Adventure is out there!

A couple of times in the past year, we have gotten a taste of the road trip bug in our system.  We drove the 900 miles from Texas to Nebraska to interview for our current ministry position with Platte Valley YFC.  But, back in October, in our new Honda Pilot, we headed out west to the Black Hills of South Dakota to visit Grandma Connie.  Along the way, we pulled out a few wild cards, stopped on whims and road side signs, saw a few historical places, and it was.... FUN!

The Back Seat Buddies!

So, as we pondered our family vacation plans for this summer, we realized that we wanted to ROADTRIP, and the great Jacobus road adventure of 2012 was born on Friday, May 18.  Our destination was Las Vegas, NV and then circling back to the East.  We made a few hotel reservations along the way, and then decided to let our last few nights come to us, rather than be locked in to a full week along the way.

I don't know if it is true of any road trip rule book, but we came up with few ideas along the way.

1) We wouldn't eat in restaurants that we could easily get to near home - no McDonalds, Subway, Runza (don't know? Don't ask/bother!), Pizza Hut, etc.
2) If we saw something interesting along the way, we would definitely stop and check it out.
3) We would eat lunch on the go - lunchables for the boys, SlimFast bars for Mom and Dad.
4) We wouldn't be in a hurry to get to our evening hotel - enjoy the ride!

And with those ideas in mind, we headed on down the road!

Welcome to Colorado!

Day 1) Hastings to Denver - supper at Chick-fil-a.

Courtesy of Hotels.com, we got some really cheap hotel rooms.  The flip side of that is getting some really cheap hotels!  We had a nice view of the empty pool outside, while perched on our lumpy beds, watching TV without a working remote. Adrienne was appreciative of the "roach motel" strategically placed behind the toilet, and in front of the caved-in tile on the walls.  Oh boy!  She wouldn't let the boys use the bathroom without putting their sandals on first!

Day 2) I-70 through Denver, on the spot decision to go to Buffalo Bill's museum and gravesite on Lookout Mountain. Our day went from cold, cloudy and rainy to bright blue skies filled with sun as we drove into central Utah.  Of course, we didn't see a single house for the first 180 miles into Utah - what a brilliant, desolate country.

West Central Colorado - a way side stop!

Apparently, it's been awhile!

Today is March 9th, 2012, and we are spending the afternoon sitting out on our "new" veranda these days, watching the boys play football and ride bikes in the neighborhood.  The sun is out, the snow has long since melted away, tulips are starting to grow out of the soil, and it is oh, so warm out today. Spring-time after fall and winter is always a beautiful reminder that God is continually renewing all things in our world.  I would say that is true for us over the past year of changes and transition.

I don't know that I can express with words the immense joy that we feel for our boys in the friendships that they have made with Toby and McKenna down the street.  Every single afternoon, the foursome are found together, playing in a yard, in the street, or in one of the houses.  They are a delightful gang to have - siblings and friends, all playing together.

Adrienne and I recount to each other almost daily the things that we are grateful for in our new life in Nebraska.  Most of it revolves around the time that we get to spend together.  Adrienne was just reflecting today that she got to being doing financial work in her office while listening to me lead a discussion with students over Psalm 139 in the front room.  Our offices are currently situated where we can look up from our desks across the hallway and gaze into each others eyes.  We are sappy like that!

Life has fallen into a little more of a pattern this month.  February found us on a couple of different ministry road trips - one to Denver for our national YFC staff conference, and the other to take students to a weekend conference in Lincoln, NE.  Our Friday nights have returned to a bit of normalcy, and with some nicer weather outside, we look forward to the rest of spring, and the coming summer!

I am leading 3 different club ministry meetings each week, and 2 different campus outreach gatherings as well.  It is fun to work with three different volunteer teams and to see them building relationships with kids, having meaningful discussions with them about issues of faith and life, and show up in their world to cheer them on at sporting events and concerts.

We will try to be a little more faithful to updating this journey, and including you in the story!  Until next time!

A tribute to Nana Harrop

Clara Fuhrman Harrop, age 94, of Arena died on October 1, 2011 at Greenway Manor in Spring Green.  She was born on May 9, 1917 in Bowdon, North Dakota, the 12^th of 13 children to George and Charlotte (Schelske) Fuhrman.  After graduation from Bowdon High School in 1934, Clara enrolled in the St. Alexius Hospital School of Nursing in Bismarck where she earned a degree in nursing in 1938.  She enlisted in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps in 1941 and was tasked to various military hospitals around the U.S. until the end of the war when she was discharged with the rank of Captain.  After discharge from service, Clara continued working as a nurse in various hospitals, eventually making her way to Methodist Hospital in Madison where she met Merton Harrop.  They were married on June 13, 1950 and made their home in Arena.  They had two children, Gary (Gayle) Harrop of Mazomanie and Marcia (Roger) Creasey of Arena.  During their marriage Clara managed the family home and worked for Merton in the bank on an as-needed basis.  After Merton’s death in 1968, Clara returned to nursing, working as an R.N. at the Sauk-Prairie Memorial Hospital until her retirement in 1986.   Clara was a member of the Arena Congregational Church, its Volunteer-Missionary Society, and taught Sunday School there for many years.  She was a member of the board of directors of The Peoples State Bank, Mazomanie, from 1963-1987 and was involved in numerous civic activities throughout her years in Arena.  In addition to her children, she is survived by grandchildren Adrienne (Adam) Jacobus, Spencer (Keeley) Creasey, Neil (Leah) Harrop and Seth Harrop, great-grandchildren Dawson and Landon Jacobus, and one sister, Lydia Jensen of Bismarck, ND.  In addition to her husband and parents, she was preceded in death by brother’s Ted, Bill, Vic, Chuck, Gus and Oscar, and sister’s Ida, Alice, Gert, Edna and Bertha.  Friends may call on Friday, October 7, 2011 from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Hooverson Funeral Home in Mazomanie.  A memorial service will be held at the Arena Congregational Church in Arena on Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 1:00 p.m.  Appreciation is extended to the staffs of Greenway Terrace and Greenway Manor in Spring Green for the care and kindness they extended Clara over the past five years. Clara was a 48-year survivor of breast cancer and the family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorials be directed to the American Cancer Society.

 

Clara Fuhrman Harrop is Adrienne's grandmother, and great grandmother to Dawson and Landon, who referred to her as Nana.  I was asked to perform the memorial service ceremony, for which I was greatly honored.

It was almost 16 years ago that I was introduced to Clara Harrop by her granddaughter, Adrienne, who would later become my wife.  It was actually on our first date that I learned the first story of many about who Clara Fuhrman Harrop was, and the memory of the life that we here to celebrate today.

Clara Harrop was known by many different names and roles that she played over her 94 years.  A daughter and sister to 13 children born to the George and Charlotte Fuhrman family on a farm in central North Dakota after her parents emigrated in the late 1800’s from the Black Sea region of the Ukraine. Growing up in a hard working, disciplined German family that was dedicated to the local church and community set a pattern for her life to come.

The role and title of nurse was a major theme in Clara’s life.  Upon enlisting with the Army nursing corps, she had been issued orders to report to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii in early December 1941 before the start of WWII rescinded those orders.  It was in her role as a nurse at the Methodist Hospital in Madison that she met a patient by the name of Merton Harrop.  Despite his best efforts to ask her to dinner, she refused on the grounds that she was not allowed to go out with any of her patients.  One version of the story is, on the day after his discharge, Merton showed up at the hospital again, this time with flowers, and a love story was born.  She became wife and mother for the next 18 years, raising Gary and Marcia, and taking care of the home front.  After Merton’s passing, she returned to her nursing calling, even to the point of being called by the Arena ambulance crew during the middle of a call, and being asked to assist with a baby delivery in progress.  Clara, of course, answered the call and helped deliver the infant before the ambulance even got out of Arena.  In her final years at the Greenway nursing home, she would sit in her wheel chair next to the nurses’ stand in the hallway, simply to remain “close to the action.”  Perhaps it is easy to understand why her daughter and daughter in law both pursued nursing as their career paths in life as well!

The stories that I know best come from the role and title of Grandma to her four grandchildren – Adrienne, Neil, Seth and Spencer.  Whether it was spending the night at grandma’s, or even just the afternoon after school, every occasion was special.  If you were not feeling well, then a warm bath, new pajamas, a fuzzy robe, and something called “the treatment” was in order for you at that time.  A special meal would be in order as well – something along the lines of fried noodles, and a glass of Hawaiian punch.  Making cookies together and being scolded gently for eating too much cookie dough happened on more than one occasion.  She never had to pull out a cookbook and look at a recipe for her chocolate chip cookies, she made them so often. In my mind, Clara will always be known as “the cookie grandma”.  She was also a delightful travel companion, putting together a special travelling package to be opened on the road, containing snacks, unique books, and a new deck of cards and mad money.  Forget these new fangled entertainment systems that exist today – sitting in the back seat playing cards with Grandma Clara or having her read you a book would beat that all to pieces.

The first story that I ever heard of Grandma Clara came just 2 weeks before Christmas of 1995.  As I was waiting for my first lunch date with Adrienne, she returned to my office wearing a different outfit than she had had on just an hour earlier. Confused, I asked what the meaning of that was, and I was told that it was her Christmas gift from Grandma.  The way Christmas shopping work for Clara was that you went and purchased on your own, exactly what you wanted for Christmas, presented the items and receipt to her in time to be wrapped.  On Christmas eve when it came time to open the presents, one was required to act with great surprise and awe at the remarkable skill that Grandma had for picking out such wonderfully personalized presents for you – while an envelope containing the reimbursing cash was in the bottom of each package.  It was incredible how every pair of blue jeans I got from Grandma were exactly the right size and fit!

Another unique trait of Clara often came about in the monthly family meals that happened on a Sunday afternoon in her dining room.  She would put on a delightful spread of food for all of her extended family in the area, to celebrate the holiday and/or any birthdays of the month.  It was around such a meal that I learned that Clara had some certain code phrases in her world.  She was never one to draw attention to herself in any way, so she would be clear to make sure that everyone had enough to eat by stating, “Would anyone like any more potatoes or roast beef?”  To those that understood the code, that meant, “I would like you to pass me the potatoes and roast beef please.”

Another name and role for Clara is unique to my two sons, who know her simply as Nana Harrop, their great grandmother.  For the past 11 years, their lives mixed with Clara’s has represented 4 living generations of the Fuhrman family lineage.  Clara made both of my sons a flannel tied blanket, with a satin ribbon edging to it.  Those blankies have been through the ringers over the years, but faithfully showed up each night at bedtime, a strip of satin close to their cheeks as they snuggled in to sleep.  As part of the Arena volunteer missionary society, Clara also made many of these blankets for infants all over the Arena area.

Lastly, Clara is known as a beloved sister in Christ.  A long time member of this Arena Congregational Church, her steadfast faith and love of Christ has been the driving force in her life.  She dedicated herself to the study and memorization of scripture many years ago, and that personal application of the Bible gave her the strength and endurance to handle all of the challenges that she faced over her 94 years.  Adrienne has a small, wooden recipe card box of Clara’s, which contains a stack of index cards with bible verse written on them.  It is this great faith that gives us the peace and hope in a memorial service like this today, and know that Clara is done with her suffering here on earth, and is at home with her heavenly father.

There is a story from the gospel of John where Jesus meets the challenge of sorrow from a funeral head on.  He had heard the news that a close family friend of his named Lazarus had passed away, and he travelled to meet with the sisters of Lazarus – from John chapter 11.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

 ²¹ “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

 ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

 ²⁴ Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

 ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

 ²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” 

“Do you believe this?”  It’s the question that Jesus himself asks each of us in a setting like this – the passing on of a loved one from life on this earth.  Anytime we are confronted with death and mourning, we are pressed inwardly about our own thoughts of life and death, and what happens next.  In having a relationship with Christ, Clara had dealt with this issue in her life, and was convinced that Jesus is the Son of God – who came into our world so that we might be able to fulfill that relationship with God.

On some of the notecards we found in Clara’s bible, she had written down the steps of understanding to knowing and trusting in Christ for this hope and salvation.  She would want you to simply know that each of us have been handcrafted created by God to have a personal relationship with Him.  That relationship is ruined when each of us, in our own ways, have rebelled against God in our hearts – what the Bible calls sin.  The consequence of sin is separation from God – in a way that there is nothing we can do in our own power to restore that relationship. However, God, in his great love for us, sent Jesus to take care of the consequences of sin, and to bring us back into relationship with him – if we will chose to put our trust in the power of Christ’s death on the cross.  If we will believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life – then we can have hope that death on this earth is not the final say.  We can have the presence of God in our lives here on earth, and know that we will live with Christ in heaven, even though our bodies will die on this earth.

So, the question remains to be answered for each of us – “Do you believe this?”  Clara did, and we believe that she is alive with her rescuer, Jesus. And for that, we give God the credit and honor that is due to him.  Will you bow your heads and pray with me?

Our gracious heavenly father, we want to thank you for the gift of Clara Fuhrman Harrop in our lives.  Whether we knew her as mother, sister, aunt, grandma, nana, friend or nurse, each of us has been blessed to have her presence in our lives.  We ask that you would be with us in our sorrows and grief, and remind us of your great love for each of us, in that you have taken Clara to live with you. We thank you for your grace and mercy, that you extend your love to each of us through your son Jesus Christ, that we do not have to be scared of death and dying.  Continue to give us your peace, and hope for the things that are to come in this life, and in the next.  We pray all these things through the name of Christ Jesus, Amen.

Aggie the cat - and she's a girl??

So, many of you know that we got a cat shortly after we moved to Nebraska, as a promise to the boys that we would add a cat to our home life.  They originally had an idea to name the cat after their friend Stuart in Texas, but we quickly figured out that the idea of calling for "Stew Cat" just didn't sound all that great.  So, in an effort to honor our Texas friends that whoop and holler for Texas A&M University, we decided that any cat that we get would be called "Aggie."

We visited that pet adoption facility, and this very inquisitive gray striped tabby peered over the top of the cage and checked us out.  We were introduced to "Harrison Furred", a very active and cuddly male kitten.  We were smitten, and made arrangements to bring our dog Margo in for a meeting the next day, and to take Harrison / Aggie home with us the next day.

Lap Cat

It didn't take long for Aggie to have complete run and control of our house.  I made a small cut out hole into our back storage room as a place for his litter box and food dish, as well as his place for the night.  He became very good at snuggling in for naps on laps, purring in the morning, and climbing on the table to get at our food.  Dawson almost lost an entire cup of yogurt to said cat when he got distracted from eating at the table!

When Poppy Roger and Grammie Marcia came to visit in the end of September, we were excited to introduce Aggie to them.  It didn't take long though for the country boy, Poppie Roger, to make an important discovery.  Turns out, on closer inspection as it were, that Aggie really isn't a boy - but a girl!!  I mean, really, when someone tells you one thing, why would you beg to differ with them?  So, for a week or so, the boys have been proclaiming "Aggie's a girl", after the line in the movie "UP", in finding out the rare, exotic bird named Kevin was really a mother.

All it really means is that now "Aggie" can be a nickname for Agatha, which is really a nice name as well!  It also evens out the ratio of boy creatures to girl creatures in our house at 3 a piece, and that is fine with us!

Come visit and say "hi" to Aggie sometime!

A view from the backside of the house!

I suppose this post is a little more self focused on me (Adam) than other posts, but it just happens to go with the pictures and where some of our efforts have been focused over the past few weeks!  We knew the house came with an oversized garage, but we have only just recently gotten around to cleaning it out and making it suitable for MAN use!

In moving into our house, we realized that not all of our bedroom furniture would fit into our room with the placement of a queen size bed and a couple of exterior windows.  We had removed some old 1" thick lumber from a basement room that was from some nicer wood than pine boards, and Adrienne and I both looked at it interestedly.  We had the thought that it might be able to be made into some bed side nightstands, if only someone had the time, willingness and ability to do anything with the boards.

I'm enough of a Tim the tool man Taylor fan to jump into that sort of trap.  Of course, I used the age old line with Adrienne that it would hardly cost us any money what-so-ever.  I only needed one small bit for a rotary tool that I already owned, and we would soon have new and functional furniture in our house.  She fell hook, line and sinker for that line.  Soon that one bit became a $35 router base for said Dremel tool.  And, while not even completing 1 of the 2 nightstands, I burned out the motor on the 15 year old Dremel (which now makes the cost of a new one about $45!).  At that point, I should have gotten the cheap regular router ($80) in the first place, but I wasn't about to get evil stares from my beautiful wife over that!

So, the Thursday paper rolled around last week with a garage sale offering up a router for sale, and off I went!  $15 later I arrived at home with not only an aged Craftsman Router, but also a table stand for it!  Woo Hoo!  So, a trip to Man Land (Menards!) to get some bits, and I was able to finish up Adrienne's nightstands.  She rubbed them down with some wood oil, which pulled out a neat, dark brown color.  So, I don't know that I'm able with my limited tool shop to start into the cabinetry business, I'm excited to be able to do some of this type of creativity on my own. It's pretty satisfying to come out with a finished product as well!

While I'm not ready to take Christmas orders, or even come close to my big brother Aaron and all the fun things he creates while making sawdust.  It's fun to think that maybe I can expand some horizons in the future!

A view from the veranda!

As we marked the third week anniversary of landing in Hastings, I am writing this note from our front porch of our house, which has been uncovered from the big shrubs in our flower garden.  We have enjoyed this so much we have called it the "veranda", although I'm sure there is some specific size definition that we don't meet!

We are in the full swing of life now, with Adrienne and I both making it to our first official days of work yesterday.  We attempted to get into the office on September 1st, but a bout with the stomach flu left us curled up in bed for the better part of that day, and through the Labor day weekend! The boys are in school for their third week, and are in class until 3:20 pm everyday.  The weather has cooled off enough for us to have our windows open all the time, bringing in cool breezes and fresh air to us.

I think it would be safe to say that we have taken to Hastings and Nebraska like a duck to water.  There is a feel to life here that we greatly enjoy and easily identify with.  We have had 3 of our neighbors stop in and welcome us to the community in our time here, and one even brought us a batch of strawberry bread.  I've never had that before, but let's just say I hope another batch comes around sometime soon!

Adrienne has taken full advantage of the "small town" feel enough to have walked to the saturday Farmer's market on consecutive weekends, and come back with peaches, cucumbers, tomatoes and other fun, garden fresh vegetables.  It's has been a great treat for her to do that.  A couple of trips to the local grocery store with her bags in hand have earned her a couple of looks from the store clerks, but even that has been a fun time!

Dawson and Landon have enjoyed their new start in school as well.  A three block walk to school has been neat for them as a quick in and out transition with home.  They have made some friends in the community that they get together and play with, and have the option to go back to the school playground to run around together.

And then there is football season!  Dawson is proudly showing off his new bruises every night from practice to his mother, who doesn't take as much pride as Dawson does.  He is a part of the Huskers team in the Hastings Midget football league. 6 teams comprise the league, and they get to play on Sunday afternoons at the Hastings HS football field, starting this Sunday.  Their final week will be played at Hastings College, just east of our house about 8 or 10 blocks, and will be a real treat for all the players.  We will try to tell more of that story when the pictures start flowing out of game action!  Dawson is the starting center of the team, and also plays some defensive end as well.

It's about time to get started on another work day, so I will close things up here. If you haven't seen our new house photos, you can check out what it looks like now-a-days here!

It's a Wonderful Life

Yesterday, July 31st, was my last Sunday as the youth director at Cibolo Creek Community Church.  Tonight I have the opportunity to spend some time debriefing our missions trip to Jamaica, and then that's it.  Bring on the sunset!

But last night was something so very special. Students, parents, volunteers and their families gathered together at the home of Patsy Condit - aka "Mamaw", to honor us with a fare-well party.  It was the shining moment of a long 10 week period of transition. T-shirts were made and worn by all in our honor - 3 crosses with my sign off line inscribed on it - "Live To Tell".  Gifts were given, hugs and tears exchanged, and lots of laughing.

For most of the night, I spent wondering why we deserved anything like this.  The guy that I see in the mirror every morning is certainly not deserving of this.  I mean, comon - for 48 hours, that dude had Jamaican braids woven into his soul patch!  I don't have anything special to offer - no degrees of importance, no training, no credentials. I'm not even a very good Christian.

All I have ever tried to do is love Jesus - and I don't seem to do that all that great.  I haven't read the Bible through multiple times - and certainly never in one sitting or in a scheduled path. I don't listen to K-Love, rather much more of sports talk radio. I just want to love my wife, love on my sons, and try to treat people the way I think Jesus would interact with them.

And somehow, this crowd of people stood up in front of me, and told me of ways that I made a difference in their life, some way, some how. It was humbling for me, because I have felt that way about several people in my life - people like Tom Felten, Evan Davis, Jeff Ringenberg, Bill Sautter, Art Becknell, Bob Barnes, Mikki Meyers, Roger Creasey, and many others. People that have impacted me, taught me, shaped me, and showed me what it truly meant to be a follower of Christ.  To thank me, is to thank them.

So, I don't know quite yet what I will do with all of that.  But I am humbled.  Honored.  Grateful.  Saddened. Joy-filled (thanks Susan!) Reflective.

Thank you so much, Cibolo Creek Community Church - and the people that have made this spot so much more than a job in a building.

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones. (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13)

Live To Tell,
Adam, Adrienne, Dawson and Landon