20 years

Twenty years is a long time. Lots of things have happened in twenty years. 1992 was the year, Andre Agassi won Wimbledon, the Washington Redskins won the super bowl, Bill Clinton became the president, A Few Good Men came out in the theaters, Windows 3.1 was developed and  Pearl Jam and Nirvana were on the top of the pop charts.

Other events happened that year, like Bob Cowman beginning to serve as a pastor in Norwalk, Ohio. Yip, Calvary Baptist Church called me to be the pastor of Care and Outreach on September 9th,1992.   God has blessed in so many ways through the years. Two highlights have been serving Calvary Baptist Church in Norwalk, Ohio and Columbus Road Baptist Church in Quincy, Illinois.

I bought this Penn St. circle design GAME hat twenty years ago also. It is hard to fine articles of clothing that you have owned for 5 years let alone 20 years. It has seen a lot of hot days and many adventures. This hat, an article of clothing, is representative of life and relationships in many ways. For many of us, it is difficult to name a friend that you have had for twenty years let alone five. Friendships take time and attention, without those two ingredients, a friendship fades and sometimes even dies.

I have met so many people along the way. Many of those people are still intimately involved in my life and at least most remain connected at some level. There have been many mountain tops and valleys along the way with each group of people. Loss and gain, victory and defeat, laughter and sorrow, have characterized the journey. Looking back has proven that God has been at work in the lives of people and that is the highlight of this journey. I am so blessed to have been a small part in that.

Those that I have served along side have been gracious to me and my family. I will always cherish the time we have spent together. It is crazy to think that I have only worked with 6 other men in the entire twenty years; four in Ohio (Jim, Joe, Dan, and Romyne) and two in Illinois (Jeff and Mike).

I look forward to the next 20 years. It will be exciting to see what God does in the lives of all the people we have been able to touch. Ah, and one last thing, manage your hats well.

Christmas at Columbus Road