Musings on 25 Years of Ordained Ministry--16

Personal Stuff

(Today the family of Grace is celebrating my 25th Anniversary. We're off to a great start as former Cardinals Quarterback Neil Lomax was our guest interview today! He was fantastic.)

Though my family may argue otherwise from time to time, life consists of more than ministry. Life happens, too. In no particular order here are some of the memories from the last 25 years that were lived--good and bad--in and around ministry:

Lots of great family trips. Probably our most visited spot on earth is Disneyland. We fell in love with it while on internship and have been fans ever since. For a time, Jan worked at one of the local Disney Stores giving us free passes and special rates on Disneyland hotel rooms. Trips overseas (although Mike hated most of them), trips to Hawaii (surprising our kids the first time by picking them up from school and showing them the airline tickets!), to Aspen, New York City, a couple of "See America Tours" (the history of the East Coast and a wandering trip from Minneapolis to Arizona), vacations in Minneapolis with my family and Jan's family, to Walt Disney World, the Kennedy Space Center, to name a few. Pastor families make certain sacrifices (we've spent the last 25 Christmas Eve's in church, for example) so family trips were and continue to be important.

My grandparents died in the late 80's. Grandma went first and grandpa followed a few weeks later. I was so glad they made it to Phoenix. It was the only time grandma ever flew!

Jan's mom passed away from cancer at the age of 62. Her husband, Vic, had Parkinson's disease so Jan's folks built us a new home before Phadoris died so that we could take in Vic. Turns out Vic didn't like being dependent on us so he moved out and lived for several years before he passed away.

My mom died in 2007 while Jan, Jeff, Diane, and I were in Hawaii. We couldn't get home for 3 days. But family and the family of Grace rallied around my dad. We had an amazing funeral service for her at Zuni. I was awed at the number of people who told me of how encouraging mom had been to them. She had quite a ministry!

Battling against an anxiety disorder that came to full fruition while I was in Pasadena on what was to be a two week Church Growth course. I've had some great successes and some great setbacks but am grateful to still be able to live my life fully. Some are so overwhelmed by it that it shuts them down.

Mike fell in love with Amber while the two of them were musicians over at Radiant Church in Surprise, Arizona. Mike was really whipped. But Amber was in another relationship. Just before Jan and I headed out on a vacation Mike called to say that any possibilities with Amber were over. He was heartbroken. A few days later he called saying he was out to dinner with Amber and her parents! He proposed to her in Hawaii. They were married in 2007. A pretty cool deal for me to marry off my son. They walked out of the ceremony to "Son of a Preacher Man!"

Alycia is our world traveler, moving from one experience to the next, from one degree to the next. She never really had time for a serious relationship. But love finally caught up with her a couple of years ago. In February of 2008 Corey called me while I was on vacation (I get 4 weeks per year but big stuff always happens on them!) to ask if he could marry her. Alycia and I headed to Rwanda in March. What she didn't know was that we arranged for Corey to fly to Phoenix to meet her at the airport when we got home, to propose to her. They were married in August. Again, a great honor to marry off my daughter.

Every day with Jan is a highlight!

Getting Santi the Beagle and Saba the Dachshund has been one of the great joys of our lives. I often say I almost love my kids as much as my dogs.

I trained for and completed 3 marathons (the Walt Disney World, San Diego, and London) and 5 half-marathons. I now enjoy biking, and so does my back and hip.

Taking in a taping of David Letterman, twice. Same with Jay Leno. I'm a huge Letterman fan. Not so much Leno but I loved being a part of the tapings. Sitting in the front row, center seats at a Barry Manilow concert and having him shake my hand at the end of the show. Hearing former President Reagan speak in person. What a speaker! Being at a George W. Bush rally (politics aside, simply very cool to see a president live and in person.)

Driving to the Rose Bowl in 1987 with Walt to watch the Arizona Sun Devils win over Michigan. Jeff Van Raphorst was the quarterback. One year we did a fundraiser event with some college and former pro-athletes. Jeff was one of them. We competed against them. During touch football Jeff came charging at me. I had no idea of how fast those guys move! However, in the sit up competition, I blew him away. A few years later we set up a Sunday interview with him. He had the wrong date and didn't show up. So I interviewed my brother Jeff instead and we "pretended" he was Van Raphorst.

The 1987 World Series. Being from Minneapolis, having the Twins in the series was a big deal. During the playoffs, during our Sunday night services, we would pull out homer tissues and sing the Twins theme song. The decisive game 7 was on a Sunday night. We couldn't cancel church so we did the service and then rushed home to see the Twins win it on the last play of the game.

The 1991 World Series. Once again the Twins were in it. We were in Hawaii--I know, I'm always in Hawaii--on our very first trip there speaking at a conference. Game 7, once again was on Sunday. I had a speaking thing that night. I sat in the car glued to the radio as long as I could but the game went into extra innings. So I told Mike to stay in the car to catch the end of the game. He was 8 years old! I was inside speaking, talking about something fairly serious when Mike ran into the back with his arms in the air! I yelled, "Did they win?" I immediately fell to the floor and said, "There is a God." Not my greatest speaking moment but a moment none-the-less. We moved into a song. I sat next to Mike and asked, "Are you sure they won?" "I think so!" I sent him out to make sure. The Twins won by 1 run.

August 25, 1997 (our wedding anniversary). The Arena League Arizona Rattlers were hosting their first home Arenabowl (they'd already won one!) against Kurt Warner and the Iowa Barnstormers. We stood almost the entire game. I was worn out at the end. But we whipped them! It was pretty cool being at home and winning a big game.

The 2001 World Series in which the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Yankees by one run on the final play of the game. All three of the World Series I cared about ended that way! Great for baseball. Hard on the heart.

The NFC Championship game in Phoenix this year when the Cards made a game winning drive in the final minutes of the game against the Eagles to propel them into their first Super Bowl. Another game that left me blissfully exhausted. Having the chance to go to that Super Bowl with my kids was one of the great experiences of our lives.