Winding down at SABS

 The time for Mel's graduation is coming near. In the last year he has been elected as an elder at Benoni Church of Christ, he has also been approached about going to ACU in order to receive a Master's Degree so that he will be qualified to lecture at SABS. He has accepted the challenge and the school will provide the money for our plane trip. Also, Tim has joined us at SABS, having been released from the Rhodesian (soon to be Zimbabwe) army.  He will attend SABS while Mel, I,  Paul, and Steve  are at ACU. Now, how are we going to finance our education? Benoni had recently had a Gospel meeting with the preacher from the San Antonio, Texas, Charles Prince, preaching. The local church was going to take care of us until we could arrange something else.

We meet our son-in-law

 About 18 months after they were married, Rex and Deb came to visit us at SABS. Deb had scared Rex by telling him that Mel was very strict and he had better mind his "P"s and "Q"s. So when we met them at the Airport he was dressed in a full suit, shirt, and tie. Of course he soon found out that Deb was just teasing him. Both Mel and I loved him from the beginning. When we got home, because the students had been away on vacation and were expected back in a day or two, we had to give our visitors the tiny room which was situated at the rear of the house. When I say "tiny" I mean that. It could scarcely hold their bed. But that was the best we could offer them. We spent the rest of the time talking, showing them around and just generally "catching up". I don't really recall all that we did, but we loved having them with us, and rejoiced that our girl had been so wise in her choice of a husband. Not only was he a Christian, but a wonderful preacher as well.

The Branfords

While we were at SABS we became close friends of Reg and Diane Branford. They had  two kids, and had a baby soon after school began. As time went on and it was getting close to graduation a call  from Pietermaritzburg came to the school, asking for a preacher. Dad thought briefly that he might try, but decided against it, Reg, however, decided to try out for the job.  The Branfords went down and stayed with people who owned a bulldog. As soon as they arrived there they were told not to venture into the back yard as the bulldog was aggressive.  Sunday morning as Reg was getting ready he looked out of the sliding glass doors which faced on to the backyard, and was horrified to see his toddler out there in jaws of the bulldog which was shaking her like a rag doll. Reg opened the sliding doors, though they were almost impossible to open, rushed out and literally tore the dog's jaws open as he freed his child. She was so covered with blood that he yelled for someone to get the car ready to take them to the hospital. He would not allow Diane to see her face as he held the baby up against his chest. When they arrived at the hospital there was only one doctor there who was free to operate. He was a brain surgeon who had just finished an intricate operation, but the good doctor did not hesitate as he took the toddler into the theatre and performed a  fantastically intricate procedure on the her. The dog's teeth had penetrated her cheek  which required that he sew up the inside of her mouth as well. After they came home Diane was visiting me with the little one and was bemoaning the fact that the child was now terrified of ALL dogs.  Candy, our retriever, was in the lounge, lying quietly at a distance from us, and the toddler would not leave her mother's lap. I looked at Candy and then at Diane and said, "Let me see if Candy can help her." I got up and walked over to Candy ad caressed her. Then I said to the child, "Come and see Candy, she will not hurt you, she loves little girls." With some encouragement from Diane she came over slowly, and Candy, bless her loving heart, rolled over onto her back—the ultimate position of surrender—as the child softly touched her—and so started the healing of a cruelly injured little lady.

Rex and Debbie

At  this point I want to focus on Rex and Debbie for a while. Deb had left Harding and enrolled at Alabama Christian College, because her lifelong friend, Beverly Kidwell, had persuaded her to do so.  She wrote to get our approval and moved down lock, stock, and barrel. At this time we were already living on the SABS property. When we had been in the boys dorm for a short while we received a very short  little note from her in which she stated, "There is a cute guy here who is teaching me to drive – don't get any ideas!" Being her mother I, of course, immediately got "IDEAS," but wisely kept my thoughts to myself.  Well, it was not very long until we were asked if it was okay to get engaged to that very same "Cute guy" named – Rex Dutton!! It was some time before they married and we kept in touch until the great day. When the time came I very bravely kept my eyes dry as we lived through the day. I was dry-eyed until the photos arrived – then I lost it and made up for all the tears I should have wept. We were very happy that Rex's family loved our dear daughter from the very first, and once we met Rex we, too, fell in love with our new "son."

Life as SABS Surrogate Mother

Now to continue our surrogate patenting at the Boys' Dorm. After the cat experience we found an advert for Labrador puppies. I have always enjoyed having a dog as a pet, and Mel and I both decided we would like one now. Thus started the delightful saga of Candy. We went to view the puppies and Candy immediately captured our hearts.  When we got her home everybody fell in love with her.  As she grew older she loved to join the boys as they played football in the yard. One day, when she was still a youngish pup, I was washing the lunch dishes when I looked out the window and saw what I thought was a piece of thick rope, about two feet long. Candy was very interested in it and she circled to the front and to my horror the rope reared up and spread its hood—it was a spitting cobra.  I threw down my cloth and dashed out of the house yelling "SNAKE!!" I rushed over to Candy, picked her up bodily and carried her to the side of the house, just as shock took over, and I slumped against the wall. Mel rushed out with the only weapon he could lay his hands on, a broom of some sort, and took care of Mr. Cobra. Phew!! That was a very scary incident. The Lord took care of us and no one was hurt. I asked our boys to take the dead body to the woods across the road, and dispose of it.  Candy, a couple of days later, found its body and presented it to me in the yard—smelly.  So we sent the boys back with it telling them to bury it deep.