I’m in my 80th year and am a retired Salvation Army officer/pastor. My wife and I served for 31 years in corps/churches, divisional and territorial appointments, and loved every minute of it.
In moments of idleness, and there are many these days, I’ve been thinking of all the changes I have seen and experienced in society and in The Salvation Army.
I remember sharing my life with my mother alone while dad was overseas with the Royal Canadian Air Force in the Second World War. He didn’t fly a plane. He flew a ‘Boosey and Hawkes’ as a member of the Central band.
I remember our first TV when we placed coloured plastic over the screen to enjoy coloured TV.
I remember my first car, a 1936 Ford that my aunt gave me, which had sat on blocks in a garage for some years. When I went to a service station, I filled it with oil and had the gas checked.
I remember a part time job I had while in high school cleaning manure off the front of the wagons for the Canada Bread Company.
I remember... cleaning manure off the front of the wagons for the Canada Bread Company. Share on X
I remember my first job in a Province of Ontario savings office earning $23 a week. I remember giving up a Saturday to paint the lunchroom in the basement, only to have it and the rest of the bank destroyed by fire a day later. The paint fumes obviously aided and abetted faulty wiring in the ceiling.
The paint fumes obviously aided and abetted faulty wiring in the ceiling. Share on XI remember spotting a cute dark haired young lady in the church congregation one Sunday and going home to tell my mother I saw the girl I was going to marry one day. I did! We got married on a shoe string budget and she paid the $2 for the license.
We got married on a shoe string budget and she paid the $2 for the license. Share on X
I remember when gasoline was 11 cents a gallon and stopping to buy some with only 50 cents in my pocket.
I remember when gasoline was 11 cents a gallon Share on X
I remember that a loaf of bread cost 8 cents and bacon went for 40 cents a pound.
I remember our first born of three children being a girl and naming her Linda Lee who went on to be a trombone player.
The most significant memories I have are of asking Jesus into my heart at age seven after my mother sang to me ”Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.” Then as a teenager I made a full commitment of my life making the pledge “All there is of me Lord”.
The most significant memories I have are of asking Jesus into my heart Share on X
Those commitments have been strengthened and solidified over the years to the place where, At nearly 80 years of age, I can still sing with gusto, “Christ is all, yes all in all.” Share on X
What do you remember?
