Lucky Man

Today my bride celebrates another birthday - I am not going to tell you the number of years she is celebrating; all I will say is that I am blessed to have such a lovely woman for my wife, and judging by the picture to the left you can see that I am a lucky man. I believe Kathy is the perfect minister's wife. She has been my chief supporter, sounding board and partner for almost 31 years.

She has and continues to be a great ambassador for the churches we have served. In fact I would say there have been times churches would not mind me leaving if Kathy would stay. Kathy's influence has been felt in a number of areas in the churches we have served. She has served as a teacher, a member of the praise team, soloist, artist, cook, hostess, greeter, mentor, sermon evaluator (both the good ones and the not so good ones) and friend. These are just to name a few of the roles she has fulfilled. However her greatest accomplishment has been to be a wonderful mother to our three kids. I have to admit ministry is tough and there have been times when I have been away for an extended time or I have been preoccupied with issues at the church and Kathy has been the rock for our family. I am extremely proud of my 3 children. Each of them have a servant's heart and a desire to be Christ like, this is the direct influence of Kathy.

3 years ago I almost lost Kathy to a massive stroke. To this day that night still haunts me. However it also reminds me how blessed I am to have Kathy by my side. So tonight we celebrated with dinner and movie; and yes because of some pressing ministry needs we were a little late to dinner and rushed to make it to the movie, but Kathy did not complain she simply took it in stride, which reminds me even more why I love her - Happy Birthday Babe! Retirement is just 17 years away and then we will celebrate EVERYDAY!