Gene Harmon
Who am I that you've brought me this far?
Signed Covenant: 1977
Passed Into Glory: 2004
My father once said, “Perhaps it is best that a man cannot see his own future, for if he could, he might not have the courage to face it.” In my case he was right, except for the power of God’s grace.
Having been raised in a strong Christian environment in Oklahoma, it was no surprise to anyone that I chose the ministry as my vocation. During the years of Bible College and Seminary, my wife Patty and I met, were married and began raising our family. It was in the seventh year of marriage, with two sons, Bob and Jim, and a pregnant wife, that things turned sour.
I listened to a ‘distant drummer,’ whom I now realize was Satan himself, with his seductive cadence, convincing me that the grass really was greener on the other side. I thought I had to “find myself.” Through absolutely no fault of Patty’s, I left her and the boys. For the next five-and-a-half years, I wandered through a life that had I known what it would be like, probably ‘would not have had the courage to face it.’
During those years, I remarried and had a son, Brian, by my second wife. But things were not to go well ‘in the new grass.’ My second wife was killed in a tragic automobile accident, and Brian and I were left to fend for ourselves. The approach of Christmas 1972 found me at perhaps the lowest ebb in my life. I decided to take my three-year-old and go to my parents’ house in Oklahoma City. Perhaps there I could escape the terrible loneliness I dreaded.
Patty and I had an unspoken agreement. She and the boys would spend Christmas with my folks, and my new family and I would spend New Year’s. To say the least, Patty was less than joyous about my coming at Christmas that year, but being the gracious person she is, did not make a scene about it. We even ended up sitting side-by-side at Christmas dinner. The hostility from Patty, which I expected, was never present. I will always believe that God set some things in motion at dinner that day.
Over the next few days, the desire grew in me to do something to see if there might be anything left between Patty and me. Getting my courage up, I called her. “Patty, you have every right to tell me to go straight to hell, but could I pick you up and take you to dinner New Year’s Eve?”
Her affirmative answer, I believe, set the stage for God to begin the reconciliation of our marriage. He then poured upon us all the grace we would need to embrace the repentance, forgiveness, change and healing necessary to restore our marriage. At a small family ceremony in March of 1973, we were remarried. Shortly after that, the restoration of the family culminated in Patty’s legal adoption of Brian. Patty had again become my “princess.” but there was still a good bit of “frog” left in me; a prideful workaholic who had really bought into the world during my time apart from her.
I had become an Episcopalian during my desert wanderings. Patty tried the Episcopal Church, but was uncomfortable with the liturgy. So we sort of “vegetated” in the denomination where we had spent most of our lives. Our love was strong, but something was missing. There had to be something we were missing—something more—something we didn’t have.
We heard about a new priest at the Episcopal church in the town where we lived. We decided to attend a weeknight prayer meeting led by this Spirit-filled, tongues-speaking rector...whatever that meant. We were about to find out.
Look out! Crash course! From being devoutly opposed to tongues and all the other ‘Holy Roller’ stuff, I slammed up against the wall of the Holy Spirit. He went to work on me with a “wire brush.” More repentance! Forgiveness! Inner Healing! More Forgiveness! Renouncing independence! Forgiveness! Realization of desire for personal encounter with Jesus. Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Desire for tongues! (Me?) Thank you Lord for bringing Patty and me through all this together. Thank you Fr. Lou for hugging me when I needed it; correcting me when I didn’t think I needed it but likely did; but most of all thank you and Jeanne both for loving us into a Kingdom we’d never known.
The time came when Patty and I were both ready to hear God’s call to Alleluia and embrace it with everything we had. After our visit in the early summer of 1976, Oklahoma began to invade Georgia...us with a Ryder truck pulling a decommissioned ambulance (Unit 24) which I used to drive...followed soon by the Lindsey family in their big red school bus.
More than anything else, I had a really strong desire to work full-time for Alleluia. Well, I started out spending most of two years under Faith Village houses fixing plumbing and crawling through the muck of broken sewers. Then I got a promotion. I became head of the Motor Pool...responsible for the maintenance of about 45 “in common” cars, most of which could have honestly worn a bumper sticker saying, “My other car is a piece of junk too!” But somehow, God’s grace kept us all rolling—at least most of the time.
Those three years began what is now a 22-year ‘total immersion’ into Alleluia Community. I cannot imagine having raised five boys without the committed love and support of the brothers and sisters. So many ways my life has been changed for the good. As I look back over the years, I see God’s hand mightily at work in our family.
With the kids grown, Patty and I have entered what the world calls the “empty nest syndrome.” Fear it, or be anxious about it? Heavens no! With four of the five sons choosing to live in the Augusta area, there’s no “empty nest,” Just an “accordion house” that contentedly breathes in and out as the grown sons, daughter-in-laws and grandkids frequently find something to their liking in the “fridge.”
Lest I sound too idyllic, I hasten to say it has not all been Camelot. In the late eighties, a congenital neuro-muscular disease became markedly progressive. Hip replacement surgery and some complication came in 1990. Since that time, I have been more and more dependent on my wheel chair or scooter to navigate. Following open heart surgery in 1994, it was necessary for me to retire disabled. Rather than a debilitating thing, God used it to grant me the desire of my heart—working for Alleluia virtually full-time running the communications office. In my wildest imagination I could never have created the scenario which has brought about the most fulfilling time in my life.