Dang, if I didn’t pick up a virus, actually a meme called the 10-20-30 Virus! I think that it is rare that someone as old as me gets this bug!

10 Years Ago
We just moved into this lovely ranch home in a nearby rural/bedroom town setting in far north Chicagoland. That’s where we still live. We moved because my mother-in-law’s heath was beginning to slip and she was moving in with us. I had seen considerable progress transitioning a staid Bible Church into a vibrant ministry. Patty was working as a nurse/office manger for a group of doctors. It was the beginning our empty nester period since the kids had both just moved out, though Patty’s Mom just moved in. I was feeling good about things!

20 Years Ago
We had just moved to Decatur, Illinois to pastor a Baptist church there. It many ways Decatur is where we were the most rooted and comfortable. We were well loved at the church, though limited in changes that could be make. We had good friends there (still do) and were well connected in the community. Patty was working for a utilization review company that evaluated hospital services. I was feeling good about things then, too!

30 Years Ago
I was in first grade. Just kidding! We lived in our hometown, St. Joseph, Missouri (in a crummy rental house.) We had been married three years. I was in Bible College (which I loved), driving 120 miles nearly everyday and working as a security officer. Patty worked in OB in a hospital in the city and was pregnant with Michelle. That year we took a fun trip to Texas to meet a couple that were good friends and then spent the weekend on Padre Island together. Patty was sick and I ate most of her food, as well as mine. I was young and optimistic.

Thanks to Erin for tagging me, now I tag: Alan, Cindy, Helen, Jonathan, and Jim.