Where were you and what was going on in your life 20 years ago??

January 1989.

I was 33 years old, had 4 children aged 10, 7, 4, and 1.

My wife and I were teaching at Triana Village Christian School in Huntsville, Alabama. We thought we would be there forever, but only had that year and two more school years to go. My wife would soon be pregnant with our 5th child.

How things change. Twenty years on we have been in Ireland 14 years. Our children are 30, 27, 24, 21, 19, and 13. Our grandchildren are 5, 2, and 7 months.

Wow - it seems like yesterday .

 

It's amazing how much older you are than me, compared to 20 years ago.



I was preparing a group to go to Switzerland and West Germany. We were nervous, because we had heard stirrings in some Eastern Bloc countries.

Little did we know we would be a part of one of the largest parties ever in November...as a certain wall came down.

 

I wasn't a believer then. I was in high school, working at a restaurant, and as far as what was going on in my life? I don't think it should be repeated, either in words and ESPECIALLY not by my children.
Oh good grief. Only two more years until my oldest is as old as I was then.

I think I'm gonna go pray...

 

20 Years ago, it was 1989. That means I was 11 years old. I lived in Hollywood, FL at that time. I was in the 5th grade. I was heavily into video games & just started becoming a professional wrestling addict.

This girl also caught my eye. Her name was Danielle. When she spoke she had a cute sounding Spanish accent (I'm assuming her family was either from Cuba or Puerto Rico). She was the first girl I ever bought a Valentine gift for. I came to class early, before everyone did, took a Valentine card & some chocolates, & placed them in her desk. When she got there, she noticed it with this surprised look on her face. She wasn't expecting it. Unfortunately, she never officially became my girlfriend. We did become friends & hung out together more in class. When we moved onto middle school, I only had one class in common with her & we never really spoke to each other much after that & then I moved to Mobile, AL.

Some of the other kids made fun of me a little bit because I wasn't afraid to admit I had a crush on her. That didn't bother me at all.

That's when I first started taking an intrest in girls. I got over my fear of "girl cooties".

In all honesty, at first she was bullying me a little bit. I asked my dad about what to do. He told me not to hit her (which would be totally wrong), but he said to trip her & then help her up. Then he told me to say, "If you want to we can be friends, but if you don't just leave me alone." Then my dad said "You never know she might even become your girlfriend."

I didn't trip her up, but I got to thinking about it. At first I wasn't crazy about the idea of having her as a girlfriend, but the more I thought about it, the more of a crush I began to develop. I began using reverse psychology with her. Anytime she would hassle me, I'd start flirting with her. I would usually pucker my lips & blow kisses at her. :laugh: I got that idea from watching a professional wrestler "Ravishing" Rick Rude. He usually would do that to get inside of his opponent's head. Needless to say it got her attention. She didn't know how to respond to that. Then of course, I explained what I did on Valentine's Day.

It just amazes me how I actually fell in love with a girl that started bullying me. It makes me wish that more girls would have tried bullying me when I was in school.

 

20 years ago I was 30. We lived in Atlanta. The boys were 5 & 7 and I was writing for Lifeway which I'm sure was still the Baptist Sunday School Board then. Active at church, active at the boy's school. We entertained tons for Ron's business.

 

Twenty years ago,

twenty years ago, I... well what was I doin' twenty years ago. That's a long time dontcha know??

Lets see, T and I would have been married about a year. That means his mama still didn't like me all that much. :laugh: I'm sure I returned the favor! I was working for a very nice daycare and had been there for nearly a year. And we had no kids! Wow. No kids. I wasn't sure I could remember life with no kids, but I do!

It also seems like I bought my first really nice sewing machine around this time. It was the first one Singer put out that was capable of doing just a little machine embroidery. Poor T had no idea how addicted I would become to fancy sewing machines! :laugh: I'm on my third, because they keep coming out with newer fancier versions!

 

I remember 19. I knew it all too.
I wish I had written some of it down because I can't seem to remember much of it any more.

 

20 years ago I had a mullet, and was in 11th grade. Would rather forget the mullet part...

 

:laugh: i was 13 at this point 20 yrs ago.....not a christian...i was the bad influence & i was good at it.

 

20 years ago I was on the East Coast in a rock & roll touring band on the verge of a record deal. I was using a lot of drugs to get thru each performance, and was starting to think of other, saner ways to make a living. Six months later, I played my last gig with that band, and moved to the country.

 

20 years ago, I was just out of Bible college. Took a job as a principal in a small Christian school in Thomasville, NC. The church that sponsored the school had discovered that the pastor was having an affair. 6 months later, the principal who preceded me, and who had begun pastoring the church, was discovered to be having an affair with the former pastor's grown, married, daughter. So the church was running about 30 people (in an auditorium that seated 2000) and both the school and church were on the rocks. Did anyone tell me about all of this before I took the job? Nope. Did I ask? Nope. I learned alot and made some rookie mistakes. The church finally got a new pastor who was a godly man. He took a look at all the finances and announced that the school would close at the end of the year. So, I moved on. What a year that was!

 

I was 20 and while I wouldn't say I was dumb as a brick (though others would), I was incredibly naive. I worked at a bank running a proof machine, played piano regularly at church and was in my 3rd year of what turned out to be 5 years in college. I was sortof dating a girl from church who turned out to be... well, I guess psycho is a bit harsh, but not that far from the truth. She dumped me at the end of January, but I had the last laugh when she tried to get back together with me 4 years later.

 

OK - the psycho made me laugh out loud and reminded me of my own psycho (30 years ago though). I had just met Ron and was trying to let the other dozen guys down gently. One did not want to be let down however. He called day and night. I was nice and then he'd start screaming (and I mean screaming) in the phone. Followed me everywhere. Scared me to death. Definite psycho.

 

There are some wonderful stories here. Isn't it amazing how good God is.

 

Twenty years ago tomorrow my bride & I were celebrating our very first anniversary. Wow -- a lot has happened since then & we have much to be thankful for.

 

20 years ago, I was 25 and just starting a new job that I fell in love with.

 

What an experience!

 

In 1989 I was 37 years old and had been married for three years [I married a woman with two teenagers-I missed the 2am feedings but was there for the dating and driver's ed - LOL!] I'd been working for a funeral home for 19 years and we were members of a vibrant, growing church.