10, 20, 30

This came as a challenge from another blogger...These were my quick responses...Give it a try!

10 Years Ago
That would be 1997. We lived in West Liberty. We owned our own house (or were paying an enormous debt to do that). Our daughters were 14 and 15. Ann had just left for Brazil as a foreign exchange student with Rotary. Beth was liking not being in her sister’s shadow. We had just gotten out of foster care and were trying to figure out how to just be a family again. I was a full-time counselor at an agency that worked with kids in out of home placement and did some community counseling as well. I honestly can’t remember what job Nelson was doing right then.

20 Years Ago
That would be 1987. The girls and I had just moved to Kansas City for me to go to seminary at Nazarene Theological Seminary. I was pursuing an M.Div there to meet requirements for military chaplaincy. I soon learned that’s not what I wanted to do. I accepted a pastorate of a struggling church (Rainbow Blvd. Church of the Nazarene). I was told at that time I had the largest church any woman had in that denomination. I was also told to keep my nose clean because the future for all women in that denomination lay on my shoulders. A very unfair pronouncement that never should have been taken seriously, but I’m me and I couldn’t help it. Nelson was still in Ohio building a house with some very dear friends of ours—an opportunity we felt was too important for him to pass up. The girls were little and started school for the very first time. They attended a Christian School.

30 Years Ago
Wow, 1977. I was attending college at then Mount Vernon Nazarene College. I met Nelson fall of this year and was instantly repulsed and then madly in love with him. We were both in the musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.” He was Bud Frump and I was Smitty. We had our first date on October 8. He sent me flowers on 10/8 this year to commemorate the occasion.

That was a fun sort of trip…