Stan Guillory:
CLASS OF 1970
Turner High SchoolClass of 1970
Carrollton, TX
Stan's Story
Stan is from Farmers Branch, Texas. Stan's schools include Turner High School.
One of Stan's favorite quotes is:"God Has a Plan 4.11
The following is a short story of the circumstances that occurred in my life (Stan Guillory). This story is meant for those who believe that good things can happen to people but who may be experiencing impossible circumstances. This is a short story of faith in a God who desires to have a personal relationship with you, and if He is searched for, He will be found, it will mean “the” difference in one’s life. Those are not my words, those are God’s promises. I cannot convince or preach to people in accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior. That isn’t my purpose here on earth; that is the purpose of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. My purpose is to portray, in the simplest possible way, my growing relationship with Jesus Christ through the circumstances I went through. He was, and always will be, with me every step of the way, here and the hereafter. How lost I would be without Him.
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Cor. 2:9 (KJV)
In the hot and humid summer of 1968, the Guillorys (my dad, mom, brother and me) moved from just north of Bachman Lake in North Dallas to Farmers Branch, Texas. During that long summer I met Beverly Fletcher, my future wife, while on a triple date. At the time she was dating the driver of the car that night. I was dating the driver’s sister that same evening. By the time school started later that year, Beverly and I were running around with each other and before we knew it, we were best friends. Other than us liking each other, our backgrounds were quite different in that Beverly was a Southern Baptist city girl and I, of course, was from a small Louisiana town named Bunkie located in an area that was predominantly Roman Catholic.
When we all are growing up, we are waiting or trying to “get out” of something… school, military, work, etc. Most of the things we do or go through get better as we go. I thought it was great when we graduated from high school. I got out in May of 1970. Beverly graduated at mid term (12/1970). On 02/05/1971 we got married (this was one of those great things).
During this time our country was going though one of its most trying times. The war in Vietnam appeared to be getting out of hand while racial riots were becoming the norm. Civil strife was rampant up north and daily reports of these events were the spotlight of nightly news broadcasts. During the War the draft was enacted on December 2, 1969, using a Lottery System otherwise known as The Selective Service System. The Selective Service System was notifying the nation's 4,000 draft boards to arrange their files of draft eligible young men for 1970 with those born Sept. 14 at the top of the heap to be called up first. The night's long-awaited lottery-by-birthday drawing opened with an invocation and closed with a benediction. The official notice sent to state and local Selective Service authorities placed those men with June 8 birthdays in 366th position -- at the very bottom. After all was said and done that evening, and even though I was only 19 years of age, I placed Number 138.
For those with birthdays drawn in the upper portion of the lottery list -- April 24, Dec. 30, Feb. 14, Oct. 18, Sept. 6, Oct. 26, Sept. 7, Nov. 22 and Dec. 6 round out the top 10 -- the uncertainty over their draft status has ended. Those eligible knew they would be drafted early in the year unless they volunteered first. Consequently, those at the bottom of the lottery listing knew they would not be drafted and could plan their lives accordingly. For those in the middle or marginal area of the drawing, uncertainty still existed. But they certainly knew most definitely by the end of 1970 whether they would be inducted.
The draft was going on then, they were using a lottery system and on August 5th of 1971, I was 19 years old and the lottery number for my birthday was 138. According to the pundits, they said the drafters would go through the number 200 that year. Knowing this, something tugged at my conscience, which resulted in me joining the United States Air Force (USAF) in hopes of not getting drafted.
After being enlisted for only two months, the draft sequence stopped at 136. In retrospect, Beverly and I were glad that I had enlisted in the Air Force because of the technical schooling I had received. Little could I foresee that this in-depth schooling in Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) would pay major dividends providing for our future wherever we chose to live.
After joining the Air Force in Dallas on April 20th of 1971, I was immediately sent to San Antonio for seven weeks of Basic Military Training School at Lackland Air Force Base (AFB). After completing “Basic”, I was assigned to Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas, for another five months learning the fundamentals of Air Conditioning and Refrigeration. After successfully completing technical school I was assigned to Reese Air Force Base in Lubbock, Texas, for the rest of my Air Force career. Even though I enjoyed the military and what it had to offer, I could foresee a different life in running my own business utilizing the skills I had learned in the military. I had enough self-confidence that Beverly and I made a decision to trek out on our own, once my military commitment had been completed. After making the easy decision not to reenlist, I felt liberated as I had not only honorably completed by commitment to the USAF, but was about to embark on a civilian career in Lubbock. After receiving an Honorable Discharge from the United States Air Force in April of 1975, Beverly and I set out on another adventure.
I had taken a job with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and worked there for eight years. In 1984 we quit after we had the air conditioning business going “full throttle”. We named the business, “Lubbock Air Conditioning Heating and Refrigeration". As a result of my wife’s loyal support with all my endeavors in running the Air Conditioning Business in Lubbock we prospered for five years, yet, our hearts became heavy and in tuned with events transpiring back home. We both knew that our parents were getting on in years and that they may need our help even though, by their nature, they would never ask for it. We could hear the frailty in their voices and didn’t want to spend time away from those who nurtured our very existence through our formative years. After numerous discussions and hours on bended knee while simultaneously seeking spiritual guidance from our Lord, the decision was made to return to the Dallas Metroplex in 1989. We stayed a total of 18 years in Lubbock. We sold most all we had and moved back to the Dallas area in 1989, as we had planned.
Through out first six years, Beverly and I tried to have children but unfortunately Beverly miscarried twice. An answer to our prayers came when we adopted our one and only child, Eric, on January 25, 1977. He was born on August 30 of the previous year and was the blessing we had long hoped and prayed for. This was one of those great things in our life. Our new little son, who we considered a “God-send,” was instrumental in transforming our lives, our views, and our approach in all things including how we treated other people and how we chose to lead our lives. Consequently, the Lord softened our hearts in understanding even the most complex. The establishment of lifelong friendships, which exist even unto this day, reciprocated our compassion towards others and putting Jesus Christ first in everything.
Beverly was very influential in providing a stable, solid foundation in Eric’s upbringing; she could always be depended upon to provide him sound guidance from a mother’s perspective. The bonds and emotional development made at home by parents during these years produced critical long-term results.
Beverly and I cherished and loved all the moments we spent with Eric. Beverly spent the majority of time with him as the primary nurturer because she didn't work outside the home very much. She provided life’s daily lessons in his life and raised him with the Christian values he uses as his moral foundation to this day. Beverly did most of the home schooling with him although I did manage to participate in a couple of his subjects. Eric was very good at most of his schoolwork. Beverly enjoyed being with Eric very much during activities they did together.
A Tumultuous Decade
Some of the worst things that happened in our lives were:
1985 turned out to be a tumultuous year for the both of us. Beverly's grandmother, from her father's side, died in January of 1985. In May of that year my grandfather, my mother’s stepfather, passed away. In November of 1986, my dad’s father died. Then in March of 1987, my dad’s mom died. In March of 2001, my grandmother on my mother’s side died. In October of 2001, Beverly lost her grandmother on her mother’s side. She lost her grandfather on her mother’s side the year before I met her in 1968. My dad had a stroke in June of 2001, and died in January of 2002.
On the brighter side, Eric and Monica Journee were married and shortly after became the proud parents of little “Emily Rose” on May 27, 2005. This was one of the greatest blessings that occurred in our lives. I don’t think I had ever seen Beverly enjoy anything more than when she was with Emily Rose. I believe Emily kept Beverly going longer than anything else in her life. Emily inspired her to live everyday as if it was her last.
Beverly and I had plans to start traveling and seeing more of this great country of ours. In March of 2000, Beverly and I planed a long needed vacation. We made reservations to stay one week in San Antonio. It wa...Expand for more
s arranged for us to go in April of that year. Unfortunately, Beverly had a skin irritation problem and went to see a doctor specializing in epidermal issues. He insisted on an immediate blood test and called her to come back to speak with him the very next day. We did not have a regular primary care doctor so he recommended one in the same building. Beverly told me she was always feeling tired, lethargic, with a loss of appetite and gaining weight. The doctor performed yet another more in-depth blood test. The results were regrettable in that the test revealed her one and only kidney had stopped functioning (she was born with only one). We went to Lewisville Hospital and had tubes put into her chest so she could start immediate dialysis treatments. She had lots of trouble with doing hemodialysis. Hemodialysis is a method used for removing waste products such as potassium and urea, as well as free water from the blood when the kidneys are in renal failure.
Beverly had to develop ways to use her arm wile having two 15-gauge needles put into it each time she went to have the dialysis done. We found out since she had small veins, her blood would clog the system the doctors had set up on her. After two to three years we changed to a system called peritoneum dialysis (PD). In PD, a dialysis fluid is entered into the patient’s abdominal (peritoneal) cavity (the “belly”), which is covered by a thin membrane, containing many small blood vessels. This membrane, called the peritoneum, is like a big bag that keeps the stomach, intestines, liver, and other organs in place. The dialysis fluid will make water, salts, and the waste products move from the blood into the fluid (also called solution). This process is called dialysis, and means that the peritoneum works as a dialysis filter. As the fluid gets saturated after a while, the solution must be exchanged regularly. It worked very well for her. Main advantages were she got to stay at home and do this at night when she was sleeping.
During this time, we definitely grew closer to each other; she had to rely on me more. I don’t know why, but I enjoyed taking care of her so much. In retrospect, I look at what I had seen other men do to their wife and families while in similar situations. When things get a little tough they just get up and abandon them; I don’t understand that at all.
I needed to be with her in the mornings, so the FAA, my employer, worked with me in allowing me to work the evening shifts only. This enabled me to take care of her daily needs while being able to provide for our monetary needs as well. Beverly had to go to the hospital a lot, to have procedures done to keep her going medically speaking.
I am so glad I have the job I do with the FAA. I was able to use accumulated Sick or Annual Leave to be with her all the time she needed me. Her parents were also able to help a lot. Also my job at the airport was cathartic in many ways. It allowed me to think about things other than Beverly’s illness. At times, this is what a person needs in order to get a grasp on all the events that are occurring. Not only did it allow me to have time alone with God, but it also was instrumental in allowing me to put things in perspective. The Lord knew my true feelings and what I had been going though as a man and husband. Little did I know that He was preparing me for the events to come in my life.
I feel God is always in the process of engineering circumstances through which He can reveal Himself to each and every one of us. It's in times of adversity that we can come to a greater realization of the Lord’s incredible faithfulness to his children. But we also must have faith in Him and be ready to listen while having the desire to have a personal relationship with Him. Imagine how Noah’s comprehension of God’s faithfulness increased after his deliverance through the flood. Think about how David’s trust grew after he killed the lion and bear that attacked his sheep. I can’t imagine what Gideon thought when God told him to get rid of most of his soldiers because he had too many. But after the victory, his faith soared. On and on we could go, telling similar stories. In each case, adversity was the means by which the Lord revealed that He could be trusted.
God’s faithfulness does not always take the form of deliverance from adversity. Instead, the Lord sometimes chooses to sustain us through it. Take, for instance, a man marooned on a deserted island. As he explores his surroundings, he discovers a speedboat washed up on shore with a full tank of gas. He cranks the engine and away he goes, delivered from being stranded. Let’s take the same example again, only this time, he does not discover a boat. Instead the man happens upon a deserted house and a fruit orchard. Inside the house, he finds all the tools he needs to cultivate the orchard. Although he is still stranded on the island, he will be able to survive because God sustains him through it. In both scenarios, the man was provided with what he needed to live. When God does not change our circumstances, He sustains us through them. This is what the writer of Hebrews referred to when he wrote,
Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need
(Hebrew 4:16).
This verse does not promise us a change of circumstances, freedom from pain, or deliverance from our enemies. It simply states that when we have a need, God will shower us with mercy and grace.
Paul certainly didn't lack confidence in God’s faithfulness. Yet the Lord opted not to remove the “thorn” in his flesh. Instead, He chose to sustain Paul through his pain. When the apostle asked for relief, God’s simple reply was, “My grace is sufficient for you” (2 Cor. 12:9). In other words, “Paul, you will continue to suffer. But if you hang in there with Me, you will make it.” This is what the Lord had been telling me during all our conversations together. He was there for me and I was there for Him. But I had to depend on him no matter how rough it got.
During this time (the years 2000 to 2007) in our lives, Beverly and I were going to Hebron Baptist Church. We had the best of friends and found out we had some relatives through Beverly’s background who were attending the church. After some time, a lot of the people became more like family to us because they got so close to us deepening our personal relationships with them. The older men of the church became like father figures, mentoring me after my dad had past away. They provided Godly wisdom, direction and advice at a time when I was feeling empty, frustrated and tired. I truly believe God had sent them at the perfect time to provide me console, rest and hope in a world I was beginning to lose faith in.
At first I was befriended by one of the men, Henry. He did the majority of maintenance around the church. He showed me around the place and I helped him for about a year or so. He had a stomach problem and died of a cancer as a result of his infirmity. I started doing a lot of the maintenance around the church because I had been trained to do that in the Air Force. I enjoyed doing it and it brought a great joy to me to know that I was doing what the Lord had wanted me to do and better yet, it was in His house. It's amazing when you're doing the right thing, in the right place, for the right reason, how the Lord speaks to you through these circumstances. I felt led by God to contribute in performing these tasks.
During Beverly’s prolonged illness, the church membership as a whole prayed for us and supported us greatly, in every way they could. Beverly took personal pride in contributing to the church by taking care of the Informational Bulletin Boards in the Church’s Main Lobby and in the main office area. She used a “3-dimensional layout” format and many themes throughout the year depending on upcoming events or holidays. She did a great job; I helped her and took pictures of most of them.
Friends Forever
One of the couples we befriended at the church was Vince and Diane Knarr. I'll never forget the first time Beverly and I met Vince. When he came up to me, I introduced myself then I said this is Beverly. He said, “Oh, I see you brought your daughter”. After he said that, I just knew we were going to get along great because he liked to kid around like I do. Beverly was not only flattered but felt the same as I.
Vince’s wife, Diane, was the Church Secretary. So most of the time we went to church she was there attending to the administrative duties of the church. Beverly and Diane had a lot in common; like beautiful colors, things that sparkled and the way they go together were nuances they had in common with each other. Vince and Diane, as well as Diane and Beverly would collaborate in bringing all sorts of food to the Church when we had functions such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, etc.
Unfortunately, Vince had chronic heart troubles and died December 12 2004. Simultaneously, Beverly was having a lot of medically related problems and as a result we could not attend his funeral. This hurt us so much not to be there for Diane.
In 2005, Beverly took a turn for the worse and was going to the Emergency Room more frequently. I could tell she was getting progressively weaker physically and mentally. She just didn't recover as quickly as she had previously; she never returned to her healthier previous state. I could tell her intuition told her so because of the subtle things she would say, such as, “I feel good today but not as good as I have in the past”. She wondered aloud saying, “The thing that bothers me is this will be the best I will ever feel again!” There is no doubt Beverly was a Christian of the highest order. She was very devoted and loved God. Many times we did a lot of talking about the next life. She asked me once, “When I here a so
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