COLLEGE AND QUIZZING chapter 194

I really thought that once I got back to Regina my connection to quizzing would end. We began attending a small church on the Westside that had no youth. You need youth to have Bible Quizzing. Even if there had been the people, I don’t know whether I would have had the time. My wife tells me I would not.

My life increased intensity as the year went on. It tricked me in December. It let me get comfortable and then just piled things on. First there was the Portrait Players. That program built to the Christmas program. There was a reprieve. The Christmas break came along just in time and we headed to Red Deer, Alberta to spend time with Della’s family. Back to driving in the snow, yuck!

Early in the break I got a call from Dan Rinker asking if I would be the quizmaster for Internationals. Bill Berry had quit a couple of year earlier, and his replacement, Ted Mock, was unable to do it in the summer of 1975. I said yes being unable to anticipate what was about to happen to me. The quizmaster writes all the questions for the meet. I knew how to do that. I had done it each year for the quiz practices. It takes time, but is not that hard. Just agreeing to be quizmaster did not mean I immediately jumped on the task of writing quwstions.

Immediately after the Christmas break, everything became a rush. Youth Conference suddenly seemed to take over my life. Rehearsals for the Portrait Players summer tour production of The Maze began in earnest as well as rehearsals for Youth Conference. Then there were still classes and I was a first year teacher still trying to get his sea legs. Della wondered at times if I even remembered I was married with children,

Writing quiz questions would have to wait. And wait it did — until after schools end and the tour was over, That meant my summer was rapidly disappearing making my wife less than thrilled.

But I made my way off to St. Paul Bible College and Bible quizzing to complete the circle from quizzer, to coach, to quizmaster. I expected I would know several of the coaches and maybe even a few quizzers. Here’s a piece of the report for Alliance Life about the 1975 International Quiz Competitions

The final competition to determine the number one team in the United States and Canada was keen. The suspense was exciting. The audience shouted loud and long. Clyde Walker frequently raised his hand. After two quizzes it was over. South Pacific had taken first place; West Central, second; and Northwestern, third.

 I tried to calm the audience for the last question of the final quiz so everyone could hear, but also to get control of my own nerves. In the finals were the South Pacific team and some of them I had coached the previous year. I could not mess this up and mostly I could not show favoritism. These were my quizzers. Bill and Faith were there once again to coach the team. We talked strategy before the meet began and we agreed not to talk about that again until after the meet.

The quiz was tense with the lead changing hands several times. It was another one of those quizzes coming down to the wire. The South Pacific was ahead by ten points going into question 20 (the last one). With each question worth 20 points, they had to get the question to hold onto their lead. John Keihl (SP) got the jump and came to the mic. He took so long I was sure he was going to miss it. I could see Bill and Faith dying in the front bench. Then finally, without hesitation he got it right and pandemonium reigned. South Pacific became the International champs for 1975. I nearly collapsed myself. Being quizmaster it the most tense job in the whole program.

Would I do it again? Yes! I did it the next year as well. In 1977 Bill Berry returned. He was absolutely the best quizmaster. The team from the Canadian Midwest had suffered a terrible tragedy and needed a coach to fill in. In the spring the Regina team was driving to Winnipeg for a meet, hit black ice and their coach, Jan Neufeld, was killed in the auto accident leaving behind her husband and small child. The team was devastated but still wanted to go to Internationals. Rev. Orthner asked if I would take them to Internationals I doubted they would be in any emotional state to compete, but believed the trip would be good for the team and bring some healing. It did just that.

My next return to the Bible quizzing program would come in the summer of 1981.

YOUTH CONFERENCE chapter 193

I found my teaching schedule for my first year this morning. I was able to count my time with Portrait Players and Youth Conference as teaching hours (I think). My actual classes were Discover in Christian Education right after chapel. Then for some reason I was always given the first hour after lunch. I think it was a test to see if I could keep the students awake. I mostly succeeded. Lots of questions, small group discussions and story telling works – at least for me. The after lunch class was CE of Children, which alternated with CE of Youth. I also had a class called contemporary Issues in Christian Education. I have no memory of that class. The children’s class was my least favorite. I only taught it for one year.

I have been digging around to find the posters and workbooks for each of the six Youth Conferences I directed. I can only find three. I know I have them, but where? The story of my life! Later I will be looking for something else and then I will find them I regret that I don’t remember the theme or the leadership team for 1975. That really bothers me. I remember the process as I used it throughout my life. I learned it from Miss A while working on youth conferences under her leadership. It fits with my philosophy. The goal was always to involve as many people as possible and give everyone as meaningful responsibility as possible, using both volunteers and those recruited. If you are going to work in a church, not everyone who is capable and talented will volunteer. Learn to recognize them and win them over.

I began with twelve volunteers. After the first year it became a class limited to twelve. We always started with understanding the philosophy while learning and discussing our own strengths and weaknesses. Each member was responsible to lead another team that may have sub teams all the way down to worker bees. Everyone is important. Everyone is critical to the success of the ministry. Everyone deserves encouragement. If the committee succeeds, the team will get plenty of encouragement, but our teams may only get that from us. That means working with and understanding team relationships.

I came to believe that more spiritual grown may occur though serving God together than most preaching. Iron sharpens iron. Even the conflicts teach us a great deal.

From there we worked on a theme. That always took longer than any of us expected. Then we reevaluated the recommendations from the previous year and determine which of the previous committees we would need. Youth conference that was pretty well set from year to year. But once in a while we found another branch. The students carried the load. I acted as a coordinator. I wanted all of them to know everything I did so they would have the big picture.

We gradually selected all the committees: promotion, registration, housing, individual and group Bible study, programming, public services, set-up and take down, activities, entertainment and whatever else was needed.

We had the gym form large group meetings and sports. The biggest problem was it had to be set and taken down four times a day. The new dining room made coordination meals much easier.

The closer we would get to the YC more and more people would be drawn upon to help with all the details. The primary committee held training and information meetings for those working on their team. They often wrote and distributed directions and guidelines so everyone knew what was needed.

We began praying in September and when it was over we thanked God. We took several classes to celebrate, gather evaluations and put together a report for the next year’s committee. The program was the exam. I thing everyone always got an A. If they were not working hard enough, I pushed them until they did.

I remember for one entertainment section, the Portrait Players were performing Rinse the Blood of My Toga and got five or six laughs off one line with multiple double takes. Leon as a Greek toga-wearing detective said, “Lend me your ears.” Eric ran in appearing very humble with a paper bag and the laughs would started and came each time Leon and then Eric would look at the bag. Leon would finally say, “What’s in the bag.” Another laugh. Eric replied, “Ears.” And yet another laugh came. It was so anticipated it was hard to believe it was always so funny. It had a great deal to do with the actors. From then on their goal was to see how many laughs they could get out of that one line. I don’t remember the record, but I believe it was in double digits. The guys preformed it brilliantly.

Since I have no idea who reads this blog, if anyone happens to know the Youth Conference themes leaders from 1975-1980, would you drop me a line or comment in the comment section, I only remember what I remember because of the yearbook. If there are no photos, my mind goes blank.

INTRODUCTION TO PORTRAIT PLAYERS chapter 192

I definitely had an interest in working with the Portrait Players. I had no real background and no training or special skill. I just liked the idea. I considered myself a visual person. Plays and skits are visual things, right? That should work, shouldn’t it?

I wasn’t completely without experience. I wrote a mission’s play Columbia in Revolt while a student at CBC. I wrote Connie’s Choice in Saskatoon for a missions week show

I had preformed in skits while in high school and college. I had directed a couple of plays. I already knew I liked directing better than acting. I am terrible at remembering the lines. I want to ad-lib all the time. That does not help the other actors.

What I had never done was hold auditions. The thought of selecting some and rejecting others was depressing. I had not written a play for tour yet, but I knew what I was going to write. I knew I would need four women and four men. Now all I had to do was select them.

I have been trying to remember where auditions were held. I know it was a small out of the way room. There were only ten or eleven who showed up. I decided to pull out all the old Peanuts scripts I had used in Saskatoon. I wasn’t sure what I would learn, but I wanted both dramatic and comic actors. I had everyone do several skits and try various roles. I wanted to see if any could change characters and figured everyone was familiar with Charlie Brown, Lucy and the gang.

It was obvious that two girls were going to be terrific: Jeri-Lynne Hougestol and Norma Frentz were definitely in. Norma had a better sense of comic timing, but both could easily handle drama. Leon Throness was without doubt the comedian. These were the first three selected. Then I took Judy Linnen who could do anything and Christine O’Reilly. The girls seemed easy compared to the guys. I took Eric Greenway, Duane Patterson and a gentleman I did not know was on academic probation, He had to pull his grades up by the end of first semester or he would not be allowed to tour. I worried about my choice so approached Garry Tollefson with a strange proposal. I wanted him to begin practicing and if my first choice was removed from the group, he would be in. Even more strangely, he accepted.

I felt like I could not remove my first choice. I wanted him to have the challenge of tour to get his grades up. He did not succeed and Gary was in.

The previous years group did a great number of short skits and we worked on our own set. Our coming out party was Christmas. We did short open-ended skits. We may have done the program at the college, but we definitely performed at the Alliance Tabernacle.

While we were having a good time with short skits and getting ready for Christmas, I was writing The Maze. The play was based on a concept in Watchman Nees book The Calvary Road. He said no one comes to the cross except on his or her knees and that there are many normal, everyday things that block our freedom to communicate who Jesus is. My idea was a waiting room where people passed on their way to the normal things of life. A maid would be hostess to the room getting them coffee or tea and trying to make sure they were comfortable. We will help people, but not tell them about the Saviour.

The premise was set. Gwendolyn would wear a maid’s outfit and serve off a teacart at the front of the stage. The idea was that the cart had to be moved out of the way to see Jesus. Then characters wandered through with their problems. We did some reading, but casting was not set until second semester. The cast would rotate roles to give them a little variety and cover us in case of illness.

The team was finalized and Garry was in. Boy was in. Garry worked with the group all four years at CBC and one year at CTS. He became the go to guy who had the heart, patience and skill to be a guide to the rest. By year two he was my right hand man.

SOME PORTRAIT PLAYER PHOTOS APPEAR IN THE NEXT ENTRY

Portrait Player photos 1974-1975

A scene from our Christmas
program. Garry is on Santa's lap
sharing if greed for Christmas

There was no poster for tour. The floral
pattern is a piece off the tour shirts.
Wild!!!

"Rinse the Blood of My Toga" one
of the most popular skits the
group did. It reappeared often.

Norma and Leon as bickering spouces

Jeri-Lynne as Gwendolyn

THE “NEW” CAMPUS chapter 191

Norma Bailey

      When I was a CBC student the hallway from the administration basement to the girls dorm had an apartment on the left and offices on the right. Miss Johnston lived in the apartment. The apartment has been converted to offices and the faculty lounge. Actually the lounge was used for all kinds of meetings. I used to a meet with the Youth Conference Planning committee.

The rest of the space was offices related mostly to Christian education. There were four decent sized offices with space for a small secretarial pool in the front. I was surprised how big the offices were (12x12). Most of my offices in churches were smaller.

In the first year, Bob Rose was in the first office Norma Bailey was next, and then my office was third. I may be wrong, but I don’t believe anyone was in the fourth office. Bob was the chairman of the department. The parties were generally in Norma’s office or in the common area.

There was a new music classroom building and gymnasium. As I recall, the dining room was still under construction. Who knows, maybe the gym was still under construction as well, but it was completed before the year was out.

Bob Rose

The old library was now a classroom. So was the old chapel. It was strange to see it tiered and turned sideways. It was the only space that would hold the freshmen. It just felt weird, but I came to love the space and the dynamic I experienced with freshmen. It also became the primary rehearsal space for the Portrait Players.

If it is true that the dining room was not completed, students were still eating in the pit with the “Tuck Shop” where it was when I left school. When the new dining room opened, the Tuck Shop was relocated to the old dish room and kitchen. Across from Tuck was a very nice bookstore. The rest of the space was turned over to a student lounge. Mailboxes had been moved downstairs to the new lounge,

The school had grown and the expanded space was appropriate. They wanted a chapel, but the money did not stretch that far at that time. Parts of the school were new other parts remodeled. To me it still seemed like the same ‘ole school. The old dorms were still there and they stunk even worse than when I lived in one. I have gone on line to look at the old campus from Google earth. It looks like they are still standing. How can that be? They were near death when I lived in one.

This was my hair length when
I began Biola. Talbot had no
hair length rule so I grew it back.
I'm wearing my $6 sports coat
from my shoe salesman days.

I had the opportunity to walk the entire campus before students arrived. They were still installing desks in the rooms. I had to take another look. I walked over by the desk with the draws not yet inserted. There was an electrical outlet located at the standard height from the floor right where it appeared the drawer would open. I had the sense that once all the electrical gadgets were plugged into a plug expander, one would have to unplug everything just to open the drawer. Maybe that wasn’t a problem. I never heard anyone complain about it. With my limited background in architecture, I wondered why it wasn’t above the desk? That’s where I would have wanted it. Yes, I blame the architect.

Former students of mine were on staff: Ray Matheson was now dean of men, Mel Bowker was in the music department, Richard Reichert was director of athletics, Bob Rose was the chairman of our department, Dorothy Taylor was assistant to the president, Velma Warnock was an assistant cook. In addition were a number of staff and faculty still at the school or ones who have returned. It sort of felt like home.

ADJUSTING chapter 189

One of the Rambo twins, Dave Rambo,
Me with my son Rodney on my shoulders
at a preschool picnic 1974.

There were times I wandered around the school like any new student. I was in awe. Awe that I was there. It was hard to forget my own experience as a CBC student. I was in awe that I was ever asked. I knew the school had changed and loved the fact that I had something to do it with. However, the pain was not yet gone. I was in awe that the school was growing and changing. I was in awe that the college culture was changing. I know there are always students who want more freedom, but it was like a day on the beach in instead of prison. I loved what I was seeing.

The other side of the coin was the fears. I was fearful of dealing with the issues at my house. I shared the painting problem with my house in some of my classes and 10-12 guys volunteered to come paint the place. I honestly didn’t say it to secure help, but was glad it came forward. There was about four feet of space between the house on the east and three feet on the west. Our house sat right on the property line to the west so any painting could only be reached by planting a ladder on the neighbor’s property. 

The high peaks of our house were on the east and west sides, easily three stories high. I had no idea how we would get a ladder in there to reach those points. I borrowed some ladders from maintenance, the boys came and the house was painted in a day. Neither Della nor I could watch the guys climbing to the top of the peaks. Nothing about it looked safe. Even worse was Dave Collins on the roof leaning over to paint the fascia boards and the eves. He was crazy, but got the job done.

Don Graham and his wife became good friends and besides helping with the painting he came back and built a closet in out bedrooms. There were none. I have no skills in construction and he was excellent. He, more than anyone else, helped get our home settled in that first year. He was God’s gift to us.

Della made sure there were snacks and drinks for all our volunteers. She was always the most gifted hostess. She also tried to keep Rhonda off the ladders. She was a climber and wanted to go up and see what was going on. I’m sure she would have gone to the top if we had let her.

As the weather got colder we took out a loan to have the house rewired. Having seen some of the garbage coming out of the walls, we did feel safer when the work was done. The foyer looked the worse so we wallpapered over the plaster and, if I so say so myself - and I do, we made those crooked walls look straight. Miracle.

I was afraid of messing up in class. I relaxed before the end of the year, but those early weeks were tense. There were a number of former youth group members from Saskatoon and Vancouver but I had very few of them in classes. The guys were all in pastoral studies and so I missed the opportunity to have most in classes. The sad part of that was I had I have very little connection to those kids I really loved. All others were strangers. I felt like I was on trial every day and I was trying to read the judgments in their faces.

I felt incompetent compared to my peers. All were experienced teachers and highly admired. Could I ever join their ranks as a knowledgeable and skilled professional? In that first year I often brought a sack lunch and ate in the faculty lounge with several others. I loved Bob Willoughby being there. He made me feel accepted and comfortable, and he had been my highly admired professor. We laughed every day. He talked with the faculty and staff like he did with the students. When he thought he might say something the high muckity-mucks might disapprove he would turn his head from side to side and say, “Shut the door.” I always laughed. The door was always shut.

Time heals all wounds. After a few weeks of classes under my belt I finally began to feel like I belonged. Once adjusted, I loved being there. It was where God had called me and it was a joy. Yes, I had my problems. You will read about them as we go along.

Thanksgiving

Give thanks with a grateful heart!

WHAT I LEARNED TEACHING chapter 188

My urge prayer was always that God would lead me to teach something important. I had already been away from CBC nine years and watched the culture and youth change. Not much, but it had changed, youth executive committees with presidents, etc. were no longer. There was another subtle shift, but full time youth leaders were beginning to step in and take most of the leadership. I wanted to prepare students to deal with change, and hopefully convince them there were to rain up their replacement.

 I always had three goals at the top of my agenda, 1) People are more important than programs, and 2) Be creative with the help and guidance of God. Teaching “how to” can be fun, but may not work as the world turns. 3) Teach leaders to prepare future leaders

In my Intro to CE class I used the prominent text of the day by the LeBar sisters. I agreed with their foundational focus ”The primary focus of Christian education is people not programs. I warned student at the first exam that I would have one question that no one should miss. I wrote it on the board leaving blanks for the two most important words. “The purpose of Christian education is ————— not —————. “ I then filled in the blanks: “people not programs.” I promised it would be on the exam exactly as I wrote it. If they got nothing else right, I wanted them to get this one right. I was always surprised how many missed it. After the first year, I commented in future years about the number who would miss it and amazingly the same percentage missed it every year. Oh well. It’s those kind of things that make teachers want to bang their heads against the wall. How can that happen?

It’s a little premature to discuss what I learned as a Bible college teacher, but all of this was learned half way through the first year. 1) Freshmen know more than seniors. 2) Very few knew that there were two spellings for the word “there” and they didn’t know the there was any difference. “Their” was rarely used. “There” was used for every meaning. Then again, English is a strange language. 3) Far too many students ramble in papers and say nothing and I hated rambling. 3) Far too many spent time telling me what they wanted to do or were going to so and never got around to doing it. Attempting to explain what you were going to do instead of doing it automating dropped a grade. Do it twice in the same paper and you would get dinged another grade. Never saying anything was an “F.” Students get ticked at teachers. Well, teachers get ticked at students. 4) Students that are excited about learning are great fun. 5) The stats about grades corresponding to the location of seat chosen are generally correct. Student choosing to sit near the front get better grades.

I used to see Dr. Dahms in the library searching for plagiarism. I could never bring myself to spend that much time looking for a cheater. Instead, if I suspected plagiarism, I wrote a comment at the bottom and gave the student an “F.” I didn’t use it often, but no one every came into challenge it when I did. “This section appears to be plagiarized. If I am wrong, bring your paper in and we will discuss it.” No one ever came to talk about it. If you are going to steal from a real writer, it had better look and sound like your style. Duh! Honestly, I have no idea what other faculty did. I just did it and probably was hated for it.

It doesn’t take long as a teacher before you get over wanting everyone to like you. You even give up wanting to be friends with them all. When that happens you have a sense of loss, but you do what you gotta do and let the chips fall where they may,

SCHOOL STARTS chapter 187

Like I have said before, I am a very nervous person, but one who does not show those nerves easily. You would think I would remember all the classes I taught and which semester they were taught. I don’t. I dumped those files long ago.

As I write about my days teaching at Canadian Bible College, I know I will mix up years, classes and when certain students attended. None of this is intentional. I was at Canadian Bible College six years and in my mind, all the students I knew were there at the same time. I blame it all on Garry Tollefson. He was with me in Portrait Players five years (four at CBC and one at CTC) and he knew all the Portrait Players, and they knew him. At times that caused me think they all there at the same time. They weren’t.

I was not hired to direct or work with Portrait Players. I knew a drama group had been started the year before and that they had toured. It was student organized and student run. I expected it would continue to be student run. Eugene Neudorf had graduated, but Judy Linnen was still around. I intended to be supportive, but that was it.

I was hired to organize and direct youth conference. I was looking forward to that. At the time it was still an extra circular activity, but by the following year I had managed to move it to a two semester to a credit class. Giving leadership in that program was hard work and very time consuming for all the students. There was a lot to learn in just the process, let alone the creativity — loved that part.

I recall that the first class I walked into was “Introduction to Christian Education.” The first year of teaching is a challenge for any new teacher. I had never taught before and had no idea how I was going to fill sixteen hours a week with 55 minutes of stuff. I had a week to prepare a forty-minute sermon and struggled with that. The most helpful advice I got from my mentor, Norm Wakefield, was to remember that every assignment I handed out would came back to me in multiplied form. When teaching several classes he said, “Do not make all the assignments from all classes due on the same day or you will collapse under the weight of grading papers. Plan in such a way as you can get assignments back within seven days. Remember spacing”

That was what I did. I staggered assignments from class to class. No two classes had written papers due back at the same time. I planned for time to read every paper. Now, if only all the students could write, I would have enjoyed it more.

I was nervous on day one, class one and decided I would just introduce myself to the class and try to get to know them a bit. Naturally the first task is learning names and I lived in fear of my struggle to pronounce some strange names, at least strange to me. Some names were a terrible challenge.  One of the toughest was the Chinese name “Ng.” When I saw that I really didn’t know what to do. There were no vowels. How do you pronounce a name without vowels? The student tried to explain it to me in class and I still could not understand. I asked him to see me after class. He did and worked with me a few minutes. I got it when I finally figured out it was just a sound. At least, that is how I grasp the concept.

I then went over the syllabus. I hated teachers who wanted to trick me in exams by asking the most obscure, insignificant facts they could find just so those questions would be missed buy most. I really wanted to test fundamental knowledge. The things I believed were basic and important would be covered. I hoped they would see it the same way. If everyone got an “A” so be it. Of course, that never happened.

I somehow got through the first day and went home with a loaded briefcase to prepare for the next day. That seemed to happen almost every night for the first year. Della wasn’t so sure that me being a teacher was going to be the best thing for our Marriage. Frankly, neither was I. I seemed to have little time for the family.

WHERE WILL WE LIVE chapter 186

Returning to Regina was certainly different than my first visit nine years earlier. It was beautiful. The city was green and warm. No snow. As a student you rarely got to see how beautiful Regina could be. You come when fall is beginning and winter drops in fast and you leave as the snow is melting and it generally looks dirty.

We needed to turn in the U-Hall ASAP. We were going to drop it off in Montana to save a pile of money. We were already at our return due date and neither of us had any place to live or store our things.

The college offered the use of the basement of the administration building for us to store of things. To me, that was the old dining room. Della didn’t want to do it, as she was concerned about everything we owned being on display for all to see. I saw her point but other options would cost more than we had.

Bill called the morning we were to return the truck and asked if we could hold on one more day. They had a lead on an apartment and hoped to sign a lease that day. So we waited. That afternoon we moved he and his wife into their new apartment. That evening we unloaded the Walker possessions into the college showroom. The next day we drove to Montana.

We spend one more night with the Roses and then Dave Rambo had found a place we could house sit for three weeks. While not excited about house sitting with two preschool kids, we took it and earnestly began our own house search the next day.

We secured the assistance of Pat Richards (fellow student from our days at CBC) as our realtor. We met, talked about our needs and finances. She expressed doubts that anything would be available that we could afford, but said she would see what she could do. We only had $500.

She came back a couple of days latter and said she might have a house. The couple were leaving town in the next week and still had not sold their place. Pat was willing to relinquish her commission and broker a private sale to bring the cost of the house down. There were problems with the house and we would have to take it as is.

We met with Roger Moyer, departing music faculty member at CBC, who made us a deal we could swing. Pat assured us we could not do better anywhere and it may be our only option. We needed $1500 down payment so I called my father to see if they could help. He sent us the extra $1000 needed. Next was a mortgage. That was difficult. After a couple of inspections, The Royal Bank came through with contingencies: 1) the house must be rewired within six months. 2) The house must be painted within six months. It was August. Who knew how soon snow would come.

I had no idea how we would accomplish either one, but we agreed. All we could do was pray.

The deal was finalized before the faculty and staff meetings a week before school began. We secured from some early arriving students to help us move our things and attempted to get settled before school started.

Everything was so hectic that I had to leave some things to Della to do on her own. One of those was getting Rodney registered for kindergarten. It wasn’t a big deal since she was familiar with getting around Regina. She was comfortable moving here. She got him signed up at Connaught Elementary School, just five blocks from our place at 3813 Victoria right across the street from lawn bowling. Did you know that bagpipes preceded every Saturday lawn bowling tournament at 8:00 a.m.? I really appreciated the early morning wake up calls. Felt like I  must be in the RCMP. Groan.

We were semi settled in time for me to figure out what on earth I was doing. Both Dt. Wakefield and Dr. Bynum had a great deal of input on my course outlines — thankfully. I knew all my courses ahead of time, but had one twist that week. Did I have any interest in drama? I guess the powers that be remembered I had written and directed a play as a student, acted in dozens of skits and they may have also found out I wrote a missions play while at University Drive in Saskatoon. Obviously, I had an interest.

BACK TO CANADA chapter 185

It wasn’t until we were making plans to move to Regina that we realized there had been a mistake on the visas of my family. We crossed the border into the United States on September 4, 1972. We were told the visa was good for two years. Not true. The departure date on the visa was August 4.We had to be out of the good old USA by August 4, 1974. That wasn’t a huge problem, as we needed to be in at Canadian Bible College the middle of August. We just had less time than we had hoped for. We set our departure for August 1.

It was going to work out fine. My friend Bill Higgen’s had accepted a position at Hillsdale Alliance Church in Regina and we decided to travel together. He had to be in Regina by the fifteenth of August. Timing could not have been better. We wanted to allow four days for the 28-hour trip 1759-mile drive.

We waited until just after dark on July 31 to begin our trip north. Neither the Higgen’s nor us had air-conditioned cars and we would have to drive through the Nevada desert the first week of August. Well, we didn’t have too, but it was the shortest distance. We decided if we crossed the desert during the night, it would be cooler. Wrong.

We had packed both family goods into one U-Hall truck and left a part of the world we had grown to love. It was hard to leave our friends, but exciting to begin a new adventure.

It was an ordeal getting out of the greater Los Angeles area and onto I-15 to get over the mountains toward Las Vegas. The heat began to be unbearable as soon as we crossed the mountains. We had plenty of water for the car and to drink (if you like warm water). It was late (or early) when we pulled into Las Vegas to fill up with gas. The kids were restless but sleeping. The stop woke them up and they were dripping wet from sweat. I asked the attendant the temperature and he said 120 degrees. I had never been in heat like that before.

We did not stay in Las Vegas. We could see the lights from the by-pass, but that was a close as we got. We filled up with water and pushed on. We passed through the northwest corner of Arizona. The sign told us we were passing the backside of the Grand Canyon. There went another tourist destination we passed up. All we wanted to do was get out of the heat.

My Dodge completely died in southern Utah. It had over heated, but adding water did not help. Bill was driving the U=Hall and towing their car. Neither of us was particularly mechanically inclined, but it certainly sounded like the battery had gave up as well. We unhooked Bill’s car and brought it around to try and jumpstart the Dodge. Bill hooked it up but reversed the cables and burned out his battery (we learned later). Now we had two broken down cars.

Digging out the map we figured we were about 15 miles south of Cedar City. It didn’t appear to be the smallest spot on the road. We decided that Della and the kids would crowd into the truck cab with Bill and Jan get our families out of the heat. I would remain with the Dodge and Bill would send a tow truck.

Bill left our families at a motel near the station sending the tow truck and came back with the drive to get me. It was hooked up and towed to Cedar City. Bill got a new battery but my car had more serious problems. I can’t remember what the problem was, but know they didn’t have the part. It would order the part in the morning and it would be the next day before they could get it delivered. That meant we would not be on the road again until the third of August.

While disappointed, the thought of grabbing some sleep in an air-conditioned motel was very appealing. I crashed and slept most of the day. Remarkably so did the kids. They slept until early afternoon and Della got up with them, got them fed and took them to the pool. They thought that was great.

The Higgen’s met us for supper where we commiserated about our dilemma and had a very relaxing meal. We were back at the pool after supper. The temperature here was in the low 100’s –p much cooler. We were still in the desert and quite a distance yet from Salt Lake City.

My car was repaired by 10:00 and we were off after praying there would be no more delays. Two days later and one more night in a motel we pulled into Regina. There were no more delays and it taught me never to self diagnose any vehicle and never drive through the desert again. When crossing the border the guard said you couldn’t have cut your return to Canada any closer, could you?

It was late when we arrived, but the church had a place for Bill and Jan for the night and we were back with Grandma and Grandpa Rose, then the deans at Canadian Bible College.

Both families we now in the city were we would live indefinitely. We would begin house hunting the next day.

SAYING GOODBYE chapter 184

Long Beach was the most difficult place we ever left. This can only be said in retrospect. We were aware that much of the love came because I was a student with a part-time job and we had two small children. Never have we felt so loved or cared for. The church had several part time staff before, but we were the first married employees. That may have been part of the reason for the great care.

A great deal of change occurred in our short two years. It was neat to be part of it. We were around for the transition to a new pastor. They got a Godly man who was an excellent preacher. However, his wife would not let herself contribute to the church. The church wanted to embrace her, wanted her included, but she never allowed herself to adjust. She eventually withdrew completely and would not attend. That’s tough on a pastor. In time, he left the ministry to recover his marriage. If one is going to be in ministry, the couple needs to be called, not just one.

Life long friendships began in Long Beach. We were included in activities and went places we never dreamed possible. Faith and Lorraine reappeared at Della’s funeral and returned for Rhonda’s wedding to help with that important day.

I don’t remember the details of saying good-bye to the church, our church friends, and my friends from high school, but I remember the final day of loading the U-Hall. Since Bill and Jan Higgins were moving to Regina, we were going to do it together. We planned the shortest travel route possible, which was through the desert of Nevada and Utah so we made the decision to travel that stretch during the night (big mistake). None of us had air-conditioned cars, so we hoped the night trip would make the heat bearable. It didn’t, but that was the plan.

We were finishing packing the day before departure and were struggling keeping the boxes filled as both our children were taking things back out when we would turn our back. Eventually we got the neighbor girl to take them to play with the other neighborhood kids. Later that day, Bill and I went to pick up the truck. We brought it back and loaded our things the next morning. Bill then took the truck and he and Jan loaded their things at the back. We already knew they were going to have an apartment ready for them on arrival, but we were going to have to find a place. Where we were going to stay until we found a place was a big unknown.

Mixed emotions flooded us as the end was fast approaching. We talked about the offer we received to move to Ohio to be the Christian Education director. We were offered $12,000 a year. More than twice what we were going to get in Regina. There were no regrets. We believed this was God’s will. We laughed about my response to the call. When I answered the phone, the senior pastor called me “brother Walker.” I did not know what the call was about at that time, but I absolutely hated that title. It was a bad hang over from the Pentecostal church of my youth. It was like fingernails on a chalkboard. Be barely got out his purpose for the call of his mouth and I knew immediately I could not go there. I would not go anywhere I was going to be called “brother.” Of course, I had second thoughts when he said “$12,000 a year.”

That afternoon people came by to see us off. I doubt either of us could hold it together. When the Higgins returned we hooked up their car to tow behind the U-Hall. Bill and Jan drove the truck and our family rode in our Dodge. When we left it was with a mixture of sadness and joy. We knew what God wanted, but it was hard to leave.

WRAPPING UP chapter 183

Coming close to my final responsible in Long Beach was to take the quiz them to the International Championships at St. Paul. The Alliance Life magazine report did not give all the details I wanted. I regret that I cannot remember exactly who was on the team for out much improved showing.

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL BIBLE QUIZ FINALS

Seventy-five young people and their coaches, along with a number of cheering spectators, gathered on the campus of St. Paul Bible College July 10-14 to participate in the fifth International Bible Quiz finals. These teams represented fifteen districts and more than 2,400 young people who had spent this past year in intensive study of the Book of Acts. To he chosen to represent their district on the all-star team meant that most of these young people practically memorized the entire Book of Acts. Questions covered all twenty-eight chapters. After a long and tense battle the championship was captured on Saturday evening by Western Pennsylvania. Members of this winning team each received a trophy and a $100 scholarship to the college of their choice. If they attend one of the Alliance colleges, that school will match this with another $100. Members of the winning team, coached by Rev. Floyd E. Meier, arc Nancy Fetherlin, Greg Stanley, Bill I'ayne, Ken Blanchard and Rill Wilkinson. South Pacific District and Northwestern District placed second and third respectively. Cheri Stutsman, of the Eastern District team, took the honors as highest scorer during the finals. Rev. D. G. Rinker, National Youth Director for the Alliance, headed up the finals. Rev. C. E. (Ted) Mock, Alliance pastor in Aliquippa, Pa., was quizmaster for this competition. 1974-75 quizzing will cover the book of First Corinthians.

1974 was the best placement the district had to date. They gave WPA a run for their money. I anticipated that year would be my final year with any involvement in Bible quizzing. I could no see how quizzing would fit into a teaching schedule. In fact, I wasn’t sure I wanted it to fit.

My thesis was approved April 17, 1974. The manuscript was mailed to Dan Rinker within the week; He delivered it to Christian Publications ASAP. A box of Quiz Coach manuals were delivered to ST. Paul during the quiz finals in July and he sold the entire box that week. Dan also gave me my check for the manual, which was used to rent a U-Hall and move back to Canada. Again God intervened. Dan had promised we would have the money for the move. As it turned out, Canadian Bible College paid for the move. That left us with $500 as a down payment for a house. It wasn’t much, but it was all we had. God was going to have to take the money and multiply it like the fish and loaves. We were already praying.

GRADUATION chapter 182

I removed this mornings "Saying Goodbye" post to insert two posts that should have preceded it. The post will be added back in on Friday.

My parents flew out from Lincoln, Nebraska for my graduation. They had retired to Hardy, Nebraska and Lincoln was the nearest airport. Hardy was a tiny place of about 200 right on the Kansas-Nebraska border. They shared a block with my brother David and his family. Each owned a half that were located two blocks from the one block city center. Dad liked the place because a train pasted by the back of their place once a day about mid afternoon. He would always check his retirement pocket watch to determine if it was on time or not. He also had the space for him to continue with his large garden.

I was the first in my family to go beyond a high school education so my parents were already elated. They didn’t even know what a Masters degree was. Just that it was important and I was about to receive one. They were also excited that I would soon be teaching in a Bible College. I was one of only two of my seven sibling that was continuing a walk with God. That made dad ecstatic.

Hoods are strange appearing things.
Each color has meaning:
while = arts, light blue = education
and red is theology,
thus Christian education

Biola and Talbot graduation ceremonies were held together on the college lawn. It was a very hot day. Don Sappington and I were only one person apart for the procession. His brother Ron was between us. It was hot as most June days were in Whittier, CA. I was sweating almost as soon as we stepped out of the preparation building. As it turned out, I was sitting on the aisle where the faculty would pass on their way to the platform. I turned and saw Dr. Bill Bynum (CE Professor at Biola) coming toward me with his bare knees popping out as he walked. But there were pant legs below the hem. Under his robe he wore shorts and the bottom of pant legs cut off and held below his knees with elastic. He also had a fake collar and tie at his neckline. When talking to him later, he said it was jus too hot for a suit. I got the giggles and didn’t know if I could quit.

How hoods are worn.

It was a very nice ceremony and cut reasonably short. The undergrads did not walk the platform but had degrees conferred as each department stood. Only the seminary grads walked across the platform. We wore our hoods (I bought mine knowing I would need it at CBC) and received the blank folder as we shook hands with the dean. There was a note inside telling us we to pick up our degree in the seminary office. I was a little miffed, but after meeting several friends, wandered to the office to return the robe and pick up the all-important piece of paper.

In the office I was asked to sign a doctrinal release. I was ticked when I read the release. I have never read nor was I told that we would have to sign a statement of theological belief to graduate. Talbot was often called the Western Dallas and was dispensational. I became livid. I told the girl behind the desk that I could not sign the document. “If you don’t sign, I cannot give you the degree. All the arguing that I had earned it, completed all the work, paid all my bills and was technically presented with it at the ceremony meant nothing. “No sign no get.” I needed that paper so I signed under protest telling her that I would sign but she needed to know I did not believe what I was signing. She was happy and I was disappointed, but had the paper. I also received a New American Standard Bible, which had just been published and released in 1974. Several Talbot professors were on the translation committee.

Many people in the church were interested in the meaning of names and Bill and Faith gave us name plaques for each one in our family. They have always meant a great deal to Della and I and still hang on my wall.

SUNDAY SCHOOL chapter 181

Rod had not yet begun school, but he was exceptionally bright and did extremely well in groups when they could grab his attention and fully engage him. He had already begun to ask questions I could not answer. I was embarrassed at times. He was only four. By the grace of God he had a preschool Sunday school teacher that captured his attention and held him week as week.

Denise was a college student with an avid interest in nature and science. She used his passion to teach these little ones to know God. It wasn’t unusual for them to be outside finding weeds and plants and inspecting them to see how God made them. One or more times she even borrowed microscopes from school to allpo0w the kids to inspect the intricacies of Gods creation. I don’t really know how all the kids responded to this, but my son made the connection between the flower he picked and the details of what he saw under the microscope. He could hardly wait for Sundays to come.

She had also put a Christmas tree in her class that the kids decorated with their own creations. After the season, she left the tree in the classroom and let it die. At Easter, the broke the braches off the tree and cut a section off the top and made a cross out of that tree. Rod loved that idea.

Most likely David should have been a little taller and
Goliath a little shorter. It struck a sense of awe on the kids.

She wasn’t the old outstanding teacher. Lorraine was an experienced teacher of grades 1-3. Every time I went past her class you could hear the excitement and see the enthusiasm in her room. I’m not exactly sure how the idea came about but as she was approaching the story of David and Goliath she was trying to figure out how to help the kids understand the size difference between the boy and the giant. Any way, I agreed to paint the tow of them. This Goliath being over 9’ tall and the ceiling lower, I painted the figures on canvas so she could use them whenever she wanted. It was fun to do that and see the eyes get so big when they looked at the picture. I’m not sure I got the proportion exactly right, but it got the point across.

In the 70’s women’s involvement in ministry with men was a hot topic. The Paul suggests it might not be appropriate for a woman to teach a man (one opinion). The adult Sunday school had a woman Bible teacher. Without question, Lois was the best hands down. The majority loved it when she was teaching. There was a man that had a hard time keeping people awake. Most of the people accepted Lois as a teacher, but there was a hand full that commented or stayed away.

I was very interested in the issue as I was headed to teach in the Christian Education department of a Bible college and knew the issue would be broached. The CS depart had a majority of women seeking that degree. What was to become of them? Did the school really just want them there to meet future pastors and missionaries and become their wives? Sure by now some of the women were seeking real jobs in a real church and did not want to be the church secretary, pianist or organist. Some wanted to be pastors. I loved seeing the issue up close in a local church.

I don’t want to get too far ahead in my stories, but I banged my head repeatedly on the subject at the college level. It made me mad.

DEFENDING THE THESIS chapter 180

I was very nervous about defending my thesis. My head said there was nothing to worry about, but since I have always been a nervous person and got rattled easily, I had my doubts about succeeding. I knew I would be drilled on philosophy. I had no doubts I could get through the sections on the coach and the practice. After all, they didn’t care much about that part and I was confident I had that down pat. I had plenty of experience.

Three professors sat behind a table and invited me to come and sit in a chair located in the middle of the room. If they were really going to be friendly, why not let me sit at the same table with them. I felt like I was being interrogated – which, of course, I was.

My evaluators totally ignored my third section on the practice. They didn’t really care. They just looked for typos and grammar. They did ask how I came up with so many different ways to practice. I had actually used most of them. Some came from other coaches. That was it. That section still holds up well. I believe variety is the spice of life.

I was looking through the book in preparation for this posting and laughed out loud about a section in on preparing a budget. I suggested that the cost of travel ought to be planned at 12¢ a mile. Gas was selling at 53¢ a gallon. Those were the days. Made me long for the past.

I loved rereading the stories found in the philosophy section; I relived many of those quizzes. I had written to a number of former quizzers to ask about their stories and get permission to include them in the book. Holden Bowker of Saskatoon wrote:

“Quizzing was the most important I had during my teen years. I must admit that at times I enjoyed it more as a game and a release for my competitive spirit. But in retrospect I realize just how subtly the word of God was implanted in my heart.” Holden manages at major para church organization in Canada now (2012).

Bob Peters memorized several books of the Bible as a quizzer and continued the practice as a pastor and into his role as a district superintendent. By the time of his premature death in the mid 1990’s, he had memorized about 2/3’s of the Bible.

Errol Rempel is the senior pastor of a large Canadian church in Abbotsford, BC. He said it developed him spiritually and believed it also helped him to think faster. These were my quizzer and I have always been exceptionally proud of their accomplishments.

The committee liked the personal stories and felt it supported the value of the program. I was glad about their response, as I had to help them all get past seeing it only as a game.

After I was finished with the interview, I was excused while they deliberated. I was pretty sure I had Norm Wakefield’s approval but worried about the other two. One I did not know at all. Can’t even remember his discipline at this time. I remember the Bible professor as I had classes with him. He made me nervous and with good reason. I didn’t like him very much and suspected the feeling was mutual. He required that we buy a notebook for his class that he at written. It was a fill in the blank workbook. He lectured and we filled in the missing words. OK, I thought it was a throwback to high school. In the first exam he ask a question I considered absurd. “According to page ---- of my workbook, what did I say about -----?” What? Who memorizes pages in a professor’s workbook? My mistake was that I wrote on the exam paper how silly I believed the question was and gave no answer. Besides thinking it was a horrible way to word a question, I had no idea what the answer was. I probably got hung up on the comment about the page number. He accepted my comment but wrote that I had an ‘F’ on that question. Whoops! I didn’t really care. It was only one of two questions I missed.

When called back in I was told the thesis had been approved. I had an ‘A’. When I told Della, she was so happy and proud. Then I told her that everyone gets an ‘A’. You have to keep redoing the paper until you do get the ‘A’. At least I didn’t have to rewrite it.

SCHOOL FRIENDS chapter 179

Having made a specific choice to focus on family, education and work there was very little time to make friends with people at school, but there were some.

In was in a small group of six for an evening communications class while at Biola. I liked most of the people and we got to know each other reasonable well. Some hung out after classes, I never did that. That made me one of the quieter communicators. We had been in the same small group for the semester and near the end of the semester were saddled with an assignment that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. We were asked to rate everyone in the group from best communicator to the worst.

Everyone reacted negatively and did not want to do it. I suppose I had the strongest reaction. I told them I believed the assignment would cause great damage. The top two would be very pleased and feel better than maybe they should. The bottom four would be crushed, maybe permanently damaged. There was strong agreement and we decided to call the instructor in and challenge the assignment.

When he came we expressed our position and asked that we be released from the task. He told us that to do it or not do it was our choice, but we would receive a failing grade if we did not comply.

After he left I said I would be happy to receive a failing grade if that was necessary. I did not want to rate the group. A long time was taken to convince me that we had to do it. What about our grade point averages? What would happen if we failed the class? Etc. They voted to proceed. I did not participate. I sat there, but did not vote. I was rated number 5 out of six. One girl was rated worse than I and she was visibly hurt. She left the room crying. I refrained from saying, “I told you so.”

At the next class we were told one group refused to do the assignment and he gave them all A’s. He admitted it was a destructive exercise. I asked why he did it then. He went on a long tangent about the value in resisting peer pressure. Some of the class argued that it was a directive from authority, not peer pressure. He used the Nazi example of lambs being led by the wolves. He must have been Hitler.

I let the debate go on and said nothing more. As I left the class of angry and frustrated students I asked him, “Who is going to put Isabelle hack together?” There was only one more class and I did not return. The group was no longer friends. I passed the class.

I met one C&MA pastor at Talbot. Don Sappington was working in an area church. We became friends and Della and I had them over to the house a couple of times. Since we were both with the C&MA, I guess I saw it as a connection. I ultimately came to work with Don at Salam Alliance.

I had also become friends with Bill Higgins. He had never been in ministry but we had a number of classes together and often continued the class discussion into our next free period. Near the end of the semester he announced that he had received a ministry appointment for after graduation. I was very happy for him, He went on and on about his job description and the make up of the church. When he finally told me it was to Hillsdale Alliance Church in Regina, Saskatchewan, I could not believe my ears. How did he even make that connection?

There was a position opening posted on the jobs board, he sent a resume, they called and talked with him several times and finally he was hired. “Did you go to Regina for an interview.” He had not. It was all done by phone. I asked what he knew about Regina. Not much – so he began asking questions. I was a bit concerned since he and his wife Jan were southern California people. It was going to be a big change. Della and I began to pray for them and what we knew would be a big adjustment. Could they handle the winter? It didn’t matter, as they were moving north. We began to make plans to travel to Regina together. One rental truck would be better than two.

THESIS chapter 178

I knew the process of writing a Masters thesis was going to be a challenge. They were looking for scholarly papers and I was a lot of things, but a scholar I was not. I was determined to figure out a way to write the Bible quizzing manual Dan Rinker wanted and complete the thesis requirement with the same paper.

Norm Wakefield was assigned as my principle thesis professor. I was aware he would be tough on me, but I also believed that if the project were approved, he would help me if he could. In my first meeting with him, I explained my thesis and why I wanted to write a quiz manual. He was hesitant to approve a project for a “game,” as he called it. He made me laugh. I suppose it is a game, in a sense, but a very difficult one. He wanted me to include a philosophy of quizzing.

What was a philosophy of quizzing? I understood the word and was in a class called philosophy of ministry where I was working through my own approach to ministry. But I had never even asked the question about quizzing.

I contacted Dan Rinker for help. I wanted to know how many denominations had quizzing and what did they have in writing about they’re programs. He sent me names and addresses for every quiz program of which he was aware. There were thirty groups representing over 31 thousand youth (circa 1974). I heard back from 18, Most sent me a book of rules. A hand full included a flyer on how to start a quiz program. Two or three indicated they had nothing but rules in writing. A few had a purpose statement and a small amount on philosophy. I was basically on my own.

The quiz programs split almost evenly into two styles: jumping and buzzing. I came up through Youth for Christ quizzing which was a jumping based program. I didn’t even know there were groups that sat at a table and punched a buzzer to answer a question. Our quizzers sat on a chair and jumped when they had the answer as was done in Youth for Christ. A large number had rules that prevented anyone from bussing or jumping before the question was completed. That certainly wasn’t our program.

Quizzing has begun with Youth for Christ, which was still active. I had no idea why denominations jumped in start their own. I had assumed YFC had discontinued thwir program. I guess separation was the name of the game in those days. The last YFC written material I could get my hands on was in the mid 70’s. I’m not sure if YFC was phasing out of the program or with so many groups coming in, they just left it to the churches. Fundamentally everyone started fresh in his or her own way. Only one group explained why they switched from a jump style to a buzzer style. Jumping was not very lady like. In fairness, there was a knowledge based TV show pitting school against school where they sat at a table and pushed buzzers.

I drew three illustrations as division separations.
I guess I used any opportunity I had to draw.
I guess it was expected - but not by the committee.
They did over look it however.

It gradually became apparent to me that a clear philosophy was essential. If it was to be my legacy to the C&MA, I wanted it to be a ministry legacy, not a cutthroat competition.

My thesis committee accepted the idea; Dan liked the outline and promised it would be printed. When printed, I was given $500 to buy the project outright. That turned out to be a good deal for them. They sold thousands. I think a per-book deal would have been better. Whoops! The manual was printed way beyond it natural life. I was asked several times to update it, but admittedly, my interest was waning.

I haven’t seen a manual for years. I still have my copy of the thesis. Darlene Tracie came to my rescue. She had typed Carl’s Thesis and offered to type mine. What a blessing. We were only allowed five mistakes. As I skimmed the book in writing this, I found one red mark. Remarkable. Darlene saved my life. This was done while she was living in Canada. That’s friendship. Where was spell check when you needed it?

CHRISTMAS chapter 177

Christmas 72

Christmas was becoming a very special holiday for us. Della and I were still in the process of working out what would become “our” traditions. For our first Christmas with both children, we were in Vancouver. The house had a fireplace and big windows in the living room. We hung stockings and placed a large tree in front of the window. There was no fireplace in Buena Park so we hung the stocking off the edge of the dining room table. But we still had a large tree by a large window. It was the first year we considered buying an artificial tree. Man, were they expensive in California, even more than in Saskatoon. I guess most of them came from much further north. We were not yet ready to give up the smell of a real tree.

Since the children were little, we loved the idea of them waking up to presents under the tree. We had decided we would put some out as we got them, but added more for Christmas morning. Things were a little skimpier for us for than at our first Christmas, but a few families in the church got gifts for the kids. We had a terrific day.

We had Christmas Dinner with the Rouse’s, Stanwood’s, Frewen’s and a few other couples. The meal was always incredible and the people were great to be around. It always felt like family. We returned again on New Years day to eat with the same group of people. It was always fun and the kids loved to go to Auntie Faith’s house.

Things changed the second year. The church had a potluck meal together at an event called “Christmas in October.” It was a time when the church brought gifts that would be went out to their missionaries. We had attended the first year and were impressed with their generosity. We were struggling when the event came around the second year. Della was stewing about what dish she would make because our food supply was so very low. But she was not one to ever go empty handed. Being the creative cook that she was, she dug around and pulled together a casserole from the few things left near the end of our food supply. She felt like we could not go without taking something, since that dish would nearly empty our cupboards, I was sure it would be fine to just go. I told her there would be more food than the group could ever eat.

Christmas 72

We went and had a wonderful time. The room was crowded. People piled their gifts under the tree on the platform and it was crowded, just like the year before. At the end of the evening, our family was called to the front and told all those gifts were for us. Della and I both gasp. Every package was food. We both welled up with tears. We could not believe it. We brought all that we had and went home to fill both our cupboards and fridge. This was out biggest single entry in out blessing book to that date.

We felt completely blessed. After loading up (there was barely enough room) Thankfully we could fill the trunk and much of the back seat. On the return home, Rhonda was in the front seat and Rod was in the back with all the food. As we were driving home Rod asked, why they gave us all the food. We told him because God told them to. He said, “God is neat.” “Yes He is.” “We should thank Jesus,” Rod said. We ask if he wanted to pray. It was short, to the point and beautiful. “Thank you Jesus for all this food. We need it.” We didn't know he was that aware.

Our last Christmas in California was overwhelming. Throughout Christmas week gifts began to arrive for our kids. It felt like half our living room was filled with packages. The kids were overwhelmed on Christmas morning. It took most of the morning to open the gifts one person at a time and one gift at a time. When done I wondered who bought out Fischer Price. It looked like we had one of every toy Fischer Price made. Someone clearly coordinated these gifts. There were no two alike. The kids were overjoyed and the living room was jammed packed.

As we were cleaning up the living room Della noticed the neighbor across the street walking toward our house with her two boys each carrying a Tonka truck. “Come, lets meet them outside,” she said. We stepped onto the porch and greeted them as we pulled our door shut behind us. The last thing we wanted was for them to see the living room floor. “My boys wanted to share some of their toys with Rodney and Rhonda. I brought the children out to receive the gifts, which they did politely. I was praying they would not want to show the boys what they got for Christmas or take them in the house. They didn’t. Whew!

The boys wanted to share some of their older toys with the poor people across the street. Since that was generally who we were, I did not want to offend or embarrass them or take the joy of sharing away from the boys.

It was a big wheel Christmas

We spent the day having a meal with the same group we usually shared with on holidays. We were pretty sure this group was behind the Fischer Price invasion. Everyone had a good laugh about our embarrassment with the neighbors.