So Sonja tagged me for a really fun meme. A six degrees of separation/where were you sort of thing. It looks fun, so I'll play.

The question is - What were you doing ten, twenty and thirty years ago? Or as it was described -

It’s an experiment to see how many degrees we can separate (kind of like Kevin Bacon, only it’s relevantblog). Even if you’re not tagged, don’t be crabby, just take up the baton and run with it. Here’s what I ask: Have folks post their 10-20-30s, and then link back to the Mother Ship (www.relevantblog.blogspot.com) or write a comment here, saying where you heard about this experiment and sharing where you blog. This isn’t to build my empire, it’s to find out how far we can expand the blogosphere. After all this talk about blog tours, it got me thinking. How many people can one blog potentially reach?

So here's my story...

Ten Years Ago (Oct. 1997) I had just begun my sophomore year at Wheaton College in Illinois. I had really not wanted to return to Wheaton that year, wanting instead to stay home and go to UT in Austin. But I went and had the craziest semester ever. I was taking something like 21 hours and literally had days when I started classes at 7AM and did not have a break until I was done at 10PM. It was nuts. But this was the semester when my entire worldview started to change. As I explained it to the guy (not Mike) I had a huge crush on at the time (who told me later he never asked me out because he thought I was a lesbian - long story), my Romantic/Platonic understanding of the world was falling apart and I didn't know how to piece it back together. He, who already understood the implications of postmodern continental philosophy, just told me that was a good thing. Let's just say I took a lot of comfort in reading the visceral modern poetry of T.S. Eliot at the time and spent hours embroidering my jeans with deeply meaningful lines from my favorite poems. Um, yeah.

Twenty Years Ago (Oct. 1987) I was in 4th grade at Martha Turner Reilly Elementary School in Dallas Texas. I had decided in third grade that I wanted to be a writer, so I spent much of my free time writing plays and stories - usually based on whatever I was learning in school at the time. I remember one story was a mystery about a group of kids who were kidnapped and had to use the Pythagorean Theorem to help them escape. Another play was about someone traveling back in time with a nuclear bomb and helping the South win the Civil War. Really good stuff there. I attended a very conservative large non-denominational church in Dallas (Northwest Bible church) and thought that people who didn't go to my church weren't Christians.

Thirty Years Ago (Oct. 1977) Well my mom was 7 months pregnant with me (yes I am turning 30 in a couple of months). So there's not a whole lot I can say about this period. We were in Dallas, I was the firstborn in the family, they considered naming me Barbie...

Now. Oct. 2007. I am a church planting pastor in the Chicago suburbs. I am very involved in the emerging church conversation and enjoy learning more everyday. I'm a mom to a 2 year old. Fun times.

So where were you? If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged. Just let me know if you play!

Labels: Fun Stuff, Personal