My Story

Growing Up

I grew up in a medium sized town in Southwest Washington State called Longview. Longview is a mill town. Life was really rough for me growing up. I had to be quiet while dad tried to sleep before having to work his graveyard shift at the mill. In middle school the television broke and my parents didn’t replace it for 9 months so I had to read books. I had to push mow our yard, it took 3 hours. My dad didn’t get a riding lawn mower until I went to college. My parents didn’t divorce. Yep, life was pretty rough. Actually, I didn’t suffer much at all. The only bad thing about my life was that my sister died when I was three. She died in the process of being born. My very first memory in life is sitting in my grandpa Terrell’s blue Chevy truck waving up at my dad as he waved from the hospital window where my mom was giving birth to Erica, my little sister. So, I grew up with grieving parents. As I have reflected on this, I can only recall about 5 conversations I had about her with my parents as I was growing up. She was someone we just did not talk about. So even though she was not alive her being has had a huge impact on my life. But besides that, life was great, and I have had wonderful parents.

My Parents

My dad worked at Longview Fibre Paper Company for over 40 years. He made paper bags the majority of the time until they closed the bag plant down and he then became an oiler. I think he hated everyday working at the mill. But he went and never complained. He did what he had to do to provide. He was a hard worker and even though he has been retired for who knows how long now there isn’t a place we go in Longview that somebody doesn’t stop him to say hello. He claims he just has a face nobody can forget. I also think it is because of his huge heart and gentle way about him. I remember growing up he used to say three things; proverbs if you will. He would say to me, “Use your brains and not your muscles. Your brain will never wear out and your muscles will;” “When it comes to money I challenge you to live at a certain income and when you get a raise give whatever is above what you are living on away. I bet you cannot do it;” and finally, “When it comes to work; Do what you love to do. It doesn’t matter how much you make as long as you have a roof over your head and the bills are paid.” Also, my dad had a great love for family. I remember one summer day when I was junior high age, my grandpa Terrell, my dad, and I were sitting under the cherry tree near my grandpas garage, my grandpa asked me to mow the yard for him. I asked, “How much?” Before my grandpa could answer my dad hit me in the arm and said, “You don’t ask family how much. You just do it.” So, I mowed my grandpa’s yard many times after that. I never once got paid and whenever my grandpa asked I did it. Well at least he had a riding lawn mower. So from my dad I have learned the love of family and perseverance even in the face of things you hate to do and those three proverbs, which I have a hard time living up to, at least the one about money anyway.

My Mom was an at home mom until I went to college. It was then that she went back to college to become a teacher. We were freshman at the same time. I must confess that she got much better grades than I did. She graduated with a teaching certificate. She was a great teacher. She loved those kids like no-bodies business. She used to say that it was her calling and she threw herself into it. There wasn’t a kid she didn’t love, and I suspect there isn’t a kid that didn’t love her right back. Mom also is the one who took me to church. It was there that I met some of the most faithful people. While I turned my back on God in high school it was that foundation that was the launching pad for my eventual return to God my freshman year of college. Mom died January 14, 2011, of cancer. She was 63 years young and remained faithful to the Lord all the way to the end. There was a phrase she would say, “No worries. This is God’s grace and mercy for my/our life.” She really believed that cancer was a gift and an expression of God’s love for her. From her I learned to love God, to follow my calling or the movements of God in my life, and that everything is an expression of God’s grace and mercy.

Conclusion

Yep growing up was pretty easy. I didn’t really have a care in the world. I had great parents. I played soccer, went to school, backpacked during the summer in high school with my dad and friends, and went to college at Whitworth College (now University) in Spokane, Washington. I originally went to Whitworth to play soccer. However, an injury on the second day of practice ended my season. It was at this point I was feeling quite lost and wondering what life is really all about now that soccer was gone. So, I started reading the bible. The book of Revelation to be exact.