39 Years

I turned 39 today. As I was out walking with Jacob (nearly a five mile walk, woohoo!), I started to reflect a bit on how different each ten year period of life has been.

In my first decade we lived in western New York, outside of the city of Rochester. We also traveled a lot, spending a year in Pittsburgh, a year on Yap, and taking long trips to Brazil, Guatemala, and England. I enjoyed my childhood and spent a lot of time with my best friend, John Bierstaker and my friend across the street, Kurt Williams.

In my second decade we moved from New York to California. Although I really didn't care for La Mirada, I made the best of it and decided that to make the most of living in LA. I got heavily involved in band, playing in marching band, jazz band and wind ensemble, and marched in the rose parade for two years. I went to see movies on opening night in Hollywood and ate at great restaurants all over the city. And best of all, I met a woman named Patty who would ultimately become by wife...

My third decade, the nineties, are best summed up by graduating from college and living in Orange County while working for the First Evangelical Free Church in Fullerton. We were married in 1993 and our family also expanded with the addition of Grace, who was born in 1998. The hallmark of this decade for me is the development of lifelong friends who, despite being geographically separated by hundreds and even thousands of miles (many of them are now international missionaries) still remain in close contact.

The fourth decade saw the addition of Jacob to our family in 2001, and we have lived in the desert. I've been privileged to serve at High Desert Church during this time, and we have made the most of living in the desert, taking up 4x4ing and living on 2.5 acres of property. Our kids love the space around us, and have great friends in the neighbors next door. We have also made great new friends and mourned others who left us far too soon.

It's amazing how different each of the four decades has been. My life has been very different in the 70's, 80's, 90's and 2000's and I can't wait to see what God has next for us in the next ten years.

Joel