One Year

One year ago I was working part-time at the mall. (Sure it was for one of the greatest companies on the planet, but still...)

One year ago I was living by myself in an ancient apartment next to the railroad tracks.

One year ago I was completely debt free.

One year ago I was still kind of contemplating ditching everything here and heading back east.

One year ago I was not married.

One year ago Parkside's River Campus didn't exist.

One year ago I turned 30.

I never thought my 30's would be a time of new beginnings. It always seemed to me that the 30's were a time to reap some of the rewards of hard work in your 20's. It was a time to get serious and bear down. It was a time to stop having so much fun and really focus. It was a time to be an adult. Boy, I was wrong and I was right.

Year 30 saw me starting a job, starting a marriage, starting yet another project/house, starting a new car payment and starting a new church campus. I should be starting to feel a little overwhelmed by all the change and flux, but somehow I'm not.

If year 30 was the year for breaking ground, year 31 should be the year for building a firm foundation. Our house is about 106 years old. I've owned houses with slab foundations (229 N. 5th St), poured foundations (9522 Damascus Dr) and block foundations (2647 Ocosta Ave), but this is the first with a stone foundation and it is by far the oldest.

Each stone is unique, they all have their own characteristics, yet they are properly placed and fitted together. They are bonded with mortar that has kept them solid for a century. It is much more work to make a foundation from unique, individual stones. Blocks are all identical, they are designed to fit together perfectly, quickly and easily. Poured foundations and slabs are made in huge chunks by creating a form and then filling with concrete. None of these require the time and attention to detail that a stone foundation does. They are quick and easy.

What kind of foundation am I going to build in year 31?