Thirty-eight home addresses.
Two dozen cities.
And, a trove of life lessons learned along the way.
So, what life lessons has CU President Dr. Joseph Hopkins learned along the way?
“I’m going to tell you a little about how God has taught me through my weaknesses and failures, and more than He ever could have taught me through my strengths,” CU President Dr. Joseph Hopkins told the CU community at the opening chapel for the new academic year.
Hopkins’ story began in Athens, Ga., where he was born. At that time, Hopkins’ father, a colonel in the Marine Corps, was fighting in the Vietnam War.
Hopkins then showed a picture from his first birthday celebration at his family’s home in Ft. Belvoir, Va.
“I’d already figured out that the best part of a cake is the icing, as you can see right there at the top,” Hopkins stated. “And I haven’t forgotten about that lesson. Learn to celebrate and enjoy the journey. We’re all going on this journey, so let’s make it a joyful time.”
Hopkins then shared a photo of himself in a Camp Lejeune, N.C. nursery.
“That guy, all the way over to the right, that’s me,” Hopkins said, pointing to himself in the photo. “And you can tell if you can see that at all, that little fellow is terrified. I’m brand new. This is a new city to me, a new group of friends yet to make.
“But by the end of that nine months, those were all friends of mine.”
Throughout his life, Hopkins has learned the importance of family.
“Family can come in different ways,” Hopkins reminded the CU community. “…Whether Suzanne and I were in Indonesia, or whether we were a thousand miles from our parents somewhere in the United States, wherever we were, we discovered that we needed family.”
Showing up was yet another life lesson he shared with the CU community.
Hopkins showed a copy of a Vacation Bible School that reflected his consistent attendance.
“The main thing you need to be successful in Vacation Bible school is to just show up,” Hopkins shared. “But it turns out, it works pretty well in college, too. And I want to encourage you that unless you show up, the road gets really troublesome.
“I will tell you that the moments where I have shown up have been much easier than the ones where I didn’t.”
Hopkins shared his next life lesson: God answers prayers. Days before Hopkins would start kindergarten, Hopkins was playing with his cousin and brother in the backyard of his aunt’s house when he suffered a severe head injury.
“I came really close to losing my life in that moment,” Hopkins said. “It took a while to sort of put me back together. I spent weeks in the hospital and recuperation before I was able to go back to kindergarten and join a group that was deep into their studies.”
Hopkins learned that God does indeed answer prayer.
“I prayed for a little sister at that age,” Hopkins said, “and I have a little sister. I prayed that God would heal me in this life-threatening time, and He did. I prayed for others, and I began to see God working because they who will call on His name, He will answer them.”
Hopkins has also learned that he can do the things he thinks he cannot do. Hopkins shared a photo of a diagram that had stars next to skills he had mastered – such as knowing the letters of the alphabet or jumping over a rope five times without stopping.
But, Hopkins was missing a star next to one skill – climbing a pole.
“And if you know me in competition, not having a red star meant that’s the thing we’re going to work on this year. So in Miss Nichols’ class in the first grade, I made it my purpose in life to be able to climb a pole.
“If you look at the next slide, you'll see that I did discover how to climb to the top of the pole.”
Fast forward to the fourth grade, and Hopkins had moved to yet another city. In school one day, Hopkins participated in a physical test that involved climbing a rope.
“And I went all the way to the rafters. I touched the rafters, I slid back down the rope, and everybody was looking around in amazement,” he recalled.
Hopkins asked the CU community, “What is it that you can’t do? And what is it that you would give to God in this moment that you might find that strength and that skill?”
In second grade Sunday School at church, Hopkins learned another important life lesson: love everyone with kindness. Hopkins recalled a girl named Amy whom he shut out of his group of friends and the look of disappointment and hurt on her face. Amy quit attending Sunday School, and it was then that Hopkins learned she was sick.
A short time later, Amy passed away from cancer.
“I will never get over that moment,” Hopkins said. “And in one of the harshest lessons of my life, I never had the chance to make it right. And I learned how important it is to love everyone with kindness now.”
Hopkins learned yet another lesson from that experience.
“That helped me to understand that there was something about me that needed help,” Hopkins said. “I understood that I needed God in my life.”
In sixth grade, Hopkins learned not to procrastinate, as he recalled receiving an F on an art project he had put off until the last moment.
“I tried to create some pioneer covered wagon out of poster board and paper,” Hopkins said. “It was the most pitiful object you’ve ever seen. I took it in. It was a complete failure. And I remember Miss Olive explaining to me that I could do much better. How right she was.”
In high school, Hopkins explained he learned important life lessons through romantic relationships that did not work out.
“I look back and I see how profoundly I grew through each of those relationships that prepared me for Suzanne, who was the right one and who has been a gift from God,” Hopkins shared. “That’s a lesson I hope you build upon. I grow through each relationship.”
In the 11th grade, Hopkins became involved in track and field.
“I knew that I couldn't outrun the fastest members on our track team, but I discovered I could outlast them,” Hopkins said. “I began to excel and ended up lettering and going to state to represent my high school.
“I have to admit, my athleticism was more about willpower than truly being an athlete. But there I learned that I might not be faster, but I can persevere and go further.”
Hopkins had always assumed he would follow in his father’s footsteps and join the military. Hopkins shared he had received an Air Force scholarship and was accepted into an aerospace engineering program.
“Everyone was confident it was a good decision, but I sensed God calling me to something different,” Hopkins noted. “I knew it would involve music and education, but I didn’t fully understand.
“All I knew is that it wasn’t God's plan for me to attend Georgia Tech, and He wanted me to attend a Baptist college and study church music and math towards some pursuit of ministry.”
Hopkins noted the decision to forgo the scholarship and become a music major seemed illogical and even wasteful at the time. Then, a thumb injury took Hopkins away from playing piano for a year.
“So I started to sing, and it was then that God showed me the pathway that would be mine,” Hopkins said.
During college, Hopkins had a blue car he named Virgil.
“Then God reminded me that He is Lord, and He asked me to do something really strange. I’m not fabricating something here. God told me very clearly, ‘I need your car. I want you to give me your car. Turn it over to me.’”
Hopkins obliged and taped a piece of paper that said “God’s car” onto Virgil’s dashboard.
“Every time I saw that, it made me drive differently,” Hopkins said. “He became Lord of that car, and then slowly I began to turn more and more over to God, and those things became His, and they got out of the way, and our relationship became closer.”
Hopkins asked the CU community, “Have you made God Lord of all that's in your life?”
At 19, Hopkins became a worship pastor and youth director, and at 23, he was a full-time opera singer. From there, Hopkins served as chair of the Department of Music at the University of Evansville (IN), dean of the Petrie School of Music at Converse College (SC) dean of the Samford University (AL) School of the Arts before becoming president of Campbellsville University.
“I've been able to spend my entire career serving in ministry and working in a place of passion,” Hopkins said. “Who could have known this except God? Is He the one guiding your path?”
Hopkins reflected on the life lesson he learned as a second grader in Sunday School class: being kind. But he also learned another important lesson from that experience.
“Before I could make Christ Lord of my life, I had to invite Him into my life,” Hopkins said. “And so there at age seven, realizing that I needed help, that I needed forgiveness for what I was and what I had done, and that I needed Someone to take charge of my life.”
Hopkins added, “God shared with me His mercy and His grace that He paid for on the cross. That’s what we talk about when we say that Christ died for us. He paid for my sins.”
Hopkins closed by encouraging those in the audience to make Christ Lord of their lives.
He asked, “Right now, would you consider inviting the One who created you, the Lord of the universe, to come into your life, to offer that forgiveness, that peace, and that strength that every one of us needs for the journey ahead? I invite you to do that.”
Campbellsville University is a widely acclaimed Kentucky-based Christian university that offers over 100 programs including doctoral, master, bachelor, associate and certificate programs. The website for complete information is www.campbellsville.edu.