An AMC Pacer and The Lomax Church of the Nazarene

My earliest memory of the Bible or anything spiritual goes back to about the age of 5 or 6 years old while living in Gulfport, IL. My sister had received a black Bible with a zipper-cover from a church she had visited in Burlington, IA. I remember thinking how mysterious it was because we were just never exposed to any kind of biblical teaching as children.  BTW – there were 7 children in my family.

Around the same time my sister received that Bible, we sold our house to the McCoy family. We moved right  down the road from them. Mr. and Mrs. McCoy invited all of us to church. I was the only one who took them up on the offer. Every Sunday morning, they would come by and pick me up in a school-bus yellow AMC Pacer. Ok, who remembers the Pacer? We called it the bubble car because of its shape. I would ride to the Lomax Church of the Nazarene in the back of the Pacer, facing backwards, trying not to make awkward eye contact with the cars behind us. The McCoy’s had three children of their own, so it was a tight fit! But they were so faithful to pick me up every week!

I could not wait to get to the Lomax Church of the Nazarene! Why? I saw a very different lifestyle there – people had an affection for one another and true happiness. Now don’t get me wrong. My parents loved me, but there was something very different about what I felt at church. I could sense it from Bro. Whipple’s pulpit all the way into the congregation – these folks had something I desperately wanted and needed. I loved to sit by the preacher’s daughter. She would always put her arm around me and made me feel so special. It was that affection for which I was so longing. About the only affection expressed in our trailer was a handshake before Dad went off to the Western Club for the night.

Dad played the guitar and sang vocals with a group called the “Esquires” and mom tended bar until the wee hours of the morning at the Western Club. There wasn’t a whole lot of support in getting me up and dressed every Sunday morning. I struggled with my stupid tights every week! Somehow I managed to make it to the yellow Pacer car and off we would go to the Lomax Church of the Nazarene. Our Sunday School teacher (Miss. Sandy) had started a Bible verse memory contest. There was a major award at stake – a wooden plaque! Now this wooden plaque was probably all of a ¼ inch thick and it had blue-bird painted on it along with a Bible verse and I WANTED it! So every Sunday, I knew my Bible verses and you will be proud to know, I won the plaque.

Now what was that Sunday School teacher really doing? She was hiding God’s Word in my little heart that I might not sin against God (Ps 119:11). There is no telling the heartache and trouble that I was spared because these verses were buried somewhere deep inside of me. We soon moved away and I never saw the McCoy’s, the yellow pacer car, or that teacher again. But guess what? The seed that they planted remained. And even though I didn’t accept Christ until I was 12 years old, they started the process. Some people plant, some water, and God gives the increase (I Corinthians 3:6).

The McCoy’s, the Lomax Church of the Nazarene, my Sunday School teacher – they were all transition people in my life. They brought me out of some negative behavior patterns in my home and showed me a better way. Several months ago, I saw our sweet organist, Deb, with a precious little girl at church. I believe this little girl is one of her neighbors and Deb brings her to church whenever she can. I stopped and thanked Deb one night while choking back the tears. I saw myself in that little girl. Deb will never know the difference she is making in that precious life. She may never see the fruit, but she has planted the seed and that is what God expects us to do.

Have you been a transition person for someone? How can you plant God’s word in another’s heart? The Bible is the most transforming thing we can share. Study it, memorize it, and share it with another. I would love to hear who made a difference in your life!

UPDATE SINCE WRITING THIS POST:
I posted this Friday night. After doing so, I thought I would just google the Lomax Church of the Nazarene. When it popped up on the search list, my heart skipped a beat. Then I clicked to their home page and there it was! The exterior of the church looked exactly the same as it did 35 years ago. I don’t mind telling you I about had a “come apart”. I emailed the pastor and told him who I was and how his church had impacted me. He immediatley put me in touch (through Facebook) with the McCoy family! What a great weekend it has been catching up with that family, as well as the pastor’s family (the Whipple’s). I also found that precious Sunday School teacher who planted all those seeds. God is great!