George chuckled, and when the pastor behind them discreetly cleared his throat, Eric turned his attention to the young ladies coming down the aisle. He glanced at his top hat resting on the front pew and wondered if he made as dapper a picture as he hoped in the dark morning suit he wore. He knew without doubt that his bride would be beautiful and wanted only that she be pleased as well.
The music changed again, and the congregation—made up of Flo’s family and their friends—stood. Eric’s hands flexed as he saw her, her arm linked with her father’s, her hair caught up beneath his sister’s lace veil, her mother’s wedding gown flowing about her. She carried a bouquet of pink carnations that trailed from her waist to nearly the hem of the dress.
And she beamed, her expression full of love—love for him. For him alone.
Oh, how he wished his parents could see her. Or even one of his siblings.
But as it had been so often in his life, even with dozens around him, Eric stood alone. Though after today, he mused, he would never be alone again.
AFTER A TEN-DAY HONEYMOON IN the Western Hills outside Peking, Rev. and Mrs. Eric Liddell returned to Tientsin. Toward the end of their trip, Eric noticed a pesky sensation in the back of his throat, and Florence confirmed it to be tonsillitis. Florence tended to Eric for two weeks after they arrived home in Tientsin. Eric did not mind in the least, but it was the first time in his decade of service to the college that he missed work.
The two young marrieds enjoyed their time together through the next year. The wait was well worth it by all estimations. There was relative peace in China—at least for the short time being—though the Chinese government had recently ordered one of the TACC classes to take military drills, and another class was required to attend two weeks of military camp.
Eric wrote to his old friend D. P. Thomson, saying that although he hated war and felt the attitude of Christian people to it would be one of the future’s greatest challenges, he couldn’t help but notice that the drills had smartened up some of his students.
Eric eased back into his teaching life as the couple joyfully discovered the roles of husband and wife. They hosted many people in their home for game nights, Bible studies, and meals. Hospitality became a new art form in the Liddell home, and most everyone coveted an opportunity to spend an afternoon or evening with the Liddells.
Florence’s mother also enjoyed popping in for weekly visits, which evolved into semiweekly visits over meals, and then into daily tea. Eric certainly loved time with guests, and especially family, but he valued time with his new bride more. He wisecracked to a friend that his preferred hymn of choice might soon be “Peace, Perfect Peace, with Loved Ones Far Away.”
Peace came in its own time. Before long, Florence shared with Eric the joyous news that, come the summer of 1935, he would be a father.
In the spring of 1935, the political climate brought changes to the world as well as to Tientsin Anglo-Chinese College. As Eric and Florence awaited the birth of their first child, the Japanese penetrated the Great Wall of China near Peking. In Germany, Hitler made plans to use the 1936 Olympics as a host to his Nazi propaganda, and the Chinese Communist Party continued to strengthen its army.
Closer to home, a new order came demanding that one of the TACC classes suspend their studies for three months of intense training at a military camp. Even though Eric was upset that their time away from the classroom represented a half year’s work, he also saw these changes in the tide as an opportunity to hunker down spiritually. He organized a prayer breakfast for the staff of TACC and joyfully observed the changes brought by such time spent with God.
That year, a total of eleven students were baptized during the college’s annual baptism service.
But an unintended headache arrived during this tender time in the form of a request. The LMS District Council, in the interest of finances, looked for ways to alleviate some of the burden on the college. The sentiment that too many missionaries were assigned to the college had been growing. Eric, being uniquely qualified as a pastor, received a request asking that he and Florence leave Tientsin and venture to Siaochang to serve the rural countryside mission in that capacity.
It was a rare occurrence and an unusual sensation for Eric to have to consider choosing between two callings. He had always tended to be a focused, linear, black-and-white thinker, but here there seemed to be no right answer. He recognized great need in both ministry contexts, and he did not dismiss the new opportunity lightly. He traveled to Pei Tai Ho where Florence had gone for the summer. There, Eric talked with Florence about the choice that lay ahead for him, revealing that many of the missionaries had strong opinions of not wanting to see Eric leave the college.
Eric wrote D. P. Thomson about having wrestled and sorted through his thoughts:
I was a tutor of the graduating class of 1935. I never seemed to get a real grip of the class. In teaching, one of the difficulties was the large difference in standard between those at the top of the class and those at the bottom, but over and above this I never felt that I gained their loyalty or obtained any deep friendship. I know there is always the influence of which we are unconscious, and the way in which it molds the characters of the students, but I do feel that I should be able to see more direct results from my work.[57]
But even though Eric had doubts about his influence, he had been no slouch. In the years
