CHAPTER 4 - I WAS BLIND BUT NOW I SEE

 One night when Debbie, Mark and myself were all at home there was a knock at the door. It was several teenage girls with an older guy who was probably in his thirties. The girls were very bubbly and wanted to witness to us about Jesus. There was nothing phony about them. These girls were probably Mark's age and I was very impressed at their zeal for Christ. I knew at that time of my life that I would never have the courage to talk to strangers about Jesus in such a bold manner, even if I decided to become a Christian. Mark accepted Christ that night and prayed the sinners prayer. As for myself I had been touched by their visit but I was not ready to take that big of a step. In my mind I wasn't that bad. I hadn't been all that sinful in my life, as far as I could see. 

 Mother always took us to church and if we weren't going to church we were going to Sunday school. After our parents died Didi felt obligated to continue making sure we went to church but I would get irritated with her because many times she made us go to church while she stayed at home or went back to bed. We were always going either to Eastland Baptist church next door to our house on McKennie or to Grace Church of the Nazarene on Gallatin road near Cahal. Most of the time, however; we went to the Nazarene church. We would walk there and I would usually go to Sunday school but sneak out during the church service. I would walk over to Hales drugstore next door and read magazines until the church service was over. On holidays like Easter I couldn't sneak out because Didi would be there.

 The Hughes family lived at several locations on Cahal Avenue. They were our cousins and very religious. There was one older female cousin who would get happy from time to time and scream out during the service. I would nearly jump out of my seat when she did this. Toward the end of a service one night the pastor gave an invitation and several of the Hughes women came up to me and grabbed my hand. I didn't want to go but they persisted until I gave in and walked with them to the altar. They kneeled with me in front of the preacher but I didn't understand the plan of salvation or the concept of grace at that time. When he asked if I had repented of my sins I answered that I thought that I was a good person. Finally, I just said what I thought that he wanted to hear so he would leave me alone. I hated that experience and to this day I wont go to the altar if I think other people will be around me. After the visit by these young people in Colorado I was under conviction, however. We started going to their church at Northside Baptist church only two or three blocks away. Everyone was extremely nice and I loved the preacher who was a Korean War veteran named Bill Wilson. Mark and I joined the choir. 

  We soon learned about a James Robison crusade coming to Colorado Springs. Just after we moved into our apartment I needed a garden hose and in the South we call a garden hose a hose pipe. I went next door and asked my neighbor, Bonnie Ramsey, if I could borrow her hose pipe. She didn't have a clue what I was talking about and she told me later that she thought I wanted to borrow a wrench of some kind. After I explained what I wanted in more detail she finally understood what I wanted. We all became good friends after that. Her husbands name was Fred and she had two children, a boy and a girl. We invited Bonnie to go with us to the James Robison crusade. When James Robison gave the invitation I wanted to to go up but I was hesitant. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw Bonnie walk to the front and this gave me the courage to join her. I was standing with her in a large crowd of new Christians reciting the sinners prayer.

 Some people react to the Holy Spirit in different ways. They cry, shout, jump up and down, faint or whatever but I am a crier. On this day, however; I knew something was driving me to go up front but as I stood there I felt very little emotion. I even felt foolish for being there but I was never the same after that moment. There was no doubt that I was a Christian after that and I am glad that I had a great church to start my Christian journey in. Northside Baptist was spirit filled and I was bothered by the fact that I didn't have the boldness to share the gospel with strangers like that group of teenagers did with us that night at our apartment. I was, however; still a baby in Christ and not yet eating the meat of the Word. During my time at Northside I witnessed one of the strangest incidents in my spiritual life. We were in revival and the visiting preacher was in the middle of his sermon. Suddenly he stopped and asked us to bow our heads with no looking around. In the middle of the prayer he stopped speaking and after a long period of silence he said in a very hateful voice, "Why are you here? "You need to leave". Get out of here right now!!" Just then I could feel someone on the end of our pew get up and walk toward the front doors of the church and you could hear the doors open and close behind them. Immediately people began to cry and praise the Lord. The whole atmosphere changed in the church. Someone said later that a woman had stood up and left the building.

  Mark and I fought like typical brothers from time to time but for the most part we got along. He was going to Wasson high school and was playing on the football team. Their varsity won the state championship that year. I once made him walk to school and was ashamed of myself when I realized how far the school was from our apartment when we visited Colorado Springs in 2012.  My son Robbie loved playing with Bonnie's kids who were close to his age. Her little boy was also named Robbie and she had a little girl that was older. There was a Pizza Hut nearby and a liquor store right next door to us. This is where we bought our soft drinks from time to time. We shopped at the commissary and Base Exchange at Ent AFB or the Air Force Academy. On rare occasions we would shop at Peterson Field AFB which was on the eastern edge of Colorado Springs. 

 Many mornings after getting off of a midnight shift we would play tackle football without helmets or pads. On one particular morning Debbie was watching from the sidelines when I was knocked out cold. The last thing I remember was going up for a pass and when I woke up I was surrounded by a bunch of guys looking down at me. I was helped to my feet and in a daze as I walked over to Debbie. She drove us home while I sat in the passenger seat and all the way home I was asking her why I had been there and what I had been doing. It took me about an hour before I finally came to my senses.

 Debbie had a very hard pregnancy early on and was very sick. This lasted about two months and I was scared that she might lose the baby but once she got to feeling better things were pretty normal after that. When Robbie was born Debbie didn't have her family near her but this time I wanted her mother to be there when the baby was born. This time I was financially able to pay for a round trip plane ticket for her mom if she would agree to come. She had never flown before and I didn't know if she would even get on a plane. To my surprise she agreed to let me buy her a ticket and Debbie's sister Judy decided to come with her. Debbie was to be induced on March 8, 1972 and they arrived about March 6th. On the 7th we took them sight seeing to the Garden of the Gods and to the Air Force Academy. 

 On the morning of the 8th we were at the hospital bright and early. When Robbie was born the hospital would not let the father into the delivery room. It just wasn't done but by the time that my daughter Misty was born attitudes were beginning to change on this. They would let me be with Debbie during the delivery but I just didn't think that I could handle it. I was standing just outside the delivery room door when I heard the doctor say "It's a girl". It had been exciting when Robbie was born but I was really wanting a girl this time. This was before ultrasounds and you didn't know until the delivery day what the sex of the baby was going to be. In my excitement I looked through a window in the door and blood was everywhere because Debbie had hemorrhaged during delivery.

  If it was a girl I wanted a name that was unique and different. One day I was driving through Colorado Springs when I saw a Clint Eastwood movie called (Play Misty For Me) on a theater marquee. I had never heard of a girl with that name before. When I suggested it to Debbie she loved the name also. The only problem was that we couldn't think of a good middle name to go with it. On the day that Debbie's mom arrived we were eating lunch at the nearby Pizza Hut when the subject came up. Mrs. Phillips said, "Just call her Misty Dawn". Debbie's dad liked to call her Frosty Morn. The name wasn't as unique as I originally thought because since we named her Misty Dawn I have met quite a few girls with that name. 

 Unless there are complications, a woman is usually released from the hospital the day after delivery today but then, women were required to stay three days. The day after Misty was born I took Debbie's mom and sister sightseeing. We went to Seven Falls, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Manitou Springs and the Buffalo Bill Wax museum. On the day that Debbie was released from the hospital her mom and Judy were scheduled to fly home. They were able to spend a little time with Debbie and Misty before we had to take them to the airport. It was sad seeing them go but in the back of our minds we knew that we would see them soon because I had been granted an early discharge in order to attend college. I was scheduled to be discharged on May 4, 1972.