Kenneth E. Tatum

Born in Nashville, Tennessee as a member of the baby boom generation, my early years were on a farm shared with my maternal grandparents. They raised a large garden, kept a hen house, and raised pigs and cattle while my Father worked construction. I accepted Christ as my Lord and Savior at the age of 11, although I know now I did not fully understand what that really meant! But my Mother made sure my brothers and I were well-grounded in Scripture by reading a chapter of the Bible every night before bed, along with attending church and Bible study every Sunday. I had a lot of spiritual growing to do, but at least I was given a good start.

We were forced to move from the farm for the construction of a new lake and three years later built a new home with individual bedrooms for me and both of my brothers. Spiritual growth continued through my high school years, but probably more in knowledge than in true wisdom.

God called me into the scientific world for my secular occupation and I majored in Engineering Science and Mechanics for a Bachelor's Degree and Aerospace Engineering for a Master's Degree. Beginning my career at McDonnell Aircraft Company in St. Louis was great, but the best was finding my soul mate and love of my life when I met Diane Little at the second church I visited (December 11, 1977 after a "no accumulation" snowfall of 8 inches!). We were accused of being too young and moving too fast, but we got engaged the end of February 1978 and married July 22, 1978. More than 44 years later we may yet prove our accusers wrong on that point!

We settled into a young marrieds Bible study class at a neighboring church and thought things would be quiet for a while. But our class teacher left and I was semi-forced to take it over, Additionally, the Youth Group needed additional help and Diane was called to join in. More occasions for spiritual growth to happen.

Over the next several years our family grew with the additions of sons Dan and Brad. God is using them in special ways as well with Dan now a hospital chaplain and Brad performing on French horn and teaching music.

Several experiences too complex to describe in detail here resulted in our move to the Hampton Roads area of Virginia as I took a new position as aerospace engineer with a small contractor firm at NASA Langley Research Center. We found a new church home and settled into a routine life on the east coast. But God began opening new doors and Diane first, with me following later, got the opportunity to grow spiritually through study courses like Master Life, Prayer Life, and The Mind of Christ. Slowly but surely God was transforming us into useful children and servants. Additionally we were introduced to the study what I like to call Interfaith Witness; that is, the beliefs and practices of other faiths and how to interact with their adherents to share the Gospel with them. Interfaith specialists at the Southern Baptist Home (now North American) Mission Board were excellent teachers and some have become long-time friends. These studies helped us see how much we were lacking, but also how much more God had in store for us!

One more move in 1997 to the small town of Tullahoma, Tennessee brought me back closer to my parents where I could help care for them before their passing, and, though not super close, also allowed Diane to see her parents more as well before we lost both of them also. I worked as an aerospace engineer at Arnold Engineering Development Center (now Complex) for 25 years before retiring in March 2022. More importantly, we have continued our callings as teachers of adults and youth at our Tullahoma church home.

Diane is an excellent youth teacher, both in public schools and church, but also an accomplished writer with 15 Christian romance novels to her credit. For a number of years I have been writing down certain thoughts and observations that I have learned from many years of Bible study, but I have never really considered myself to be a writer. However, during the Covid pandemic of 2021 God led me to begin compiling some of those writings into a single volume, and with much help from Diane and others I have now published "Devotions With a Friend", a collection of 21 devotions. I am now waiting to see results from these labors and watching to see what more our God has in store for us.