Do you wonder what happened to special folks you knew years ago? If they are still alive, where are they? How are they doing? Recently I tracked down an old friend. It was well worth the effort. In the process I got to speak with members of several Baptist churches across Alabama.
Mike grew up in Dallas, but in the summer he and his siblings would come to our small town of Ashland to visit their grandparents, the Perrys, who lived near us.
The Perrys’ front yard was large and flat, just right for laying dodgeball, Red Rover, kick the can and red light. We children of the neighborhood had a lot of fun there. But the main thing that stuck with me was how pleasant Mike and his family were. It was a treat whenever they came to town.
That was more than 40 years ago. It is easy to lose track of people. A couple of months ago I decided to try to get in touch with Mike. His last name is fairly common, so an Internet search seemed unlikely to help much.
My mother is close to 92 years of age and thus a gold mine of information. She reminded me that one of Mike’s aunts, who died years ago, was married to James Allen Jordan, a member of Lineville Baptist Church. He had no current information but said his son Scott, who lives in Montgomery, might be able to help.
Scott and his wife Diane are members at Ridgecrest Baptist Church, where she has been serving as education secretary for 10 years. Scott works for the State of Alabama and has recently been serving as interim pastor for New Home Baptist Church in Elmore Association, where he served as pastor from 1975-1979.
Though Scott didn’t know where his cousins were, he gave me an address where Mike’s mother was living two or three years ago. I tried to get a phone number, but there was none in her name. Leaving messages at a couple of places got me nowhere. It looked like the end of that trail.
Trying another route, I called MariAnn Pope, who grew up in Ashland and was a friend of Mike’s sister Judy. Now MariAnn and her husband Jeral live in Prattville, where they are members of First Baptist Church. MariAnn said she had no idea how to contact Judy. I stopped my search.
Recently a cold kept me home a couple of days. I tried again to locate Mike’s mother. I called the police there to see if the address might be a retirement facility. Lo and behold, that was right! I got a phone number, and soon I was talking to Mike’s mother.
She was surprised when I identified myself. “This goes back a long way, doesn’t it,” she said. Though she was not feeling well, she searched out Mike’s phone number and gave it to me.
That evening I called, and Mike’s wife, Dianne, answered. He had just come in. It was great to talk with Mike after so many years. He is living near a town the size of Ashland in northeast Texas.
Life brings happiness and sadness. I was glad to hear that Mike has three cildren but sad to hear that his first son was fatally struck by a car before he had started school. I was surprised to discover that Mike teaches English and history — my two favorite subjects! — in a junior high school. He is a deacon in a Baptist church and leads the local chapter of the Gideons, the organization that donates Bibles to hotels and motels.
Mike went to China for seven weeks one recent summer to teach English to teachers. That was another coincidence, because my wife and I have wanted to do that for years. We enjoy teaching English to internationals (many being Chinese) on Tuesday evenings at our church and leading Bible study classes for internationals (again, mostly Chinese) on Sundays.
Mike said a retired teacher from the Birmingham area led his group in China. I asked her name, but she was not anyone I knew. The next day, I told some folks at work about locating Mike and mentioned his teaching in China. Bobbie Maxwell said, “Laura Garnett has done that same thing. She grew up at church, New Temple (near Dora).” I couldn’t believe my ears. She was the person Mike had mentioned the day before!
I sent Mike an e-mail message to tell him about this new coincidence and asked, “Is this a small world or what?”
“Yes, indeed!” he responded.
Since then I have made a few more connections. I gave Mike the location of a friend who moved years ago, helped MariAnn get in touch with Judy and updated Scott on his relatives’ whereabouts.
Tracking Mike down was a real blessing to me. And it is always rewarding to help folks get in touch with friends and relatives. But a much greater joy is helping someone get in touch with the Lord. How many people will we help to find Jesus this year? The year is young. Let’s make the most of it!
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