On the Road to Valdosta--Chapter Three--Stops Along the Way

This chapter actually begins on the Sunday we tried out at Airport.  Since it was a Fifth Sunday at Airport, there was no Sunday evening service, so we headed south to Lake City that afternoon to go see Ryan and Michelle Tuten.  Not surprising me at all, we got there about 4:00 and Ryan says, "You're here: you're preaching tonight."  That's just Ryan.  Didn't surprise me at all.  Fortunately, I was prepared for such an eventuality.  And there was a fellow in the congregation there at Lake City that night who knew of a congregation down the road who was looking for a preacher, and he called them and said, "Hey, there's a guy you need to check out...."  I know, I know.  It sounds like deja vu all over again.

So we headed back to Arkansas.  Seems like we got home on Tuesday evening or so.  And there was a message on our answering machine from one of the elders at Lake Butler, FL.  And they wanted us in Lake Butler the following Sunday.  There were a couple of problems with that.  First, we had just traveled from Northwest Arkansas to Foley, AL to Valdosta, GA to Lake City, FL and then back to Berryville, AR.  We were tired and didn't want to do that again.  Second, the elders at Berryville didn't know we had tried out at Airport the previous Sunday.  To the first, they said, "No problem.  We'll fly you into Jacksonville."  To the second, well, we had to talk to the elders about that one.  But I'm trying to save that for chapter four.

So that Friday, me, Stacy, and Shelby flew from Fayetteville to Atlanta to Jacksonville.  Benjamin and Kaitlyn went to Grandma's house.  We rented a car in Jacksonville and drove to Lake Butler.  Talk about hospitality.  Wow.  We went to a cookout at somebody's house that Saturday night and had a singing afterward.  And they can sing.  We stayed in the church's house in Lake Butler, which was right next to the church building.  Really nice house, really nice building, nice, quiet little town, really nice people.  Just a really nice place.  And they loved us and we loved them.  That Sunday, they offered us the job.  However, there was a situation there within the church that we were just not comfortable with.  We ended up getting home on Monday and calling them to decline their offer.  It wasn't easy.

There were little things that I remember about that trip that were quite enjoyable.  As I mentioned, they could sing.  On Sunday evenings, they had the peculiar custom of all sitting tightly packed into the back 6 or 7 rows, and the speaker would use a portable podium.  I told them I felt like I was sitting on a squeeze fence in a loading pen of cattle.  I mean, they were packed into those back rows.  Also, sometime during that weekend, we snuck off.  We drove back to Valdosta and looked around some more.  And we got caught in one of those toad-strangling torrential rains on I-75.  On Sunday afternoon, we ate at a fish place right on the shores of the lake.  What lake?  Why, Lake Butler, of course.  The house was only a couple of blocks from the lake.  That was a real temptation.  And on the way home we flew from Jacksonville to Dallas on a 767 with worn-out brakes.  The whole plane shook horribly every time they hit the brakes.  On the flight from Dallas to Fayetteville, there was no one on the plane but us and some Arkansas Razorback football players.  Can't remember who they were now, but they were nice guys.

Anyway, we got back to Berryville and had to decide what to do next.  Meanwhile, I had spoken with Brother Cates at MSOP and he had told me of a congregation in the Atlanta area.  Lithia Springs called me shortly thereafter, and we arranged to fly to Atlanta to try out there.  This time, however, we were taking the whole family.  We flew from Fayetteville again to Atlanta.  They had rented us a van at the airport, and we ended up standing in line forever to get it, because this was on Labor Day weekend.  Then, we had to drive to Douglasville in the pouring rain.  Lithia Springs was wonderful as well.  We have actually maintained a relationship with them over the years.  Anyway, as great as they were and are, there were a couple of issues we were unable to get past (first, they didn't have elders, although they do now; second, they didn't have a house and we were not in a position to buy one).

In the meantime, there were other things going on.  We flew back to Fayetteville on Labor Day, Monday, September 3, 2001.  And we all know what happened eight days later.  Some things are more important than wondering where you are going to move to, if you are going to move.

There were other funny things going on, as well.  Stacy was working late evenings during this time.  It was also one of those years when it seemed like we had tornadoes going through the area every couple of weeks.  We had such an evening during this time frame.  Kaitlyn had gone to Grandma's for a couple of days, so she wasn't there, and Stacy was at work this one particular evening, so I was home with Benjamin (age 6) and Shelby (about 15 months).  There had been a tornado spotted 4 or 5 miles southwest of town and they had issued a warning for us.  I had the kids in the hallway and had carried a pillow into the hall to lay Shelby on.  I left Benjamin in the hall with Shelby and went out on the front porch to listen for a minute.  When I went back to the hall, there was Shelby on the pillow in the floor fast asleep.  Benjamin was on top of her, trying to protect her from the tornado with his little six-year old body.  Well, let me tell you, those days have long since passed, but it was absolutely precious back then.

I'm going to conclude chapter three here at this point.  There is obviously much more that could have been said about those two trips, but I think I got the high points.  Chapter four is going to deal more with Berryville.