AW - Then & Later

   Well, it is Monday and the job hunt is on. My aunt suggested that I ride the bus to Sacramento as she said the three lane highway between Roseville and Sacramento was dangerous. In case you have never seen one, you have one lane going in each direction and a passing lane in the middle.

   In that old Pontiac I never had enough power or courage to get into the center lane. I rode the bus and got off at the Continental Bus Stop and, with the names of Photo Shops, I started out.

     My first stop was at Webs’ Photo as I waited for the owner I started to talk to a customer about an Exacta camera and its features. I did not know the owner was standing behind me listening. He came around and spoke to the customer and me. He though we were together. I told him I would wait until he was finished. When he came back to where I was he asked me where I learned so much about the camera.

   I told him it was one that I wanted and had read a lot about it. I explained that I had attended a vocational and college prep high school in Tucson. I had had three years of photography and one semester of print shop. Tucson Senior High School was a great school at that time. It was far ahead of its time. I not only had been trained in a trade but had my pre-college classes at the same time.

   The manager asked if I was ready to go to work. I said yes so he had another employee start to train me in the store procedures that very day. I did not get home until after 6pm that night and my Aunt was upset that I had not called her and let her know I was going to be late. To be honest about it, it never crossed my mind. I just stood there and said, “Duh.”

   She gave me a cold dinner and while I was eating she asked me how much I was being paid and, believe it or not, I had forgotten to ask. It turned out to be within a few cents of what I was making at the grocery store in Tucson.

   Up and off to work every day until Wednesday evening, when I again attended First Southern Baptist Church (now called Coloma Way Baptist Church) and was introduced to the youth and the youth director Cathy Fraley.

I worked six days a week but it is interesting that I never knew what I was going to be asked to do. I was sent to the basement to the frame shop on Monday of the second week. I stayed there for two weeks. They had a very large order of frames for the State of California. I again messed up as we worked very late that night. I was just able to make the last bus and arrived home about 9pm to a distressed aunt and this time an uncle as well. Let me tell you--that was the last time I ever failed to call.

On Tuesday, I made a mistake that almost cost me my job. I lost the framer's diamond glass cutter. I had been cutting up excess glass into small pieces for disposal. I laid it down and forgot where it was. We hunted and hunted and could not find it until someone went to the restroom and there it was on the sink. It was weeks before he would ever let me use it again. I had to use the old round wheel cutter that you had to go over and over a piece before it would break.

My uncle told me that I would have to pay room and board if I was to remain living with them. We arrived at a price and I paid him each week from that point on. That weekend I called my mother and father to tell them that I was OK. The only phone was in the living room and my aunt, with her friend Mrs. Berry, was sitting there. I asked to use the phone to call Mom and Dad to let them know I was alright.

During my conversation with my parents I told them how much I was paying for room and board. When I got off the phone my aunt asked why had I lied about how much I was paying for room and board.

I really think she said why did I tell a fib but to a seventeen year old it was “a lie.” I told her that is what my uncle charged me. She said that Jesse had just moved out and he was not paying that much. Later she came to me and apologized as she found out I was telling the truth. I later found out that she told Mrs. Berry she was never so embarrassed and she gave her husband a piece of her mind.

Stay tuned for Sacramento Police accusing me of being a car thief and Saturday Night Youth meeting and Cathy playing match-maker.

       No Job--No Place to Go

It seems so strange that God has a plan for us that we mortals cannot comprehend. While going to High School at Tucson Sr. High School I had my mind made up to attend Arizona State University and get a degree teaching History.

   I had a good job at a grocery store and made application to attend Arizona State University. Much to my surprise I received a rejection from ASU as I was too young to attend. When I graduated I was only seventeen years old and would not be old enough January the next year.

   Then the grocery store chain was sold and the store where I was employed was closed. So I was put into a position where I had no job and no place to go to school in the fall.

   In Arizona, several of the major manufacturing companies had shut down and several of the major mines closed that year. With the economy in the pits it was very almost impossible to find a new job in Tucson and, believe me, I tried.

   I contacted my Aunt Florence in Roseville asking how the job market was in California. She checked and told me to come on over and she was sure that I could find a job. She asked if my mother could come over with me for a visit. In asking mom about going she was not sure she wanted to go. You must understand that my mother had been addicted to pain meds since I was 10 years old. I thought that she was clean now and never dreamed she was using.

   I traded a twenty-two rifle with a leaded barrel, a camera that did not work right, and a new battery for a running 1939 Pontiac. It was a little business coupe with a small engine. It had a couple of strange things that you had to deal with. A water leak that required water to be added about every one hundred and fifty miles and it would not stay in third gear. You had to hold it in third as you drove down the road. It gave your right hand a good massage. We did not know you did not drive across the desert in the middle of the summer. We left Tucson at 6am and arrived at the California border about 2pm.

   We drove into Indio about 7:30pm and got a motel. We were so wet and it had not rained a bit. Mom went into the bathroom first and after a short while I heard a crash. I opened the door to find her sitting on the floor with a needle sticking out of her arm. She was dehydrated and the drug went to work too fast. I was able to get her to the bed and she wanted water and then as she hydrated she started to come around. She had broken the bottle of meds but said she had one more. I did not know what to do but go on.

   She promised me that she would stay off of the meds until she was ready to go home. (This did not happen I am sorry to say.) Coming down the mountain into Bakersfield on the Grapevine I lost my water pump. Not knowing what to do I put it in neutral, turned the engine off, and let it coast. There was an off ramp near the bottom of the grade and I coasted in.

   God had put a wrecking yard there for me and they had another water pump. I could not believe that they would have one for an old car like mine. They were so nice to lend me a crescent wrench, a pair of pliers, and a hammer. Here in the one hundred-plus degrees I got the old pump off and made a gasket from a piece of cork. A man there showed me how, with a hammer, to tap and continue to do so until I cut the cork to fit. Back to the road again!

   We drove until we reached Roseville about 1:30am. This was a trip I will never forget.

   Mom had used all of the meds she had by the time we arrived in Roseville and then she was in trouble. My Aunt’s doctor gave her enough meds to get back to Tucson and she was put on a bus at once. My Aunt was great about this and understood what I had been going through.

   I must add as a footnote that the Pontiac lasted almost until I was ready to go to School. God was in control to get me safely to California and I will be sharing how he remained in control!

               God Loved ME!

When I arrived in Sacramento, California, I visited my home Church in Roseville where I had surrendered to preach. That day I was asked to preach a youth revival prior to their Fall Revival.

I was full of myself and preached as if I had the only words that were ever spoken to these young people. I must admit there were no decisions made.

On Saturday night the Associational Youth Rally was to be at Roseville and they agreed to be added to the congregation. The Evangelist arrived on Saturday and was to be in the service that night. I slicked up and prepared for the Youth Rally and expected a great many youth to be saved. I preached as I had prepared the message and waited for the results.

I left God out of the equation. The young people started out the door without one accepting Christ. Then I saw the Evangelist waving to me from the back. He had a young person with him and explained that he wanted to accept Christ and for me to pray with him. I did so and took his name and address for follow up. I saw several workers and pastors praying with other young people.

Then I saw what was happening at the back door. The Evangelist was asking the youth as they left if they had ever asked Jesus to be their savior. When one would say no he would say, "Would you like to do that tonight?"

It was surprising how God was using a simple question from an old pastor to change lives. Many youth found Christ that night not because of what I said but because of the question asked by this great man of God.

I have never forgotten this question, "Have you ever asked Jesus to be your savior?" We should always be asking this question of the people we come in contact with.