Change and Adjustment

Change has been the name of the game for Nancy and me during the last several months. We moved to Greenville (SC) in late June last summer to begin our employment at Bob Jones University.  I am the Academic Success Center Supervisor, and Nancy is the Instructional Resources Librarian at Mack Library.

We live in a two-bedroom apartment across the street from the main entrance to the campus.  It's a bit smaller than our home in Owatonna, but it's very cozy . . . and very convenient.  Our daily lifestyle has also changed as well.  Typically, we drive over to campus at 7:45 A.M. and then return around 5:00 P.M.  Most evenings, we are able to unwind at home during the evenings.  Saturdays are the most relaxing day of the week.  We often do our wash and also watch DVDs that we have checked out of the Greenville County Library.  On Sunday we attend services at Hampton Park Baptist Church, the church we attended after we got married in 1970.

During the second week of March, I played English horn in the BJU Opera Orchestra.  We performed Camille Saint-Saëns blockbuster work Samson and Delilah.  The production featured fifty musicians in the pit orchestra and at least 150 cast members onstage.  We put on three performances of Samson, and it was a rather emotional week for those of us in the orchestra.  In all likelihood, this will be the last time Dr. Dwight Gustafson will conduct a major production here at BJU.  I played my first opera with him in 1968, and he has been a wonderful mentor and friend over these past forty years.


It's hard to believe that there are only a few short weeks left in the school year.  The BJU Graduation will be Saturday, May 8, and the prospect of that event brings back many memories of graduations past.  It's part of the cycle of higher education.  New students arrive on campus and four (or five) years later, they graduate.  We get to know them, and then off they go to make something of themselves.  Those of us who work in Christian higher education pray that our graduates will not only make something of themselves; we pray that God will shown them His will for their lives and that they will do it.


All in all, it's been wonderful to be back at BJU with so many good friends and good memories.

Transition

It has been three months since I lasted posted any comments on Pillsbury History Guy. As regular readers of this blog know, as well as folks who know anything about Christian higher education in this country, Pillsbury Baptist Bible College closed its doors on December 31, 2008. Many of our students have transferred to other Christian colleges and are doing fine. Dr. Greg Huffman, president of Pillsbury College, has been visiting our former Pillsbury students at some of these other schools during the past few weeks. We are grateful that several of our sister schools graciously accepted our students for second semester. We will also be conducting a graduation ceremony on Sunday, May 24, for seniors, faculty, and anyone else who can attend. Graduating seniors will receive the last diplomas that Pillsbury will ever have the opportunity to award.

As for our Pillsbury faculty and staff, some have found employment at other schools, ministries, and churches. Some have yet to find full employment for the next school year. I would ask your prayers for them. Most of us have been working at "temp" jobs the last several weeks. Some of us did not know we had so many different talents and abilities! From time to time, God has a way of reminding us that our ways are not necessarily His ways.

Nancy and I have sought out various employment possibilities, both in Owatonna and elsewhere. We made a couple of trips in January to check out some possible job offers. In recent days, we were offered and accepted positions at Bob Jones University in Greenville, SC. I will be the supervisor for the "Center for Academic Success," and Nancy will become a reference librarian at Mack Library on campus. We will be returning "home" in a manner of speaking. Nancy and I met at BJU while we were undergraduates, we got married in 1970, and we graduated in 1971. I taught history in the University, and Nancy was the librarian at Bob Jones Elementary School from 1972 to 1983. Five of our children were born at Barge Hospital on campus. It's also worth noting that our oldest daughter Cynthia teaches in the Nursing Division at BJU.

It will be difficult to leave the Owatonna community. We love Pillsbury College, Grace Baptist Church, and many folks in our community. Nancy and I have been involved in the schools over the years, what with all seven of our kids graduating from Owatonna High School. I also have been a volunteer with the Republican Party here in Owatonna and Steele County, and I have served as an election judge in every election since we arrived in 1984. It has been my honor to play my oboe in the Owatonna Community Band and Owatonna Community Orchestra, and I have become very good friends with a number of talented and gifted musicians during our quarter century in Owatonna.

The bottom line to all of this is something I heard long ago: "Things are not going to be like they have always been." As we face the prospect and challenge of moving to Greenville in June, we covet your prayers.