I turned sixty yesterday. Looking forward and backwards at a milestone

I turned sixty yesterday, March 3, 2024.

I had a marvelous day. I woke up with my favorite person giving me a hug and jokingly saying, “You made it.” 

I was part of a lovely picture taken on our family’s deck. Then I was able to receive all sorts of love at Chain of Lakes Church. I knew they were going to do something, but they surprised me. They surprised me by sharing a video of birthday greetings that my sister, Pam shared. It’s worth watching. Go to my Facebook page to check it out. I could write eight hundred words just about her two minute video. Then they shared cards and gifts and ensured that I’ll be doing a lot of golfing this summer. The rest of the day was with Amy’s family in Wisconsin and then talking to my parents to close the day. 

The average life span for a white male in the United States is seventy-five or so.  I’m not sure how much control I ultimately have over my life span—but the way look at it I’d like to live in good health to ninety or make it past a hundred like my Grandma Maxine. 

I live with a Minnesota-developed sense of humility; however I can unabashedly say that I am blessed. My wife told me on Saturday that she wants to go on a date every Saturday; my daughter and her partner, Carter are terrific parents to my granddaughter, Elouise; the congregation I serve is growing fast, and I don’t see this stopping in the near future; even though I have a mechanical valve in my heart, my health is excellent. 

I’m in my prime right now. One of the best cards I received was from Amy’s parents. It basically said that at sixty a person has been around enough to understand how life works and young enough to still have health. This is how I feel. I have the opportunity to work every day at a job I love. Our church is currently experiencing significant growth and are on the verge of something even more special. I’ve been doing this for thirty-one years, so I have a sense of what needs to be done. I think we’re on the verge of something significant. And I have my health. Besides having a mechanical valve in my heart and weighing a bit too much, my health is terrific. 

I can’t wait to see what this decade brings. But before I look forward too much, let me share some significant stories from the last decade. If someone asked me what the significant stories were of being in your fifties in no order of importance I would say this. 

Going to Europe with Amy

I won’t forget getting on a Viking Longboat and traveling on the Rhine River for nine days. We took a long-boat trip from Basel to Amsterdam. I wrote about this on September 21, 2021. Some of the places we docked were Kehl, Rudesheim, Koblenz, Cologne, and Arnheim. I loved seeing the castles on the River. This was a trip of a lifetime and my favorite part of my 50’s. 

Having open heart surgery

I never would have imagined that in the fall of 2015 I would be lying on the grassy knoll adjacent to Quail Creek Parkway while running. Something was wrong with my heart. And I’ll never forget going to a Cardiologist. He started drawing circles and then told me that I had a bicuspid, aortic valve that had significantly narrowed, and if I didn’t have it replaced I would be dead in a year.

Didn’t see any of this coming. The rest was a blur. Having surgery, being in the hospital for about a week, recovering at home.           

I am incredibly fortunate. Because I know that if I was born fifty or so years earlier, I would be dead. This gives me quite a perspective on life. 

Thank God that I am a runner, thank God for terrific medical professionals, and thank God for the terrific support I received from my family and friends. 

Becoming a church, moving into our new church building, and going through a growth spurt

On November 12, 2017 Chain of Lakes became an established church. This was a big deal, and we celebrated. I wrote about this on my blog on November 21, 2017. We then broke ground on our building in August of 2021. I wrote about this on my blog on August 16, 2021. Our first worship service was the last Sunday of May in 2022.

Chain of Lakes has recently experienced a growth spurt. Our worship attendance is almost forty percent higher in 2024 than at the same time period in 2023.  Of the nine services in 2024 four times the worship attendance has been higher than the highest attended service in 2023. We took in nine new people last month and could easily take in another nine before summer. All of this is happening while we are staying very involved in the community.

Becoming a grandfather

I could have hardly imagined the joy that Elouise Ivy Joy Perteet has brought to our household. Pure, unadulterated joy. All of us are having so much fun seeing her go through her different stages. Not long until she will completely roll over, and then get on her knees, and then … watch out world. Seeing Hannah and Carter figure out being parents is also a joy. And it’s not a joy to realize how much childcare costs. Something needs to be done. I have no problem in going out on a limb and saying that low-cost childcare and pre-school is needed. If children can basically go to school without cost, why not provide something similar in their first five years. 

Living through the pandemic    

The pandemic was awful. What made it worse was our country was not able to come together around issues of testing and masks. I’m still dumbfounded by the polarization over COVID. Thank God for the vaccines! 

Those are four significant events of the last decade. I wonder what I’ll write about ten years from today.

It will be a blast to find out!