An identity crisis
Jill and I have been married 33 years. We have a son that’s 30 and a daughter that’s 27. I’m going to get into that a little in a moment. Some people have been asking, “What do you mean, ‘identity in crisis’?” People are familiar with “identity crisis” but I’m focusing on the “in crisis.” It’s kind of a hard topic for me to do in 20 minutes, because I’ve been working on it for 50 years.
I don’t think I realized I had an identity crisis until I was at least 50 years old. Before we get into that, I’m going to give you the Reader’s Digest of my background because I think it will shed a little light on the identity crisis that I’ve got.
Background
I was born in a Christian home, oldest of four boys. My dad was in the US Air Force and flew B-52 bombers up until the end of Vietnam when he got out. We moved all over the place, seven times by the time I was in eighth grade. We ended up in Abilene, TX.
Both my parents were very loving parents. There were lots of hugs and kisses. Even though my dad was in the military, he had a very gentle soul. He was a very loving guy. Both of my parents were loving. He was an only child and he took care of his mom after his dad died at a young age. My mother was the middle of three children. She became a nurse and a stay-at-home mom after she married my dad and started having all these boys. My dad really wanted a girl, but after four boys, my mom said, “I don’t really need a girl all that bad. I think we’ll just stick with the boys”. My mom was kind of funny too. We had a house that was full of joy.
So, we were getting ready to move to Okinawa from Nashville, TN. We were going over there for three years, so we had the whole household to sell. My dad’s already gone to Okinawa, so Mom has to deal with all the packing with four boys under her feet that are from 5th grade down. I remember she put a sign in the front yard that said there’s a house for sale, a camper for sale, a horse for sale, and four boys free. So, that was my mom. She did say that some people asked about the boys, but they would have given them back.
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Identity in Christ
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