“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so..” Psalms 107:2

January 16, 2017 - I was a college sophomore when I bought my first car. It was a black twelve-year old ‘41 Ford. Jones Chevrolet in Center, Texas stored it for me eight months while I paid for it. It cost me $495 and I couldn’t wait to drive it home.

I painted the dash tomato red and put a wheel cover and steering knob on it before driving it to ETBC to show it off. Parking it every day in front of the dining hall assured me that everyone saw it. I was proud of that car!!

December 27, 2016 - I visited my crop-duster friend Wayne Smith in Edgerly, La. last week.  I first saw Wayne back in the 80’s when he flew his Ag-Cat Crop-duster over a field where I was photographing birds. He was flying low enough for me to see the cigar in his mouth.

December 12, 2016 - In 1984, I became the Pastor of The Magnolia Baptist near Vinton, Louisiana in a community called “Big Woods”.  It was a utopia for anyone wanting peace and quiet.  The church was so hidden on a backwoods road that that there were days that not a single vehicle passed through “The Woods”.   I was particularly overjoyed when I learned that my sister Meri had married my friend Mike Duggan and that they’d be living only six miles from me.  My sister’s living near me not only gave me her excellent company……it also gave me her excellent cooking.

November 28, 2016 - In the spring of 1938, Mother took this picture of me.   It was my first picture and was taken on Maxwell Street in Center, Texas. This red clay street was too rough to drive on when dry and too slick to drive on when wet.

November 14, 2016 - When I was a teenager, we lived in an old house across the tracks on the East side of Center, Texas. My brothers (Bill, John and Joe) and I laid claim to an area just outside the city limits and called it “Our Paradise”.