Chapter 1: Who, Me?

Woman of Strategic Access

Faculty wife. What do you think of when you see those words? Some read it and feel boxed in, while others feel honored and privileged.

How can such a diverse group of young and old, homemakers and professionals, with husbands in a variety of disciplines, in universities and colleges both large and small, located in communities of several thousand or several million, have anything in common?

They can and they do, across America and around the world.

You can be a part of something that is changing lives and impacting the thinking of universities, whether you have only a few minutes or many hours to give. We would like to invite you to consider the following concept.

Paradigm Shift

Have you heard the term paradigm? The dictionary uses words such as example, model, and pattern to define a paradigm. Paradigms are the framework on which we hang our interpretation of our private world. The paradigm we choose to use determines how we interpret our world.

A paradigm shift is a change in how we view our world. It is seeing it in a way we have not seen it before. Perspective makes all the difference.

Paradigm shifts provide a useful structure--room to grow. A paradigm shift can bring one element forward and push another element back. At their worst, paradigms can box us in. At their best, they grant us freedom to see our world in a fresh way with limitless opportunities suited personally to each of us.{1}

All of us have responsibilities which at times can overwhelm us. The thought of adding one more "to do" item on our overloaded list causes us to grimace. With family, church, community, and professional responsibilities, it is understandable that we feel overwhelmed . . . often.

Yet, why has God placed you in a university setting? Why would you want to be involved in the university community?

The late scholar and statesman Dr. Charles Malik said, "The university dominates the world today more than any other institution, more than the church, more than government, more than all other institutions." {2}

The university is a place of strategic importance. It is a command center through which the leaders of business and government pass. It is the communication center, and other than possibly the mass media, it is the chief disseminator of ideas.

As a wife in the university setting, you have the opportunity to utilize your unique position to influence the university for Christ.

How? That is what this manual is all about. It contains ideas and encouragement to help you begin thinking in new ways about your involvement in the university community. You will find suggestions that require very little time and energy. You will also find ones that would require much more.

Strategic Access

Stewardship requires us to do what is most profitable for the Master, not what is most comfortable for the servant. Take a look again at Matthew 25:14-29, the parable of the talents.

You have something special: strategic access. Strategic because the university is such an influential institution. Access because many doors are open to you as a faculty wife that others are not able to reach. The best intentions are worthless without access.

God has granted us a divine appointment with the university. Very few of us have access to Hollywood or the government. However, we do have access to the university, access to the most strategic place on earth. You have access to unique and wonderful opportunities to touch lives and impact your world for Jesus Christ.

Endnotes

{1}For an excellent explanation of "paradigm shift" see Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Simon and Schuster, 1989, p. 23 ff.

{2}Dr. Charles Malik, A Christian Critique of the University, InterVarsity Press, 1982, p. 28.

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