The Methodist Preacher's Kids

About the Book

Seven children were born to a poor Methodist Preacher’s wife. Doctor John was born in 1931, two years after the stock market crash of 1929. Some people were jumping out of windows and off bridges to end their lives because of the loss of money and sudden debt. The first preacher’s kid, to be born was Mary Elsie, followed every one to three years by Bobby, the author (Johnny), Carolyn, Lex, Peggy Ann and Virginia. They had very little so the depression meant little to them.

The story is based on the actual lives of these preacher’s kids as they grew up in small towns in southern Alabama and northwest Florida. God’s entire world, as they knew it, was their playpen and proving grounds. All the adults in the neighborhood were their guardians. They protected them the few times that they knew they needed it and scolded them when they thought they should. Never do I remember parents getting into arguments because of their children.

As you read you will join the author and Bobby who were almost inseparable except when they were in the schoolroom. They didn’t have Indian Joe, as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn did, but they faced their own dangers at times. Their guardian angel must have been with them as they spent most of their growing years in the woods, on the creek bank or on the rivers. Little did they realize the dangers they faced as they camped on the creek banks, rowed boats on the rivers, explored caves, climbed trees and waded snake infested waters. They seldom went hungry or thirsty and created their own toys and good times. Those were the good old days.

About the Author

Doctor John was born in 1931, early in the great depression after the stock market crash of 1929. He was the third of seven children born to a poor Methodist preacher’s wife. His birth was in a small town in southern Alabama. At two years of age he moved with his family to Chatom, Alabama. He and his brother, Bobby, at an early age, learned to love life with their goat, cow and calf as we explored the woods, ponds and streets of our small town.

Since his father was a Methodist preacher, he and his brothers and sisters moved to small towns in southern Alabama and northeast Florida. When we were not in school, Bobby, who was only fourteen months older than the author, and the author were always outside in the woods, farms, creeks or on the rivers creating their own good times and learning about God’s nature. Seldom did we think of the dangers we were in.

After high school the author went to college to learn to become a preacher like his father. While in school he changed his major so that he could go to medical school and become a medical missionary. While in medical school and in residency he became a Pediatrician.