Monday night, close to midnight, my former teacher and mentor, Bert Tippett, heard the words "Well done my good and faithful and servant." And what a good and faithful servant he was!
I snagged the picture above from his Facebook photo page, and I chose this one because it's how I most remember Mr. Tippett and Mrs. Diane : smiling, vibrant. But even had I chosen the pic on his profile, even in a hospital gown and swollen, he's STILL smiling.
I can't even begin to tell the tremendous impact this man had on my life, and judging from comments left on Facebook pages from Free Will Baptist Bible College alumni, I am not alone. He was in charge of publications for the school. He could have easily holed up in his office, only coming out for the required chapel. But he didn't. He took on the students' Wednesday night Bible study, taught classes on publications, counseled students, and since we were still in dinosaur days with only the whisperings of this thing called e-mail and the world-wide-web, he weekly published a student newsletter or announcement sheet.
The year I was to be editor of the college yearbook, the head of the English department resigned due to poor health. Mr. Tippett reluctantly agreed to return to the post of Yearbook Advisor, while training another faculty member for the job as well. I couldn't have had had a better mentor. And it was through this experience that I witnessed first hand the loving relationship the Tippetts had. I don't remember exactly where Mrs. Diane's office was, but she could slip in during a meeting to drop something of without interrupting and could handle business for him while there if needed. He would hold the doors open for her going in and out of buildings, and while clearing trays from their table in the cafeteria (where I worked), their table was always full of lively conversation.
I was one of three students in his Editing Publications class my freshman year, so instead of using an academic classroom we huddled around his massive wood desk. My senior year he designed my first newsletter telling people about my intent of going to China. And had I not already committed to two years of teaching English after graduation with ELIC, I would have gladly accepted the job offer of becoming his assistant. During my last semester when I felt as if the world was closing in on me with things from home and from things within the denomination, Mr. Tippett challenged me from the Word, edified my weary heart, and prayed with me. He always found the good in people, and knew how to lovingly criticize. He liked to joke that another artistic student and I were his nemesis. He'd then cock his head and say, "Or the two of you my arch-nemesis?" I never could figure out how to respond (even after he told me what a nemeses was!).
He wasn't perfect. Some of my favorite Bible studies he taught was where he opened up his heart and shared what God was teaching him.
And the quote above his office door (which I never noticed until serving as editor) I always laughed about and jokingly told him he put it up because of me: Procrastination on your part does not require emergency status on mine.
My dream of working under him and learning from his vast knowledge will never be fulfilled. But I have come to realize the greatness of his wisdom, his tenacity, his patience, his love for family and his Lord, and his joy. May I emulate him, and so many others, who when faced with a job they felt unprepared for, admitted their limitations, looked upward, learned from others, then rolled up their sleeves, and simply worked.
Mr. Tippett, you played a tremendous role in not just my educational development, but in my spiritual and personal life as well. And there's not a job in graphic design I've done today that hasn't drawn on the principles you taught me in Editing Publications. Thanks for the memories.
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