Blog 3862 – 06.19.2026

Signs of the Times

In 1950, the year that I arrived in America, the year I began this adventure in time and space, Sears opened a store on North Shepherd Drive in Houston, Texas. For seventy years till the store closed in 2020 that store served the greater Houston area.

I arrived in Houston in January 1973 to attend Gulf Coast Bible College then located a couple of miles south and four blocks east on Eleventh Street. From 1953 till 1985 GBC was in Houston. The college relocated and changed its name to Mid America Bible College and later Mid America University. Sine 1985 Oklahoma City has been home to GBC/MBC/MAU.

Change is a big part of these adventures in space and time. Several of the former GBC buildings and businesses have been repurposed. The former dorms are now apartments and what was in 1953, when the First Church of God congregation in Houston began the Bible College, its sanctuary and later after the church itself relocated to a new building on the 290 Expressway the college GBC Chapel. The former chapel has for several years been an upscale eatery.

The Sears building was demolished some years ago and the developers are finally clearing the property to build several retail stores in its place. After input from the community they have promised to leave the old Sears sign structure in place as a sort of memorial to what for many years was a treasure to those of us who have made Northwest Houston home.

In the midst of these changing times it is somehow comforting to recognize and remember a few unchanging signs of the times.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David James White

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IIva_eqTiRZ60ClAAmDD8jT26cXU8f1u/view?usp=drivesdk

Time In A Bottle