Where were you before you moved to North County?

David: I was in the military. I flew AWACS. I always enjoyed flying. Like just about any service, depending on what you do in the military dictates where you go. Most of the people that fly these things are in Oklahoma. We lived in Oklahoma, then Florida, and then Germany. Most the people want to go to Germany, and when we had the chance to go to Germany, I did not pass that up.

We lived in Germany for three years, and then I retired. I would have taken a job in Germany, but at the same time I was excited to come home. I grew up in Escondido and always wanted to come back to California. We are creeping up on two years now back in California.

Cherie: I love moving. You ask me anytime and I’ll be like, “Let’s go!”

What was in like living in Germany?

Cherie:We all loved Germany.I would load the kids into the stroller and go down the cobblestone street to the bakery. The kids would eat ice cream and I would have a latte. We were in the middle of the village; the church bells were ringing. It was like living in a fairytale.

David: We lived in an area that was so rich in military history which is something I really loved seeing.

Cherie: It was so easy to travel from Germany. We traveled so many places. We went for cruises to Italy, Greece, Turkey, UK, and Egypt (etc.).

How did you meet?

Cherie: I worked for the airlines, and their main system was in Tulsa, so I worked for software in Tulsa. David was in Oklahoma City at the time, and we met online. We went back and forth for six months and then we were married. Just like that.

David: We were 30 or something at the time, and I never thought I’d do online dating. She had never done it either, but one of her friends kind of dared her to do it. She put a profile on there, and that was about the time you could still view profiles without actually paying for a membership. I read her profile and saw her picture, and I was like, “Alright, I think I’m going to do this.”

How do the kids fit into your story of living in multiple locations?

Cherie: We call them our transfer babies. As soon as they were 6 weeks old, we moved. Nathan was born in Oklahoma, and six weeks later we went down to Texas to have him baptized and moved to Florida. Noah was born in Florida and six weeks later we went to Texas to have him baptized, and then we moved to Germany.

Cherie, where did you grow up?

Cherie:  I was born and raised in Texas. Ninth generation Texan, Lutheran, German, and my father was a pastor. When I was eleven, we moved to Liberia. The story is that when I was 3 years old I was on the second floor and fell through the banister. I landed on my head and was in a coma. My dad was in the ambulance with me and at the time they were not attending church but he made a deal with God, “Save her, and I’ll do whatever you want.”  I was fine, and they got involved in the Lutheran church. And when I was nine years old, there was a missionary that came to visit the church, and God started working in my dad’s heart. A few years later he quit his job, we sold everything, and we went to Africa. I remember my mom and dad gave me a box and told me I could stick whatever I wanted to keep in that box. That box came with me to Africa and when we flew back to the States we thought we’d be going to back to Africa, but we never did. My box of things stayed in Africa.

How did you find Community?

Cherie: We were church shopping.

David: I married into LCMS and so it was pretty easy to go to the website and find out where they were. We liked that the San Marcos campus was smaller and new and we could really have an impact there.

Cherie: And Nate liked the music.

WHAT IS THE COMMUNITY TREE PROJECT? 

Community Lutheran Church is a growing congregation worshiping 550 people between two campuses each week. As we continue grow, it is important that our relationships with one another continue to grow as well.  Over the coming months, our church website and Facebook page will be introducing you to a member of Community that you may or may not know yet. You’ll have the opportunity to learn a little about each member and delight in the different personalities and lifestyles that come together each week to worship our Savior.

When you join us for worship on Sunday mornings or events throughout the week, we encourage you to reach out and connect with someone you don’t normally talk to. As Pastor Vogelsang so eloquently reminds us, we are all “dear Christian friends.” We just don’t know each other yet! I’d like to change that one photo at a time.

"So that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." - 1 Corinthians 12:25-27