Confessions of an Erring Bible College Student

After 41 years, it’s time to confess that my wife and I blatantly broke the rules at Piedmont Bible College, by single dating before she became my wife. But in my defense, it would have been difficult to have a chaperone in my 1960 MGA and I wanted to drive in the snow so much and show off for my girlfriend.

Driving in snow was not new to me, having come to North Carolina in January of 1969 from that snow capitol of Buffalo, New York. It really wasn’t that much snow, maybe 6 inches, but Winston-Salem had been essentially shut down and slipping and sliding on nearly deserted streets was just too appealing for a Yankee boy.

I don’t actually remember how we rendezvoused but soon we were driving all around town performing controlled slides and spinouts. Unfortunately, in my mischief, we found ourselves outside the city limits, which was also an infraction of the rules. But we didn’t expect to be caught because no one would be out on those snow covered roads. We became stuck in the snow several times, but with my knowledge of rocking the car, we became “unstuck” every time.

Finally, however, I was confronted with a major problem, not caused by the snow, but by the melting snow. Hitting a large puddle, my car began to sputter and stalled. This had happened before and I immediately knew that the remedy was not a major one, but would require some time to repair. We didn’t have much time before the sun would set and we would be guilty of a third misdemeanor.

Three strikes and you are out, I had heard. “Be sure your sins will find you out”, the Bible says. For the first time, I began to panic and came to a place of prayer and true repentance. God is merciful, I can assure you. I was able to dry the distributor, restart the car, and get back to school, and to this day, I have avoided prosecution. I hope the “statute of limitations” has expired and I will not disbarred from the pastorate after 40 years.

But it was so much fun!!