Surfing the Inner N8

Last month I was on the roof of a ministry building in Santo Domingo, in the Dominican Republic. It was the end of a long, hot day full of ministry, and I stood up there quietly enjoying a view of the city with the mountains in the distance. Then a handful of my students came over to me, laughing, and said with a smirk, “So Mr. Hyde–you’re the 32-year-old pastor of CrossWay Church?” It caught me off guard, because that was an ancient era. I’m now a 50-year-old Bible teacher at Salisbury Christian School. Yeah, they had discovered this blog.

One of my students, Gabby, challenged me to revive the blog and begin with a comeback post. So here it is.

When I first started this blog, my daughter didn’t exist yet. The last time I posted, she was wrapping up fifth grade online due to a pandemic. Since then she’s completed five years at SCS, gotten her learner’s permit, and started wearing makeup and buying clothes. Laura Marie–who is Laura at school and Lolly at home–has been in five musicals at SCS, sings in the worship bands at church and at school, is about to start taking dual enrollment college classes as a high school junior, is in her second summer working at Chick-fil-A, and has grown into a prayer warrior.

Carolyn still teaches at the Training Station Preschool in West Ocean City, where she recently finished her 16th year. She’s still running a camp there during the summer. During this past year we discovered what it’s like to have a second kid, as we hosted Martina from Spain and sent back a big chunk of our hearts with her when she returned last week.

I’ve now crossed the half-century mark, along with my peers Island Creamery, the movie Jaws, the famous ’75 World Series with the Fisk homer in extra innings, and Saturday Night Live. My family has been part of High Tide Church in Dagsboro, Delaware, for about eight years and I’m about to enter my 10th year at SCS.

So there’s the comeback post. You happy now, Gabby?