What are you looking at?

I bought a shelf today. It was on clearance at Target, but I was intrigued by the fact that it was designed not to hold anything heavy (a/k/a "books" at our house). Scattered around my desk and office are several precious items, and I thought they all needed a special home so I could look at them every day. So, up goes the shelf, right behind my computer screen, along with the six objects that made the cut to be included.

• Teddy Bear - Valentines gift from Linda
• Pillow underneath Teddy Bear - Nick made this, by hand, from an old shirt of mine. It has "Dad" stitched on it
• Glass ball thingy - Christmas gift from Nick this year. It's VERY 70s.
• Little play-do thingy - Nick made this for me when he was five (in Haiti). It's two Pokemon.
• Reindeer - Christmas gift from Becca this year. Its head bobbles all the time
• Wesley statue - Gift from Nazarene World Mission Literature, given to me on earning my D.Min.

The sign behind is a hand-carved plaque (Haitian Mahogany) given to me by the North Central District Assembly of Haiti several years ago. It reads "Les jours donées a Dieu ne sont jamais perdu" (Days given to God are never lost).

If you're wondering why Becca seems a little short-changed, don't worry. I have two pieces of her artwork on my other wall. I'll save those for another day of blogging.

Release the Turtle

Spring is in the air, and it's time for one little guy to return to the wild. We've had the little fellow for over a year now, and he has his own little floating island in our aquarium. The problem is, he's the size now where he's going to start eating the other fish. Woops. Anyway. Just wanted to make sure we had a picture to remember him by!

What's on Linda's Playlist?

Happy Anniversary to US. Where were you 15 years ago? Some of you were in Kansas City, watching us get hitched. I bought Linda 15 songs at iTunes, and here's the playlist she bought with her present.

• "Cinderella" - Steven Chapman
• "You Are Everything" - Matthew West
• "All Because of Jesus" - Fee
• "Everything Glorious" - David Crowder Band
• "There Is a Reason" - Caedmon's Call
• "One Way" - Hillsong United
• "Miracle of the Moment" - Steven Chapman
• "Foreverandever, etc." - David Crowder
• "No One Like You" - David Crowder
• "Every Time I Breathe" - Big Daddy Weave
• "All For the Glory of You" - Mark Harris
• "You'll Never Let Go" - Matt Redman
• "All Over the World" - Matt Redman
• "Beautiful News" - Matt Redman
• "Can't Get Away" - Rush of Fools
• "When Our Hearts Sing" - Rush of Fools

District Quiz Finals ... w00t !!

It's March so it must be time for Children's Bible Quizzing, District Finals. Rebecca successfully defended her title as First Place North Carolina Bible Quizzer. Last year she had the spot all to herself, but this year SIX others tied, everyone one of them with perfect scores (that's 80 questions with no mistakes). Nick ALMOST cracked the top tier, missing just ONE question! Both kids made the district team that will represent North Carolina at the Regional Quiz meet in Atlanta in April! This was a 12-month goal of Nick's, who unashamedly admits that his major motivation for making the team was to get to miss a day of school! Oh well. Christina made the Regional Team for the first time this year. Autumn, Brianna, and Taylor as well as Becca, Nick and Christina all earned the Gold Medallion Memory Work Trophy (20 memory verses!). Cool.
For a quick look at what Children's quizzing looks like, click the video below that.

Milestone for Haiti Nazarene Bible College

It was a landmark day in Haiti today. Lucien Jean-Baptiste was installed as the president of Haiti Nazarene Bible College, the first Haitian to hold that position! GIANT STEP forward for our Haitian Church. Pasteur Jean-Baptiste is a great man, and I know he will do an outstanding job.

Legendary Squirrel #2, caught on camera for the first time!

Becca's next play is "Chronicles of Narnia" by Alamance Children's Theatre. She landed the part of Squirrel #2. Lots of work, but it looks like it's going to be a GREAT show! Becca has one line, but the big event is she gets to punch a rabbit and bite a Zombie!

Groundbreaking in Rowlett

Received word today that our friends in Rowlett, Texas broke ground for their new church building. Levi and Jonathan were associate pastors at PowerLine, and took the challenge to grow a new kind of church the Dallas burbs. Check out the slide show of pictures at their website TheBeaker, and for some more info on the church, click over to www.CatalystRowlett.org. Cool.

PowerKidz help out at Alamance Emergency Shelter

PowerLine church serves dinner once a month at the Alamance Emergency Shelter (also known as the Rescue Mission or Homless shelter). Every month a different department or ministry of the church is responsible for the meal. February is for the Children's department. Pam Goode provided the roast pork, and several others donated the odds and ends (Mashed potatoes, green beans, cokes, etc.). It was great to see seven kids and five adults show up to help out! Thanks everybody!

News from Haiti

Received an email from Corey today with news and pictures of friends from Haiti. They were part of a team that went to the northern town of La Reserve. Looks like someone posted a video of the road up one of the mountains. Ah good times, good times.

The picture is of the District Superintendant, Frantz, and Edwidge. All gentleman that I had the privilege to work with while I was in Haiti.

Thanks Corey!

Cinderella a hit -- Stepsister Shines!

Becca and the rest of the cast of "Cinderella" performed brilliantly today. It was great to have this Imagination Theatre production at PowerLine Church, and it was good to see a big crowd. Becca played the mean-and-clumsy step-sister Grace. She even made it into the two local newspapers. The one shown is the Alamance News, and we thought we would give them an extra plug since they got the kids' names included. The other paper, the Times-News had a great photo, but no names. Ah well.

Congratulations to everyone!

The Perfect Snow Day

So what makes a perfect snow day?

1. A surprise snow storm. No snow in the forecast one Wednesday night. Then heavy, bit fluffly flakes falling! By the time it was finished we had 2" of snow on the ground.

Morning fun time with the family. Kids are out of school and it's only 34 degrees so we head out and built a snow fortress!

Snow goes away. Snow covered yard and road at 9:00a.m. (first picture) was mostly gone by the afternoon (second picture 2:00p.m.).

My favorite part of the family vacation was a stop at the Coca-Cola museum. I could have stayed there for a while. Nick decided he was going to taste all 77 international flavors of soft drinks bottled by the Coca-Cola company around the world! Even the nasty Italian Licorice stuff!

Fernbank Museum - Atlanta

After a quick visit with Grandmommy in Seneca, we made our way to Atlanta and a trip to the Fernbanks Museum. The full-size dinosaur skeletons really put things into perspective. :)

A Night in Tahiti

Becca played the reporter in Imagination Theatre's version of "A Night in Tahiti." One of the highlights was seeing her in disguse as the hostess at Lana's Lucky Luau! Both performances were excellent, and no one ate the hat!

Field of Dreams - Baseball's Over :(

Nick's team finished up the year with a trip to see the Burlington Royals play. Though they ended the season 0-fer, getting to run out on the field with the minor league baseball players for the National Anthem was pretty cool. Nick took his place beside the third baseman.

Back to Idaho

All good things must come to an end. Jason headed home today, back to Nampa, Idaho. His mom called to let us know he arrived safely after flying through Chicago and Las Vegas. I was a little concerned about him having to change planes, so we bought a $15 disposable cell phone. I love this country. Go to Family Dollar. Buy a phone with 20 minutes on it, give it to a 13-year old. He looks like a stud; I feel better knowing he'll be able to get in touch with family. (And when his plane got in 30 minutes early he was able to use it!)

Nick and Jason grew up together in Haiti. These best friends have had two consecutive summer reunions. Last year at the New Mexico Family Camp and this year with Jason's visit with us. Next year? Plans are in the works!

Nick, Jason and the Water Balloon

What do you need to fight summer boredom? A friend and a large water balloon.

ALMOST!

Nick is still waiting on that first Baseball win. Last season, the team went Oh-fer. This year, same story. However, last night's game against Bonefish Grill (arguably the best team in the division) was GREAT! Though the Stingrays lost 12-13, that represents their best offensive output EVAH. Nick scored two runs, stole three bases, notched his second RBI of the season and made two great defensive plays at third base. The team had the lead for most of the game, but the guys were very upbeat since this is the team that drubbed them 22-4 last time they met! WTG!

FLOWERS AND BIRTHDAY

Linda enjoyed fresh cut flowers and a homemade birthday card from the kids. Me? I bought her an MP3 play to use when working out. Another year. May she have dozens more!

Jason by way of Idaho

Last summer, Nick was able to reconnect with his best bud from Haiti (Jason) at the New Mexico Family Camp. This year, Jason joins us in NC for three weeks of summer vacation time. Great kid. Not a picky eater. Sleeps in. PERFECT houseguest!

Graduate Nick

I always thought fifth-grade graduations were kind of silly idea, but now that I have a fifth-grader I can't really say that out loud, can I? Friday was the last day of elementary school for our first-born, so we all dressed up. It turned out to be a very nice ceremony, much to my surprise. Plus, Nick and eight others in the fifth grade were awarded the President's Award for Educational Excellence! woo-hoo! (sorry about the fuzzy picture) Way to go Nick. Next year, it's off to Turrentine Middle School.

Where the Heck is Rowlett

Just got back from a trip out to Rowlett, Texas, which, btw, is over 1,200 miles from Burlington NC. I drove out with my buddy Levi Lowry who's moving out there to start a new church. Rowlett is just east of Dallas, but I didn't get to see much of it. I did, on the other hand get to see the Davises! We spent the night with them in Chattanooga before heading on to Texas.

Things I found out about Levi while on this trip: He can drive 4 hours without stopping; he will go to great lengths to shop at a place called "Becky's;" he has a great new house in Texas!

Becca's Term Project - Haiti

Becca was excited about her last project of the third grade. She got to pick any country in the world and make a report on it. Of course she picked HAITI. She tackled it with gusto. It was fun to see her excited about the project and learning more and more about her favorite place!

And starting at second base...

Nick! Yep, once again the starting second baseman for Alan Vestor Auto Sales Baseball team is our very own Nick Stargel. Moving up with the rest of the team to the Midget league, we have gotten off to a rough start: 0-3 with a total of 7 runs scored. Oh well, there's always the next game. Tonight Nick went down swinging in his only at-bat but did score to assists on the field.

Goodbye boys

This has been a hard month for me as two of my good buddies left town. Levi Lowry and Jonathan Sprang have headed to the Dallas area to plant a church in the Rowlette area. They have been on staff at PowerLine Church ever since we arrived here, and are two of my best buddies. Their leaving makes it a hat trick with Stan Davis being the first to ABANDON US :). Blessings, guys, on this new adventure.

Welcome to the world, Tabitha!

Just got a note from my colleague, Dany Gomis. He is the French editor for the African Region of the Church of the Nazarene. He's now a proud papa x2! Tabitha Alexiane Gomis was born Wednesday, April 25th. According to Dany, "Anelie is doing well and Sarah is a happy and proud elder sister!"

Blessings to all of you guys!

R.I.P Violet 2005-2007

This morning was a sad day at the Stargel house as Linda discovered that Violet, Becca's hamster had passed away. Mixed in with all the getting ready for the day, we had to work in a short funeral service and burial (complete with grave marker) in the front yard flower bed. It brought back painful memories of my own lost pets, including Pooch and Hezekiah. But of course, "from ashes to ashes" right?

Winning the monthly tournament - sort of

Nick won our local YuGiOh tournament (a collectible card game) this month. Well sort of, he actually tied for the win and had to have a one game play-off against Bobby. He lost that too, but in a classy move, Bobby gave him the winning playmat anyway. Very cool.

North Carolina Quizzing Champs!

The PowerKidz came in FIRST PLACE in the district finals for Bible Quizzing. Becca went the entire tournament without missing a single question to score top quizzer honors. Nick did really well and anchored the team so that they got the first place trophy. NEXT STOP: Regionals in Atlanta (April).

Jury Duty - Not

I don't know why, but I' m a bit disappointed. I received a notice that I had been selected for jury duty, but when I called this evening to get my time tomorrow, the recorded voice told me I wasn't needed. I know jury duty is a pain, but having lived in a country where fair trials are a myth, I was actually looking forward to it! Oh well, I guess if I keep voting eventually they'll call again, right?

Evolution of Dance.

Okay, call me weird, but I think this guy is HILARIOUS. Thirty years of dance crazes in six minutes.

SUZANNA SURPRISE. We pulled off a major surpurise for Becca. Her best friend from Haiti came through North Carolina on their way to Kentucky and spent a few days with us. Linda had kept the secret really well for weeks, until just an hour before their arrival when she let a clue slip. Didn't matter though, the Becca and Zanna have spent the weekend catching up on a year's worth of play.

NICK'S FIRST GAME. Although the team came up several runs short of a win, Nick played in his first baseball game in over two years on Tuesday. Starting at second and going 1 for 1 at the plate, he had a good night. We are discovering that he has his mother's competitive spirit!

POWERKIDZ QUIZZING. What a great weekend for our quizzers. The Church team came in fourth in the STATE! We had two quizzers qualify for TEAM NORTH CAROLINA and will compete in Atlanta in April: Ashleigh Haney and our very own BECCA! YAY! We are so proud of our kids and the time and effort they put into Bible Quizzing this year.

FRENCH TRANSLATION COMMITTEE. Just got back from a week in Michigan. We had a great week of translation work. A group coming from all over (US, Canada, Haiti, Switzerland, France, Senegal) worked on the new translations of our Church's Manual, including our articles of faith and covenants of christian character. It was exhausting, starting at 7:30 and finishing at 7:30 everyday, but was well worth it!

UPDATE ON DAD. Some of you know that my father, Paul, has been suffering from Alzheimer's for a few years now. Recently he was hospitalized and we thought we might lose him. He made a great recovery, physically, and he got to come home yesterday. However, Opie (his wife) and the folks at hospice care are looking to place him in a facility. This is a difficult decision, and I thank you in advance for your continued concern and prayers.