From the Editor
When I was a freshman in high school, I was asked to write a paper on what I wanted to be when I grew up.
I often have wondered about that assignment. As our three sons went through high school, they were asked the same: What are you going to major in at college? What do you want to do professionally? It was a question they came to dread, because they simply didn't know.
And yet I think about these lines from William Wordsworth:
My heart leaps up when I behold
A rainbow in the sky:
So was it when my life began;
So it is now I am a man;
So be it when I shall grow old,
Or let me die!
The Child is father of the Man;
I could wish my days to be
Bound each to each by natural piety.
Is the Child father of the Man? Are we imprinted with a "holy DNA," equipped by God for a unique purpose in life? I think we are. The paper I wrote at age 14 was titled "The Caring Hand of the Social Worker." And now, a few decades later, I am about to begin this work I inherently knew held a call upon my heart.
This is my last issue as editor of Baylor Magazine, a publication I helped found four years ago. By the time you receive this, I will be associate director of the Center for Family and Community Ministries in Baylor's School of Social Work. As a former director of Christian education on a church staff and board member of nonprofits for the elderly and the homeless, I have a chance to use past experiences and current skills in a field that is near and dear to my heart. Although I'm not a social worker, I will work among them and be honored to do so.
Founding and editing Baylor Magazine has been one of the great joys of my professional life. I have worked with exceptional people and had the privilege of representing an excellent university that embraces a bold and grand vision for its future. I will be forever grateful.
Now, I will use my love of words and storytelling in the service of strengthening families and community ministries -- both personal passions that in God's amazing efficiency now merge.
What do I want to be when I grow up? I'll let you know. But for now, "My heart still leaps when I behold a rainbow in the sky," and I pray that it ever will.
Vicki Marsh Kabat