Angel Food Pictures
Food Drive Update
Wow, what an exciting morning at NewPointe. I spent most of the morning sorting, boxing and counting full boxes of food. I want to thank all the great Team Members that helped out all morning. Dave & Phyl Gilmore’s Host team did a great job of directing people and even helping box up the food. Thanks guys! To all the children that helped haul the food on their wagons, way to go!
You know what, we have incredible people at NewPointe. People that understand the vision of “Leading people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.” People that give significant time and money to the vision. NewPointe is all about the people that are on the team, volunteering, giving, praying, and growing. I am so thrilled to know so many amazing people.
The people came through on Sunday with over 400 boxes (432 to be exact). We are nearly half way to our goal of 1,000 boxes. We handed out a bunch more empty boxes, we actually ran out. So next week should be another busy day as the “people” come through with over 600 boxes. I believe it will happen, and it will make a difference in the community.
Here are some quick stats on the Uhrichsville food pantry. They served nearly 1,000 people in June. Of that number 365 were children and they added 39 new families. So far this year they have added 189 new families to the ones they serve. I was surprised at those numbers. I hope that the people of NewPointe will continue to give to these Food Pantries throughout the year. Let’s make a difference against hunger, housing, and other basic needs people have in our communities. If you want to help make a difference in the community call me to find out how you can help. We have ongoing projects to help families in our communities. You can help make a difference year round.
Vacation 101
I have not been posting much because I have been on vacation this past week. It was a week at home with my wife. We spent part of it doing day trips to area sites like the flea market in Hartville and the shops in Dresden. We even went to the Mt. Hope auction on Wednesday for produce. I love blueberries bannana’s and pineapple!
We went out with some friends on Thursday night to one of our favorite restaurants in Canton called the Sahara Grille. Blake Wood introduced us to that place a couple of years ago. The Lamb and seasoned rice are great!
We also spent two days working around the house. I finally got the mulching done and pulled a bunch of weeds. Vikki and I also like to go rock hunting. No this is not like snipe hunting, although that is fun as well.
We spotted some rocks that would work well around some of our flower beds by a large oak tree beside the road. I pass it ever day going to work. We stopped on Friday and asked the Amish family if we could take them. They said to check with the Amish farmer up the road. So off we went and asked the farmer if we could take his rocks. It turns out that I am related to this guys wife and his last name is also Stutzman. He took us back in his fields and showed us a bunch of rocks. His farm is covered with rocks. I guess that is why they call it stoney point.
We went and got my father-in-law’s pickup and started loading rocks. Three pickup loads later we were exhausted and very dirty. He was actually in the process of burrying a bunch of rock in one of his fileds. So they were exposed and easy to find. One week later and we would not have gotten nearly as many.
We also got to see his work horses up close. It was a great day, even though my back is a little sore.
We all need time off from work to recharge and reload. I have come to find out that taking vacation is critical for a few reasons. I used to not want to take vacation, because I thought I had to be at work to get things done. I think that was pride and I now realize that life and work goes on without me.
One reason to take vacation is I get to spend more time with my wife. Hanging out together and going out together is very important in our relationship. She is my best friend and I love spending time with her. Another reason is it gets my mind off of the work I focus on all the time and I can catch up on my reading. If all you do is think about work it will eventually consume you and begin to hurt your family relationships. Work is important, but family is more important. Another reason to take a vacation is to have other people cover for you at work and maybe they will appreciate you a little more, or maybe not.
Anyway, I am back to work on Monday and I am excited about diving back into some of the projects I am working on. God has answered some prayers and I can’t wait to get started.
Lake Kipawa
As promised, here are some excerpts from my personal journal while on my first fishing trip to Canada. We went to Lake Kipawa in Quebec Canada, about a 12 hour drive. We left Thursday June 28th after work and stayed until Tuesday July 3rd. We arrived at home at about 2:30 a.m. on July 4th.
Day One – I am on a fishing trip with Todd Kandel and his son Nick and John Troyer. Todd & John are in my small group at church. The more I reflect on life, the more I see it as an adventure that is constantly changing. I need to continue to stay faithful in my daily walk with God. If I can stay focused on God He will direct me and give me the wisdom I need to follow Him.
End of Day One – The Perfect day, almost. Today I caught my first walleye and my first lake trout. I caught a total of three walleye, my limit is six per day. We cooked the fish and ate them, wow is walleye good! It rained and stormed a while, so we took a nap before heading back out. We saw a complete rainbow across the lake. This is an amazing, beautiful place. God is Good!
Day Two – Today was cold and wet. The fish were not biting, so we went exploring around the lakes, bays and rivers. Eli is the guy that has the cabins we are staying in and he is leading us around the lake. We have two boats, Eli’s son and friend are with us as well. They are leaving Sunday. Eli is a great host.I caught caught two more walleye, but we did not keep them. We got caught in a downpour and had to cover ourselves with a tarp in the boat until it stopped. This is really a great place. Several times throughout the day I had to smile to myself as I took in the scenery.
Day Three – Today was windy and cold and the fishing was not that good until evening. I caught three more keeper walleye. I am glad I brought long sleeved shirts and long pants. Overall it was a good day. I am reminded how good it is to relax and have fun. I have not been keeping track of time, no watch, no cell phone, no radio. We eat when we are hungry and sleep when we are tired. Today John caught a 21″ walleye, the biggest yet. I have learned a lot on this trip so far. Like how to tie a proper knot for your jig hook, how to fish with leeches and jigs, how to cook fish and even drive a boat. All this fishing has brought back memories from when I was young and loved to go fishing. This may be a new hobby!
Day Four – Today we hiked to the top of a lookout over the lake. It was about a mile or more up hill, but was it worth it. The view was incredible. From up there we got the perspective on how large this place is. It reminds me how small we are in this huge world. Even though we are small, God knows us and loves us, WOW. I am listening to “Everlasting God” by Todd Fields, “We will wait upon the Lord, our hope our strong deliverer, You don’t grow weary, Your the defender of the weak, You comfort those in need.”
I also have been reading “This Beautiful Mess” by Rick McKinley. I am reminded that we are called to care for this world we live in and the people in it. Taking care of the less fortunate and being responsible to the earth were themes in his book. God is still working on me, pruning some of the bad branches and cleaning up areas in my heart that are not good.
We just finished eating supper at 11:45 p.m. Fish, potatoes with onions, garlic butter and cheese. John can sure eat. He ate a bowl of cereal and finished off some other stuff after eating the fish and potatoes.
Day Five – We got up early (5:30) to get out and get some fishing in before we leave at noon. It was a fun morning. The fish were biting and we were pulling them out left and right. John & I have been in one boat for all five days and Todd & Nick have been with Eli in his boat. Todd was catching the most fish, but Eli is close behind. We all have caught a lot of fish. After fishing for about four hours we head back in to get cleaned up and packed. Cleaning up means getting into the lake and soaping up. The water is a little cold, but I really needed it. After packing up and cleaning up, we are off on the trip home.
On the way home we discovered a great place to eat. Webers on Hwy 11. WOW, they have the best cheeseburgers. This place is right beside the road with a walkway across the Highway. There was a line out the door the whole time we were there. This was a great Canadian Cheeseburger experience. I also got some ice cream and coffee, the coffee was amazing! As you walk into this small place someone came down the line and took your order and collected the money before you got to the register. The music was turned up (Classic Rock) and the employees looked like they were having a good time, even though they were slammed. You could watch them grilling the hamburgers and putting it all together. I loved it, I wish I could have eaten more.
Overall this was just a great experience. Thanks to Todd for driving most of the way and for putting this trip together. Thanks to John for the entertainment and being my fishing buddy. It was fun to get to know Nick a little better and spend time with these guys. John summed it up by saying this is the first vacation he had that he did not think about work one time. He was able to completely relax and have fun. I think that went for all of us. I can’t wait to go back.
The Amazing Trip
Some of you may be wondering why I have not blogged since June 27th. Well, I have been out of the country. I went on a fishing trip to Canada. A couple of guys from my small group and I went to Quebec Canada to Lake Kipawa.
This was an amazing trip, I will share more on Thursday. Hopefully my pictures turned out so I can share those as well. I forgot how much I love to fish and be in the great outdoors. We went to a remote area with no running water, electric etc. We did stay in an old cabin and ate very well.
Check back more to come. I kept a daily journal and will share some of my entries.
By the way Vikki and I are having a HUGE garage sale Thursday and Friday (July 5th & 6th) if anyone wants to stop by our house. We live in Walnut Creek on Township Road 444.
The stuff I am doing
We all have stuff we are doing. Our jobs are filled with stuff. Our weekends are filled with stuff. We get busy with all kinds of stuff.
Here is some of my stuff:
Today I spent time on the phone counseling with two people. I spent another hour counseling someone in person. I also coached two baptism video testimonies (We have 14 people getting baptized this summer, June 24th and July 8th).
I wrote a couple of thank you notes and signed some follow up letters to people that wanted information or made commitments over the weekend.
I spent a good hour on emails, following up with people and sending new ones.
I read several blogs from people much more famous than me. It inspired me to write this blog, very exciting , I know. Check out http://www.dwightmason.com/ and http://scotthodge.typepad.com/scott/2007/06/leonard_sweet_s.html
I have another video testimony to coach at 5:00 p.m. and I am meeting with some people about our Divorce care recovery groups at 5:30 and I close out the day with another counseling session with a couple at 6:30.
That’s my stuff for today, but it is really more than stuff, its all about people. People matter to God, and I work for God, therefore people matter to me. I hope that I was able to encourage someone today. I hope that I was able to point someone closer to Christ. Every day we have an opportunity to impact this world. God brings people into our lives, puts us in situations that can be uncomfortable and if we are paying attention we can make an eternal difference.
Here are a couple of quotes to ponder:
“Every significant relationship in your life has your fingerprints all over it-the fingerprints of your character. And those impressions on another person’s life are true indications of what your character is really like.” Steve Farrar
“A life isn’t significant except for the impact on other lives.” Jackie Robinson
Military Funeral
Today at NewPointe we hosted a memorial service for Corporal Keith Nepsa. This young man, 21 years old, was serving his country in Iraq. This was his second tour of duty. He was killed in action last week along with a close friend. This is the first time I experienced a military funeral. I was amazed at how well the Army cared for this family. They assigned an officer to be with the family through this entire ordeal. He will continue to be close to the family as all the details of paperwork and personal effects get taken care of. You could see and hear the concern they all had for this young man’s family.
I got to meet an incredible woman. Brigadier General Margrit Farmer was on hand to participate in the services. I got to meet her on Sunday night and found her to be down to earth, sincere and very approachable. I got to meet some other great officers in our Army as well. As I interacted with these “military” people I was encouraged by the integrity and level of leadership that I saw in these men and women. We have some great leaders that are behind the scenes working hard every day for our country. It was an honor to meet each one.
I also got to meet our Governor Ted Strickland and congressman Zack Space. Other elected officials were on hand as well. Again I found them all to be very sincere in their efforts to honor this brave young man and his family.
The service for Keith Nepsa went very well. Pastor Bill Sowers from Broadway United Methodist church gave the message and did a nice job of honoring Keith Nepsa and his family and presenting the Gospel. Scott Miller sang two songs and was truly amazing. He sang “The Lord’s Prayer” at the beginning and “God Bless the USA” at the end. Wow, with the American Flag on the big screen behind Scott as he sang that closing song it brought tears to my eyes and goose bumps to my skin. Great job Scott!
We also had a great group of people from Geib Funeral home led by Brian Hanner. They did a top notch job in covering all the details that went into this service. Thanks Brian.
We also had over 20 volunteers that came in to help make this service run smoothly. We had a host team in place to greet the people and help them find the auditorium and restrooms. They really helped set the tone as people arrived. We also had an usher team ready in the auditorium to help people find a seat and answer any questions people may have had. We had our sound and tech team in place as well to make sure the sound, lighting and video all worked seamlessly.
I want to personally thank each and every person that took time out of their schedules to come out and serve at this funeral. It humbles me to see people take vacation days and time off work to come and serve. These are special folks that have a heart for Jesus Christ. I really get excited when I see our Church BEING the church to our community. All the glory goes to Jesus Christ.
I am sure that many seeds were planted in the hearts of the people that attended this service. Each person that served and helped put this service together played a part in planting those seeds. What a great opportunity to serve the Lord.
Our prayers and sympathy go out to the Nepsa family.
Back From Vacation
We made it back from a great trip to Cape Coral Florida. This is Emily and Allison, my wife Vikki’s nieces (Emily is in the middle).
This was a nice vacation because we didn’t have much planned. Sometimes vacations can be more stressful than work. We just hung out, read books, watched movies and went shopping.
Vikki’s brother-in-law John has his own pool business. He installs new pools and is doing quite well. His wife Sheila does much of the design work. He showed us some of the pools he recently completed, very nice!
This is Mason, trying to eat 5 sour balls. He is really into baseball, his team just won the championship (John is the coach). Mason is also on the All star team. Good job Mason!
This is me eating Sushi and Allison is not impressed! No one else likes Sushi, so I was on my own. I gained 5 pounds, so now I am eating oatmeal every day for breakfast.
This is Jack the cat. We wanted to take him home with us. They have 4 cats in the house which Vikki loved.
I read a great little book while in Florida. It is called “The Dip” by Seth Godin. This book talks about when to quit and when to stick. It is an easy short read that is packed with very good stuff. It helped me to renew my focus and sharpen my resolve. I also was reading a John Grisham novel called “The Testiment”.
Well, that was our vacation. It is time to get back to work and get caught up.
Cape Coral Florida
| My wife Vikki and I have been spending a few days in Cape Coral Florida. We are staying with her sister Sheila and family. I will post some pictures soon. We have been relaxing, reading, watching movies, eating too much (including the best ice cream! super creamy), shopping and riding bike (I need to work off the food). John & Sheila Eicher have three kids; Emily, Allison, and Mason. Great kids! We always love seeing them again, boy they grow fast. That is it for now.
PS – I ate the best Jambalaya at a place called Houlihan’s tonight. It had sausage, chicken and shrimp in it. We had some great Mexican on Wednesday night. I am ready for either steak or Chinese on Friday, plus more ice cream. I also ate some Sushi on Wednesday, a rainbow roll. |
Relax
Do you know how to relax?
Our lives can be so busy and full that we seldom have time to relax and slow down. There are many reasons for our busyness. Tonight when I got home from work my awesome wife Vikki had supper ready for me. We had rice with broccoli and cauliflower and pasta salad. It was good and healthy. We usually sit on the back patio to eat supper. After supper I went on a short walk, about two miles. It took my ipod and listened to the Goo Goo Dolls and The Fray, two of my favorite bands. I walked by a field of goats and watched them eating and running around. There had to be 30 goats. Vikki and I have one goat.
When I got back I sat on our back patio and continued to listen to some music and relaxed. I didn’t think about work or what I needed to do next, I just sat there. I actually fell asleep for about 15 minutes. I woke up took a shower and got online to blog and read blogs.
I don’t do that every night, but tonight I relaxed. It helped me to see the world around me the one that God created. When was the last time you just sat and watched the birds and the grass?
Relax