an extraordinary childhood...

I got to spend the weekend in San Diego visiting with my parents and also had a coffee date with my forever friends Anna and Jenny and it made me contemplative and so grateful for my childhood and the gift it has been to grow up in one circle of family friends my entire life. I realize that it is rare to have parents who are still married. It is even more rare to have friends with parents who are still married. AND to take it even one step further, My parents are still friends with the same people they were friends with when I was born. Add it all together and you get a super grateful me and one more post in the countdown to 30.

I had the most ridiculously extraordinary childhood. I really cannot even encapsulate it, but I am truly grateful and forever blessed to have been raised not just by parents that loved me - but by a group of adults that loved me and chose to pour their lives into laying a foundation for my future. Perhaps the best phrase to explain this unique up-bringing was “co-op parenting” and yes, I just made that up for this post. I was spanked by my parents (repeatedly - I believe I sometimes even went to bed with the spoon resting on my nightstand as a reminder of what COULD be) but also by Lori Powell (at least once). My parents made the sacrificial decision to allow my mom to stay home with us kids. She taught piano out of the living room, but every afternoon when we got home from school (we got to walk, which I abhorred then, but I think is actually pretty idyllic) she was there waiting for us with a snack on the counter. My parents were present and invested and we were undoubtedly their top priority. We ate at the dinner table as a family each night. We played games (my sister was a HORRIBLE loser) and spent a lot of time with family friends - I can remember many a Friday night where we were at the Powell’s or the Erpelding’s or they were coming over. We had dinner together and then we kids all played while the adults busted out the cards for a hearty round of canasta!

My mom was also very blessed with incredible friends and she was able to band together with several other moms who had kids around the same age as me and my older brother Kevin to make summers in specific educational but full of adventure and discovery and lots of laughter with friends. Envision what I will refer to as “Adventure Week”. It was a week where the moms paired up and each pair was responsible for a one-day outing with all the kids (I think the moms probably loved it because they got 4 days off!!). I am pretty sure Lori (Anna’s mom) and my mom took us to a print press and then we went ice-blocking (FOREVER a favorite childhood activity), we went to old town and made candles, went through “haunted houses” and branded leather, we made our own kites and went to fly them at the beach. For years and years during the summer each Thursday we got up really early and met together at the Powell’s for Precept Bible Studies for kids and then headed to Mission Beach for a full day of fun complete with a packed lunch and boogy boarding until our stomachs could take no more. Imagine learning to make lanyards and plaster of paris decorations for our rooms, decorating sugar cookies, and collecting rocks while walking on the beach in Carlsbad and then painting them with all kids of messages of faith, hope, and love. These moms worked together and created Vacation Bible Schools where stories came to life so significantly. I still remember the year we learned about Moses and stepping into the kiddie pool to “make bricks” and how cold and wet and sticky it was on my feet and how exhausting it would have been to have to continue stepping in that murk over and over and over again day after day. We were AWANA kids and memorized substantial quantities of Scripture. We sang in a children’s choir getting to put on super fun Psalty the Singing Songbook programs all throughout the years. At Christmas we got to be part of Christmas on the Prado in Balboa Park and later we performed in the Singing Christmas Story Tree in Seaport Village. As we got older, Lori led our Youth Choir - S.A.L.T. (Singing About Love and Truth) and took us to sing at various places and serve in new ways, opening our eyes and hearts to what the Lord could call us to be part of. Since we were no longer kids, together they created Youth Group, trips to 6 Flags Magic Mountain, Winter Camps and Youth Camps and even World Changers and truly devoted themselves to ensuring we had what we needed every step of the way.

Yesterday I went to Gateway Church - the church my parents were part of starting when I was only 8 years old - the church that most of my memories are contained within - the church so many of these people still attend. I walked in and was flooded - it still feels like home. Lori was playing the piano and Jenny was singing, Anna was sitting where she always sits alongside her family and Pastor Sam (who gave the very best Kid’s Sermons when I was little) shared a wonderfully meaningful message on forgiveness. It all made me a little teary. SO, to Lori and Rick and Gary and Connie and Daniel and Jenna and Paul and Cheryl and Rick and June and Gayla and Paula and Sam and Nancy and Dennis and Kelly and Tedd and Jolie and so many others who contributed to my life from when I was a tiny tike until now - THANK YOU! My childhood was anything but ordinary and the way you all banded together to create a meaningful and strong foundation for who I have become is truly extraordinary. I can only hope and pray to someday provide my children with an experience that is profoundly rich and deeply marked by your wisdom and influence!