My Story – Thanks be to God

My work as a scientist required me to travel occasionally, usually within Great Britain, but once to Sweden to give papers at the first European Microwave Conference, and then later to New York for another conference. After enjoying the sights in New York, I took a few days off and flew to Telluride in Colorado to see my old friend Reggie, the one I saw in Macon, France. He had emigrated to California, where he remarried after a few years. His new wife's parents helped them invest in some property in Telluride, an old Colorado mining town that had become a vibrant new ski area. My friend's property included part of the historic building on Main Street which housed the Nugget Theater, with several offices in the same building. At that time, it was the oldest continuously operating movie theater in the country. In addition, he had a 7-11 type business less than half a mile out of town. It had a store, a gas station, and a single bay service garage. He and his wife lived in a trailer next to the store. Also, he had a tow truck, frequently used to rescue drivers and their cars when they drove off the mountain roads.
Telluride is a tiny town in a box-end canyon of Colorado at 9,000 feet. Summer came once a year, on July 4th, and even then, it snowed; well, just one time. The new ski resort had opened in Telluride just a few months previously, so if businesses could survive the first slow years while the new ski area grew in popularity, they were assured of eventual financial success. The town of Telluride owes its existence to the mine located at the end of the canyon, which had started about 1875 and over the years absorbed a few small nearby mines. It operated continuously until the end of 1979. The mine entrance was about half a mile east of the town.
My friend and I skied for four days while I stayed with him in Telluride. I had never skied before, as evidenced by his comment that while standing on the slope, a small avalanche would go by him with skis and poles sticking out of it. After returning home to England, he asked me to join him in business. The quick story is that we sold up and moved to Telluride, providing his business with all our available cash; fortunately, as it turned out, our house in England had not yet sold.

During our first year in Telluride, my family and I rented a house on Main Street. From there, I walked to the theatre to show movies in the evening, and my wife would operate the popcorn machine. The two projectors were vintage carbon arc equipment and frequently needed much care to adjust the arc properly. Any failure to keep the two projectors functioning properly caused the movie to go dark, which was greeted with loud jeers from the audience. During the day, I would ride a bicycle out of town to the store and then pump gas, serve behind the store counter, drive the tow-truck, or fix tires.
Meanwhile, my friend was expanding the garage with a four-bay extension. This development was not working well; his wife's parents eventually helped him financially. However, to avoid benefiting me and my wife, they bought us out. The amount was much less than we had put into the company, but enough for us not to sue them. There I was, thousands of miles from our home country, no job, feeling betrayed, and wondering what to do next.
As I mentioned previously, I had always believed that from the time I was a teenager who believed that God existed but was not sure who He was. Now, in Telluride, having nothing to do but feel sorry for myself, I read some books, starting with a book by a Hindu monk. Then my wife got involved in the local Christian Fellowship and left some Christian books around. The first one that interested me was The Late Great Planet Earth, still a popular book concerning end-time Biblical prophecies. After that book, I could not wait to read another similar book. I selected one written by a minister, one of five who wrote for the New Wine magazine, dedicated to the charismatic renewal movement. This book dealt with the activities of a minister in that movement, as he went about his duties in his parish. As I recall, he would notice someone who needed help, pray about it, and then see the miracle that God performed. This pleased me no end; here was the kind of God I wanted to know. And then, as I was reading this book about halfway through it, my whole body became infused with intense joy, which lasted for several minutes. Later, I would realize that the Holy Spirit caused this joy. I had never experienced anything like it before, especially in my joyless childhood. I knew, however, about occasional happiness, like winning a card game for example.