Life After College

Life after college was lonely. Instead of going into the ministry, I continued in sales. After another summer selling books, I moved to Austin, TX and worked with a subsidiary of the company I sold books for as a school fundraiser. One of the highlights of this time was working as a weekend youth minister for a small country church. Austin would have been a great place to live if I was on the wild side, but it was a tough town for a single guy trying to live a pure life. During this year, depression seemed to really kick in, although, I didn't know what it was at the time.

Two couples were very supportive during this time. John and Sheryl in Austin, and Jim and Becky who lived in the town where I was working as the weekend youth minister. They helped me through some rough waters during this time. Things didn't work out in Austin with my job, so I decided to go sell books again. It was towards the end of the summer, so I went to West Virginia and met up with Gary and Candy, friends who had gone to ACU. I only sold a few weeks, but I did get a valuable recommendation. Candy told me that if I am ever in Dallas, call her ACU roommate, Phyllis Hollabaugh. From that moment on, the name Phyllis stuck in my mind.

I went back to Ft. Worth, rented a room from a friend I went to high school with, and went to work for "Roto Rooter" -- yes, the sewer cleaning company. I knew the man who owned the Ft. Worth franchise from church, he offered me a job and I took it. I had spent most of my life in "waste," (cleaning out cattle trailers, etc.) so I thought this was probably a good fit. I actually enjoyed the job. It was a good feeling to unclog drains.

During this time, I started going back to the church I grew up in at Ft. Worth. I went to a dinner at the church with my sister one evening, and it changed the course of my life.