Transition Talk

Ever since we arrived on campus a month ago (a month?!?), people have been asking us, "Are you going to Marilyn's transition talk?"  Of course, we were new to all things Asbury so we were like, "What transition talk and who is Marilyn and why is everyone asking us this?"  New Student Orientation rolls around and lo, and behold, there it is in black and white - Marilyn Elliot, Transition Talk, Thursday at 9:30 am.  As it turns out Marilyn is the Vice President of Community Formation for the seminary and the transition talk was... a talk about transition.

"It's a great talk!"  "It will cut to your heart!"  "We're actually going back to hear it again because it was so good."  I had heard so much.  I was prepared.  I was prepped to hear about transition; the good, the bad and the ugly.  And I wasn't going to cry (all of you who know me can stop laughing now).

What nobody told me about was Dr. Stamps.  There it was on the same printed piece of paper.  Breakfast with a devotional by Dr. Bob Stamps.  No one said, "Hey you might not want to drink two cups of coffee because Dr. Stamps is going to give the best welcome you've ever heard and you are not going to want to have to stand up and walk to the bathroom in the middle of it."  No one said, "You'll want to  bring your own tissues because the napkins in the cafeteria slice like sandpaper when you wipe them on your face."  No one warned me that the prelude to the transition talk (which WAS fantastic) would speak right to my soul and dissolve me into a goopy mess in 5 minutes flat.

So, now you are all probably asking, "Who is this Dr. Stamps and what was so great about his devotional?"  Well, let me tell you.  Dr. Stamps is the Dean of Chapel for the seminary and he and his wife Ellen live in Kalas Village and act as chaplains, mentors, babysitters, welcomers and all around friends of the families who live here.  As an older couple, they have so much to give to the young married couples and families that fill most of the Kalas homes and they serve with overt enthusiasm and pleasure in their role.  Ellen spent 9 years of her life traveling as the personal aide to Corrie Ten Boom, one of my heroes, and Bob has served in ministry almost his whole life.  They contain a treasure trove of experience, advice and laughter that they willingly share with all of us.

This morning Luke and I had the pleasure of eating breakfast with them before Dr. Stamps spoke.  He was still working on his talk as he sat down and read us a few quotes he was thinking of using and ask our opinion before he left us to "go work the cocktail party."  As he stood to speak, I settled back in my chair next to his wife, ready for an uplifting and jovial word of welcome and encouragement.  Instead Dr. Stamps preached a sermon, not just a sermon, a cut-to-the-quick, don't-pull-any-punches, gut-wrenching sermon that had me in tears within five minutes while his wife Ellen smiled knowingly at me as I grabbed an awful sandpaper napkin to dry my tears.

I cannot do his words justice.  He spoke of God's will, of God's call, of our obedience and our call to worship.  He warned us of accumulating too much knowledge and then warned us of leaning too much on experiences.  He encouraged us to remember that all the work we do in seminary has a name - the names of the lives and the churches we will touch after we leave.  He spoke to us of loneliness and purposelessness and of redemption and our awesome God.  In that cafeteria as he walked around and spoke to each of us as his little flock who he loves as a pastor with the love of Christ, God used him to address every doubt and fear I had bottled up in my heart and to encourage every dream and call I have heard God whisper in my ear.  He went over by 15 minutes.  I didn't want him to stop but those two cups of coffee I did not have the foresight to forego sent me skittering away.

The transition talk was wonderful.  For me, it was icing on a well-baked cake.  It addressed the specifics of transitioning, the feelings and emotions and the behaviors and the adjustments.  I shed a few tears there as well and was blessed to speak with Marilyn afterwards (she's kinda my boss... she's the boss of the person who is the boss of the person who is the boss of me - follow that?).  But I feel especially blessed today by Dr. Stamps and his words of encouragement, hope, warning and love.  I feel it even more knowing that it won't be much longer that he and his wife serve here (they are getting older and probably close to retirement) and I won't be able to go up to future classes and say, "Make sure you are there for breakfast with Dr. Stamps."  But this year, for this class and maybe even for this person, God used him and I am grateful.

We are transitioning well.  We have our moments.  Some days are fine and life feels "normal".  Some days are hard and life feels uncomfortable.  Sometimes I just want to wrap my arms around something familiar and sometimes I enjoy the idea of something new.  I know our friends and family back home are transitioning too and our new friends who just moved here are going through the same thing (I was not the only one crying this morning!)  I also know this, the same God who called us is the same God who leads us and the same God who fills us.  Today, I was graciously reminded of this truth.  Maybe you need a "Dr. Stamps" talk in your life too.  I'll pray it will come to you as unexpectedly as it came to me and you will know again the surety of God's foundation and the reality of His great love.  I'll also pray that there are tissues with lotion in them nearby!