Michael and his wife Wendy moved to Orange County, California, in 1998 to work with the Fairview church of Christ, and he continues there to this day. His overall philosophy is that, barring a disaster, you should find a church to work with and stay there until you die. Orange County can be pretty tough on preachers, and only eight years has him as one of the longest ministries in the county. Amazing, but true.
Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know (and then some)....
Prior to moving to Orange County, Michael worked with the Lawrenceville Church of Christ in an intern/training position, and continued to work with the church as well as working as an attorney for several years in Metro Atlanta. Don’t worry, he repented of being a lawyer a long time ago. No, seriously—he still does legal work, although almost entirely for Christians, pro bono needs, and the “big stuff” of Federal Litigation. It’s an amusing diversity from the “same ‘ole, same ‘ole”.
Perhaps the greatest novelty of Mike’s adult life is that he owns a significant interest in the CiCi’s Pizza Restaurant in Snellville, Georgia. There, you can get all you can eat Pizza, pasta, breadsticks, FREE SPECIAL REQUESTS, dessert, and more for a whopping $3.99. As you can imagine, it really burns him up to plunk down $12 for a medium pizza in Orange County. Let me tell you—it doesn’t cost anywhere near $12 to make a pizza. He usually cooks his own at home.
Are You Looking for Me?
Now, the reason Mike has put so much detail here is in hopes that friends and associates from the past might find him through Google or Yahoo or something similar. If you were looking for him, and found him, drop him a line and let him know.
TOP PEOPLE HE’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM:
Email Michael here:
Corryn Shafer: Former CiCi’s restaurant manager. Went to Japan to teach English. Don’t know what happened after that.
Leon Van Gelderen: Former legal partner. A few years after Michael left the law firm, it fragmented into a few smaller firms. Don’t know what happened to Leon, but would like to know.
Margaret Lang: Former co-worker with Hartman Associates (a real estate firm). I worked with her while going to law school. Brilliant woman, one of the smartest people I ever met. Knew something about almost everything
On second though, perhaps the greatest novelty is that Mike is a reserve military officer with the National Guard, where he works as Judge Advocate (JAG), aka military lawyer. It provides a great diversion from the “same ‘ol, same ‘ol” and is a great recreation outlet. It’s patriotism, and excitement, all together in one package.
Michael’s educational career is as follows: government education in Britt Elementary, Snellville Middle School, and South Gwinnett High School. College at Mercer University, Atlanta, for the undergraduate stuff. Georgia State University for the graduate and post-graduate degrees. There are a few other schools in there that he can’t mention (that, “I’d tell you, but I’d have to kill you” thing), but that’s pretty much it. He has a string of degrees after his name, but couldn’t care less. He still loses at Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit (even with a doctorate degree). He’s a genuine, bona fide, born-again, child of God—and that’s all that really matters anyway.
Music. What to say here…… He usta be a long haired hippy type who played guitar in a rock band, but those days are long since gone. King’s Militia. That was the name of the band. Christian hard rock and heavy metal. Funny to think about it now.
His hometown, Snellville, no longer exists. It has been replaced by a sprawling suburban mess with a City Hall that rivals any in America. It still bears the name “Snellville”, but it ain’t the town where he grew up. That place is gone forever. I guess you really can’t ever go home. Sad.
