Going Back to Houston, Houston, Houston

I think Ann would have applied some of the lyrics to Dean’s Martin’s song to herself.

Well it's lonesome in this ol' town everybody puts me down
I'm a face without a name just a walking in the rain
Going back to Houston, Houston, Houston.

When we drove into Houston Ann had forgotten that she once said, "I wouldn't live in the town if it were the last place in the world.

 

I’ve lived in Houston at three different times in my life.  I spent the summer of 1956 there.  We lived there most of 1963, but we spent our longest period of time with the Sharpstown Church of Christ, beginning late in November, 1973 and continuing until June, 1977.

When we first arrived the church housed us in an apartment next door to the church building.  With four active children, the apartment was not a satisfactory place to live.  I remember Gary coming to us a few days after we arrived and saying, “I’m tired of the motel.  I want to go home.”  We had to explain to Gary that the apartment was our home, not a motel.  For the next four years we would be Houstonians.

Elliott had a lot of difficulty adjusting to Houston at first.  He didn’t have friends. The school was different, but he involved himself in the bus ministry at church, and soon began to make friends in the youth group.   Some children resent the vagabond life that preacher’s children live.  They make good friends and they have to go off and leave them.  But on the other side of the coin, they make friends all over the country, and they have a much wider view of the world.   I think Elliott’s experience with our “gypsy like” moving around, made it easier for him to move around when he decided to pursue a career in the military.  Houston eventually became a good experience for them, but it was hard in the beginning.

The life of a PK  (Preacher’s Kid) is not easy.  They don’t choose to become PK’s. They are always on display.  If they make mistakes, people are sure to offer critical commentary about “that preacher’s kid.”   Then just as they start liking the place they live, Dad decides it’s time to move somewhere else.   I’ve never been a PK, but we raised four of them.   I don’t think my kids would give me an A for my parenting skills, but I would like to think I might get a B+.  They’ve had to forgive me for a few things.

LEAVING KANSAS CITY

I had to stay in Kansas City until the kids got out of school for the Thanksgiving holidays, so I taught right up until the time we left.  I bailed out on my class in the middle of Isaiah.  We had a going away event on the last Sunday night, and Ann attended that.  I couldn’t leave until the Thanksgiving school break started.  As things turned out I ended up conducting a funeral on my last day with the Argentine church.

 Ann didn’t want to stay around for any more good byes, so  I drove  her down to Union Station on the Missouri side, and I  put her and Gary on the Texas Chief, and they headed for McGregor, Texas.   Elliott, Jim, Ruby, and I followed a few days later.  That was the very week when congress reduced the national speed limit to 55 mph, so it seemed like it took forever to get to Waco where we spent Thanksgiving with Ann's family.

We both enjoyed the Kansas City metropolitan area quite a lot. We became avid Chiefs and Royals fans.  Kansas City has many wonderful historical site.  We loved to visit the place where Lewis and Clark camped on their journey toward the Pacific.   We had mixed feelings about the church.  We enjoyed a close bond with the leadership, and we’ve made lifelong friends, but there was an undercurrent of discontent that eventually drove us away.

TRUMAN

I first met Truman Spring when I interviewed with the Garden Oaks church in Houston in 1963.   Truman was a strong supporter of our work in Jamestown, New York.  He had recommended me to the Argentine church in Kansas City.

While I was waiting to see where the Lord might be leading me after the decision was made to leave Kansas City, I got a call from Truman.

I guess you could say that Truman was a mover and a shaker.  He usually elicited one of two responses from people.  Either they deeply loved him, or they couldn’t stand him.   I was one of those who loved him.  We formed a deep friendship that lasted until his death in 2008.  In many ways he became my mentor, and virtually my father in the faith.  Truman and I had our disagreements, but I never questioned his integrity or the depth of his faith.  Besides that he was fun.

Truman was loud, confrontational, and some people would say that he was egocentric.  He had such a booming bass voice that he could get the outfielders rattled when he watched a major league baseball game.  He loved the Astros.

 The first time I heard an elder thank God for Truman’s humility I almost laughed out loud during the prayer.  Eventually I came to believe that he was indeed a humble man.  There was a gruff exterior, but underneath it there was a heart of gold.

When Truman called he didn’t beat around the bush.  He asked me to consider becoming the educational minister for the Sharpstown Church of Christ in Houston.  At first I wasn’t interested.  I knew I would be in his shadow, and I really didn’t want to leave pulpit responsibilities.   I basically blew him off and told him, “Thanks, but no thanks.

  I’ll never forget his response.   He said, “Norman, you can’t make a decision like that until you’ve prayed about it.”   I certainly felt chastised.  Within a week I called him back to say that I was interested.   Every other door seemed to be closing and this one was wide open.   Then there was Ann to consider.  Being the “back up” to the “quarterback” would take Ann out of the spotlight and I thought it would be more to her liking.

The elders invited Ann and me to fly to Houston for the purpose of discussing the possibility of moving there.  I remember sitting in the meeting, which was the total opposite of my meeting with the elders in Tulia.  They had only one reservation.  They weren’t sure I would be happy if I had to sit and listen to someone else preacher.  

I told them that there were three reasons Truman and I would get along.  (1) We were friends. (2) I liked to hear him preach. (3) I wasn’t afraid of him.  Truman intimidated a lot of folks, but his bark was worse than his bite.  Many people didn’t know that, but I did.   He loved it when I said that.  I think that’s one reason we got along so well.  He knew intimidation wasn’t going to work with me, which is strange because I’m normally easily intimidated.  But I wasn’t afraid of Truman because I knew his warts and still thought he was a genuine person.  He knew mine and never hesitated to get in my face, but when it was all said and done we liked being around each other.

The meeting with the elders went on for a good while, without any kind of commitment. Finally Truman said, “I think you’ve got an offer from the elders if you want it.”  When Truman died in 2008, I helped with the funeral, and afterwards I sat down at lunch with Buck Harvey, who had been one of the elders in that interview.  I told him that I remembered what Truman said.  Buck said, “Truman had a way of understanding what our intentions were.  We just needed to take the bull by the horns and make our offer formal, so he spoke what we were all thinking.”

AN INTERVIEW IN THE PANHANDLE

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 7^th or 8^th 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.

DECISION TO LEAVE KANSAS CITY

After I arrived back in the states, we spent a few days and Waco, and we started home.   Ann and the children had spent the time in Texas.  They went to Six Flags and spent a few days in San Antonio. Of course Nanny enjoyed the whole experience.

After Ann picked me up in Dallas, we drove to Waco where I had an eye appointment.  My mother-in-law served the most delicious meal, I’ve ever eaten.  It was a great time for Texas food – black eyed peas, fried okra, fresh tomatoes, Mother’s wonderful hot rolls, and best of all iced tea with ice in the glasses.  The people in the Middle East wouldn’t let us have ice with our drinks.  When we asked why, they said, “Because we know it will give you a cold.”  They were running the show, so there was no point in arguing, but I think the sweet tea poured over ice cubes that day was the most satisfying drink I’ve ever had.

Soon it was time to return to Kansas City.  In the car I picked up on the fact that something was wrong with Ann.  She wasn’t excited about going home.  I said, “You really don’t want to go back do you?”   She admitted that she didn’t.  She felt so much rejection at Argentine that she found it painful to stay there. 

She said, “I’ll go back and do the best I can, but I don’t think I’ll ever be happy there.”

I’ve admitted that I don’t think I really responded to God’s leading with we moved to Kansas City.  God blessed our ministry there, but there was also a relationship price to pay.  To this day I remain convinced that our decision to leave Kansas City was indeed in response to God’s guidance.

 So I said to Ann, “If you’ve been gone from home three weeks, and you still don’t want to go home, I think it’s time for us to leave.”  We stopped by to visit my folks at Clyde, and while I was there I met with J. D. Thomas at Abilene Christian and talked with J. D. Thomas about church openings, and thus began the process of looking for a new place to work and live.