World Renewal International

I hope you had a great holiday season. Mine was wonderful. I battled an old foe called pneumonia. I am now on the winning side it seems. Nevertheless, it did not keep Carol and I from looking at each other during recent days and saying, "That may have been our best Christmas ever!" Why was is so good?

[Who gave Andy a harmonica for Christmas. Proves we have some slow thinkers in the family]

Good question and too much and maybe too personal to answer here completely. It all had to do with God and family. Grand kids! Addison and Andy are 3 and 2. The energy and joy they can bring to a room is baffling to me since they are so small and little. Yeah, they cause problems. The first day at our house Addison threw-up on our newly cleaned carpet. They string toys everywhere. Food and drinks, clothes, diapers and many other accessories that are a part of two little boys lives seem to multiply in our rooms right before our eyes! It's just great! I love it! However, one must learn to be careful when walking without shoes. It can be painful! But now that they have returned home I wish I had to be more careful walking through the dark house at night.

The sounds that they bring are the sounds of a full house. Andy expresses great joy with a high decimal scream that I am sure wakes sleeping dogs throughout central Indiana. In spite of this high pitched audio, we love it. We love him. Addison, three and a half years old, likes to attack pap pa with a number of toy weapons of no destruction. I yell and make wounded noises to which he and Andy laugh and then really let me have it. Finally, I call an end to the suffering by saying pap pa needs to rest and that is usually true. Now it is so quiet that it hurts without them.

[I have my own personal "Batman." Addison proved himself to be a child of faith praying at every meal for the months prior to Christmas for Batman stuff that "Nanna Carol" would give him for Christmas. Faith works!]

Meanwhile, the sounds of my children and their mother talking in various rooms of the house is sweet to me. Over the years I find it more and more difficult to find fault in the children's mother. Therefore, I must be responsible for the fact that my children are not perfect. It was so good to see my children grow this year. I saw them change as individuals for the better. I saw them grow in Christ. I noticed they grew in their relationships with one another. Both of my younger sons are now engaged to be married. David and Katie Olsen will be married June 7 of this year. David will have graduated from Ohio University with his masters. He has already been accepted into three schools for his doctorate. Jon became engaged to Keely Radosavic during Christmas. [above picture] They plan to be married in a couple or more years as both are deeply involved in college careers. Micah is a senior at Ave Marie University but may not graduate until the fall of 2008 before going on to seminary. Chris and her husband Adam live in Colorado Springs. They love their church. They both sing in the choir. Chris has started singing solos again. They are both involved in group studies and growing in Christ. Praise the Lord Jesus for His wonderful care and love for my family. I am one grateful dude! [Katie and our resident intellectual and doctoral candidate.]