Elder, Seattle Church of Christ
Linda and I just celebrated our 46th wedding anniversary. During these busy years, God has blessed us with four children and ten grandchildren.
Greg, our oldest, his wife Lisa, and their two children live close by. Greg is a deacon in the church here in Seattle and is the director of Loss Prevention for T-Mobile. Their oldest, Sara, was recently baptized, just after her 16t birthday. Their son, Tucker, a super guy, is an eighth grader and loves his grandparents…..’nuff said! Our second child, Meredith, lives in Denver with her husband Mike, who serves as a deacon and Board President of the Denver church. Their three children, Becca, Michael and Hunter are also great kids (grandpa speaking here!) and we couldn’t be more proud of who they are becoming. Mike is an honest-to-goodness rocket scientist! He works for Lockheed-Martin/Boeing’s newly created Launch Alliance Company. Child number three, Gretchen, lives in San Diego where she and her husband, John, work and worship with the San Diego church. They have three children, Jason & Tyler (twins) and Emma, the little sister. These three also make grandpa and grandma look good! John is a CPA and works as a director of finance for a small pharmaceutical company. Our youngest, Matt, along with his wife Julie and their two delightful little boys, Cole and Sutton, recently moved to Maui, Hawaii (I try to keep in shape so I have the strength and energy to wrestle these two little guys, age 4 and 6). They are an active part of the church there and are loving living in that island paradise. Matt is a data base administrator for a software company in Kihei, Maui.
After a Twenty-seven year career in public education (twenty of those as an elementary school principal), and twenty additional years as a full-time elder in the San Diego, Chicago, Denver and Seattle churches, I can confidently affirm the truth of Psalms 103:17, “But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children”. What a privilege and blessing to have been part of the leadership of such strong, faithful churches in the four cities we’ve lived in. We have received much more than we have given, for sure. With the help of countless disciples and the wonderful grace of God, all four of our children are faithful disciples. They each met their future spouses at church and are now raising their children to know and love God. God has been so compassionate toward us. All he asks of us is to love and fear him. Not much to ask for the returns we receive!