A Father's Christmas

As a father I went into this Christmas season hoping to do something more meaning than past years for our family.  Sue and I had planned to get the usual amount of gifts for our children and do all the typical traditions that we as a family always enjoy but I wanted to add another level of spirituality to our Christmas this year.

I prayed about it and spent quite a bit of brain power trying to come up with something but as I got ready to read the Christmas passage on Christmas morning I had less to offer then Linus from the Peanuts cartoon. 

So I read Luke 2 aloud like every other Christmas morning and when I was done I set down my Bible and started to others for their reflections on the Christmas Story. 

I didn't know what to expect by opening the topic up to the group.  Although there isn't a sinigular correct answer but there are some wrong answers to the question "how does the Christmas story impact you?" 

Our youngest daughter, Sara, was first in line to answer the question.  She quickly and without reservation said that this year the truth of Christmas had taken on extra meaning for her.  She said her 8th grade Bible class went over the story in great detail and that the study had made it seem more real.  "It wasn't just the same old story." 

Wow.  Once again I was learning from a 14 year girl.  I was overjoyed.  My prayers had been answered.  The Chapin family was going to add another level of spirituality to our Christmas this year.

But we weren't done yet. 

Grab the Kleenex.  

I still had 2 more children left to share. 

Next up was Anne, our oldest daughter.  She said she always found Mary to be the most interesting.  "Mary is a girl about my age and here she is the this strange situation." 

I thought to myself this is getting better and better.  My young daughter linking with the young girl in the story.  We had from 2 of the 3 children and both had moved me. 

The last of my children to share was our son, Mike.  He quickly added that the part of the story that stood out most to him was Joseph. Mike expressed how hard it must have been for Joseph to do the right thing in such a tough spot.  Joseph could have just walked away from Mary but that was wrong.  Once again I was moved by the power of God. 

My 16 year old son was relating to the part of the story about what it meant to be a true man. 

I was now just sitting there shaking my head.  I couldn't believe it.  My three children had all just shared from their hearts and in the process expanded the Christmas story for everybody in the room.  Plus they relayed their stories to me in a way that blew me away.  Each had selected from themselves that exact lesson I would have wanted them to learn.  (If I used the word proud I would tell you right now about how proud I am of our children.  Look back a couple of blogs to "A Group of Lions" to see way I don't say proud.)

Emmanuel added his reflections on the wiseman from the east and Sue pointed out how well the whole story fit together but I was the reflections of our three children that had impacted me the most. My prayers had been answered.  Not just my immediate prayer of adding another level of spirituality but my parenthood long prayer of raising children that sought after God. 

We continued to have a great conversation about the Christmas Story and how it impacted all of us and discussed it from many different angles but it was our children's opening statements that carried the day. 

I got some really great gifts from a lot of different people.  But the 15 minutes after breakfast were better then the sweaters, books, shoes, ties, luggage and other things all added together. 

I close this blog with the same comment that I used to close the conversation on Christmas morning.  My favorite part about the Christmas Story is that it is just the beginning.  Christmas leads to Easter morning.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas.  Hopefully everybody will have the chance to celebrate Christmas with family and friends as well as have a chance to celebrate the birth of Jesus. 

Over the holiday I hope you also have the chance to attend a church service that puts the entire season into the proper perspective. 

A Group of Lions

A bunch of dogs is a pack.  Same with wolves.  Cattle and bison come in herds.  Fish swim is schools.  Ants like the Americans of the 1700's live in colonies. When we talk about the troops we are usually talking people that serve in the armed forces and not about a collection of baboons.  It is a  flock of birds and a Swarm of bees.  The Cornhuskers are better at football then the Jackrabbits but that likely has nothing to do with why a group of Jackrabbits is called a husk.  Some things in life are considered a labour of love but few can claim to love group of moles.  I am seldom sick.but if I ever tell you I have fever you can assume I'm not talking about more then one stingray. 

Let face it the English language for some reason has a variety of names for a group of animals depending on what animal the group consists of but enough talk of dogs, moles, ants, stingrays and baboons.  The word for today is pride and again I am not talking about lions.

A while ago a friend of mine and a former co worker of mine, Bruce Kaihoi did what I considered to extensive research on the subject of pride.  Bruce and I had been at a meeting earlier where the subject of pride had come up several times.  That meeting prompted Bruce to find out what the Bible said about the subject of pride.

As background information let me tell you about what Bruce came to see as the two sides of pride.  The positive side.  We are all familiar with the concept of being proud of your children or taking pride in your work.  They are both very positive ideas.  Nobody thinks negatively of somebody that says "I take great pride in what others think of me."

Although at the same the words pride and proud have a negative side to them.  A side very few of us like to see others reveal to us.  Pride is often tied to stubbornness.  The concept of a proud and stubborn man that is set in his ways isn't one very many people deal with.  How about a person that is so proud they won't apologize for something they have done?  Would you like them over for dinner.  We have all heard that "pride comes before the fall."  Not really a positive thought is it. In this context humble is good and proud is bad.

So Bruce, who would go on to become a pastor later in life, set out to find out what the Bible had to say about pride.  He took notes and shared them with me.  There is no shortage of references and if you want to look for yourself try these Biblical references as a sample.  Habakkuk 2:4, James 4:6, Daniel 5:20, Jeremiah 48:29, Isaiah 13:11, Luke 1:51, Philippians 1:26, 1 Samuel 2:3, plus many times in Proverbs and Psalms.  The theme is consistent.  Pride is bad.  Best summed up by Proverbs 16:5 "Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished."  When the focus is on you (man) the Bible condemns pride.  There are dozens of cases.

There are few times that pride is shown in a positive light in the Bible such as in 2 Corinthians 1:14 when Paul says "just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as yo also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus."  When you read the verse in it's entire context you see the reference is to God.  The focus is God.   

Are you now thinking so what is your point?

My point is that pride often focuses on man and the Bible teaches that focusing on man isn't Godly.  I have taken that to such an extreme that I have taken the word out of my vocabulary.  It is very hard.  Often I want to tell my kids "I am proud of you" but I don't.  I have to find a different way to say the same thing.  I have to say things like "I am impressed with the way you have chosen to live your life."

I am not suggesting that everybody take the word out of their vocabulary.  That is up to you and perhaps pride isn't a very big stumbling block for you.  Pride is a stumbling block for me so I have taken this extreme step.

I would suggest everybody study what the Bible has to say on the subject.  Bruce's study has had a dynamic impact on my life.  I hope it has made me more God focused and less man focused.  Bruces' lesson is always in the back of my mind and for that I am forever thankful.

So when I am talking about pride it means one of two things, a group of lions or the opposite of being humble. 

If you want to look up more animal names you can check out. http://www.hintsandthings.co.uk/kennel/collectives.htm .  Good Luck.

Regrets, Joys and a Hope for the Future

Tradition has it that in addition to celebrating the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years holidays during this time of year typically brings a time of reflection on the year that has been.  That time of reflection usually brings me three emotions. 

1. Regrets or sadness.  When looking back over a year's time I always think of somethings that I wish had gone differently, the loss of loved ones or the end of some phase of life. (Saying some that hurt another person, not spending time with a certain person or a children moving away.)
2. Joy and happiness.  When looking back over a year's time I always think of things that went well and things that I am thankful for in life. (Baseball season, a promotion at work, my wife or a new bike.)
3. Hope for the future.  When I look back I think of how I would like to either improve a phase of life or perhaps something I would like to do again because I found it to be a success in the past.  (Reading more books, learning to cook better or going to more of my kids events.)

The third element is really goal setting. 

Tradition has it that we make "New Year Resolutions."  Some people embrace this process and do it faithfully every year.  They are committed to self improvement and are committed to having a plan for the future.

Other people dread the idea of a system that only seems to be set up for failure.

Television, radio and Internet advertising for weight loss, quiting smoking and other life changing programs come at us full force.  I personally am not sure what I hate more New Year ads that make me feel guilty about how I live my life or political ads that make me want to vote for none of the above.  (The answer: neither, what I hate the most is trying to watch sports while every other minute I have to watch a middle age couple dance in the kitchen, hold hands while jumping off the deck or sit in matching bath tubes).

I am neutral on the idea of New Year's resolutions.  If you want to lose weight or quit smoking there is no time like today or April 17 or August 3 or November 19.  The sooner you end what you consider a bad lifestyle choice the better.  Waiting for a magic date is only going to hurt you. 

But I do like the idea of goal setting.  The start of the year is the perfect time for that.  It gives you a good time frame to measure your progress.  For example if you want to save money and establish a rainy day fund, New Years is the perfect time.  You can establish that by next year at this time I want to have $2,500 in savings.  Then go about your year knowing that at the end of each month you will need to raise the total by about $200. 

If you have a project that needs to be done around the house but can't be started until summer time now is the time to set the goal.  Then you can make sure you don't comment yourself to something that interferes with that goal.  If you wait for late spring to set a goal for a summer project you might have over committed your.

(Remember you are in control of your goals and not vis versa.  If you get to late spring and you want to change your mind you should.  It is your life.  But if you set the goal you will have the flexibility to change it later.  If you don't have a goal you likely will have gotten yourself into to so many things you will have no freedom to change.)

You might be wondering why I am writing this at the beginning of December and not at New Year's time.  My reasons are simple. 

• It is a process that deserves a lot of time for reflection and the sooner you start the better you will do at having goals that matter to you.  The more your goals matter to you the more likely you are to accomplish them. 
• It is a process that should be thought out.  So give yourself about a month to let ideas run into and out of your head. 
• Finally goal setting should be influenced by a wide look at life.  Typically the Thanksgiving and Christmas season gives you a lot of time with your family and exploring/practicing your faith.  Both of those items should have a strong influence on where your future priorities lie. 

After you have set your personal and family goals it would be a great time to set some goals for you work life.  If you work at Willmar Electric it is require of you to have a daily goal.  Most positions at Willmar Electric also require annual goals.

And the bottom line is establishing goals really is just making sure your priorities are in line with the life you think you should be living.

Good Luck.

A tale of two years

Oh, what could  have been.  The year is 2012 and  in January I thought it was going to be glorious.  I love numbers and 2012 is a great number.  It is divisible by 4, it adds up to 5 and those are to of my favorite numbers.  Plus we were leaving 2011 which is such a bad number.  I realize that it adds up to 4 but that is were it's goodness ends.  2011 is an odd number and may even be prime for all I know (I might like numbers but I am not such a math geek that I would know that travail fact!).

It is an election year and I love politics.  But I don't plan to dwell on that topic.

If I was Charles Dickens I would have started this blog by saying 2012 it was the best of times, 2012 it was the worst of times. But if you have ever had the patience to read anything that I have blogged in the past you understand that I am not Charles Dickens.

Let me give you a list of things.

• Refrigerator
• Washing Machine
• Dryer
• Water Softener
• Hot Water Heater
• Three extra days in Manhattan
• Basement flood due to broken sump pump.
• Car Tires
• Pool motor

That is the list, off the top of my head, of things that broke down within the Chapin family's 2012.  Depressing to say the least.  It seems every couple of weeks we were hit with a major financial punch.

Yep.  It was the driest summer in the recorded history of Lincoln Nebraska and we had water damage in the basement of a house that sits at the highest point in town!  All because it rained hard one day and the sump pump didn't work.

The silver lining?  In 2011 our microwave oven and dishwasher had to be replaced so the only appliance in the entire house left to be replaced is the oven.

By now you must be wondering why I am writing and why you are reading this downer of a blog.  Let me explain.

I am writing and reviewing this list of bad news because it was recently thanksgiving and that is a traditional time to reflect on what I am thankful for.  This year while reflecting I thought about

• My wonderful wife and children.
• My extended family and in laws.
• The people I get to work with.
• A turn around in the economy of Willmar Electric.
• The chance to live in the greatest country in the world
• The chance to add  two foreign exchange students, Nathalie (Norway) and Emmanuel (Ghana), to our family.
• The chance to coach baseball this past summer.

The longer I thought the more the blessing in my life continued to pile up in my mind.  It left me humbled.  It left me thinking even with all the things that have gone wrong in 2012 within my house and the world at large I am still thankful for so much in life. Praise the Lord!

I hope you can reflect on your life and find the positive things to dwell on.  It is more fun than thinking about broken appliances.   And when you are done remember to praise the Lord. 

Starting Over and Loving it

As many of you may know my Dad has started a second career.  Attached is a link to an article written by his hometown newspaper.

http://mobile.wctrib.com/page/article/id/100142/

Learning from Our Past

Every week i get a leadership e-mail from Author and friend Randy Grouk.  This week's e-mail was very short.  The heart of his message was taken from others and I am to follow Randy's lead and past on some wisdom from Past Presidents.  Given the fact that we just went through an election I thought it was appropriate to pass along at this time.

"Well done is better than well said". - John Adams

"Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today". - Abraham Lincoln

 "If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person. It's how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit". - Bill Clinton

"There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets the credit". - Ronald Reagan

 "Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future". -JFK

 "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are". -Theodore Roosevelt

"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal. Nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude".  - Thomas Jefferson

I would add one of my favorite quotes to the list.

"Those that fail to learn from history, are doomed to repeat it" Winston Churchill ( He wasn't an American President but since I love the quote I am going to add a bonus from a Prime Minster of Great Britain.)

Voting is very important but it isn't enough.  If you want to make a difference in the world you need to be involved in the lives of the people around you.  

God is the strongest force in Nature.

It is hard to know where to even begin.  Many people's reactions to hearing that our family spent a long weekend in New York while hurricane Sandy hit the east coast was "I can't wait to read about it in your Christmas letter.

Are you kidding me?  Don't they have something more in their lives?  Do they really think I can remember the events of October when it comes time to write a Christmas letter?

So this blog is to recap the events of the Chapin family from October26-November 1, 2012.  I will warn you in advance that this is an extremely long blog.  In fact if you are an elementary student it is likely that if you tell your teacher that you read this blog in its entirety you will get a certificate for a free personal pan pizza. 

I would also like to point out that I am an avid follower of Garage Logic.  That simple fact prohibits me from journaling.

The story ends with a wonderful story of Christian love.

Friday October 26 -Day 1-"the set-up"

First let me explain who is on the trip with us and why we are taking it.

Sue, my beautiful wife, is perfect in nearly every way.  I live my life to please her.

Anne, my oldest daughter, is a college freshman minus one.  Most people would call her a high school senior and although calling her a senior would be accurate it ties her to high school rather than college. 

Mike, my son, plays football.  The first game of the playoffs was the night before this started.  Other than Mike I was the only person in the family to go to his game in Columbus, NE.  We got home at midnight.  We woke up 4 hours later to make our flight out of town.  They won the game.  Many people thought we would leave Mike home so he wouldn't miss practice.  Those people don't understand the Chapin's.  Besides we had told the coach about the trip before the season and he would be back for the game.

(A friend of mine, Jon Day, once said while he was in high school his family made the exact same decision about football vs. a family event.  Jon's Dad told him, "Jon five years from now what is going to mean more to you, a football game or this trip."  Jon went on the trip.  His Dad died a few years later and Jon says he never regretted the time with his Dad!)

Sara, my youngest daughter, is a great communicator.  By the end of this trip it would be vital to everybody in our traveling party.

Emmanuel is a foreign exchange student that is living with us this year.  He is from Ghana.  He lives near the western coast of Africa.

Nathalie is a foreign exchange student that lived with us last year.  She is from Norway.  She lives near the Gulf of Oslo.  Despite her Norwegian heritage we decided to like her.  No really we did.  She is a real live Norwegian but we like her!!

Peter and Berit Van Walraven are Nathalie’s parents.  Peter is from Holland.  Berit is from Norway.  We were already good with the Dutch and Nathalie had already broken the ice by letting us know that Norwegians can be o.k. so we were excited to meet them.

The reason for the trip was to see Nathalie again and meet her parents. Plus none of our kids had really been to New York and we thought it would be a unique part of the good ol' USA to show Emmanuel.  Sue set a side her dislike for the "city that never sleeps" and I allowed myself to be surrounded by Yankee fans in order to make the trip possible.

We got on the plane in Lincoln, switched planes in Chicago after proving to United that my family was in fact my family and landed in Newark, NJ.  "A swamp to treasure."  Not sure that is the city slogan but it sounds better than "Don't look out your window because it will gross you out" or "Yeah, it looks like a dump but it's not."  Maybe even "who cares how we look after seeing us, when you get to NYC you'll think it is cleeeeeaaannn."

We dropped our bags off at the Hilton Garden Inn on 28th street between 7th and 8th avenues.

We started our adventure in the Big Apple by heading out for a bite to eat. 

The plan was to meet the Van Walravens at the Empire State Building at 5pm.  Very romantic, we know.  Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are very inspirational.

My Co-worker Tyler Brown had been to New York earlier this year to take a "Hot Dog Tour"  and had give us his list of top 12 places.  One of the favorites on the list was The Shake Shack.  It can be found in Madison Square Park. The line was very long but because the weather was an overcast mid-60s we figured it would be a great way to start our trip.  It was.  Everybody loved their food.  My meal started out slowly. A confusing menu left with a burger that included two patties, lettuce, tomato and shack sauce.  The problem was one patty was 100% pure beef the other patty was 100% something else.  I am not sure what it was but it is possible that I ate part of a veggie burger before I could isolate the foreign substance and finish my burger.

When the time came to meet Nathalie and her family things went without a hitch.  Peter and Berit are exactly like Nathalie and we were glad to have 2 new friends.

This is flawless trip.

Diner at the Brooklyn Diner in Times Square and our long but enjoyable day was over.  We said good bye to the Van Walravens and headed 14 blocks back to the hotel.

We stopped by a couple of shops on our way home and everybody bought a few new things. We had extra room in the suitcases and the clothes would be nice when we got back to Nebraska.

Saturday October 27-Day 2

The Chapin's plan was to get on a double decker bus and see the sights of NYC.  We choose the downtown loop for our first day because the forecast was better for Saturday than Sunday.

It was cloudy, highs in the 50s and calm, very calm.  The wait for the tour was long but it was fun to stand and relax with each other.  Regardless of how it might appear to outsiders the Dave Chapin family doesn't take a lot of time to just relax with each other without some activity going on.  So far this trip was providing us with lots of time relaxing together without scheduled activities and none of us was complaining about it.

We toured the sites of what the locals call downtown, midtown, or lower Manhattan.  We saw The Garden, the Empire State Building, Wall Street, Ground Zero, construction on One World Trade Center, Battery Park, the United Nations, Hospital row and Rockefeller Center.  We walked on the Brooklyn Bridge, took a ferry to Ellis Island and the Statute of Liberty, and walked the streets of near the tip of Manhattan.  We took in all the sites. 

We ended the night looking for pizza.  Our tour guide had told Sue that the best pizza near Times Square was John’s Pizzeria.  So we walked from Rockefeller Center over to 44^th and 8^th avenue.  The tour guide had given us great advice.  Four out of five Chapins preferred John’s Pizzeria to Jake’s Pizza.  Thats right four out of five thought it was better.  As far as we are concerned the great debate is over.  New York has better pizza then Chicago!!!  I have re-read that paragraph to make sure I didn’t misrepresent anything.  It seems so controversial I don’t want you to think I missed typed anything.

To review, John’s better than Jake’s.

We were having a great vacation.  The weather was calm but cloudy.  New York was dirty.  It made us want to shower.

During the time leading up to the trip and during the trip we kept an eye on the weather.  A hurricane named Sandy was heading toward the Mid-Atlantic and New England and a another storm was heading toward New England from the Northeast. 

The news people were starting to give us a couple more wrinkles.  High tide was set to hit the Big Apple at around 8:21pm on Monday and it was going to be a full moon making high tide even higher.

Because of all of our walking and touring we had a very good idea what the lay of the land was in lower Manhattan.  And since I am a little weird I was trying to make sure everybody in the group was learning the geography of NYC.  (When you drive through Iowa with me on I-80 I expect you to know what the four Quad Cities are, bonus points if you get them in the correct states.)  So during the trip I was quizzing people on what the five boroughs are and where each is located.  I realize it might seem strange.  I would suggest you don’t go on vacation with me.

This little quirk was about to come in handy.

When we got back to the hotel on Saturday night I got notified that our flight Monday night was cancelled.  Time for a new plan.

I spent my time from 10pm until 1am holding on United’s 800 number.  The website wasn’t allowing people to access their accounts.  Apparently I wasn’t the only person worried about getting home.

Sunday, October 28-Day 3- Batten down the hatches.

Up at 7am and back on the phone.  Still holding.

I send the family out on the Uptown tour.  The tour includes a lot of museums.  The kids are excited to see the Van Walravens again and to go the Museum of Natural Science and History.  The Museum of Natural Science and History served as the model for the movie “Night at the Museum.”  Anne the art student was looking forward to going to the Metropolitan Art Museum (The Met).  I was looking forward to going to a museum with an artist.  Maybe she could explain things to me. 

The tour also included a stop at The Dakota apartments and Strawberry Fields.  They are John Lennon’s last home and a tribute to him in Central Park. 

I love the Beatles.  My love for the Beatles got to be so big that I can remember where I was when I got the news John Lennon had died (Todd Norsten’s birthday party) and my sister, Nancy, made me a cake for Lennon’s 45^th birthday.  Hopefully she does the same thing when I turn 45.

While they toured Uptown I waited on hold for a while and finally decided to pack my bags and head to the airport to see if I could talk to somebody.   Maybe I could find a way out before the storm hit.

Some people think I travel a lot.  To humor them I have every travel tool known to man.  I have Airport Zoom, Tripit, Red Carpet Memberships, and more.  I can tell you where nearly every commercial plane in America is at any given time.  I am able to walk to the front of nearly every line United has to offer.   But still I was getting nowhere.

It is a 6 block walk to Penn Station from our hotel followed by 30 minute trip to Liberty Airport in Newark, NJ.  If you go on Sunday morning you get to ride with several hundred Jets fans.  J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets.  I couldn’t care less who your miserable team plays at QB.  I just want to return to Nebraska.  Turns out I would have a better day then them.  They lost 30-9 to the Dolphins. 

I found a line to wait in.  No Premier Access line.  At this point I didn’t care.  I just wanted the chance that I could talk to somebody.  After waiting in line for about 30 minutes they took 50 of us from the back of the line to a different part of the airport.  At the front of the line was a single agent. 

I wondered how long it would take for that one agent to help every in line out.  As I waited people piled into line behind me many of them thinking that their problem was bigger than the people in front of them.  Nobody got punched but it was close a few times.  

I was in line near a lady from South America and a Swedish family.  They all seemed to be stressed out.  The couple in front of my new South American friend was from Newfoundland.  I suggested they get a car.  The lady in front of them was going to Cleveland and she took my advance.  I should have rented a van with her, gone back to Manhattan and picked up my family and made a break for it.   I didn’t but at least there was one less person in line in front of me.

As time passed by more agents showed up to help us but nobody was getting helped.  The process was to move from the front of the line toward an agent and then watch them hold a phone to their ear.  After 30 minutes finally somebody had been helped.  We had no idea how or if they had actually been helped but at least everybody in line was one person closer to standing by an agent.  Many people decided to join my new Cleveland bound friend by leaving the line. 

I doubted that the guy from London was going to hit the guy from Italy but wasn’t 100% sure.  He probably held back because he was with his elderly dad and the Italian had 3 friends with him.  Part of me wanted the Londoner to him to go after him because I wouldn’t mind punching that Italian dude.  I start to long for standing among Jets fans.  Sad but true.

Now it was time for the Chinese guy to move to the head of the line.  We was trying to go to Beijing and there was a flight is leaving for Beijing in minutes.  It worked. He got a ticket.  Victory for all of us.  Somebody was actually going home.  Yes he budged in front of 200 people but it was a sign that you could stand and line and have a positive solution. 

When I got to the head of the line I was given 6 tickets home on Wednesday.  While almost home,  we had a direct flight to Omaha.  My car was in Lincoln but I would figure that out later.  I had tried  to get a flight anywhere outside of New York but no luck.  The planes for Sunday were full and the airport was closing Monday and Tuesday.    Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Buffalo, Boston, Columbus and more, they were all booked.

I went to check on getting a car and driving home.  The only rental car company willing to do a one way rental was Avis.  But like I said Anne wants to go to college so I couldn’t afford what they were asking.

My four hours at Liberty were over.   It appeared that we would be heading home on Wednesday night.  Mike was going to miss his playoff game.   

After a train ride back to Manhattan and 3 different subway connections I met up with the group late in the afternoon at the Met.  They were done with the museum.  I was crashed to not be able to see the museum with Anne.  I thought it was going to be like taking Mike to a baseball game.  Maybe another time.

(My time in the subway gave me some time to reflect and watch the rats run around the on the tracks.  You hear the jokes about rats in NYC but now I was able to watch they eat on the tracks.  I thought good luck tomorrow rats.  (They say the Big Apple has 2.5 rats for every person.))

Sara wanted to go back to the hotel.  It was 4pm.  The subway was closing at 7pm.  Everybody that didn’t live in Manhattan had to be out of Manhattan and into their homes by then.  The stores where closing all around us.  It looked like we would get 48 hours of hotel life.  I wasn’t going back to the hotel until 6:59pm. 

It was still calm and cloudy.

We went on a walk in Central Park.  It was beautiful.  We did have to hop a wall to get into one area.  While Sara and I argued about whether or not it was the right thing to do Sue and Nathalie jumped the wall.  The rest of the family followed.  Finally as she stood alone on her side of wall, Sara joined us.  I was impressed.  In my youth I would have walked the other way letting my family wonder what is that guy doing.

It was starting to get windy.  The land fall of Sandy was about 24 hours away.

Mike said the air had an apocalyptic feel.  It sure did.  Mike’s description was perfect.

We found a place at about 56^th and 7^th Avenue to eat.  It was next door to the Carnegie Deli.  Not sure we decided to eat next door to a world famous deli but we did.  I was exhausted from my stressful day so I went along with this crazy decision.  When I take Anne back to the Met we can eat at the Carnegie Deli.

Within about 17 hours a crane hanging about 300 feet away would fold over in the wind.  It wouldn’t be the last time we would watch the news and notice destruction at a spot where we had just visited.

We walked 2.5 miles back to the hotel.  As we walked we watched stores board up and sandbag their doors. 

We bought some overpriced groceries.  Luckily we had purchased some clothes on day one.  Strict obedience to my “bring extra underwear traveling” rules meant everybody should have the clothes needed to cover the rest of the trip. 

Monday October 29 –Day 4 – Hold on tight

It never rained very hard.  It was what I would call a heavy mist.  I think it might be because the high winds and tall buildings.  It must break the rain into smaller drops. 

The Van Walravens moved to our hotel.  It was cheaper and if we were going to be stuck in a hotel we might just as well be with friends

We watched the news and went on a lot of walks.  We walked the 3 miles to Times Square and back at least once every day.  It was really the only thing to do.  We notice a few local businesses were still open.  Chains of any kind were closed but I would guess about 1/3 of the locals stayed open.   Sue had already taunted by saying “if it gets really bad we can go to the McDonalds across the street.”   Like all other chains, McDonalds closed and spared the world from the headline “Nebraska man dies of starvation while family dines at McDonalds.”

At a news conference that afternoon the CEO of ConEd told us they were considering shutting off power as a presumptive measure in the lower parts of Manhattan.  We wondered just how close we were to that magical line.  We live the rest of the day as if our power was going to go out at high tide.

We had dinner out at another of Tyler Brown’s hot dog places.  The longer we went without getting into our food the better off we would be.  It seemed like we were on Survivor doling out rice rations.

The rain continued and the winds started to pick up.  The windows started to rattle and hum.  (It made me want to listen to U2).

One of the things we bought as part of our hurricane survival kit was a deck of cards.  We taught the kids how to pay pitch.  Emmanuel taught us a card game from Ghana.  Sue taught Emmanuel how to play crazy eights.

High tide came and we still had power.

Mayor Bloomberg come on TV and told us that “everything below 34^th street river to river was without power.”  We were at 28^th street and still had power.  The mayor was wrong and Sue exclaimed “praise the Lord, that is answer to prayer.”

We decided to go for a walk at 9pm.  The storm had hit land and we were bored.  So we walked down the stairs from our 14^th story rooms.  We had been told to stay out of the elevators in case the power went out. 

When we got to the lobby we saw Peter Van Walraven.  He said he had just missed getting hit by some sheet metal.   Yet for some reason we continued outside for a walk.

We made it a block before we heard the crash of breaking glass followed quickly by a bullhorn telling everybody to go back inside.   Police were driving up and down the streets patrolling for looters.   Our plan to “play weatherman in a hurricane” was crushed!

We went back to the hotel to play hearts and have a pillow fight.  I won at hearts and Emmanuel seemed to win the pillow fight. 

We went to bed listening to wind.  It felt like Nebraska.

Tuesday October 30 – Day 5- Webcam Time

We woke up and saw all the destruction in the region.  Houses washed away.  Neighborhoods on fire.  People with loved ones missing.  It made me wonder how many of the people directly affected were people that we had come into contact with on our trip.  Jet’s fans from Penn Station, waiters, clerks or fellows tourist in Museums or patrons at the table next to us in restaurants.  How about the guy I sat by on the plane.  What became of him?  These seemingly random people were surely some of the victims of what many were calling the largest natural disaster in our nation’s history.

We were very blessed.  The prayers of many friends and family had been answered.  Praise the Lord.

We had one thing on our schedule the day after Sandy hit.  We had set up with Pete Grothaus to appear on the Time Square Webcam 1pm EDT.  After enjoying the hotels free breakfast buffet for the 4th day in a row we made the walk to Time Square for the 5th day in row.  The walk was 19 blocks; it took us by Madison Square Garden/Penn Station.  It took us by about 12 tourist tee-shirt  and knickknack stores, nearly 50 restaurants and before Sandy we got to enjoy about 63 different smells.  Post Sandy the entire city smelt like wet dog.  In many cases that was an improvement.  Except of course when we walked past the piles of garbage.

(At this point I need to let people that haven’t been to New York City know a couple things about the city.  It is unlike any other city.  Even Chicago doesn’t compare to NYC.  Our hotel was 25 stories tall.  It isn’t noticeable at all within the sky line of the city.  Most buildings in that part of town are taller than 25 stories.  At the end of everyday people bring the garbage out to the street corner to be picked up.  So toward the end of the day bags of garbage start to pile up on the curb.  It reeks with or without a hurricane.)

We made it to Time Square and waved to all our friends back at school, work and our families that could master the webcam.

It was time to go back to the hotel.  When we got there we found out that our plane out of town the next day was cancelled.  Now just like the railroad leaving town, and the subways, all three area airports were going to be closed for the 3^rd day in a row. 

I didn’t know if I should laugh or cry.  I did neither.

We decided after a long conversation that we had to get our hands on a car and get out of the Big Apple no matter what.  United wasn’t making any promises on the airport being open for our Thursday flight home.  Flights home from any airport within driving distance were booked.  (Note: at this point in life I was using 12 hours or less as the radius for driving distance.

Avis assured me that they had a car at their 31^st street office.  A minivan would be there for me at 9am the next morning.

We went to bed wondering if we should hop in the minivan and drive 21 hours to Lincoln or wait for the flight out on Thursday. 

Wednesday October 31– Day 6 – Homeless

Our hotel reservation had been extended by two days and the hotel was booked for Thursday.  If we wanted to stay in the Big Apple another night we would have to find another hotel.  That was proving to be next to impossible. 

I did get a hotel near the Newark Hotel to agree to reserve us a room.  The lady on the phone said they could take a reservation but they didn’t have any power.  I told her I would pass.  I didn’t bother to ask what the rate per night was for a non-electric hotel room in New Jersey.

It appeared like we would need to drive home.  Luckily I had a minivan waiting for me on 31^st, right.

When I got to Avis it was packed full of people.  The lady behind the counter told me that they didn’t have any cars on hand but 20 cars were coming from the airport in 20 minutes.  I figured that wasn’t actually true but decide to wait.  I needed a car and the only chance I had was to try out this ladies story.  I became the 16th person in line.

We waited and waited.  During the wait I learn quite a bit about the people in the room and their hurricane stories.  In addition to me wanted to go to Lincoln we had people hope to make it to Milwaukee, Boston, Washington, South Carolina and many other points.  Everybody just wanted out.

The guy behind had a sister-in-law that had an apartment without power but that was the least of her problems.  Her husband had a stroke and he wasn’t expecting to live through the week.  Again I was struck by how lucky we were.  I don’t know where he was going be he was trying to hire somebody to drive him out of town.

When the man at the front of line said to the lady at the counter that “we realized this must be her worst day on the job ever,” she replied with a “no, one Thanksgiving a man tried to commit suicide over there by strangling himself. “   The man sitting in the suicide chair turned white and nearly passed out. 

Over time people started returning cars and the line started to melt away. 

(I have more Avis stories than any other part of the trip.  I could give you several pages about the girl from North Carolina, The double rental, Mr. Avis, a Chevy Cruze and the lack of toilet paper but I am past the point of running on and on.)

After 3 and a half hours I reach the head of the line.  The Avis lady said “I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee but I think it only seat 5 and you have a party of 6,” I told her “I would check it out and if we didn’t fit I would let her know but I bet it will work.”  She reminded me that “I could get a ticket for putting too many people in the car.  Everybody needs a seat belt. “

I checked out the car.  It had seats for 5 people.  So I took it.

I then got to drive through the streets of Manhattan to pick up my family.  It was a 4 block walk to Avis but due to the one way streets it was a 15 block drive back to the hotel.  By this time Manhattan had three types of intersections.  Ones with stoplights.  Ones with traffic officers and the lights not working.  Ones without traffic officers and the lights not working.  Great I was getting to drive in NYC on what the mayor was calling the worst traffic day ever and many of the intersections were uncontrolled and full of New Yorkers.

I picked up the family and they packed in the Jeep.  Sara announced it was “comfortable enough to drive to Nebraska.”  Anne announced that she “already couldn’t feel her left leg and that she wasn’t willing to drive another 21 hours like this.”

We found the Lincoln Tunnel and we were out of Manhattan.

Mike said “that place is a literal tourist trap.”  We laughed until we cried. 

Wednesday October 31– Day 6.5 – Christian Living

While I was waiting at Avis Sue was making plan B.  She had been able to contact Leo Jalosynski about going to visit his family in Circleville, NY.   Leo is the pastor that married Sue and I.  Circleville, NY is a small village about 2 hours north of NYC.

Leo and his wife Barb told Sue they were happy to help us out.  We drove to their home happy to be free from the chaos of “The City That Never Sleeps. “

(As we drove we notice long lines at the gas stations.  Due to downed trees and power lines this part of the state was without power and now we were seeing that their gas stations were running out of gas.  If a station had gas it also had a line about a mile long.)

In Circleville the Jalosynski had the red carpet rolled out for us. Leo was on a short term mission trip with Sue and I while serving as a youth group leader when he heard the call from God to go into the full time ministry.  The Jalosynskis  have been  24/7 servants of God since then.  The Chapins were given the honor to see that servant attitude in person on October 31, 2012. 

Leo and Barb have three married children and six grandchildren.  All 14 of them stopped everything in their lives to give us a meal, a place to stay and make the 6 of us feel at home.  The out pouring of love and generosity was overwhelming.  It is hard to explain everything to you in writing the only way to explain it to you would be to use a time machine to bring you in their homes.  In a truly Biblical fashion they gave us food, shelter and by providing laundry services they give us the ability to have clean clothes for our trip home.  Wow.

We had clearly left Manhattan.

After all we went through on this trip we were got a lesson in how to live out a Christian witness.  The Jalosynskis simply showed us the Gospel by living it out.  To these humble servants of God we are very grateful.

It was an adventure and if we had the chance to do it all over again we would gladly do it all over again.  The Lord not only blessed us and kept us protected; He also provided several important lessons.

·         Prayer works.

·         The Lord provides.

·         We are called to use the resources he has given us to His glory.

·         Man can build tunnels, bridges and towers but God is in control. 

·         God is the strongest force in Nature.

Going to College doesn't give you a Leg Up.

We saw the "World's Largest Cross" in Effeningham, IL.  (Check it out at http://www.thecross-photo.com/The_Cross_in_Effingham_Illinois.htm)

We drove 2,660 miles in 44 hours, averaging 60.5 MPH, and every miles was into the wind. 

We slept in four states.

We were 250 feet from the National League Championship Series (NLCS) game last Thursday night.  I thought we should have gone inside for the game.  Sue didn't agree.

We saw our son/brother play nearly every down on defense of a high school football district championship game.

We enjoyed the soon to be Super Bowl Champion Viking's victory in person at the soon to be replaced MetroDome.

The view crossing over the Mississippi River from Iowa to Illinois in the Quad Cities was breath taking.  The ride crossing the Missouri River  into Nebraska at Rulo was frightening.

(The view of the Arch entering Missouri was pretty awesome as well.  The view coming and going from Indiana and the view between Minnesota and Iowa and the Iowa/Nebraska crossings were very routine. At least nothing to blog about.) 

But most of all we were inspired by a man named Nick Vujicic.

Mr. Vujicic was born without any legs or arms.  Yep.  He was born without any legs or arms!

We were given the honor of being able to listen to Nick speak as part of my daughter's college visit to Anderson University in Anderson, IN.  He is truly an inspiration to hear from.  Given his life situation you might pity him or wonder how he has coped with such a tragedy.  The truth is he uses his condition to spread the message about how he is not to be pitied and how he rejoices with each new day.  Trust me even rainy days and Mondays don't get this guy down!

It would be hard for me to type out a message that would do justice to his message.  Instead I encourage you to go to http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/and see his story for yourself.  (You can also find him on YouTube,  he has over 275 million hits.)

My daughter's college visit tour was quite the trip and as you can tell we saw a lot but it was what we heard from Nick Vujicic that will have the longest lasting impact. 

List for One, Please

On a recent project visit to a project with only one person and when I asked the Foreman how his planning was going I was told it was "going well."  But when I asked if the Foreman was doing task cards he said "no."

(Some of you might be wondering what a task card is and why it matters if one is filled out.  A task card is used at Willmar Electric to make sure all of the resources needed to do a task are present and ready to go before a task is begun.  A detailed list of all the manpower, information, space considerations, material, equipment and tools (MISMET) that are needed to complete a task are written down on the card.  It also lists out the goal for the task and any safety concerns that might be present during the task.)

Some of you might be wondering why would a project with only one person needs to plan it's work? 

Let me go in another direction for a moment. 

Last week I went to see my Dad at his new job as the School Administrator at Community Christian School in Willmar, MN.  When I walked through the door I notice him writing something on his note pad.  For as long as I can remember my Dad has maintained a note pad with a to-do list.  When he comes up with something that needs to get done but he can't do at that moment he writes it on his list.  When he finishes something from the list he crosses it off the list.  A very simple low tech solution. 

When I notice was are out of something at our house.  The process is pretty simple.  Check the store room to see if we have any more on hand and let my wife know that we need more form the store.  She then adds it to her weekly grocery list. At the Chapin house my wife goes to the store at most once a week but yet we are never out of anything we might need!  (Wants are another question.  We run out of Oreos and other unhealthy things from time to time.  I am sure that has more to do with good judgement.)

When I am working on something at home by myself like replacing a pool pump, fixing the garbage disposal, or installing a screen door nothing is more frustrating then not having everything that I need on hand.  Having the wrong tool, the incorrect size or coming across a missing part leads to another to trip to the garage or, even worse, a trip to the store makes we want to throw the tool in my hand the isn't working correctly at the wall.

I was given an article by a co-worker last week titled "The 10 Commandments of Project Cost Management" and commandment #3 is "thou shalt have a pilot's checklist when approaching a project."  The paragraph goes on to explain that in order to be effective you need a written list.  Keeping a list in your head is never as effective as writing it down.

My Dad could track his to-do list in his head.  But I am sure that anybody that has done things that way or is currently using that method can relate to the process of forgetting something or somebody.

My Wife could track the grocery list in her head or just stroll up and down the aisles buying things as she came across them.  But I sure that anybody that has done things that way can remember getting home only to have it hit them that they forgot something and are now faced with heading back to the store, calling their spouse to see if they can stop at the store or decide they will continue to live without the items they forgot.

I have never meet somebody that thinks keeping track of things in their head is more efficient that writing it down. 

Of course writing it down is better. 

Everybody agrees, right?

Even if it take a little longer the time saved by not having to stop, search and start over, not to mention the time it take to redo something, makes up for the time spent planning. 

Let go back to my project without task cards.

Clearly my examples point out that I think planning is important.  I understand that even if you have read this far you might still be willing to argue that planning isn't worth the effort.  But you can't deny that I, David Chapin, think planning is important. (It's pretty clear what my opinion is!!!)

And in this example I am the boss.  I run the company.  The project gets judged in part on how it does it planning.  I was sent to this project by the Project Leader to grade this Foreman.  He got a failing grade.

Whoops!

I wonder if anybody's supervisor thinks that the employee is too organized?  I doubt it.

I wonder if anybody's supervisor thinks that the employee should skip the planning phase?  I doubt it.

I wonder if anybody's supervisor thinks the people working for them shouldn't write things down?  I doubt it.

I realize that it isn't everybody nature to just naturally write things down or to detailed planning.  But what if I told you your future promotions, raises and status depended on it?  Do you think you would be organized, plan and write things down?  My Dad and Wife do it and they don't even have that big of an incentive. (Clearly I am not in charge of them.)

Do I want more or less?

Last night I watched the debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Paul Ryan.  I found it frustrating and hopefully I never watch a Vice Presidential Debate again.
 

As I watched the debate I noticed that both candidates love to throw out numbers that made their policies seem to be better then other guys.  Often their numbers directly conflicted with each others.  So what is a person to do?

• Give up and get out of politics.
• Research the facts and see which one is correct.
• Use some sort of other factor to pick which guy you like better.  For example use the persons style, mannerism, looks or humor to determine which guy is more honest or trustworthy. 

You can't give up on voting.  Too many people have died to protect that right for you.   

Forget checking the facts and the rhetoric.  If you check them out you will likely find out that nearly all of them are correct but the candidate is just using them to slant your views towards his set of facts.

Using another factor isn't really that reliable.

I would suggest a fourth method. 

My suggestion is that you find out where the person positions are going to take America.  Find out what the person's view on government is.  Let me give you a specific example.  Size of government.

Do you believe the government should get bigger or smaller?

One side Joe Biden clearly thinks the government should help people.  If people are in trouble a government program can get them out of that trouble.  Don't get bogged down in specific programs and actions.  Those issues come and go.  What doesn't change is Biden's approach. 

Next year my daughter is going to college.  College is expensive to pay for.  Joe Biden thinks the government should do something about that. 

On the other side Paul Ryan clearly thinks government is as big as it needs to be and you get the feeling that he would like to shrink it.  He seemed to say if you are on a current program you should be O.K..  But if you want a new program he likely isn't going to help.  I got the impression that might even get rid of some of the current programs.

Next year my daughter is going to college.  College is expensive to pay for.  Paul Ryan wants to lower my taxes so I can afford to pay more.

Obama and Romney's opinions match their running mates opinions. 

During the Kennedy, Reagan and Clinton administrations taxes on all American including the wealthy were cut and the economy grew and revenues went up.  In all cases congress passed the tax cut and the president signed them in to law.  In the case of Reagan and Clinton congress was controlled by the other party. 

So the issue of taxes is secondary to spending.  It is the size of government that matters.  Politicians will continue to play with the rates and the deductions.  Few of us know what our tax rate really is.  But whether or not you you like big government or want a smaller government it is pretty easier to tell the differences between the two sides. 

Don't get me wrong.  Both will try to make it sound complex and make the other guy seem to care less about you but the bottom line is one believes in government solutions and the other doesn't.

If you don't like the issue I choose to use in this comparison them feel free to pick another issue.  You might choose to compare positions federal regulations for land use, education system, gun laws, ag policy or any other issue.  I bet if you stop and think about you can figure out which side Biden is on and which side Ryan is on.  It's not hard really. 

Bottom line.  Don't sweat the details, worry about the big picture.  The issues continually change but the "solutions" or approach never does.

Please vote.

It's Finally Over

This is a very short blog but I just want to point out that today is the final day of what has been a very long regular season in Major League Baseball.  Royals, Twins and Red Sox fans can go back to reading the paper and watching the news without fearing they might see the day's scores.

Hopefully tomorrow brings the end of the Bobby Valentine ear in Boston.  No life lesson this week.  Just the joy of saying good bye to a bad manager.  

Never to Early to Give Praise

Yesterday Tom Osborne announced he was retiring as the Athletic Director at the University of Nebraska.  Tom Osborne is a legend.

Here in Nebraska he has reach the level of sainthood and with good reason.  He is a humble Christian man that has lived his life to serve others and glorify both God.  He deflects praise the people around him rather than taken it for himself.

Around the country he is widely praised and respected.  Anybody that truly knows anything about "T.O." holds him in high esteem. 

So last night's newscast was devoted almost entirely to covering his press conference, recapping his career and quoting former players, coaches and others that know TO.  To a person they give him high marks.  It was a very sappy moment.

While watching all the coverage I said to Sue "I wonder what we will do when he dies.  How much coverage will that merit?" 

I meant no disrespect to "Coach."  As you can tell I think he is a wonderful man.  But our society typically waits for people to die before we heap on this much praise.

I was glad to see the public praise coming at a time when the person was still around to hear it for himself.  By all accounts Dr. Tom is a humble man and doesn't bask in the glow public praise but surely he is better off for having been so wildly praised while he is still alive.

Made me wonder if the same wasn't true of my wife, kids, mother, father, brother, sisters, co-workers, friends and neighbors.  I am sure it does. I doubt it would hurt if I gave out more compliments right in front of them.  My guess even relative strangers like a waiter, store clerk or the postman wouldn't mind a kind word. 

Sweet Job, Bad Economics

Earlier this week Emmanuel Akowauh arrived from Ghana to stay with my family for the school year.  

When talking to him we found out that he likes to eat Corn Flakes for breakfast.  We didn't have any Corn Flakes so that meant a trip to Wal*Mart to buy some. 

Guess what?

When I was at Wal*Mart I found a couple of interesting stories.  (Have you ever gone to Wal*Mart and not come across something interesting?)

The first story that I am going to tell is about a mother and her teen age son.  The exchange was simple, two simple lines.

"Mom, do we need milk?"

"No we have two gallons in the garage fridge."

Like I said pretty simple but it really hit me.  He I was in Wal*Mart and shelves where full of things. and the aisles were full of pallets of even more food ready to be stocked onto the shelves.  What a country.  We have so much.

This family has so much they can't store everything inside and yet they are at the store looking for more! 

The same is true of my family.  Although we don't have a fridge or milk in the garage we do have a freezer that is packed with beef, pizza and much more.  What a country.

Praise the Lord we have so much.

The second story is a little less up lifting.

When it was time to check out I got in line and waited my turn to check out.  While I waited  I noticed a lot of celebrity gossip and that there must be about 4 dozen different types and flavors of gum.  But all of that was interrupted by the following conversation between the clerk and the guy checking out in front of me, who happened to be wearing a shirt that said "Game Stop" on the front of it.

Wal*Mart clerk -"do you work at Games Stop?"

Game Stop-"Yes."

Wal*Mart - "Is it great?"

Game Stop- "It's pretty sweet.  I love it."

Wal*Mart - "Not only do you come in here with a cool game stop shirt but now you are telling me that it is a great place to work and I am working at Wal*Mart!"

Game Stop- "Yea and it is better now that school started."

Wal*Mart - "Why's that?"

Game Stop-" Because now the kids aren't coming in all day."

Wal*Mart - "Oh"

Game Stop- "It will be slow until Christmas. Then it gets busier."

Wal*Mart - "We will all be busy at Christmas."

Game Stop- ""I will have to enjoy the time in between the start of school and Christmas."

I could believe it.  This guy with the "sweet" job was happiest when he didn't have customers! 

Do I need to say it?  Isn't it economics 101 to see the need for customers in providing jobs.  Then it hit me  the same country that has all this wealth that our stores and houses overflow with food and supplies also produces a guy that enjoys not having customers at his place of work.

We live in a great county, lets not take it for granted. God bless America.  Enjoy Labor Day.