Tony Stafford

The Grace of a Summer's Day Tony Stafford

In the summer that Teague Rowe accepted a job as a lifeguard at a swimming pool near Charlotte, he was also asked to be the summer student minister of a small Baptist mission in his hometown. He was literally torn between the world, the flesh, and the devil on the one hand and the need on the other hand to provide spiritual nourishment for his small congregation, which he was ill-equipped to do since he himself was in a spiritual crisis of his own. Mondays through Saturdays were spent succumbing to the temptations of near-naked young ladies and, in some cases, older women. It was a battle he was not winning. Late Saturday nights, after being out with some female, he tried get into a spiritual mode and write his sermon for the next morning. This too was a battle he was not winning. In great despair one night, he went to a bar to take the edge off of his frustration, and there he met Dusty (whose real name is Grace) who became his guide, teacher, mentor, lover, and his saving grace. What does he discover through Dusty? The answer is in the novel.