August 13, 2013 (Tuesday)
Troy Conner is 82 years old today. Every year at this time, he reminds me that he is older than I. He will be a year older than I am for the next six weeks. Then I will catch up and we’ll be the same age.
I met Troy when we were in the Third Grade. My parents were having a hard time deciding whether they wanted to remain married or not, so for the first three weeks of that school year I attended Breckenridge Elementary in Houston, and that’s when I met Troy. We would not see each other again after those three weeks until we were in the fifth grade. By that time my parents had divorced and my twin sisters, Elva and Melva, and I were living with our grandparents. Troy’s family had moved less than two blocks away on the same street. We all were attending the nearby Sherman Elementary School.
We became close friends and at times spent the night in the other’s home. At some point during those years, when we were about 11 years old, we accepted Christ and were baptized at the Liberty Road Baptist Church. Troy’s parents were faithful members of that church. The family invited me to attend with them, which I did from time to time.
After my parents remarried, my sisters and I lived with each set of parents off and on from the time I was 13 and they were 10 years of age. When we reached high school, Troy and I were living in different districts, and attended different schools. When I was in the eighth grade, my sisters and I attended the Assembly of God with our stepmother, Dorothy, who was a new Christian at the time and very active in the church. Otherwise, I had no contact with a church during my teens.
During the summer before my senior year of high school, Richard Hunt, the new pastor of the Liberty Road Baptist Church telephoned me and invited me to attend. I accepted the invitation, and on the 4th of July, 1948, drove to the Conner home so that I could attend with them. I was welcomed with open arms by everyone in the Conner family. That afternoon, Troy, his brother Bill and our beloved friend, Maurice Smith “hung out together,” driving around and enjoying each other’s company. I was deeply impressed by their commitment to Christ and that evening at church rededicated my life to Christ. I then became an active member of a church that loved me, becoming a part of a group of young people whose dedication to Christ inspired me daily. Soon I was preaching wherever I could. As unbelievable as it seems to me, that was 65 years ago.
Troy and I worked together in youth revivals during our college days. We stayed in touch and in 2004 he asked me to preach at Timbergrove Baptist Church in Houston where he and his wife, Ruth Ann, were members and in charge of the music at the church. Soon I was asked to become the pastor, and we served together on a church staff for the first time, although we had been friends since childhood. Troy’s sister-in-law, Wanda Stewart, a lifelong friend from the Liberty Road church, directed the music when Troy was away. Those were very happy days for me. I am so glad we had that opportunity. No doubt we were among the oldest people leading a church. But young at heart. Here’s a picture of Ruth and Troy at their Golden Wedding Anniversary in 2004:
Happy Birthday, Troy. And Happy Birthday to you, Ruth, who celebrated yours one week ago. Where would I be without you two, the old Liberty Road church, and the marvelous group of people our age who have remained true to Christ all these years? One by one God is calling them home, but their influence will always live in our hearts.