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I grew up in the Bay Area and have never been far from it, except for the great deal of time my family spends in the Lake Tahoe region. One of the many changes I have seen in this area is that the once plentiful orchards are now almost completely gone, and the yellow grassy fields which I played in as a child are not on every street.
How many of you can remember a vacant lot? Vacant lots were our place of play as kids. During the summer one of our neighbors (the only one with a pool)would hoist a red flag up on their flag pole which was our sign that the pool was open to all the local children, and we would come running. This was Menlo Park!
More recently, I have been teaching the Bible and discipling women as Women's Pastor at PBC. It now takes 45 minutes to get to Palo Alto from our home in San Carlos which used to take 15 minutes -more changes I have seen in the Bay Area, but my husband and I wouldn't go anywhere else. We both became Christians through the ministry of this church, and have raised both of our sons in this church family, so we have history here. We have been at PBC for 25 years now and it has been a place of deep friendships for us, and a lot of spiritual growth.
I took the intern training at PBC many years ago as a way to study with the pastors and learn how to teach the scriptures. It was during this period that I felt the call to full time ministry and some years later the door opened to become the women's pastor. I love what I do. Watching women go deeper with God and serve Him with the gifts He has given them is the joy of my life.
Other joys I have are my two sons, Blane and Jake and my daughter-in-law Sara. We get to hang out with them pretty regularly in our Tahoe cabin. There we hike, ski, eat, watch movies and talk. We catch up in these cabin times together. I also have a new horse to ride named Honey which is the newest addition to our family. My husband is all about fun and so when he got back into riding horses I knew I better relearn how to ride, or be left a horse widow. I am not a very good rider anymore but she is a good horse so I have high hopes for us. I also love to read and watch really good movies. They are a passion for the whole family actually.