Thankful!

This afternoon and evening, I went to the wedding of a co-worker with my beautiful bride.  Here’s a picture of us before we left.  I’m so thankful for today and for Leanne.

Kenya – One Of The Best Christmas Presents Ever!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I just wanted to share a story from my Christmas experience today.  I was blown away by one of the best Christmas presents that I have ever received.  As a family, we had decided to keep it pretty low-key this year as far as presents go, since we were saving up for our big trip to Kenya this summer.  Honestly, this wasn’t the easiest choice to make.  It’s hard not to want to give your kids and family as much as possible.  Despite the “tough” decision, our family – especially our kids – handled this Christmas remarkably well.

Today as we were opening presents with my wife’s family, it was fun to watch as my two nieces tore into their gifts.  It was also special to see the genuine appreciation from our kids as they opened their own gifts.  But my daughter took the cake for my Christmas experience today when she handed my wife a small box that she had purposefully prepared to give to the two of us.  When we opened the box, we discovered over $42 mostly in one-dollar bills that she had saved up from money she earned selling her homemade jewelry.  This act of pure generosity brought tears to my eyes.

Our upcoming trip to Kenya is going to be exciting and life changing, but what I’m experiencing already in preparation for this trip is already changing my life.  To know that my daughter is so willing to think of others first is a true gift.  Today, I learned so much from her – about putting others first – about correctly prioritizing things – and about what Christmas is really all about.  No other words can fully express the emotion that I experienced today.  I am one proud dad!

Merry Christmas!

Cub Scout Reflection

I have really been enjoying Cub Scouts lately.  First of all, it’s given me some great times with my son.  Together, we have camped, learned about fitness, learned about citizenship, learned about engineering, hiked, and had fun.  I’ve also really enjoyed the interaction with the other parents.  Last night at our den meeting, I was given a “brown” shirt.  In other words, I asked by some of the other leaders to help lead.  I’m excited about this opportunity.  I’m excited about more opportunities to get to know parents.  And I’m especially excited about the endless opportunities to spend more time with my son.

Disturbing the Peace – I Would Never Do That, Or Would I?

Last night, my family took a long 12 minute journey north to Green Lane Park to go camping for one night.  It was nice to get away, and it was great to have such a quick trip.  Overall, it was a pretty good trip.  We cooked, we relaxed, we fished, and we enjoyed time around the camp fire.

One of the not so great parts of the trip was late night noise from our neighbor campers.  First, there was a guy blaring the Phillies game so loud that I thought I might be sitting in Milwaukee County Stadium at the game.  Thankfully, he turned it down when he saw our family heading to bed.  Then around 11:30PM, I heard things heating up at another site.  By 12:15AM, these campers were pounding branches against trees and sawing logs and talking with a fairly high volume level.  Well, that was it, I’m not normally confrontational, but I needed some sleep.  So I got up and went across to ask them if they knew what time it was.  I think I was fairly calm, but I was pretty angry.  These young guys seemed to settle down; however, they continued to talk around their fire until after 4:00AM.  Needless to say, I didn’t get a whole lot of sleep.  This part of the trip certainly soured my experience at Green Lane.  Unlike all the PA State Park campgrounds that I have been to, there weren’t any rangers driving around at night to make sure people were quite during the posted “quiet hours.”

Well, I would never do something like those young guys.  Or would I?  As I was cutting the grass this afternoon, for some reason, I thought about a time that I was on a canoe/camping trip with my high school youth group.  As we were camping, I was up late with Brian Willem and James Harton.  We were carrying on late into the night (or maybe it was morning).  All the sudden, Dave Kennedy (one of our youth leaders) scared the C*** out of us when he snuck up and screamed that we better quiet down before he really got mad.

So…I guess those guys at Green Lane weren’t all that different from me.  This thought certainly brought a smile to my face as I finished cutting the grass.  I hope those guys had a good time.  I know I had a blast with Brian and James so many years ago. 

For now, I better get to bed.  I’m exhausted!

“I’m Hungry.” Hunger is relative.

Last night after a great weekend and wonderful evening with some friends, it was time to get the kids to bed before a four day week of school.  (I should note here that we topped off delicious meal with orange Crush and root beer floats.)  The kids were given specific instructions for getting ready for bed, and without delay one of our kids chimed in…”I’m hungry.”  Okay, so I realize that kids at this age must burn through calories at a rapid pace as they sprout up like weeds in my landscape, but come on.  We just had a big meal, and it was already time for bedtime.  To make matters worse, our child continued to whine and complain and whine and complain and whine and complain.  Does this sound familiar to any of you?

Leanne took the brunt of this episode as I was “Skyping” with my parents, but the pouting was still underway as I came up to say my good nights.

Leanne and I both shared with our child that we understand that feeling of hunger, but we also explained that many in the world experience a hunger far worse than that every night they lay down to sleep.  Where we’re going in Kenya, my guess is that many of the children who call the Mathare North slums home experience this feeling of hunger all the time.  This includes our sponsor child Jonathan.  After this discussion, we took time to pray for Jonathan and others in Kenya and around the world who are experiencing hunger.  We also were especially thankful for the blessings of food, shelter, safety, etc.  that so many in the world don’t get to experience.

It was interesting to see the change in heart.

…continually impacted by Kenya…

Reading Terminal Market

On Saturday, we decided to take a family field trip to the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia. We drove down to the Norristown Transportation Center following my Saturday saxophone lesson, and we picked up the R6 regional rail line into the city. The train ride was about thirty minutes long, and we got off the train in the Market Street East Station. The Reading Terminal Market is literally right across the street from the train station.

My Brother Erik

One of the great things about my vacation last week is that I got the chance to spend some time with my “little” brother Erik. Erik is 13 1/2 years younger than I am, so in many respects my relationship with him is interesting. This trip it really seemed like our relationship seemed to be transitioning more towards a brother type relationship as opposed to the more uncle-like relationship that it had for so many years growing up.

I’m extremely proud of my brother. He is an incredible musician and perhaps an even better song writer (you can check out his band’s website here). I’m proud that he has persevered through some of the struggles of his adolescence as he has entered into manhood. He truly seems to be wrestling now with what he wants to do with his life as he approaches the end of his college career.

I’m praying that Erik will first of all seek to deepen his relationship with Christ. I’m also praying that God would send a Christian woman into his life that is just right for him. Finally, I’m praying that Erik would find a career that he is passionate about and gives him opportunity to use his God given talents.

Until the next post…

Meeting Elizabeth

One of the coolest parts of our vacation was that we finally met our new niece, Elizabeth. As you may have read in several of my previous posts, my brother and sister-in-law have been preparing, praying, hoping, saving, etc. for 2 1/2 years as they have gone through the adoption process. Well, Elizabeth seems well worth the wait. She is such a beautiful little girl who seems to fit right in with my brother’s family. We were so happy to help welcome her into our extended family.

Legacy

Part of our vacation last week included a trip to Batavia, IL to visit my Grandma Stolpe. It really was a gift to see her, and she seemed quite excited about our visit. From the picture above, you can see that Hannah and Isaac have reached Grandma’s height. This is kind of crazy for me, because my two brothers and four cousins always used Grandma as our measuring stick for our growth. We knew we were really growing up when we passed Grandma. I was the second grandchild to pass Grandma and now I’m the tallest of the seven.

Grandma (and Grandpa, who passed away last February) has also been our measuring stick for spiritual growth. Both she and my grandfather have lived their lives fully devoted to Christ. I’ve seen this in action countless times through meal time prayers, through regular Bible reading, through consistent church involvement, through dedicated service to those who are less fortunate, through opening up their home to a broken family, through consistently and fervently praying for their children, grandchildren, and 15 great grandchildren, etc.

I am so grateful to have grandparents like these.

As we left the nursing home that afternoon, I left at peace. I don’t know if I’ll see Grandma again although I can hope. Her health hasn’t been the greatest, and I know she’s not getting any younger. Despite this unknown, my peace comes from knowing that Grandma is in tune with Christ and is living that out everyday. This is the type of legacy that I want to leave for my kids, grandkids (some day), and future generations.

Until the next post…

I’m an Uncle (Again)…