Shortly after we returned home I announced that I would be
leaving Argentine. I’ve never done well
in trying to conceal my intentions when I’m looking for a new place to live and
work, so I usually just make a clean break when I start looking. Perhaps that’s the reason that I’ve always
been able to leave on good terms when I moved to a new place. It never seemed like a smart thing to try to
burn your bridges behind you.
Within a few weeks I received an invitation to interview at a
church in Tulia, Texas. Tulia is a
farming community in the Panhandle located between Lubbock and Amarillo. The
church that invited me to interview was a reasonably large congregation.
Ann had been so unhappy at Kansas City that she had prayed, “Lord just move me some place where
I’m away from everybody and everything.”
When we pulled in to Tulia, and she began to take in the lay of the land
on the Plains, she said, “Lord you didn’t have to take me so seriously.”
I had a nice surprise awaiting me in Tulia. A good lady, who taught my Sunday School
class when I was in the 7th or 8th grade was a member of
that church. She remembered me and was
thrilled to see me. I remember her
kindly. My mother had just begun her battle with mental illness
when I was in her class. She took a
special interest in me, and showed me great kindness. It was a wonderful thing to see her again.
On Sunday, we had lunch at the home of one of the
elders. I remember asking him, “How much
rainfall do you get here every year?”
He said, “Sixteen inches and you ought to be here the day we get it.”
I didn’t handle the interview well. The church had ten or
more elders. They put me in a classroom
with them, and I talked to them facing their backs. That unnerved me. I asked poor questions, and I didn’t answer
the ones they asked me very well. I I think I knew I wouldn’t be going
there. It was just as well. I don’t think Tulia was in the Lord’s plan
for us.
Later, I had a contact from a church in Abilene. However, they were slow in responding to my
resume. While that was brewing, I got a
call that would set us on a different course for the rest of our lives, but
I’ll tell that story next.
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