Opening Chapel

This morning was the Opening Day Chapel Ceremony for ACU! This is the beginning of their 99th year, so everything will be leading up to the big celebration of 2005!

I love ACU Opening Day chapel! I guess the first time I ever went was when Mark and I moved here in 1980 and he began his first stint teaching in the Math department at ACU. We were very young or so it seems now! I remember sitting all alone in Moody Colliseum and I didn't know anyone. But, when Mark came in with the faculty I was so very proud of him!

And, the feeling has not changed, but has grown so much more thru the years! Today, Mark walked in with his doctoral regalia on and he stands so tall and I'm immensely proud to be his wife! Then, I look up and there is our son, Will who is sitting with the ACU Combined Chorus and he stands very tall like his father and again, I am immensely proud of him, also. This year was very also very special as our daughter, Katie sat next to me during the ceremony. Katie is a recent graduate of Lipscomb University in Nashville, but spent her first two years at ACU. So, this day is special for her as well. Now, for a mom, it just doesn't get much better than this!

I did not go to college. I was raised by two wonderful grandparents who lived thru the depression and neither of them went to college and neither did my parents. They encouraged me after high school graduation to attend a one year nursing program (licensed vocational nursing), get my degree and I'd always have a job if I needed one. And, that is what I did. I'm forever thankful for my grandparents and their raising me. However, one of the few regrets of my life is not having gone to college. It's never really pressed on me until this past year. But, moving into an academic environment has made me keenly aware at how much we are associated by "what we know", not "who we know!" I wish I could have gone to college....lived in the dorm....eaten bad college cafeteria food....been in a social club....and gotten that degree!

But, you know what I do have?!? I have a wonderful, highly educated, Godly husband who has provided for our family and allowed me to stay home and raise our children and not have to work outside our home! And, two beautiful (well, one is handsome) children (both taller than me) one of which graduated from college last Spring and the other beginning his Soph. year at ACU! NOTHING makes me prouder than the fact that my kids are going to and graduating from college, especially a Christian college! When Katie walked across that stage last Spring at Lipscomb University, I thought to myself, "she will never have to feel that un-educated feeling that will always haunt me a bit!" I will feel the same when Will walks across! (Lord willing!)

I've heard many negative remarks about ACU in the past few years from some folks who feel like ACU is teaching the wrong ideas or forcing the women's role in church, etc. But, if anyone sat in that colliseum today, you had to feel proud of that institution, proud of those who came before us and VERY proud of the students who are there now and those to follow!

"Lord, my prayer today is one of thanks for allowing me this special day to be with my family and our extended "family" of dear friends! Bless ACU and all those who teach or work there, bless the students and their parents and a special blessing on all those students whose families are so far away. Give them peace and a sense of a "family" here until they can be with their own. Lord, thank you for knowing that my education was not to be a formal one, but an "education" of loving, cooking, nurturing, listening and serving. May I have always done it and continue to do it for your glory!"

I am not an Oprah watcher. But, earlier this week, I had the TV on during my cooking supper time and country singer, Wynonna Judd was on along with her mom, Naomi and sister, Ashley. If you didn't see it, earlier this summer, Wynonna started a weight loss program with a private chef, a personal trainer and the support of Oprah! They showed clips of these highly trained people at Wynonna's home and then came clips of Wynonna wining about how hard it is and how frustrating when the weight comes off so slowly. Now, I relate with her about how frustrating the whole weight issue is. But, when they cut back to the live show with all the family there, Wynonna starts blaming her mother for all her problems! (and her very famous mother is sitting right there on the front row!) Naomi was just sitting there with this kind of "deer in the headlight" look on her face. Her look conveyed sort of a mixture of "I'm here to support you" look to "I can't believe what you are saying to me" look!

As a mother, I felt very, very sorry for her. For her daughter to say this in private to her would have been hard enough. But, on national TV, I thought it was very inappropriate. Now, maybe her mom has been the source of many of her problems or has not been objective enough with her. I don't know. But, this I DO know....I'm so tired of hearing people blame their mothers for their life problems! It's almost become a joke! You hear comedians tell stories about how psycho their moms are or TV shows based on crazy moms!

My mother was divorced from my dad soon after my birth. That was her second marriage. Then, came marriage number three and then followed by marriage number four. (that marriage lasted 30+ years until his death) Because of my mother's unsettled life, my grandparents raised me since I was a baby and I was with them until I left home at age 19. (that was probably the hardest and smartest decision my mother ever made!)

Now, I could have taken marriage a lot less seriously. When my husband and I have had difficult times, I could have decided to get out of this marriage and looked for another. (Mark and I have just celebrated our 25th anniversary and Lord willing, we will do this another 25 years or more!) After all, my mother was married so many times, I could just say it "runs in the family."

But, I have never blamed my mother for anything in my life. To me, it's all about choices and looking to God for wisdom and guidance. I am not my mother. She made her own choices in her life and has dealt with them the very best she could. But, God made me different. I've not always made the best decisions also. However, I have tried to keep my eyes focused on God and what direction He wants me to go. I have always known that I did NOT want to follow in my mother's footsteps. So, instead of blaming her, I've let her life challenge me to live differently.

My mother is a good person with a huge heart and a selfless disposition. Her road has been hard and continues to be so. But, she loves God and is striving the best she can to follow Him. I love her dearly. I'm sorry for her that her life has been so difficult. But I believe that I've become the wife and mother that I am because of some of the decisions my mom made long ago.

I love you, Mom! And, I'm very proud of how you've used your "challenges" in life to make you the wonderful person you are today.

Wynonna, I think to your list of trainers, chefs, etc. you need to add a family therapist to help you with your relationship with your mom and some duct tape for your mouth!

Never Say Never

I did say "never!" My friend, Mike, keeps saying to me, "Debbie, you really should blog your thoughts!" But, I have just never felt like anything that I have to say would be worth anybody else's time to read. But, I love the thought of journaling and the idea that my children and someday, my grandchildren, could get a glimpse of who I am and how God continues to mold me to be like Him. So, I will give it a try and "thanks Mike" for encouraging me with your kind words and sweet spirit.