Christmas at Home

  We spent Christmas Day at my brother Darwin's house. At home as a family we had a gift exchange on the 23rd after church. We don't go super elaborate with gifts. It's more of an opportunity for the children to have the fun of shopping for or making something for one of their siblings. We try to avoid the gimme, gimmes and focus more on the givie, givies. I had fun making a doll house for Merry Grace from binders. I took a few photos to share with you all.

I downloaded free scrap booking pages for the background, including the brick for the chimney. The windows, kitchen and dining room pics came out of a Better Homes & Gardens magazine. The picture on the wall of the horses came from a friend on FB who posts horse art quite frequently.Oh, and the mounted deer is one that our son Mark shot. I just took a pic of it and printed it off. Then I Modge Podged everything.

  

The stand, I made from a lid from a jar of Jelly , a plastic 3 legged thing that keeps the lid of a carry out pizza from squashing the pizza and an empty spool. All hot glued together and painted black. The doily is a mini paper snowflake also Modge Podged right onto the stand. The lamp.....I should let you guess..... its made out of a chess piece and a lid from a ketchup bottle.

Luc n Anna's wedding

 

So happy to add Anna to our family circle. We made the trip to PA. Our last trip was 10 years ago. We prefer to head west instead of east but a son's wedding is good reason to make the trip. We met some really nice people there and it turned out to be a very enjoyable trip. We stayed for two nights at Larry and Naomi Burkholder's. Naomi is Anna's coworker and good friend. We loved our time there.They showed us some of their many photo albums of trips they had made together....Alaska, and Hawaii. They introduced us to their Water Buffalo and Yaks,  and sent us home with a package of their Burkholder coffee, grown by their missionary son in Honduras.It is very good and when we grind it and drink it we think of them with warm memories!

  We met Anna's sister Kate, her friends Gwen Martin and Rachel Oberholtzer, who were also her bridesmaids. On Saturday after the wedding we ended up together at Luc n Anna's house and spent time together getting to know each other and having a good time.Sure enjoyed our time with them too. We were a little hard on them about PA compared to what we are used to here in Wi :) Please accept our apologies for that. You certainly helped make our stay there enjoyable. You all are welcome to come visit us, would love to have you.

Matt n Kaitlyn~Engaged!

I have been waiting on an official engagement picture, but I decided to go ahead and post this one.

Jesus is the sweetest friend I know ~by Tebo

 "Jesus is the sweetest friend I know"

Jesus is the sweetest friend I know,

He walks with me wherever I must go.

Through the valley of the shadow of death He's there I know

Jesus, yes Jesus is the sweetest friend I know.

Chorus

I'd never make it through his life without him by my side.

Guiding every footstep and wiping every tear I cry.

When the trials of this life seem to overwhelm my soul

its then that I'm reminded of the sweetest friend I know

Jesus is the sweetest friend I know

He's my only comfort and I love him so

When the pain that I am feeling is heavy on my soul

Jesus, yes Jesus is the sweetest friend I know.

Jesus is the sweetest friend I know

As I walk in pain here on this earth below,

My heart cries out to my Savior, and faith just fills my soul,

Then I've got peace beyond all measure from the sweetest friend I know. 

This is a song written by Jeff Kropf (Uncle Tebo)

written in the midst of the valley he walked through.I checked youtube but I couldn't find that he had recorded this one.Too bad, it is a beautiful song 

In honor of Tebo, by Darwin Hostetler

         A Battle lost....But a victory won!

My minds been traveling down memories lane

But my heart is in prayer for a family in pain

Yes, I know that our loss is Tebo's  gain

But The tears still come like falling rain

Tebo,

I stood there beside you when you said "I do"

And you were faithful all these year's thru

I'll not forget when you stayed in our home

You played with my children like they were your own

You wired my shop,then at the end of the day

We gathered to sing and took time to pray

We wept with you as you struggled in pain

Not knowing how soon your life would see gain

Your battle is over, our race we still run

You went on to Glory not knowing your son

We continue the fight in the army of prayer

And trust that one day, you'll meet them over there.

I set here with tears as I send you this prayer

Yes I know, it's so much better because Jesus is there.

So we wait our turn, and one day we'll meet with our King

Jesus is the sweetest friend I know....together we'll sing      

                                                                   ~Darwin Hostetler



     In our teen years Jeff spent time at our house a few summers and we have lots of good memories. Darwin and Jeff were partners in crime, the first thing that comes to mind is when they killed and ate a rattlesnake.My Mom wasn't home .......does that tell the story?:) I wasn't home either, thankfully, because I know Jeff would have coerced me into taking a bite:(               Now they are no longer partners in crime but brothers in Christ.

    I really like these lines in the poem........

We continue the fight in the army of prayer

And trust that one day, you'll meet them over there.

......referring to Jeff's family. Lets please remember to pray for his family, I know Jeff wants to see them again.Pray for their spiritual condition and that they can be reconciled to the Kropf family.

 

Heaven and Uncle Tebo

    I know I haven't been here for a long time,but I have been busy. Today I am here to pour out my heart. i have been crying since last evening over the loss of my cousin Jeff also know as Uncle Tebo.Yes, even to me...his cousin. Well really, the name fit so well and for awhile he changed his name to Tim Corban, for reasons I am not going into right now. I could never call him Tim. It just wasn't right. It did not fit his character. Uncle Tebo did.That was perfect. I don't know how to explain that but anyone that knew him knows that it was perfect.I have been crying for our loss. I don't say mine I say ours because he had so many relatives and friends are missing him tonight. When he changed his name back to Jeff Kropf we all rejoiced and maybe even celebrated a little not to the point of sending gifts to one another but we were so pleased. It felt like he came back completely.Which he really did,he was our Jeff again.

   I am ready now to lay aside my sorrow for a moment of reflection on how Tebo must be feeling right now. I think it would be rather fun and interesting for all of us who knew him to speculate a little on what he would be telling us if he could. He was always so sincere in what he believed and if he believed something no one could change his mind.Not that we really tried but he was strong. I remember when Fatima left him that he said he would be sitting on the porch waiting for her to come back until he was 80 years old.And he was so smart.He told story after story about the house they built that he had computerized to do so many things. Like turn the shower on for him in the morning before he was out of bed and to turn the light on dimly and slowly brightening over time so they wouldn't have that blinding light in the morning and their eyes could adjust gradually. It would be called a smart house now. He had to sell that house after Fatima left. He lost so much, he endured so much pain. Waiting, waiting for his family to change their mind and come back home, and always he loved them. The tears he cried over them God must have collected them all.

Here is a quote from a conversation we had earlier this year, I knew he had initially had a lot of sleepless nights,so I asked him how he was doing,he said,

   "I sleep more than I used to...from sheer exhaustion. But I haven't had a night yet where I don't wake up often and pray for them and go back to sleep.

But I'm so tired all the time now that I could lay down and take a nap at any time. I yawn all day. I'm just worn out.

I'd honestly just rather die and get it overwith. But I'm still breathing, so on I go."

   WE all know that Jeff has suffered much, I picture him as Jacob who wrestled with God and prevailed but always walked with a limp thereafter. When Jeff was here on his last visit must have been summer of 2010, I noticed that he seemed to be struggling with God, He seemed almost cynical like maybe he was giving up on God's goodness.Who can blame him for that, we all would have struggled in his situation. I remember then begging God to help him through and to help him keep his faith. Then I didn't hear from him for awhile until the beginning of this year we joined facebook and while I was still learning the ropes, one day up pops this little message box with a message from Jeff and I discovered this wonderful, beautiful world of private messaging on facebook. I treasure that avenue now that brought us back in touch with each other. I noticed a difference in Jeff right away. He had a settled peace about him and a restoration to his former faith in Amighty God.More of a resignation but a love for the LORD and a peace that passes understanding. So beautiful. I recognized it as the attitude of one who has gone through great trials and has wrestled with God and said AMEN LORD. and received from God the love that comes from allowing God to be Lord of your life.Like I said before he walked with a limp but like Jacob he worshiped God leaning on his staff.

  So what is Jeff feeling today?I know he has feelings because the part of us that feels like us never dies.I read lots of stories about people that died and then were sent back again, most of them didn't even make it inside the gates and they describe...well really they can't, there are just no earthly words to describe heaven. So what is Jeff feeling? I think indescribable peace and rest like he hasn't known for a long time. I think he was first met on the very outskirts of heaven by all the relatives that he knew here on earth that got there before he did. I think he recognized them all and they were so happy he came. They probably danced and sang. I wonder if he remembers the song ON THE FAR BANKS OF JORDAN. If he thinks at all about the ones left behind here he's probably singing that song. I'm sure he has a guitar and maybe even some new instrument that none of us can even imagine. But I am certain the Jesus will put him in the music department of Heaven. I think he has a crowd of kids around him and his heart is healed from all the times he longed for his own here on earth and he missed out being with them.

  I think that when he met Jesus there he was on his face praising God for all the times he carried him through and for a life set free. I believe that Jesus raised him up and wrapped his arms around him and said," WELL DONE, my Good and faithful servant, enter though into the joy of thy Lord"and that is where he is now. enjoying his environment. I think that perhaps God still lets him fly too. without any need to worry about crashing ever again. I like to imagine how the initial flight to heaven was too. Just think what it would be like to soar beyond the Milky Way.

   These are my thoughts....Till we meet again dear cousin. I never thought I would actually be doing this ...I thought you would live to be old, I thought your family would come back. I believed they would. But I was wrong. Till we meet again my friend, I miss you here. I still see your name on Facebook and that green light that means your on chat that will never turn green again. I will miss your music videos that you will never do more of. Thank God for the ones we still have. I will watch them and cry and laugh. I will cry over I WON"T HAVE TO WORRY WHEN I REACH THE OTHER SIDE, and laugh over IF MY NOSE WAS RUNNING MONEY, and enjoy all the others in between. You were one of a kind and can never be replaced. I want to turn you over to God, you belong there, but I will never have to release your memory....and when my time comes it will be a joy to see you in the welcoming party. And then I want to see JESUS.

God's light in the heart

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
And in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord                                    
More than those who watch for the morning—
Yes, more than those who watch for the morning.   Psalm 130:5-6         

 
    God is Light. God is a Sun. Paul says:
“God hath shined in our hearts to give the
light.” What light? “The light of the glory of
God, in the face of Jesus Christ.” Just as the
sun shines its beautiful, life-giving light on and
into our earth, so God shines into our hearts the
light of His glory, of His love, in Christ His Son.
Our heart is meant to have that light filling and
gladdening it all the day. It can have it, because
God is our sun, and it is written, “Thy sun shall
no more go down for ever.” God’s love shines
on us without ceasing.
But can we indeed enjoy it all the day? We
can. And how can we? Let nature give us the
answer. Those beautiful trees and flowers, with
all this green grass, what do they do to keep the
sun shining on them? They do nothing; they
simply bask in the sunshine, when it comes.
The sun is millions of miles away, but over all
that distance it sends its own light and joy; and
the tiniest flower that lifts its little head upwards
is met by the same exuberance of light and blessing
as flood the widest landscape. We have not have to provide
 for the light we need for our day’s work;
the sun cares, and provides and shines the light
around us all the day. We simply count upon it,
and receive it, and enjoy it.
The only difference between nature and
grace is this, that what the trees and the flowers
do unconsciously, as they drink in the blessing
of the light, is to be with us a voluntary and a
loving acceptance. Faith, simple faith in God’s
word and love, is to be the opening of the eyes,
the opening of the heart, to receive and enjoy
the unspeakable glory of His grace. And even as
the trees, day by day, and month by month,
stand and grow into beauty and fruitfulness, just
welcoming whatever sunshine the sun may give,
so it is the very highest exercise of our Christian
life just to abide in the light of God, and let it,
and let Him, fill us with the life and the brightness
it brings.
And if you ask, But can it really be, that
even as naturally and heartily as I recognize and
rejoice in the beauty of a bright sunny morning,
I can rejoice in God’s light all the day? It can,
indeed. From my breakfast-table I look out on
a beautiful valley, with trees and vineyards and
mountains. In our spring and autumn months
the light in the morning is exquisite, and almost
involuntarily we say, How beautiful! And the
question comes, Is it only the light of the sun
that is to bring such continual beauty and joy?
And is there no provision for the light of God
being just as much an unceasing source of joy
and gladness? There is, indeed, if the soul will
but be still and wait on Him, ONLY LET GOD
SHINE.                                                           
 ~From Andrew Murray, Waiting on God, ch.16

 





Faith is the key, that opens up the treasure chest of God's riches. If only we would use that key more often!