The following text conversation took place a few weeks back between my daughter, Carissa, and me. Carissa is in her second year studying at Providence Christian College in Pasadena, California. I received the first text message just before 9:00 a.m. on a Monday morning.

CARISSA: can i buy a dress on your credit card? you can add it to my tab ????

ME: Good morning! So nice to hear from you, especially when it concerns my credit card:). So this is what you do on Monday mornings; you shop online for dresses! i suppose you have a good reason for buying a dress? If you can convince me that you really need it, we can make that work. By the way, i love you too!

CARISSA: haha when my argument and rhetoric skills are tested…nice ???? well i don’t have very many dresses, and i live in California where its warm often and you don’t wanna wear jeans or shorts. It’s just nice to have a couple. plus I’m paying for it, and I work hard to make money; you’re just lending it to me at the moment. And you love me and I never get to buy anything clothing related ’cause I’m in school.

PS. good morning! i love you

ME: Thanks and you state a decent argument. Do you have my credit card info? By the way, i think this conversation is going to become part of my next blog article.

CARISSA: actually, i am working on a reading response right now lol.

CARISSA: hmm no not allowed!

CARISSA: what would you say about it ?lol

ME: Just the daughter in college using rhetoric and logical arguments as per a Christian liberal arts education (and the whole credit card thing– too funny not to use). Do you have my credit card info?

CARISSA: oh boy ???? haha yeah I already used mom’s

According to many sources, a liberal arts education includes subjects or skills that in ancient Greece were considered essential for a free person (Latin: liberal, “worthy of a free person”) to know in order to be responsibly involved in civic life. This would usually include participating in public debate. Grammar, logic, and rhetoric were the core liberal arts, along with arithmetic, geometry, the theory of music, and astronomy. A Christian liberal arts education would teach all of those subjects from a Christian perspective which deepens and enriches the education by giving what is learned, a profound context for all of life under God.

I have an appreciation for what my daughter is learning in college. I also love that Abbotsford Christian offers this same kind of deep and diverse education; from character education through to digital citizenship. From technical education through to public speaking, our students experience a rich and authentic curriculum.

My daughter is learning to hone her argument skills AND she is learning to evaluate her decisions in light of God’s Word.

I am not sure how a dress fits into that, but…