Personal Update

It is time to give a little update on my current position in life so I will give you a somewhat redundant update.

In July of '07 Dover Air Force Base, realizing that according to Air Force rules I had to retire in Nov of '07 (with no possibility of waiver), chose to offer me a civilian chaplain position. They asked my supervising chaplain and me to write the job description. So we designed a job description which described what I have been doing for the last 5 years at the Dover Mortuary.

The Dover leadership signed off on it and offered me the job which I accepted. I started on Sept 10th, 2007 though I was still a reserve chaplain until Nov 28th when I was honored with a real Air Force Retirement Ceremony.

On the strength of this new position the Chase Bank graciously offered us a loan against our FIRST home.

We purchased a four year old home just south of Dover, with a front yard (including 4 large green utility boxes) , a two car (if they were VW's) garage, a back yard (with birds and 70 foot evergreens) and a deck (without a grill - what do I know about grilling). We are enjoying our privacy (I can't tell you where the nearest church parking lot is located), comfort (30 foot bedroom and 15 foot bathroom with garden tub which phyllis filled with plants trees and ivy), new bills (we've not paid utility bills since seminary), and a mortgage which will be paid off when I am 92.

The chaplaincy job remains essentially the same with the addition of some intentional supervision of deployed personnel. In addition, I am filling in as the supply pastor of a little Nazarene church just north of Dover. I had forgotten how much I missed regular pulpit duty and my own congregation to love.

Phyllis is ecstatic with our new life and attends the Dover Nazarene church without any stress. She is mostly a house-wife (please don't judge) these days but that is due in the largest part to a constant fight with an arthritic back and an absent husband. She loves the birds, feeds the squirrels, furnished the 30 foot bedroom with 28 feet of IKEA wardrobes and is about to install two feline bedroom depreciation specialists. I took her to a cat show on her most recent birthday which pushed her over the edge.

OK. I admit it. I too was pushed over the edge by a most intelligent and conversational Blue Abyssinian. I can't wait to pretend that one of the purr machines is mine.