Introductions

I thought I would take a few posts to indroduce the players on my stage. I'll start with myself.

I was born in Germany where my Dad was serving in the U.S. Air Force. We returned to the States when I was almost three. My Dad was stationed in San Angelo, TX for the next 16 years. Because of his long-term assignment, I didn't grow up like most military kids. I lived in the same town and went to the same schools for most of my life. My parents had two boys and two girls after me.

My parents took me to an Independent Baptist church where I was saved when I was five. When I was almost 9, my mother suffered the first of a series of mental breakdowns. My parents dropped out of church but my little brothers and sisters and I rode the bus.

My parents had no standards for us at all, but I had many for myself. I wanted to please God with my life. I didn't date through high school and I paid my own tuition to Christian school my Junior and Senior year.

After I graduated, I moved to the Dallas area when I was 19 to work for Accelerated Christian Education. At the church I attended I met a young man who had just surrendered to the ministry the week before I met him. We were friends for eight months and then he asked me out. We dated 19 times in 19 days and he proposed. (I do not suggest this time frame for my children.) We were engaged for nine months and married on June 5, 1981.

We wanted six children—five boys and one girl. God had other plans. I have endometriosis and have suffered 10 miscarriages. We adopted a new-born girl in 1985. Wendy was 17-hours old the first time I held her. When I introduce her, I will share some of the miracles surrounding her adoption.

When it became apparent that we would not bear biological children we looked for more children to adopt. In 1996, Jessica, Jesse, and Marcy became part of our family. They were a sibling adoption and were 10, 11, and 12 when we took them. In 2000, Amanda and Peggy became part of our family. They were 13 and 9 at the time.

I homeschooled Wendy all the way through graduation. The other children I homeschooled or sent to Christian school at various times. Currently, all but Peggy have graduated and I am homeschooling her.

Wendy was married in 2003 and gave us the gift of a beautiful grandson, Elisha.

I don't know if this tells all about me, but it's a start.