Dr. Rhonda Kelley
After I had done three years of doctoral work Dr. Rhonda Kelley was chosen to be my faculty mentor to help me with my dissertation. She had never served in this role before, so I was very honored. She helped me for months to write my dissertation with many, many rewrites and edits. The last step was for three professors to read and grade the dissertation before it was accepted and defended. When the grades came back I got an “A” from Dr. Rhonda, another “A” from an education professor, and an “F” from a history professor! He didn’t feel like we put enough historical background into the paper, so we had to do more weeks of work to make him happy. We would sit in her living room and go over all the revisions and drink tea. The dissertation turned out to be 365 pages, which was near the maximum amount allowed. But the history professor was satisfied and I completed my doctorate! Hallelujah! This was the spring before Hurricane Katrina came, so it was a great time to complete my work in New Orleans.
Dr. Rhonda was an amazing person. She had a PhD in special education and worked as a speech therapist for many years. When I first met her she was the wife of one of my professors at the seminary. Later her husband became the seminary president, and she became an adjunct professor focusing on women’s studies. I’ll never forget a class that I took taught by her and Dr. Dorothy Patterson called “The Biblical Theology of Womanhood.” I expected to disagree with some of the viewpoints, but I felt very affirmed as a woman after their teaching from The Word. Rhonda was so smart and yet so quiet and gentle. She never had any biological children, but she was a great influence on hundreds of women who loved her so. The calendar picture for May makes me think of Rhonda. I think of her when I see tea cups and tea pots. She loved tea parties. Rhonda died earlier this year of brain cancer at 72.
Here is a poem that I wrote as a part of my dissertation that was a favorite of Rhonda’s:
You, Lord, only You can give the strength I need.
You, Lord, only You, my hungry soul can feed.
You give me strength to know
that you are always there
and when my strength is low, You fill me with your care.
You, Lord, only You, can love me all the time.
You, Lord, only You, can make my moments rhyme.
When my heart’s unwilling to do the things you say,
You gently guide my heart and lead me back to You.