Beta State President’s Acceptance Speech
Feb. 28, 2015
Please join me in a word of prayer.
Dear Lord, thank you for the opportunity which is before me in
Delta Kappa Gamma. I ask that You give me the physical strength
needed for the position, knowledge about our Society, and the wisdom to
use that knowledge wisely. Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love.
Make us strong to do Your work, willing to heed and hear Your will, and
write on our hearts these words: There is but one just use of power, and it
is to serve people.
Let us show love to all of our sisters in Beta State.
In Thy name I pray. Amen.
I am awed and humbled to be standing here before you tonight.
Unfortunately, the four people I would love to be here, my first mentor in
Delta Kappa Gamma, Annie Ruth Whitten, my parents, and my husband,
are all looking down from above.
I want to share a history lesson, as well as a story with you.
Many of you will remember seeing pictures in your world history books
of the castles in Europe.
Those castles were mostly made of stone for
protective purposes. However, they were very cold and damp inside in
the wintertime, and the few fireplaces did little to keep them warm. The
medieval people were very talented in many artistic ways, and many of
them were quite wealthy.
In order to help keep their castles warm, the
owners commissioned huge tapestries which covered entire walls from
floor to ceiling. These tapestries served as a layer of insulation and did
help with warmth.
They served 2 other purposes as well: to show off
the owner’s wealth, and to beautify the castle walls.
If you will look back at our United States history books, you
know that our pioneers often lived in log cabins, chinked with mud. If
the mud came out or the logs did not fit tightly, those cabins were bitterly
cold.
Pioneer women took extra quilts from their cabinets and nailed
them to the wooden logs.
These quilts served the same purpose as
those tapestries in the European castles.
Some of our Alabama Gees
Bend quilters have said they did the same thing with their quilts when
times were hard.
Regardless of whether it was tapestries or quilts, if one became
torn, it needed to be repaired to keep the tear from getting larger. It was
not unusual for cats to climb the tapestries, nor for rats to nibble on them.
Dampness on the stone walls would often cause the fabric to rot and a
hole develop. With holes and tears in the tapestries, they were not the
thing of beauty they once were, and cold would creep into the room.
Mending them was a necessity. Each and every thread was important
to the tapestry.
Let’s look at the Beta State tapestry.
I think most of you will
agree that it is beautiful.
But we have a few holes and tears which
need to be repaired.
Every time a member withdraws, a tear appears in
the tapestry.
When a chapter dissolves, we have a hole.
Suddenly,
the Beta State tapestry isn’t quite as beautiful as it once was. All of us
have jobs to do to repair our tapestry.
When a member of your chapter
misses several meetings, take the time to call her, send a note, or drop
by her room at school. Offer to take her to the next meeting. If she
has a problem at school, ask if you can help her with it. In other
words, be a sister in the truest meaning.
We need to show love, care,
concern, understanding, and sympathy for our sisters.
Equally, we
need to share in and publicize their accomplishments.
Do everything
possible to get that member back into your chapter, and help repair the
tear.
Our Beta State tapestry is large, but there is certainly room to
enlarge and embelish it.
Make an active attempt to recruit new
members.
Scan the newspapers for women educators who are in the
news for their accomplishments.
Look around your own school for
possible members.
Search in the unexpected places for memberschurch and private school teachers, trade school instructors, central
office personnel, nursing instructors, band directors, and librarians
at the public library.
Make it your own personal goal to find one new
chapter member a biennium.
Just as every thread is important to a
tapestry, every member is also important to our Beta State tapestry.
When chapters fall to less than ten members, a red flag should go
up. More members will help spread chapter responsibilities so that no
one is overly burdened.
More members equals more excitement at
meetings.
More members means more ideas. More members means
that chapter is on the road to recovery. That also means that we don’t
have a hole in our tapestry to fill because dissolving is no longer an
option.
Let’s embellish the Beta State tapestry, one member at a time.
With each of us doing our part, ours can be the most beautiful tapestry in
Delta Kappa Gamma.
I’ve got some special angels who are going to distribute a small
tapestry pin to each of you. As I was making them, I noticed that, true
to a tapestry, the strings were beginning to ravel. I purposefully left
them that way because, like our Beta State tapestry, if we start pulling at
the strings, it will unravel and not be as pretty as it is when it is whole. I
hope that each time you wear your pin, you will be reminded of the
theme for the 2015-2017 biennium, “Embelish the Beta State tapestry,
one member at a time.”
Now, for another story. My grandson, Brantley, was born in
Mobile in June, 2007. I was there that afternoon and visited with
Nancy and the baby, doing all of the “grandmother” things such a
holding the baby and taking pictures, and left late in the afternoon,
prepared to go back to Mobile the next day. However, sometime
around 11:00 that night, the phone rang and it was Nancy, sobbing.
Brantley was in the nursery and began to turn blue. God was at
work that night because a pediatric cardiologist was the doctor on
duty. The baby was rushed to Women and Children’s Hospital by
ambulance, with Nancy’s husband, John, following behind. I left
Atmore and got to Mobile around 12:30 in the morning. It was soon
discovered that Brantley had congenital heart disease. The next day,
Brantley was airlifted to UAB, and we drove to Birmingham
Again, God was with us. As we sat and listened to the doctor
describe the problem and tell us what he was going to do, he was
drawing a heart as an illustration. It was one of the most detailed
pictures I have ever seen. I commented on this to the doctor, and he
smiled and said, “It should be. I wrote the book on this procedure.”
I knew right then that we were in good hands. Brantley has had
two open heart surgeries and 11 other operations from complications
which arose from his condition. He is on medication around the
clock and knows he has checkups for the special heart which God has
given him.
If you have ever wondered if donations you make to an
organization really help, or if the money is being wasted , let me
assure you that with the American Heart Association, the money
funds research on everything from cardiovascular disease and stroke
prevention to congenital heart disease. Brantley would not be with
us tonight without God’s intervention, coupled with research done by
the American Heart Association, and some dedicated doctors and
nurses.
From all appearances, Brantley is a normal little boy, until he
takes his shirt off. It looks like a checkerboard from surgeries.
Brantley likes to play soccer and football and says he wants to play
for Auburn when he grows up. He has the sweetest, most loving
personality, and brings joy to all who know him.
While I know that cancer has probably touched most of us, and I
certainly don’t want to dissuade you from supporting that
organization, I have two very personal reasons for having the
American Heart Association as our Beta State project: my husband
died of a massive heart attack, and Brantley with his heart problems.
I urge you to talk with your chapters and actively support this
worthwhile organization. You can make your checks out to Beta
State with American Heart Association on the “for” line, and mail it
to Jerry Sue Brannon, our state Treasurer.
I appreciate the confidence you have shown by electing me as your
Beta State President, and look forward to working with all of you.
Please know that I’m only a phone call or an email away. If I don’t
know the answer to your question, I’ll ask until I find it. It’s
important that we keep the communication open and frequent, share
our joys and our sorrows with each other, and strive to promote each
sister to greater heights. Let’s embellish the Beta State tapestry one
member at a time.
As always, may rose petals line your pathway, and much love to
you, my sisters.