Joy in the Journey

Joy in Marriage

I met my wife, Scottie, on a blind date back in 1963. And it wasn’t always rosy. We struggled for about six years. I grew up in a Christian home—I believed Jesus is God’s Son. But I lacked an understanding of that personal relationship. After we married I realized I was not walking with Christ. And my wife was an atheist. But we had some good friends who kept praying and inviting us to events. So we went to a [Christian] seminar. I’ll never forget—I was not that thrilled to be there. The speaker started talking in a monotone, and I thought it was going to be horrible. But fifteen minutes in, I was sitting on the edge of my seat. I committed my life to Christ, and so did Scottie. And He changed us. Suddenly we had something in common—that’s the miracle of our life together. Today we have two grown daughters, two sons-in-law, and three grandchildren. We just celebrated forty-five years together.

Joy in Business

My brother, Norman, and I took over Interstate Batteries from the founder in 1978, and we committed the company to Christ. We wanted to run it on sound business principles and honor the Lord with our decisions. And He grew it miraculously. Our relationship with Dallas Seminary began to grow as we started hiring students from DTS because they made such good employees. We ended up doing some events with DTS professor Dr. Howard Hendricks, and I attended a [Lay Institute] class. We strongly believe in the mission of DTS.

Joy in Giving

I believe one of my spiritual gifts is giving. God has blessed us with more than we ever expected. I have often sensed the Spirit telling me, “This is one we need to give to.” I have tried to be aware, alert, and available. Over the years as we began to do estate planning, we were concerned about what we were going to be able to leave our children, and we wanted to be able to leave some money for God’s work. My brother, Norman, first told me about the services at Dallas Seminary Foundation. My first concern was that I didn’t know whether the Foundation was qualified, but after the preliminary run-through I began to realize that they were very capable. Superior. The professional staff showed us what was available and what our options were. It was good to get everything in order and know that we have a plan that will work. I also liked the fact that they kept telling me to make my list of how I’d like to see my money used. They wanted to make sure that if something happened to me, they were fulfilling my wishes. I’m really pleased with the quality of work and the care of the professional staff at the Foundation.