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I set foot on the campus of Murray State, an advertising and English double major with a minor in Spanish, in the fall of 1987. When I served as an RA of Regents Hall my sophomore year, I met a feisty girl named Lori Leighty who insisted that I come to Murray Christian Fellowship to “check it out.” Thankfully, I said “yes,” and found a dear pastor and group of friends who I believe God used to take my faith in Christ to the next level.
Trying to share what being a part of MCF has meant to me and to my Christian walk is like turning on a firehose. I came from a small Baptist church background where we sang hymns, not praise songs. I had never heard of Steven Curtis Chapman. And, my first exposure to MCF was on Sunday mornings when campus minister, Dean Ross, held up a crooked finger and preached fiery messages from Jeremiah about how our society was broken, that we had hewn broken cisterns that could not hold water, and that Jesus really was the answer to the problems that our world – and we young, ignorant, stressed but hopeful college students – were facing at the time.
I have to say the first thing that kept me coming back to MCF, my sophomore year, was the earnest preaching, the unabashed transparency and the passionate desire to bring students to a deep knowledge of Christ that I saw in Dean. He was determined to fan the flame of loving Jesus and loving others through Him in the hearts of MCF’ers. In the beginning, I was not really interested in the “social” activities – I was there for Church and Sunday School and that was it (I guess you could say I was sort of like a “church lady” in the body of a college student!).
As I became more and more involved in other activities going on at the campus house, I began to see how fellowship with other believers was so important, and how my faith was becoming more and more a part of my everyday life. I enjoyed the energy of the campus house when I showed up and would hear “The Great Adventure” playing as folks played ping pong or sat and talked. I have wonderful memories with friends like Lori Leighty, Penny Eastridge, Andy Meyers, Mike Muller, Guy Pierce, Traci Mathis, Mickey Skaggs, Mike Rice, Cheri Greer, Tom Berger, Chris Mason and many others. That fellowship came to life through sponsoring freshman ice cream welcome parties, going to Tuesday morning prayer meetings, eating Sunday night fellowship meals, singing on Thursdays at Fern Terrace, studying the Sermon on the Mount on Wednesdays (we even tried to memorize Matthew 5, 6 and 7 – of course, they had to deal with my insistence on the King James Version, a commitment I still get ribbed about at our Sunday School today!). All this while being teased, on occasion, for having a “worldly” major like advertising. But I remember specifically hearing Dean urge all of us that, no matter what occupation we pursued, God could use us in that occupation to make a difference in our world for the Kingdom. I am grateful for those conversations.
When asked to send in a bio about myself and how MCF has affected my life, I thought about the various habits and practices and programs that were in place at MCF. I want you to know that you are reading words from a 50-year-old alumna who is grateful for all that “rubbed off” on me while I was a student and a leader at MCF and that (I believe and hope) is still producing fruit in my life today. I will attempt to provide some specific examples.
At MCF…I was asked to “lead worship” (something I had never done before) by playing the piano and choosing songs for Sunday morning services. This was instrumental in helping me see how I could be a contributor to worship services.
At MCF…I learned about meeting with God in the morning. I really never had much of a “quiet time” before coming to MCF, but our Tuesday morning prayer times in the front room of the MCF house hold a special place in my heart. I never prayed aloud much before coming to MCF, but here is where I “got my feet wet.” Now I am unafraid to pray aloud when the occasion arises and time with God is precious to me.
At MCF…I learned about leading Bible studies. At one point in my romantic relationship with a young man named Buddy at Murray State who was struggling in his faith, Dean suggested I co-lead a Bible study in the book of I John with my roommate Penny at the time and invite this young man to attend. Since then (I married that young man nearly 12 years later!), Buddy and I have had several opportunities to lead studies within our Church community at Southeast Christian Church, our neighborhood and in our Sunday School class. (There is much more to tell about how God worked on both Buddy and me over the 12 years of our up-and-down relationship and how He has blessed us with 20 years of marriage and three children – you can email me for the full story!)
At MCF…I learned the joy that can come from regular service to others. Fern Terrace was huge for me – I started joining Dean and Marie every Thursday afternoon to sing with the residents. I loved listening to Marie Taylor’s beautiful piano playing; we always sang “Getting to Know You,” and Mrs. Calloway was a resident who liked the Baptist hymns. I was impressed how Dean could remember everyone’s name. For the past six years or so, my family has helped to lead bi-weekly visits from our Sunday School class to a local nursing home, Lyndon Woods (it has changed names twice since we have been coming), and singing the same types of songs I first sang at Fern Terrace. Can’t say that I have been as good as Dean was at memorizing names, but I have learned a few. We treasure those relationships we have built there.
At MCF…I learned that my love for food (and cooking) could be used to serve others through Sunday night meals. I have since been able to serve others in small ways through my cooking. Interesting story…I got involved with the International Student Ministry up here in Louisville to international students at the University of Louisville by cooking dishes once a year for their annual Thanksgiving meal for international students and, on one occasion, cooking an entire Indian meal (we love tikka masala) for a Friday night “discussion” meeting of about 30 UofL international students. Turns out the person who is in charge of international student ministry at UofL is a lady named Bonnie LeCompte – she and her husband Tom have been faithfully reaching out and meeting needs of internationals and introducing them to Jesus for many years…and they are MCFers who came before me!! Small world! (not really – just a world in God’s hands!).
At MCF…I learned about a God Who is Real and Who has not been silent. Little did I know, when I crossed the academic bridge from small-town high school teachers at East Hardin High School in Glendale, Kentucky, to liberal arts professors at Murray State, that I would encounter people who thought my religion “sweet” but not meant for intellectuals in the real world. I had never heard of the word “apologetics” before coming to MCF. My circle of friends in the MSU Honors Program included proclaimed agnostics, and prior to studying all the amazing ways history and creation attest to the truths in the Bible, I felt a bit intimidated trying to convince non-believers why my faith was real and why they needed to believe in Jesus. I will always be grateful to Dean, Tim Crowe, Bill Call and Jim Strause for introducing me to the idea that the faith I had grown up with could withstand the criticism of skeptics. The weight of evidence in the realm of creation itself, the literary evidence of the Bible that far surpassed the veracity of “accepted” secular historical documents, and the lives of the disciples themselves who risked all, for the Truth, is a story that has been told by other folks as well (think Lee Strobel), but I first heard it in the front room of the MCF campus house.
As far as my career path, I was able to work in the advertising world for nearly 20 years before becoming a full-time homeschool mom, then transitioning to teaching Spanish and substitute teaching in the Jefferson County school system. I believe Murray State prepared me well for all of those roles – thanks to the best academic advisor ever (miss you, Doc McGaughey), the Honors Program faculty and my Spanish profs David Earnest and Mike Waag. I believe God blessed me with my first “real” job at a good advertising agency (Sheehy & Associates) with excellent role models who taught me much and helped me be able to fail and learn from mistakes and enjoy team successes. God also allowed me to transition from account service work into creative work at the same firm (which is what drew me to advertising in the first place) and, as we started our family, allowed me to work from home as a copywriter for several years while I was bringing up young toddlers. The substitute teaching has also been a blessing, as it allows me a lot of flexibility to be available for my older kids as they needed help with research papers and other projects. My husband Buddy has made it possible for me to do a variety of things by working faithfully for the last 23 years or so for the same company in Chicago. When he moved to Kentucky in 2000, his company allowed him to bring his job to Kentucky and work from home, which has been a huge blessing to our family. Our daughter Madison just graduated from Christian Educational Consortium in the spring. She has a beautiful singing voice and is an excellent painter. Our son Christopher is 16 and anxiously wanting to get his driver’s license (COVID-19 put the brakes on that in the spring) and is starting a summer job at a veterinarian’s to see if his love for animals might translate into a career. And, our youngest son Dallas is 12, throws a great football spiral and has enjoyed getting lots of wins on Fortnite during this COVID craziness. He and his brother also compete in Bible Bowl, a quick-recall program at our church. Their national competition is at Milligan University in July.
I hope my lengthy explanation about how MCF has impacted my life would be informative to you no matter where you are in life. If you are a current MCFer, be thankful. I believe you are in a good place where God can help you move forward in your faith and in your walk with Him. If you are a high school or college student, don’t try to “adult” on your own – you need Christian friends and fellowship to make it in this world. Find a place like MCF. I pray there is one on the college where you are or will be attending. If you are a parent of a prospective college student, URGE him or her to get connected to MCF or a place like it where they can sit under sound Biblical teaching and be encouraged to make their faith walk and their pursuit of a degree the same walk. And, if you are considering supporting a ministry like MCF, I hope you believe as I do that it is critically needed – maybe more so now than in the 1980s and 90s – so that college students can have a place where they can “adult” safely, where their faith can grow, and where they can be well equipped to face opposition from a world where the love of many has waxed cold.
Praise God for His patient work – in all places and through all people – to bring glory to Himself and to bring others into His loving family. It is the only place to be.
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