What a decade

Much will be written the next few days trying to summarize this decade. It began with “those who name such things” trying to decide what to call the decade that began with a double zero. Some suggested it would be the “double oughts.” Of course, we should have realized it would be a difficult decade because it came with the terrible threat of Y2K. I remember driving by a United Grocery Store on New Year’s Eve, 1999, and seeing the store crammed with people stocking up for the end of the world. What a crock!

This decade may well be called the “ought ohs.” It began with the threat of the computer virus (afore mentioned Y2K) and ends with another scary set of letters and numbers: H1N1. One year into the decade we had 9-1-1, which brought our nation to a stop for a while and wrecked our economy. With one year left in the decade, we had another financial meltdown with the collapse of our banking and auto industries, just to name a few. Many of us, myself included, lost enough money in the two nose-dives of the stock market to purchase one of Tiger Wood’s estates predicted to be on the market soon. (O.K., I didn’t really loose that much money, but the crashes have sure threatened my retirement. I still can retire following my next 6 birthdays IF I only have birthdays every 7 years.)

When the decade began all three of our children were married and we had one grandchild. Today, all three of our children are still married to their same spouses (quite an accomplishment in today’s world) and we have 9 grandchildren. Along the way we buried one grandchild—Riley May Gerlt, born June 30, 2002, and died July 1, 2002. We began the decade with all four of our parents—in 2006 we buried Judy’s dad (February) and a little later, my mom (June). Pop’s lungs were wearing thin plus the few other—actually several other—ailments finally silenced the man. With Mom it was the “C” bomb. We learned November 8, 2005, that mom had brain cancer. She lasted another six-and-a-half months. The surviving spouses have adapted very well and we are so proud of them.

When the decade began I was starting my 7th year as the senior pastor of a large church just finishing the first phase of a total relocation project. Three years later following a couple of property debacles and staff fiascos, I did the unthinkable. I resigned. If you had told me two decades earlier that I would one day walk away from ministry, I would have questioned your judgment. But there came a time when I was just plain tired of being used as a punching bag. (That’s one of the problems of having the buck stop at your desk. Not all our problems were my fault. In fact, many of our problems were the result of committees making decisions contrary to my leadership. But when you’re the leader, you take the blame.) Call it cowardice or weakness if you will—I called it survival. The next two years found me as a business consultant and medical equipment salesman. I became more familiar with airline schedules, air ports, rental cars and time-delayed travel than I was with my wife. Fortunately, a loving body of people bound together by a common bond and a unique name (Bacon Heights) loved me back into ministry.

This decade is ending with another “C” bomb entering our lives. Judy was diagnosed with breast cancer August 21, the day before our 39th wedding anniversary. Now, four months later, she’s had two surgeries, 20 radiation sessions, and will begin five years of hormone therapy. We have every reason to believe this “bomb” has been defused and will not return. We’re learning to hold our moments together as precious.

In two weeks we begin a new decade. Just as no one could have predicted all that happened in the ought-ohs, no one can predict what will happen in the teens. But this much I do know. The same God who brought us through the troubled and troubling ought-ohs will also see us through the teens (and twenties and thirties…). The past is—well, past. Historians will have plenty to write and heaven help the future students who will have to study and absorb all the things that happened in the ought-ohs. What I’m excited about is the future. I believe our best days are ahead of us.

Tomorrow Judy and I leave for East Asia. We’ll be spending Christmas and New Year’s Day abroad. We’re excited about having time with our kids and grandkids. We’re less than excited about the 35 hour travel time and resultant jet lag. We’re excited about eating dim sung and noodles; not excited about chicken feet and fish heads.

Check back frequently. I plan to ramble a lot over the next two weeks. If nothing else, this blog spot can serve as a case study for psychology students looking for clinical trials. Talk to you soon.