Well, not exactly today, but sometime around this time anyway.  20 years ago, I graduated from high school.  Frankly, it doesn’t seem like 20 years has passed since I was in high school, but the numbers truly don’t lie.  Actually, being that it took me almost 18 to get to that point, the first 18 seemed much longer than the last 20.  I guess it is true that time speeds up the older you get.  Heck, can you believe we’re almost halfway finished with 2014?

1994: Ready to graduate and face the world! I switched to contact lenses but kept the same hair.

I recently read an article on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band which got me thinking of the last 20 years of my life.  I won’t bore you with it since it’s really about four-track recording (if you want to read it you can find it here) but it did get me thinking about the last 20 years of my own life.  So where have I been for the last two decades?  Oddly enough, the last two decades can be split almost evenly between my college years (1994-2004) and being a pastor (2003-2013).

Both decades were extremely fun as I did decide to stretch out my college years to ten.  But of the two, the latter was the more rewarding.  It was during the second that I left the country for the first time, visited the east coast, got married, had some babies and got to experience all the joys that being a husband and a father could bring.  Looking back, even though we did suffer some devastating heartbreak, I can still say that God is faithful and that he is good.

As I embark in my third post-high school decade I wonder what the future will hold.  What path will my family take?  What schools will my girls attend?  Will there be other additions to our family?  Where will my new (or even undiscovered) career go?  All these questions and thus far, no answers.  But you know what?  In spite of all of this, I am reminded that God knows.  He had it all planned from before I was born.

Haggai 2:9 says, “The future glory of this Temple will be greater than its past glory, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. And in this place I will bring peace. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!”  I love this verse!  Looking back I would say that I had a wonderful past 20 years but that doesn’t mean that the next 20 shouldn’t be better.  Even though I would that the last 20 were pretty glorious, the next 20 should be even more glorious!  It will be better!  If God has been this faithful to me and my family, how much more does he want to bless us and give a full life?

2003: Osaka, this is actually my second trip to Japan. I couldn’t find any pictures from my first trip the year before.

2004: Disneyland, I miss the turkey legs, shades and mullet.

2005: San Diego, Keao and I attend our first off-island wedding.

2007: I got married!

2008: New York, my first trip to the Big Apple. We saw the Mets and the Yankees among other things.

2010: One of the most joyous and sorrowful moments of my life.

2012: We met Sunny for the first time!

Check back with me in 20 years when I’m getting ready for my 40th class reunion and I am confident that I will have an even greater report to give you because my latter will be better than my former!