Stolpe Star 2019

Of course, nothing stands still. Sometimes this reality fills us with exhilarating anticipation, and other times we struggle to adapt to what is coming at us. The flow of the Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany seasons remind us that while we wait for the promised peace on earth and within ourselves, the challenges of our own lives and the times in which we live call us to keep our focus on the assurance and guidance of staying close to Jesus every day. So as you celebrate at this season, Candy and I wish and pray for you a renewed depth of hope, peace, joy, and love. The mystery of the incarnation of God in Jesus, Emmanuel – God with us, is the confidence that we are not alone on our journeys.

Four Generation Thanksgiving

At Thanksgiving, we celebrated the big change of 2019 for us with a four generation gathering. In July Candy’s Dad, Charlie Miller, moved to a senior living residence a mile and a half from us in Milwaukee. After 92 years living in Minnesota, this was a huge and challenging transition. Serious falls in June of 2017 and 2019 indicated he would be better close to us (for you who may not know, Candy is his only child) than attempting to live on his own in his home, even with daily help from a caregiver. We are very thankful to have him closer so we can respond to his needs in minutes instead of hours. Most of what he needs, such as laundry and shopping, are integrated into our regular rhythms. I have been able to adjust my activities to accommodate caring for and loving him as an extension of caring for and loving Candy.

Candy continues to do very well with her Alzheimer’s journey. She continues to enjoy and benefit from the Mind Effects program at the Lutheran Home for those in the early stages of memory loss. She still beats me at Scrabble more than half of the time. She works word puzzles and other mind games to keep her thinking as sharp as possible. We attend a Memory Café monthly, a program of the Alzheimer’s Association for fun socialization with others on this journey. I participate in a monthly Caregivers Support Group, also from the Alzheimer’s Association. I have begun regular appointments with a counselor to help me tend my own well-being so I can be fully present to Candy and her Dad.

If you had a chance to see the November issue of Guideposts magazine, you may have seen an article about how my 50 year pattern of praying the Psalms has helped and enriched my journey with Candy. The article was arranged as part of getting the word out about my book Ripples that was released in October 2018. If you haven’t already you can check it out at www.ripplesthroughlives.com. On this journey I am seeking ways to simplify life as much as possible. We make a point of looking for at least one source of joy every day, and adopting the discipline of not letting the day’s struggles or anticipation of our future trajectory detract from that joy. I am simplifying the Stolpe Star, while still giving you basic updates on the family.

Our Wisconsin granddaughter Elizabeth went with Leanne and Jon, Hannah and Isaac on the home building trip to Guatemala last summer. Hannah studied abroad in Strasberg, France this year, after having studied in Chile last year. She is a senior at Messiah College and will graduate in May, expecting to be teaching Spanish and French somewhere the next school year.

Elizabeth

Isaac is a sophomore Music Education major at Grove City College.

Hannah and Isaac

Sam will graduate from Wauwatosa East High School this year and has been accepted to study acoustical engineering at Goshen College in the fall. 

Sam

Elizabeth will be turning 13 before the New Year and shifting into a Montessori program of the Wauwatosa public schools for the rest of seventh and all of eighth grades. She plays violin in the Longfellow Middle School orchestra program.

 David began teaching at James E. Dottke High School in West Allis this year. It is a project based learning environment that is right up his alley. You can learn more about it at https://dottke.wawm.k12.wi.us/. Rachel switched from being a substitute aid in Wauwatosa schools to being a full-time aid at the Montessori school where Elizabeth will be also.

Leanne continues as a Kindergarten teacher and working on her graduate school program. Jon also continues as a manager of engineers (I really don’t know his title or understand all he does) for the building automation division of Siemens. They also continue their neighborhood and church ministries.

Erik continues as Music Director for the Dallas School of Rock and recently adopted Juno, a black lab mix. Erik and Juno drove to Wisconsin in the summer, shortly after Candy’s Dad arrived. So we were thrilled to see him twice in 2019.

One of the wonderful benefits of serving nine congregations (counting five interim pastorates) in five states is that we have been enriched by a glorious treasury of relationships.  You who are receiving this letter are a valued part of that wealth. You have probably heard the cliché about worldly wealth, that you can’t take it with you. But with our faith in Jesus, we rejoice that we can take each other into the joy God has waiting for us.

Peace,

Norm (with Candy adding her greeting too)

Four Generation Thanksgiving

I do think that having a day to prompt us to intentionally express gratitude is very healthy. As I moved from lectio divina to Psalm prayers Sunday morning (November 24) Colossians 4:2 seemed an appropriate introduction to the Thanksgiving week. “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving.”

This year I am especially alert to the uniqueness of our four generation Thanksgiving we are anticipating. Since we moved from Texas to Wisconsin in 2017, our son Jon and his family (wife Leanne and children Hannah and Isaac) from Pennsylvania and our son Erik from Texas have joined us (son David, wife Rachel, their children Sam and Elizabeth, and of course Candy and me) for Thanksgiving. A rare opportunity to have all three sons and four grandchildren together at the same time. This past summer Candy’s 92 year old Dad, Charlie Miller, moved from Minnesota to a senior living residence in Wisconsin just a mile and a half from us. Someone may have a better memory than I about this, but I can’t recall when we’ve had all twelve of us together like this at the same time before. And I am quite aware that repeating it may not be very likely. Hannah is about to graduate from college and head into her adult journey, which will take her on many adventures. Sam is starting college in the fall which will alter the rhythms of his life.

As I have reflected on this occasion during the week, I kept coming back to Psalm 128 as my foremost expression of gratitude this Thanksgiving, and have prepared this table grace for us to pray together at dinner on Thursday, incorporating our unique time with the Psalm.

Oh God, before whom generations rise and pass away, we give you heartfelt thanks today that we have four generations together around this table. Thank you for the wonder of being a family who though scattered in different places are together in Christ.

Thank you that “Grandpa Charlie,” is with us. Thank you for his long life of serving you, praying for and sharing the joy of trusting Jesus with many people. We ask that you give him strength and joy for every one of his days.

Thank you that Erik is with us again for the third Thanksgiving in a row. Thank you for the fulfillment he gets from teaching many to play music. Thank you for Tom Irwin sharing an apartment with him. Thank you for Central Christian Church with whom he gives and receives.

                                                                                                                                             

Thank you for Leanne and Jon being with us again this Thanksgiving. Thank you that Hannah is about to finish college and head into the adventures ahead of her. Guide and empower her on her journey. Thank you for Isaac, especially his musical gifts. As he continues in college, lead him on your path. Be with Leanne and Jon as they reach out to many from their “empty nest.” Thank you for the opportunities you give them in church, work, and neighborhood.

Thank you for Rachel and David and our mutual support in our duplex. Thank you for Sam’s opportunity starting college next year. Nurture his creative gifts and point him into his future. Thank you for the richness of bringing Elizabeth into our family. Nurture a fresh spirit of possibilities as she will soon be the only teen in the house. Thank you for the very special opportunities Rachel and David have in their schools and in the church.

Thank you for “Grandma Candy” and “Grandpa Norm” and the love and partnership of their shared journey with Jesus over the years with so many wonderful people. Fill them with deep joy of the blessing of seeing their children’s children as Psalm 128 says.

“Happy is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways. You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you from Zion. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. May you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel!”

This from my prayer Psalms (144:12-15) for Sunday morning seemed a wonderful lead-in to Thanksgiving week when we will have all three of our sons, all four of our grandchildren, and Candy's Dad together all at once. The first four generation gathering in a very long time.

The Psalm is rich with plenty of other themes which I barely scratched this morning and they are still brewing within me, but this really stuck out. I will not incorporate it into the table grace, but have preserved my social media post with this entry.

May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars, cut for the building of a palace. May our barns be filled, with produce of every kind; may our sheep increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields, and may our cattle be heavy with young. May there be no breach in the walls, no exile, and no cry of distress in our streets. Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall; happy are the people whose God is the Lord.