Dear Friends,
It’s hard to believe that yet another year is coming to an end. As I reflect upon the past year, I realize just how amazingly blessed we are, and how exciting it’s been to watch God work in our lives.
The biggest news from our family this past year is that God blessed us with a daughter. Olivia Jo Griepenstroh was born on October 27th, weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces. Despite the many challenges that come with having a new baby and two kids, we are very happy to have her and the joy that she brings. Judah has been a great big brother, and he’s very good at being gentle with her. One of our biggest concerns with having another baby was how Judah would adjust, and so far he’s done as good as we could have hoped for.
In addition to adjusting to life as a big brother, Judah learned how to walk in early August. Not only can he walk like a champ now, but he can also run, which means that Lindsay and I find ourselves chasing him all over the place. Judah can also talk a little bit. His widening vocabulary includes bye, see ya, Judah, hi, outside (kind of), num num (when he’s hungry), Dada, night, and he can even make the puppy sound! He loves to go outside whenever we give him the chance, and his favorite toys seem to be the ones that make music. He also likes kicking a football and wrestling around in the living room.
Lindsay is primarily a stay at home mom, but she is also managing a website for a yarn shop in Minneapolis. It’s a great side job for her because it doesn’t demand too much time and she can work on it when Judah and Olivia are taking naps.
The media department at Maranatha continues to grow and reach new heights. My job is to promote Maranatha through the many different forms of media, and God uses that to bring people to camp to hear about Him and/or grow as Christians. Over this past year I’ve grown into my position a little more, and now I am comfortable knowing what needs done and how to do it. Getting to that point has allowed me to think outside the box more and expand on what camp has done before.
Outside of work, I usually stay somewhat busy with wedding videos. This year I did three weddings, and next year I already have two booked. Once again I played flag football in the North Platte city league in the fall and coached Junior High wrestling for Maxwell. I also tried a basketball league, but that was just okay for me. I think it’s pretty obvious that God didn’t create me to play basketball competitively. Getting involved in those things has given me the opportunity to get out into the local communities and meet people outside of camp that I wouldn’t have otherwise met.
We are certain that 2012 will bring just as much as excitement as 2011 did. We’d like to thank those of you who have supported us through prayer or finances over this past year. Without you we wouldn’t be able to keep serving God at Maranatha Bible Camp.
We hope that all of you have a great Holiday season, and we are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends.
With love,
Bill, Lindsay, Judah, and Olivia
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Winter 2011 update (from Bill)
So here's what's been happening in me and my family's life as of late:
My job.
I'm still serving God at Maranatha Bible Camp, and it looks like I'm going to be here for the foreseeable future. I have a good job here. My official title is "Manager of Publications and Media", which is basically the type of job that I went to school to get. There are days where I'm super busy, and there are other days where I have to come up with something to do to fill the time. Since I've been here for a couple years, I'm to the point where I really know exactly what needs done, so it's not hard to find something to do. In the winter time at camp, we also do a lot of planning for summer. Summer time is our harvest, and the rest of the year we plan for summer while taking care of weekend groups and various other winter events. You can always check to see what's going on at camp (as well as see my work) at http://www.maranathacamp.org .
It's been a great environment to learn and grow in as far as media stuff goes. When I came here I wasn't very comfortable with graphic design or web design, and I knew nothing about publications. Video was the only job I thought I'd be doing when I got here, but ironically video is actually the smallest part of my job. But the good thing is that I have definitely expanded what I can do in Media in the past year, and now I would say I am fully capable of graphic design, web design, and publication...although I still wouldn't consider myself an expert at any of those.
As I said, it's a pretty good environment, and sometimes if I'm not too busy I just work on expanding what I can do. Yesterday for instance, I decided I wanted to learn to make reflections in photoshop. A couple quick tutorials and an hour later, here's what I came up with.
Now I know how to do that, and I can do it for some graphic design project in the future.
Although I don't consider myself an expert in video, I supposed my credentials in that area are fairly decent. I've been doing it almost non-stop for about 4 years now, and I've done it recreationally and professionally over that time. A few weeks ago I was given a unique opportunity to do a workshop about video editing at a conference here at camp. At first I was intimidated by it, and I spent a couple weeks fretting about it. I put together a pretty comprehensive power point, and I also made a video specifically for the workshop so I could edit it right in front of everyone who came. I also had some other shots to demonstrate certain filming techniques. It got more stressful when my HV40 decided to break a week before the conference. Luckily, my good friends came to the rescue and Drew loaned me his HV20, and Micah drove out to camp to deliver it.
When it came time for the workshop, I was pretty nervous. Only 5 people came and 2 of them knew me previously, and in a way that added to the pressure. After a bit of a shaky start, I got comfortable and for the rest of the time did fairly well. In all it was an hour and half. I hope I get to do it again next year, and I hope that I can divide it up into a beginner's workshop and an advanced workshop. Since I only had 1 session this year, I had to cover a much more broad area so that I could help people who knew nothing about video while keeping it interesting for those who already had experience.
On the home front.
Judah is growing up so fast. He's going to be 9 months old pretty soon, and I have a feeling he will be walking very soon. We've had to start spanking him for climbing up on stuff he's not supposed to climb up on and for constantly trying to touch expensive electronics or the cords surrounding it, and that's been pretty hard for me to do to be honest because I'm not sure if he understands what the word "No" means, even though Lindsay seems sure that he does. Either way, he will soon, and if he's anything like his mother and father, he'll be a very stubborn child.
Lindsay stays pretty busy at home and she loves being a mom. She has also picked up knitting as a hobby lately. It's so great to have her at home. She keeps the house clean and cooks great food! I'm a lucky guy. She also does random projects for camp, and that can also keep her fairly busy at times.
As far as support goes, some months we have our full support and others we are still a little short, but either way God has been faithful in providing us what we need when we need it. Recently, God has also blessed us with a nice tax return. I had 2 student loans coming out of college, and with this tax return we were able to completely finish paying off one of them. What initially looked like a debt that would take at least 5 years to pay, is now starting to look like it could be payed in 2 1/2, possibly less. We did the responsible thing first, but then we decided to have a little fun with what was left! =] We are considering getting internet at our house, and for the first time since being here, we will be able to afford to do that because the only provider of internet out here isn't cheap! It won't be cheap, but the advantages of having internet definitely make it worth it. Especially for Lindsay, because she would be able to work from home.
After school debt gets paid off, we are going to need a new car. My 1997 Nissan Maxima seems to have this terminal illness that requires some sort of expensive repair every 3 months to keep it alive. You fix one thing on that car only to find that something else is wrong. It can be frustrating at times, but as I told Lindsay yesterday, we should be thankful that we even have a car. It's one of those things that's easy to take for granted.
That's all for now, hopefully we'll have another update out soon.
-Bill
My job.
I'm still serving God at Maranatha Bible Camp, and it looks like I'm going to be here for the foreseeable future. I have a good job here. My official title is "Manager of Publications and Media", which is basically the type of job that I went to school to get. There are days where I'm super busy, and there are other days where I have to come up with something to do to fill the time. Since I've been here for a couple years, I'm to the point where I really know exactly what needs done, so it's not hard to find something to do. In the winter time at camp, we also do a lot of planning for summer. Summer time is our harvest, and the rest of the year we plan for summer while taking care of weekend groups and various other winter events. You can always check to see what's going on at camp (as well as see my work) at http://www.maranathacamp.org .
It's been a great environment to learn and grow in as far as media stuff goes. When I came here I wasn't very comfortable with graphic design or web design, and I knew nothing about publications. Video was the only job I thought I'd be doing when I got here, but ironically video is actually the smallest part of my job. But the good thing is that I have definitely expanded what I can do in Media in the past year, and now I would say I am fully capable of graphic design, web design, and publication...although I still wouldn't consider myself an expert at any of those.
As I said, it's a pretty good environment, and sometimes if I'm not too busy I just work on expanding what I can do. Yesterday for instance, I decided I wanted to learn to make reflections in photoshop. A couple quick tutorials and an hour later, here's what I came up with.
Now I know how to do that, and I can do it for some graphic design project in the future.
Although I don't consider myself an expert in video, I supposed my credentials in that area are fairly decent. I've been doing it almost non-stop for about 4 years now, and I've done it recreationally and professionally over that time. A few weeks ago I was given a unique opportunity to do a workshop about video editing at a conference here at camp. At first I was intimidated by it, and I spent a couple weeks fretting about it. I put together a pretty comprehensive power point, and I also made a video specifically for the workshop so I could edit it right in front of everyone who came. I also had some other shots to demonstrate certain filming techniques. It got more stressful when my HV40 decided to break a week before the conference. Luckily, my good friends came to the rescue and Drew loaned me his HV20, and Micah drove out to camp to deliver it.
When it came time for the workshop, I was pretty nervous. Only 5 people came and 2 of them knew me previously, and in a way that added to the pressure. After a bit of a shaky start, I got comfortable and for the rest of the time did fairly well. In all it was an hour and half. I hope I get to do it again next year, and I hope that I can divide it up into a beginner's workshop and an advanced workshop. Since I only had 1 session this year, I had to cover a much more broad area so that I could help people who knew nothing about video while keeping it interesting for those who already had experience.
On the home front.
Judah is growing up so fast. He's going to be 9 months old pretty soon, and I have a feeling he will be walking very soon. We've had to start spanking him for climbing up on stuff he's not supposed to climb up on and for constantly trying to touch expensive electronics or the cords surrounding it, and that's been pretty hard for me to do to be honest because I'm not sure if he understands what the word "No" means, even though Lindsay seems sure that he does. Either way, he will soon, and if he's anything like his mother and father, he'll be a very stubborn child.
Lindsay stays pretty busy at home and she loves being a mom. She has also picked up knitting as a hobby lately. It's so great to have her at home. She keeps the house clean and cooks great food! I'm a lucky guy. She also does random projects for camp, and that can also keep her fairly busy at times.
As far as support goes, some months we have our full support and others we are still a little short, but either way God has been faithful in providing us what we need when we need it. Recently, God has also blessed us with a nice tax return. I had 2 student loans coming out of college, and with this tax return we were able to completely finish paying off one of them. What initially looked like a debt that would take at least 5 years to pay, is now starting to look like it could be payed in 2 1/2, possibly less. We did the responsible thing first, but then we decided to have a little fun with what was left! =] We are considering getting internet at our house, and for the first time since being here, we will be able to afford to do that because the only provider of internet out here isn't cheap! It won't be cheap, but the advantages of having internet definitely make it worth it. Especially for Lindsay, because she would be able to work from home.
After school debt gets paid off, we are going to need a new car. My 1997 Nissan Maxima seems to have this terminal illness that requires some sort of expensive repair every 3 months to keep it alive. You fix one thing on that car only to find that something else is wrong. It can be frustrating at times, but as I told Lindsay yesterday, we should be thankful that we even have a car. It's one of those things that's easy to take for granted.
That's all for now, hopefully we'll have another update out soon.
-Bill
Monday, November 29, 2010
We have a baby now...and so much more...
Well, it has been a LONG time since the last update on this blog...
* we have a SON!!! Judah William Grip- 6 lb. 15 oz. 19 in. May 18th, 2010. He is wonderfully perfect and beautiful. I could never have imagined the myriad of emotions I would go through when I saw my son for the first time. It's a miracle. It sounds cliche, but its the only way to describe it. I love to just watch him as he discovers his surroundings. :)
He is now just over six months and very close to crawling. He recently started eating baby foods and really is giving us an easy transition into parenting. He is a good little baby.
* Bill just finished coaching Jr. High wrestling at Maxwell. He really liked doing that. It sounded like the kids really liked him as a coach. Every practice they had a "word of the day" and the last day the "word" was Bill's name. :)Bill has also done 4 wedding videos since the last post and he does a REALLY good job on them. Each video gets better every time he does one.
Bill is now THE media man at Maranatha since I am now a stay-at-home-mom. He is kept busy with website maintenance, monthly prayer updates, posters, photography, videos, and on and on. He is a busy man. He is currently working on getting internet to the West End of Maranatha so residents have the option to have internet in our homes. (Which I would be VERY excited about.)
* And that brings us to me...I am at home being a mom and I really like it. :) At times I feel like I don't do much but then Bill reminds me of all the things I do and that if I wasn't cooking he would starve to death and I feel better. :) I also am thankful that I am able to be at home and see Judah growing daily cause I know alot of moms don't have that opportunity.
Besides that, I AM doing contracted work for the camp and random design jobs for people. I am currently working on wedding invitations for someone and I am really enjoying it.
Well thats where we are...we will keep you posted!
Bill and Lindsay and Judah
* we have a SON!!! Judah William Grip- 6 lb. 15 oz. 19 in. May 18th, 2010. He is wonderfully perfect and beautiful. I could never have imagined the myriad of emotions I would go through when I saw my son for the first time. It's a miracle. It sounds cliche, but its the only way to describe it. I love to just watch him as he discovers his surroundings. :)
He is now just over six months and very close to crawling. He recently started eating baby foods and really is giving us an easy transition into parenting. He is a good little baby.
* Bill just finished coaching Jr. High wrestling at Maxwell. He really liked doing that. It sounded like the kids really liked him as a coach. Every practice they had a "word of the day" and the last day the "word" was Bill's name. :)Bill has also done 4 wedding videos since the last post and he does a REALLY good job on them. Each video gets better every time he does one.
Bill is now THE media man at Maranatha since I am now a stay-at-home-mom. He is kept busy with website maintenance, monthly prayer updates, posters, photography, videos, and on and on. He is a busy man. He is currently working on getting internet to the West End of Maranatha so residents have the option to have internet in our homes. (Which I would be VERY excited about.)
* And that brings us to me...I am at home being a mom and I really like it. :) At times I feel like I don't do much but then Bill reminds me of all the things I do and that if I wasn't cooking he would starve to death and I feel better. :) I also am thankful that I am able to be at home and see Judah growing daily cause I know alot of moms don't have that opportunity.
Besides that, I AM doing contracted work for the camp and random design jobs for people. I am currently working on wedding invitations for someone and I am really enjoying it.
Well thats where we are...we will keep you posted!
Bill and Lindsay and Judah
Sunday, March 14, 2010
End of Winter Update
The winter sure has flown by, hasn't it? I'm really excited because just last night we turned the clocks ahead 1 hour, which means it won't get dark until after 7:00PM now, and the days will only get longer! Longer days means spring and summer are on their way.
This past winter has been a growing experience. For the first time in my life I have to be responsible. My job, my wife, our future child, are all causing me to be more responsible than ever before. It's new and different, and there are times when I'm afraid I won't do things right. But with God's help, I will. I would say as a Christian trusting God is the number one key to responsibility. In fact, all of life could be summarized that way as a Christian- trust God and the rest will fall into place.
If I fully live my life like that, it means I can take life one day at a time. I like to have a plan, I want to know how long God will have me and Lindsay at Maranatha, but right now God is telling us to stay here. We recently committed to another year at Maranatha, and I feel that the second year here will be twice as good as the first, and the first year has been pretty good!
Lindsay and I just recently found a church that we would like to call our "home" church while living here at camp. It is a small baptist church in Maxwell, and we decided to give it a shot because the guy who came out and treated our house for bed-bugs went to that church (God thing). We gave it a shot, and from the moment we walked in the door we have never felt more welcomed and more loved at a church. It's a bit old fashioned but I must admit that I find that to be attractive in today's "modernized" church.
There are only 2 months left until that BABY joins our family (Lord willing), and we are doing our best to prepare but we know that we still have a long ways to go and a lot of learning to do before we have this parenting thing even close to being figured out. But once again, trusting God is the key there.
Lately I've been doing some graphic design work for camp to help ease the burden on Lindsay's shoulders and also to give me more things to do. I got to design the poster for the upcoming Go Fish concert at Maranatha, and I'm really excited about how that turned out. God is great, and even though I never thought that I could do graphic design, He is showing me that I can do anything if I trust in him.
At home, I've been doing the Jillian Michael's 30 day shred, and mostly I'm just seeing the effects in my legs, because when I flex my thighs the earth shakes. The house camp has provided for us isn't the best at times, but overall we are very thankful to have a place to call home, and we are growing to love it.
So now we look forward to spring, and then summer out here at Maranatha Bible Camp, where we know God is going to do great things through us and others who work here. It will be a very interesting summer both in my job and at home, because in both situations I will be adjusting to new challenges. Thanks for reading!
In Christ,
Bill Griepenstroh
This past winter has been a growing experience. For the first time in my life I have to be responsible. My job, my wife, our future child, are all causing me to be more responsible than ever before. It's new and different, and there are times when I'm afraid I won't do things right. But with God's help, I will. I would say as a Christian trusting God is the number one key to responsibility. In fact, all of life could be summarized that way as a Christian- trust God and the rest will fall into place.
If I fully live my life like that, it means I can take life one day at a time. I like to have a plan, I want to know how long God will have me and Lindsay at Maranatha, but right now God is telling us to stay here. We recently committed to another year at Maranatha, and I feel that the second year here will be twice as good as the first, and the first year has been pretty good!
Lindsay and I just recently found a church that we would like to call our "home" church while living here at camp. It is a small baptist church in Maxwell, and we decided to give it a shot because the guy who came out and treated our house for bed-bugs went to that church (God thing). We gave it a shot, and from the moment we walked in the door we have never felt more welcomed and more loved at a church. It's a bit old fashioned but I must admit that I find that to be attractive in today's "modernized" church.
There are only 2 months left until that BABY joins our family (Lord willing), and we are doing our best to prepare but we know that we still have a long ways to go and a lot of learning to do before we have this parenting thing even close to being figured out. But once again, trusting God is the key there.
Lately I've been doing some graphic design work for camp to help ease the burden on Lindsay's shoulders and also to give me more things to do. I got to design the poster for the upcoming Go Fish concert at Maranatha, and I'm really excited about how that turned out. God is great, and even though I never thought that I could do graphic design, He is showing me that I can do anything if I trust in him.
At home, I've been doing the Jillian Michael's 30 day shred, and mostly I'm just seeing the effects in my legs, because when I flex my thighs the earth shakes. The house camp has provided for us isn't the best at times, but overall we are very thankful to have a place to call home, and we are growing to love it.
So now we look forward to spring, and then summer out here at Maranatha Bible Camp, where we know God is going to do great things through us and others who work here. It will be a very interesting summer both in my job and at home, because in both situations I will be adjusting to new challenges. Thanks for reading!
In Christ,
Bill Griepenstroh
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Media Program Update
Hey everyone!
The point of this this blog to keep our friends and families updated on what God is doing at Maranatha.
Lindsay and I work in the media department at camp, and eventually (Lord willing) we will be completely in charge of the media program there. When we first arrived, it was obvious that the media department was miles behind today's digital world. Our first goal overall was to get new equipment. The computers were almost 10 years old and so stuffed full of information that they were nearly impossible to use.
Thanks to prayer and patience, this fall our media program has been able to get a brand new PC computer for video editing, with duel 20 inch flat screen monitors, and Adobe Premiere CS4. That combination should make any video editor drule.
On the design side of things, Lindsay has just been using our personal macbook to get done what she needed to get done because the design computer was too outdated. We really needed a new computer specifically for design. As an answer to prayer, a generous person donated $2,000 dollars specifically for media. Yesterday, we are pleased to announce that we ordered a brand new iMac computer and the Adobe Design Premium CS4.
Our ministry and our department is not measured by things that we have, however, our belief it that we must produce as professional media as possible. Media is a tool that God can use to promote the camp in so many ways, and the camp is a tool God uses to bring hundreds of kids to Christ every year. The media department is just a small part of God's wonderful plan for the camp. Lindsay and I are very excited to see what God is doing and to be a part of the major changes that are taking place.
-Bill
The point of this this blog to keep our friends and families updated on what God is doing at Maranatha.
Lindsay and I work in the media department at camp, and eventually (Lord willing) we will be completely in charge of the media program there. When we first arrived, it was obvious that the media department was miles behind today's digital world. Our first goal overall was to get new equipment. The computers were almost 10 years old and so stuffed full of information that they were nearly impossible to use.
Thanks to prayer and patience, this fall our media program has been able to get a brand new PC computer for video editing, with duel 20 inch flat screen monitors, and Adobe Premiere CS4. That combination should make any video editor drule.
On the design side of things, Lindsay has just been using our personal macbook to get done what she needed to get done because the design computer was too outdated. We really needed a new computer specifically for design. As an answer to prayer, a generous person donated $2,000 dollars specifically for media. Yesterday, we are pleased to announce that we ordered a brand new iMac computer and the Adobe Design Premium CS4.
Our ministry and our department is not measured by things that we have, however, our belief it that we must produce as professional media as possible. Media is a tool that God can use to promote the camp in so many ways, and the camp is a tool God uses to bring hundreds of kids to Christ every year. The media department is just a small part of God's wonderful plan for the camp. Lindsay and I are very excited to see what God is doing and to be a part of the major changes that are taking place.
-Bill
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