A New Adventure

Our honeymoon was awesome. We loved the cruise, the food, the beaches and Disney World.  We also loved the sleeping, because we had been so incredibly stressed about the future in the days leading up to the wedding.  We returned from our honeymoon ready to get started on our new adventure at Springfield Friends Meeting, but first, there was still a lot of stuff to do.  My first official day would be October 1st, so we had to move quickly (In a very cool coincidence, my old Quaker Lake buddy and groomsman Terry Venable would start as the Youth Pastor at High Point Friends Meeting on the same day.  Go God!).  Marilyn's stuff was one place; my stuff was still in Massachusetts.  There was also the small matter of my resignation.  I didn't want to tell NEYM I was leaving until I was absolutely sure, and because of the type of job it was, I really saw no need in working out a notice.  I called the proper people (a few of whom knew what was going on) and let them know for sure- I was the new Youth and Christian Education Director at Springfield Friends Meeting.  And they should hire Chris Jorgensen- NOW!

I mentioned moving into the rental house in Greensboro, about a 30 minute drive from Springfield.  We were going to live there until early 1987 while the house that Springfield was providing for us was repaired. Renovated.  Rebuilt.  Saved...   When Marilyn first saw the house at 600 E. Springfield Road she swore whe would never live there!  It was small, beat up, not air conditioned, oil heated and very old.  All of the windows were painted shut.  When you stood at the front door you saw directly into the bathroom.  The previous tenant, a custodian and lawn care guy, had made some interesting decorating choices.  The bedrooms had been wallpapered with pictures of naked women.  The pictures were gone by the time we saw the house, but the staples were still in the walls.  The outside walls needed to be covered in siding. It sat on a very dangerous curve.  If you had told us that day that we would live in that house for over seven years, we would have paid for your counseling!

I made one last trip to Massachusetts to get my car and my stuff.  My friend Mark Hyde joined me, and we drove a truck and pulled my car back to NC.  This was an adventure as well.  We discovered that since we were towing my Renault, we were not allowed on the New Jersey Turnpike.  This meant we had to drive back roads through the entire state.  In one little town we got our big truck into a traffic circle- we didn't have traffic circles in NC- and could not get out.  We went around and around, not able to get into the lane we needed, until finally Mark just stopped traffic so we could move on!  Friends like that are hard to find...

We settled into our new (albeit temporary) housing and began life together.  Marilyn was still working for a law firm in Greensboro, and I was setting up my office, meeting people, and getting ready for opening day at Springfield.  The pastor, Max Rees, and his wife Avis were so helpful in getting us started.  They would soon be our across-the-street neighbors.  Avis invited Marilyn and I to join them for Sunday lunch very early on, and we accepted.  I am here to tell you, Sunday lunch with the Rees family can change your life...in a most blessed way!  And since I am here to tell you, tomorrow I will!

Because of Jesus,