The local paper, The Hanford Sentinel, did a spotlight on my wonderful husband today. Apparently it is a regular feature entitled "It's a Living". When I first saw it I thought of the movie Rocky. Rocky says "It's a living...and then Mic says "it's a waste of life". So I think the title of this feature has negative feelings associated with it. I am sure they don't mean it that way. We left our "real" job 25ish years ago to go into full time ministry. After we gave our lives to Jesus, Gene told me he felt he was being called to be a pastor. I told him we should simplify our life so we would be ready when the call came. We moved from a big home to a very small home. (along with the size of the home, the rent went way down) So a few months later Gene was asked to go on staff at Calvary Chapel of San Bernardino. We were so blessed to be able to serve the Lord. But it wasn't easy. Our salary alone went down from around $3,500 a month (this was 25 years ago) to $1,200 a month. Needless to say, it was a smart move out of the bigger home. A few years after he went on staff in San Bernardino, he was asked to come to Hanford. We have been truly blessed. There is no way it is a waste of life! We have been privileged to witness many things. Some were not so nice, but most are very wonderful. We have seen children born and friends die. We have watched our children grow up, marry and even a granddaughter. Gene chooses to volunteer at the Lemoore Police as a Chaplain. He does this to help the officers and the community in any way he can. I'm proud to have such a great husband! On top of all he does, he fixes pools! (well..not pools, just our pool) What an amazing full life, everyone's should be such a waste!
I am still shredding those boxes. I do about 1 a week and this is my third box. I am up to 1997, or at least this is the box I am doing now. (not sure if they are in order) I have made countless trips to the bigger trash can with the shreddings. I find myself getting a little depressed. I feel as if I am destroying any evidence of my life. Every now and then I find something I can't part with, like a check from 1976 that was for our wedding cake. Check #232 to Sealy's Bakery for...is this possible?....$63.00. Wow. I am not sure how much my daughter's cake was (maybe I will find a receipt), but I know it wasn't that low. I'm smiling because the checks have surfers on them. It was how I lived my life in the 70's...at 