Bio

Paul & Lori - January 28, 2005

A little bit about me -

Location, location, location : I was born in Wyoming. My parents moved a number of times my first four years – but I always found them. Ended up in the Republic of Texas, and spent the next 41 years there. (The Israelites only had to do 40 years in the desert, guess I was a tougher case!). November of 2006 we moved to a town outside of Salem Oregon. July of 2009 we moved even further north, then a year later bought a home north of Spokane, WA. God willing, we will be here for long time!

Marriage: I better be! Married on Sunday January 28th of 1985. Found out later there were bets on how long it would last. If it were not for God, it would not have. The biggest problem was that I was a former porn user, and she was a former sexual abuse victim. Initially things were great other than sex, but the problems in the bedroom didn’t stay there. After two years of marriage it was getting really ugly. We decided to do whatever it took to get it right. A lot of study, struggle, prayer, and healing later we have the most incredible marriage ever – in and out of the bedroom!

History with God: Both Lori and I were “raised in church”, with parents who were in leadership. As we got older, we did the same, leading youth groups (Paul), women’s ministry (Lori) and a singles group (both). We also served in music ministry, landscape care, and anything else anyone wanted done. But there was a growing dissatisfaction over the lack of community and fellowship we found in the churches we attended. We wanted more contact, and we wanted to study in depth with others. In 1999 we stumbled on “house church” – small groups meeting in homes to love, serve, share, and study together. In a few months we knew people in our home church network better than folks we have attended church with for many years. We have been house church ever since, although we have friends and connections with “traditional churches”. In the spring of 2010 we became involved with a church I would call a hybrid. Our church has a Sunday morning meeting and a paid staff, but we also have life groups that are far more than an echo of the Sunday service. We have fallen deeply in love with the Vine and it’s people. IN March of 2011 Lori and I were made coaches for the life groups – getting to apply what we learned in house church. We remain active in house church both locally and through our job.

Christian?: Yes, but it’s not a word I use to describe myself. The majority of the people in the USofA identify themselves as “Christian” and yet live as if they have never read the Bible. My goal is to follow the example of Jesus – see what God is doing, and do that. I am very serious about Jesus, and about what the Bible says.

Offspring: We have two children – a 33 year old daughter from Lori’s former marriage, and an twenty year old son. The daughter still lives in Texas with our first grand-baby (a girl), the son lives with us in Washington (the economy is tough here – he does some odd jobs, and more than earns his keep helping transform a house into the home we want it to be.) And yes, it’s awesome to have grown children!

Employment: We are self employed, contract labour minsters (ordained, but don’t tell anyone). We receive income from House2House and donations made to support what we do through The Marriage Bed, The Generous Husband, and The Generous Wife. In Texas we owned a small landscape and irrigation company for fifteen years. Other employment includes managing a Christian book store, Cabinet maker/woodworker, lifeguard, security guard, and various jobs with several newspapers ranging from carrier to mid-level management in distribution.

What I do for fun: Hang out with my bride! Anything I do with her is fun. I enjoy Science Fiction, travelling, cruising (three so far, the picture above is from our first) gardening (landscape and food), going to the beach, and finding the best bowl of clam chowder in the world (and it’s not going to be red!).

What I read: Science in general, human biology in particular, and anything about the brain or sexuality in specific. I also like books that look at how humans think and see things.

What I eat: I’m not picky, but I particularly like TexMex (which you can’t get outside of Texas, although we have found a close approximation in Spokane), Indian food (or any curry) and seafood. I’m big on chocolate – the dark stuff, not the adulterated version. I also do a good deal of cooking and baking (including TexMex as it’s the only way to get it here) and make a mean cheese cake.