It was nearly midnight on October 1. Dorothy and I felt a bit like Mary and Joseph after being turned away by all the old Route 66 motels on Tulsa’s 11th Street. Our baby was six weeks old. We had spent the whole day helping movers load the moving van and then we unexpectedly learned that they were going to drive overnight to Tulsa to unload the van first thing in the morning at our little duplex apartment at 14th and 73rd East Avenue. That’s when the scrambling began. We filled our trusty ’64 Rambler with the baby and the rest of our worldly goods and left Ft. Worth behind. But now it was midnight. We stopped at the Desert Hills Motel, where we had stayed before, but something called the Tulsa State Fair (not Tulsa County Fair, I learned) was in full swing less than a mile away, so every room was taken. We eventually found a room on the seventh floor of the downtown Holiday Inn. What a short night!
Very early the next morning we had to load everything back into the car and get across town to the new place. The moving van was already waiting. We spent the morning unloading and setting up the place. Eventually Dorothy said that we needed to go shopping right then. Why? We had this little baby, and our place had no washer, dryer or refrigerator, and there was something about babies and laundry and eating that needed tending to. So, on our move-in day in Tulsa—it was a Tuesday—we bought the appliances and had them delivered the next day. Wednesday night I was welcomed by Dr. Bob Willets and the church people to the evening prayer service. I delivered my first sermon as a minister of our church on the first Sunday morning of October 1973. The Scripture was taken from 1 Corinthians chapter 1. That day I began a verse-by-verse study of that book which lasted into the following February.
I am in a reflective mood about these 50 years together. Thank you for inviting us and allowing us into some of the most sacred moments of your family’s life. Thank you for welcoming us and giving us room to mature as a pastor and as a family. Thank you for loving us. Thank you for ministering to us and helping us raise and teach our children, and their children, the holy things of God. You are loved, and Dorothy and I are so blessed and grateful.
Keep healthy. Pray mightily. Enjoy your life today. And let’s continue to experience the love and power of God together.
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