A Super Surprise

In January of 1987, Marilyn and I had just moved into the house across the street from Springfield Friends Meeting.  The good people of the church had given us a "pounding"- they brought in food and supplies to help us get started in our new home (I never did find out who sent the jar of prunes...).  After almost four months on the job we were settling in and feeling pretty comfortable.  We had been working hard on the youth ministry, having already had a Marathon (lock-in), a Christmas party and a gathering with youth from High Point and New Garden Friends.  Despite all my planning the whole thing was still a little slow in gathering momentum.  If you spend any time in ministry you learn that God's surprises are always better than your plans, programs and events.  I was about to be reminded of that in a big way!

January 25th, 1987 was Super Bowl Sunday.  The New York Giants were playing the Denver Broncos.  (Those are facts.  The rest of the details you read here today are a little less certain.  I hope that if the participants in the events have better recollections than Marilyn and I that they will leave comments to help set the record straight!)    As I recall we were going to play basketball at a local gym (Allen Jay?) and then return to our new home for a Super Bowl party.  God had a different plan for us.  Mid-afternoon it started snowing.  Hard.  If you have never been in NC for a snow storm, you have to understand that schools and businesses begin closing when snow is predicted.  This was a NC blizzard!  Our party was cancelled, but a few of the guys decided to hang out and watch the game with us.  I am foggy on who stayed, but Jamie Robinson (pictured, on left), Danny McCorquodale (also pictured, right), Ken Hill and Todd Farlow were among the crew- maybe.  After a while it became clear that the roads were becoming treacherous (we could tell by the cars in the ditch on Springfield Rd.) and we invited the guys to spend the night.  We really don't remember who stayed.  Jamie did, because he cooked breakfast the next morning.  Danny didn't, because I drove him home (I believe I went back and got him the next morning).  In any case, it turned into a slumber party.

The next day everything was covered in snow, and we played in it.  Garry Brown (GB) brought his Jeep over to the hill in the Springfield Cemetery and packed the snow for sledding.  Eventually a bunch of the other youth, including Beth Brown, Mike Mercadante and Jon Moran (maybe!),  came out to sled with us on Monday night.  We had a blast!  There was hot chocolate for everyone, and we laughed until we hurt.  I think a few of the guys spent one more night at the house- Marilyn does not remember it that way.  None of it seemed like a big deal at the time.  Looking back, we know that this was an early turning point in our ministry at Springfield.

Why?  God used this time to bond us in ways we could have never invented on our own. It showed the youth how much we really liked them and wanted to be around them.  After all, we weren't really snowed in!  I drove Danny home that night, and went out to get stuff the next morning so Jamie could cook breakfast. They understood that this was something we wanted to do!   The shared history and stories of that event created stronger relationships faster than any program I could have conceived.  Even the youth who weren't involved heard the stories, witnessed the bond and wanted that in their lives as well.  Some of our younger students- Jim Farlow, Jennifer Welch and Wendy Mattocks, among others- began to become more connected.  I would spend over 7 years at Springfield, and every year I would plan a "Kick-Off" event to start the new school year.  But no event I ever planned would ever kick us off like God did with his Super Surprise that first January.  By the way- the Giants won!

Because of Jesus,