Profile

by Allison Brandow

"He said, 'If no one else in the world loved you, I would still love you'.... It was as clear to me...as any revelation you hear."

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Forget French Fries,
Prof Made to Teach, Love God

Debi Miller attends most of her daughter Melissa's volleyball and basketball games. Here, they pose together at Dr. Miller's parents' 50th wedding anniversary.
--Debi Miller, photo

Debi Miller slid into a booth at Muchas Gracias restaurant in Vancouver, Wash., while her daughter, Melissa, claimed a spot on the other side of the table.

As they settled in, her husband, Roger, walked up carrying a tray of kid's order burrito meals and a plate of corn chips.

After each person grabbed a plate, Dr. Miller, teacher education program director at Multnomah Bible College, prayed. Then everyone began devouring the meal.

The Muchas Gracias lunch is a common Sunday afternoon treat for the Millers. They usually head to the restaurant after church.

Conversation at the table ranged from Melissa's retreating illness to coordinating clothing to schedules. Mr. Miller commented on the excessive grease on the chips while downing many of them.

In the midst of the chips lay a shriveled, fried, white something. As the Millers finished eating and began to clean up the table, they debated what the object was.

Melissa dared her dad to eat it, maintaining that the object was a French fry that had fallen into the chips. When Mr. Miller refused, Dr. Miller plucked up the object and placed it in her mouth.

Then she agreed with Melissa; it was a French fry. And eating it was no big deal.

Unlike eating an indistinguishable French fry, much in Dr. Miller's life is a big deal to her. She loves her family, students, animals, exercising and, most of all, God.

Dr. Miller's passion for God began in sixth grade when she accepted Christ at vacation Bible school. Then she entered several tumultuous years of junior high that eventually brought her even closer to God.

One day in eighth grade, Dr. Miller arrived home from a hard day at school and could not get in the house. As she waited, feeling completely alone, she heard God speak.

"He said, ÔIf no one else in the universe loved you, I would still love you,'" Dr. Miller said. "It was not audible, but it might as well have been. It was as clear to me, and as clearly God to me, as any revelation you hear.... He has been the lover of my soul every day since."

Dr. Miller's desire to follow God led her to attend George Fox University, where she studied to become a teacher. At George Fox, she met her husband, Roger, and they married on Dec. 3, 1983, after Dr. Miller's final college term.

"She has a very close relationship with God," Mr. Miller said. "It's the most important thing to her. It's one of the things, even 25 years ago, that I admired greatly, was her commitment to God, her commitment to prayer, her commitment to Bible reading. And that is still true today."

Dr. Miller began a career in teaching. Her two children, Grant and Melissa, arrived in 1988 and 1989. After Dr. Miller taught English at Hope Christian School in Aloha, Oregon, the Millers founded Vancouver Christian High School in Vancouver, Wash.

"I think teaching chose me," Dr. Miller said. "I had the innate desire to teach others, and also, I had a passion for learning...and confirmation [of my calling] from people who knew me best."

She returned to George Fox in 1996 for her master's degree and in 2003 for her doctorate in education. As she finished the program, MBC contacted the university to find a director for its teacher education program. MBC hired Dr. Miller in January 2006, and she finished her doctorate a few months later.

"My first impression was that she was an absolute go-getter," Dr. Wayne Strickland, academic dean, said. "She understands teaching and is excellent at the craft of teaching.

"She's a human being just like the rest of us, and she can get frustrated," Dr. Strickland added, "but she always channels that in a very positive way, in a constructive way."

Before lunch at Muchas Gracias, Dr. Miller taught a doctrine class for adults at her church, Turning Point Christian Center in Vancouver, Wash. She has been covering important doctrinal concepts, such as the atonement.

On this Sunday, Dr. Miller addressed the role of the Holy Spirit. After opening in prayer, Dr. Miller asked attendees to break into groups and discuss their conceptions of the Holy Spirit.

Then, as groups told her their conclusions, she nodded her head. She commented on each statement and often applied the concepts to her own experiences.

Christy Martin, student services office manager and Turning Point attendee, remembered a time when Dr. Miller gave the class crayons and paper, asking them to illustrate their perceptions of the atonement.

"For someone who's been in education for so long, has her doctorate, she's very humble in the way she approaches our class," Mrs. Martin said. "She never thinks she knows it all. She takes to heart the concept that the more you learn, the more you realize you don't know."

Dr. Miller's relationship with God, in the same way, is a continual learning process.

"Debi is very well aware of the fact that she's not perfect," Kathy Van Curen, teacher education field experience coordinator, said. "She desperately wants to listen to what God wants for her to do."

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