Trinity Memories

Many people have asked me to write about the chapel service that I gave at Trinity Christian College. I wish had a way to download my speech, but somehow it disappeared! I will do my best to share with you what I shared with the students a few weeks ago.

I began my talk by sharing with them that the last time that I spoke on campus was 34 years ago. It was May, 1974. I was asked to be the main speaker at out Baccalaureate Service. It was, indeed, an honor to speak, but I still remember feeling highly inadequate for the task. I vividly remember sharing thoughts on Psalm 23 and reminding the class of '74 that while we were about to begin new adventures and go in different directions, the one constant in all of our lives would be our faithful Shepherd. Back then, as a bright-eyed, naive young woman, I didn't have a clue about the many twists and turns that my life was about to begin...all I set my eyes on were the green pastures and still waters!

I shared with them what a different campus it was from the days when I called Trinity "home". Back then we didn't have computers or ipods, we had typewriters and stereos with speakers the size of a twin mattress (and all the sound quality of a walkie-talkie!) Our dorms didn't even have names! We just called them Dorm 1, Dorm 2, and Dorm 3. The men were only allowed to visit our rooms on Sunday evenings. We didn't even have a gym my first semester! I told them that they were looking at an ancient relic of the past that actually attended the very first basketball game ever held in the Mitchell Gymnasium!

I then shared about the day my husband drove me and our four children to Ocean Springs, Mississippi. I told them to look closely the next time they were on I 65, (which goes from Indiana all the may to Mobile, Alabama) because I am certain the marks are still visible where I dug in my heels and tried to resist this move with every fiber of my being! This move was talking me into uncharted waters, away from my family and friends and home.

I tried to paint a picture for the students of the initial shock and confusion I experienced as I took my first guarded steps into Southern culture. On my first Sunday in church I met a man named Rhett! I felt like I was on the back lot of Gone With the Wind! (In all my 25 years of living there, however, I never did meet a Scarlett! Plenty of Billy Bobs and Amy Sues, but no Scarletts!)

Ocean Springs is a quaint little town. It's Main Street is lined on either side with huge, majestic Live Oak trees. And you can't walk a block in the spring without seeing an Azalea bush in full bloom or smelling the sweet scent of Gardenias. Most of the homes have porches, and every porch has a swing (or "swang" as it is called in the South). Everywhere we went we were offered iced tea (only they pronounce it as "tay"). And everyone knows iced "tay" must be sweet (pronounced "sue wait"). We learned that people don't get tired in the South, they get "tarred", and women don't iron clothes, they "arn". Even my name "Joyce" sounded more like "Joy as".

It is a charming, idyllic, artsy little haven, nestled on the backwater of the Gulf of Mexico. And then, in 2005, Hurricane Katrina hit. Hard! Within minutes hundreds of homes were destroyed by a 27 foot tidal wave. I shared some of the experiences that we had with our insurance company and with FEMA. I tried to give mental pictures of how the beautiful Oak trees were suddenly bare, stripped of their leaves and their majesty. To this day they look more like old gnarled, arthritic hands reaching out to the heavens.

Then I shared with them how very real Psalm 23 became to me as I slowly trudged through each day. I showed them how the pronoun that David uses for the Shepherd changes in the Psalm. In the first verses, David uses the third person singular to refer to the Shepherd (He makes me to lie down, He restores, He leads, He guides). But look what happens when David gets to the rough spots. "Though I walk through the shadow of the valley of death...You are with me. Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. You prepare, You annoint..." David switches to the second person singular pronoun because when he finds himself in the valley, he realizes he is not alone...the Shepherd is walking right beside him. That's what I experienced during the dark days...my faithful Shepherd walked beside me. And there were many days that the Shepherd carried me.

I closed by sharing how my Katrina experience made me long for my heavenly home...a permanent place that can't be destroyed. And I like to think of Jesus taking me by the hand and walking with me down the streets of gold and stopping at a house. Jesus will ask me, "Joyce, do you remember that I promised to prepare a place for you? Well, this is your place!"

My home! My permanent home! And do you know what? I know I'm a Yankee, but I hope my yard has a Magnolia tree and plenty of Azalea bushes. And I hope I have a big front porch with a "swang"! And when we meet each other up there, we can "sit a spell" and share our "Shepherd stories". Oh, and one more thing...I'll be sure to have plenty of "sue wait tay" ready!!!

What a day, glorious day, that will be!!!!!