Greg and Dani Tanner

I almost didn’t go to AFLBS.

To be honest, AFLBS wasn’t on my radar as I was considering what to do with my life after high school. I had applied to several liberal arts colleges and was accepted to my top choice. I was ready to send back my registration but decided to wait until closer to the deadline. In the waiting time, I visited AFLBS, and my plans changed.

Attending AFLBS helped me to figure out not only what I believe, but why I believe it. Both in the classroom and conversations in the dorms, I was able to dig into God’s Word. Through the puppet team, urban ministry team and afternoons volunteering at Hope Lutheran, I was able to put what I was learning into practice.

Two weeks after AFLBS graduation, I married Dani Tallman (we were seated alphabetically next to each other on the first day of AFLBS), and together we continued our education at South Dakota State. One of the greatest strengths that God has given me is learning. I love to figure out how and why things work. I also love to help others learn. It is these two loves that lead me to pursue bachelor’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Math, and then to pursue a PhD in in Applied Math. Since completing my PhD last summer, I have been teaching Math and Statistics at the college-level.

In my teaching, the most important thing about each student is not his or her test scores, but the student’s relationship with Jesus Christ, the source of all knowledge. Test scores can bring short-term satisfaction, but only Jesus Christ can bring eternal satisfaction. I try to engage my students in learning the language of mathematics and using this language to discover the order that God has created. I strive to not only impart math knowledge but also the discernment to use that knowledge in a way that brings glory to God.

Looking back at ten years of marriage (and life post-AFLBS), the thing that stands out most is that the Lord protects and provides. The greatest example of this occurred shortly after our oldest daughter Vivian was born. The Lord protected her life as she was flown first to Sioux Falls and then to Minneapolis and put on heart-lung bypass. Through this time, we were comforted by 2 Corinthians “We felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us.” Now seven years later, we praise God for a vivacious daughter, who is a constant reminder of his protection.

As we have moved from Brookings, to Iowa City, to Mitchell, the Lord has provided church family that has come alongside us through the ups and downs. As we begin a new chapter in Moorhead, MN, we are confident that the Lord will continue to protect and provide for us.