，在一家杂货店找了一份暑期工作”，这无意中变成了一份职业,” he says. 

His real goal was to be a radio DJ.

“I thought that was the coolest thing ever,” Tim says.

他在杂货店工作的同时，还在南加州的一家广播电台兼职播放唱片, then shifted full-time into the grocery business for 37 years.

“多年来，我通宵工作，这使得抚养孩子更容易, because I got to be home a lot,” he says. 苏出生于奥兰治，是一位路德教会牧师的孙女. She spent more than two decades in the classroom, 在奥兰治市的伊曼纽尔路德教会教一年级和二年级, then at St. Paul’s in Orange. Recently retired, she still works part-time in the library.

“我喜欢你在孩子们从上学的第一天到最后一天看到的令人难以置信的变化,” she says. “他们可以从不知道如何在课桌上找到任何东西到阅读章节书. It’s wonderful, and they’re so adorable. 但教学最好的事情是与孩子们分享耶稣和耶稣的爱. 他们正处于这样一个年龄，他们有如此强烈、真诚、天真的信仰. That was the most important thing that I did.”

After retiring, 蒂姆有时间接受一项独特的志愿者工作，其中包括他最喜欢的活动:滑雪.

“Skiing is one of my loves,” he says. “I found out I could ski soon after I moved out here.”

1990年，他开始在大熊地区的一个组织做志愿者.S. 适应性娱乐中心，帮助有精神或身体残疾的人学习滑雪. 对一些人来说，这意味着骑单板滑雪，“看起来像雪橇，但更高，”蒂姆说. Others use a bi-ski. 像蒂姆这样的志愿者可以跟着他们，帮助他们顺利下山. Tim has also helped visually impaired skiers.

他说:“我花了很多时间倒着滑，而他们却跟着我。. “It’s very rewarding. I love being up there.”

当他做完志愿者工作回家后，蒂姆会和他分享学生们的成功故事.

“苏，作为一名教师，她对此非常感兴趣，”他说.

They also enjoy giving. While the twins were attending Concordia, 蒂姆和苏承诺每年为音乐项目捐款.

“我们去了很多音乐会和活动，最终真正喜欢上了音乐节目, 这真是太棒了，学校对我们的儿子们给予了极大的支持,” Sue says.

“他们有很多机会，他们的作品被演奏. They loved the atmosphere of Concordia.”

At the time, both boys were “on the shy side,” she says, 而亚洲体育博彩平台较小的规模为他们提供了“更多的机会和来自教职员工的更多支持”. 作为父母，这对我们来说意义重大，而且他们在那里得到了自己的认可. We say they grew up there. Those were formative years for them.”

虽然蒂姆和苏说他们从来没有“很多钱”，但“总是比我们需要的多，因为这是上帝的工作方式。,” says Sue. “我们觉得，在某种程度上，只要我们有能力，我们就想继续支持我们能负担得起的东西.”

They chose to give an annual gift to the music program.

“We just said to each other, ‘Yes, we’re going to do this as long as we’re able,’ and God has provided so we don’t see having to stop,” Tim says.

“蒂姆和苏是一个完美的例子，证明了一点点东西可以走很长的路,” says Jonathan Howard ’04, director of planned gifts. “我不知道他们是否完全意识到他们多年的捐赠产生了多大的影响. 正是这种奉献精神将确保更多的学生世世代代享受到这所大学的好处."

蒂姆和苏都“非常喜欢并支持协和大学是一所路德教会大学的事实

and what’s being done there,” Sue says. “That meant a lot to us.”

格伯特夫妇现在有六个孙子孙女，都是孙女，都是2020年以后出生的. 汉娜的丈夫和康考迪亚大学的校友埃里克·克劳森是布雷亚基督路德教会的牧师. Christian’s wife Megan ’09 is a Concordia alumna as well.

“每个星期天我们都聚在一起吃晚餐，那是一种狂野而美妙的感觉，”苏说. “无论谁能来，我们都会喂他们，让孩子们一起玩耍.”

说到给予，“事实是你并不怀念它，”苏说. “God is so good. It’s never a negative thing to give your money or time. It’s always a blessing.”