A recent encounter with a high school choir teacher had Barbie Reynolds eating a bit of crow.
“She always told me I should grow up and be a music teacher like her, and I told her I never would,” she laughs. “I had to tell her, ‘You’ll never guess what I’m going to school for.”
While the idea was never that far-fetched for Reynolds, the Wayland Baptist University junior admits she might not have seen her whirlwind life journey bring her back to a love from her high school days.
Reynolds, a music education major, first enrolled at Wayland in 2005, long after her children were in grade school and after years of sharing ministry careers with husband Dan. Though her future as a music teacher is still a while away – she plans to graduate in May 2010 – her past reflects experiences that were leading her to this point all along.
A native of New York, Reynolds lived all over the globe as the child of an Air Force airman. She finished high school in New York, meeting her future husband at church while he was stationed in the Air Force at the same base as her father. They married after she graduated and moved a few more times with the military. In 1998, Dan left the Air Force to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, and Barbie worked at the school while he earned the master’s degree.
“(Being in the education atmosphere) really got the wheels turning for me, but I still wanted to just be a mom,” she said, adding that by then the family already included two young children, Britney and Tommy.
After seminary, the family went on the mission field, serving as church planters in Minnesota and Pennsylvania while Barbie homeschooled her children. During that time, she began teaching voice to other community homeschool students, giving her another thought that she might be called to education.
“I felt like that was what I wanted to do, but I knew I needed more education to be prepared,” she said, adding the experience felt like affirmation that she was meant to work in music.
While in Lubbock in 2004, visiting her husband’s family, she auditioned for the School of Music at Wayland, encouraged heavily by he sister-in-law, WBU assistant professor Debbie Flournoy Buford. After being accepted and earning a spot in the Spirit music ensemble and the International Choir, the family began praying for a church near Plainview for Dan to serve while she pursued her education. A pastorate was open at the First Baptist Church in Kress, and the family was soon in place at the church and Barbie at school.
She took a light full-time load – 12-13 hours – her first few semesters to determine if she could juggle motherhood, schoolwork and ministry help to her husband. Feeling confident she could handle things, Barbie added more hours the next few terms.
In the last year, she’s added a commute to the educational journey after the family moved to Lubbock for Dan to take the pastorate of The Family Church. Barbie shares in the ministry as volunteer music director, another aspect of her future she doesn’t see changing.
As her education moves more into the higher level education and music courses, Barbie finds herself more excited about her future classroom. She envisions working in a school with underprivileged students and said her classes have opened her eyes to the ministry opportunities through her teaching role.
“I really have a heart for the underprivileged or Title I kids, and I’m praying for a school like that,” she said. “I want to give kids a good foundation in music and also show Christ’s love just by being there for them. I want to give them something to look forward to in music.
“Kids seem to genuinely enjoy singing or playing with instruments. Music just makes kids happy.”
Reynolds said her experience at Wayland has honed her own musical talent, provided her with the practical teaching skills for the classroom and gave her hands-on experiences that affirmed her call.
“The music theory classes that we take are phenomenal. I’d had very little before I came here, and Dr. Stutes is a wealth of information. She taught me so much,” she said. “(Being in Spirit and International Choir) helped me broaden my repertoire and learn how to watch the conductors and see how they interact with the choirs.
“Then in Principles and Practices in Education, going into the schools and working with the kids was a great experience. That class really affirmed to me that elementary school is where I belong.”
Reynolds credits her supportive husband – Dan pulls two jobs so she can complete the degree full-time – and her children with helping her follow her dream. Though the stresses sometimes make her feel like taking some time off, she said it’s her children that encourage her to keep going full strength. She’s even considering the master’s degree in education through Wayland’s Lubbock campus a few years down the road.
Reynolds lauds the music faculty at Wayland for providing a great foundation for her to bring into her own classroom in the future, as well as setting her up with a network of advisers once she’s on her own.
“They seem to have a genuine interest in the material and in the students,” she said of the Wayland faculty. “It’s been well worth the commute to continue here at Wayland.”>> To support students like Barbie, click here to give to Wayland Baptist University online.