The last year of seminary was a blur of finishing up, looking for a first place to serve, Laura finishing her student teaching, Laura helping me lose more weight with the first of many diets. We moved to the next phase of our life.
Crystal Springs Ms was a quaint town of 8 thousand, 20 miles south of Jackson, little town square, once the Tomatopolis of the world, producing a large part of Americas tomatos in the rich pourous soil. Our Presbyterian Church was over 100 and had 150 faithful among the flock. I was ordained on our nations 200th birthday, July 4th 1976. The month before we moved into the old manse and made our first baby.
The child raising decade is an adventure. My photos from those years show us enjoying it all. Our church loved our little children and this picture above shows Melissa and Matthew returning from the hospital in a 74 Chevy Impala. I enjoy reading the blogs of those living in this period. Laura was and is a great mother, and grandmother.
Honest confession, during those years I discovered that having your office and books 20 yards away from your home created lots of opportunities for me to dissapear and leave the poopy diapers to Laura. Like the rest of you, for those years we forgot what eating out and going to a movie were like. We spend time dressing, bathing, brushing. We stayed in that church for a little over four years. At that point I made a mistake that wounded my wife and required a divine rescue which came after spending time in the school of personal pain and confusion.
I have a recurring dream that at some point in my career I return to a church I once served. It is often this church in my dreams. Its complicated.
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