What a kid won't do to get some candy.

How am I going to get that candy cane???

Can't quite reach it......

And that my friend is how you take down a 9 foot Santa Clause to get your candy cane.

That's our Nolan!

Marion Local - St. Henry Football History

Series Information vs St. Henry
OverallI In Maria Stein In St. Henry Neutral Site Last Marion Win Last St. Henry Win Biggest Marion Margin of Victory Biggest St. Henry Margin of Victory Longest Marion Winning Streak Longest St. Henry Winning Streak Current Winning Streak First Meeting	Marion leads 23-20-1 Marion leads 13-7-1 St. Henry leads 12-9 St. Henry leads 1-0 38-22, 2012 10-7, 2009 61-0, 1970 39-0, 1989 6, 1970-1975 9, 1989-1996 Marion, 3 1970 (stats courtesy of Dale Poeppelman)

Here is the lesson from the election !

BY Matthew Warner

 

If you're discouraged or think the world is upside down, I have something for you.

 

Guess what, regardless of who won the election, today we still have millions of babies being aborted every year. We still have 50% of marriages ending in divorce. We still have a supposedly Christian culture that has separated sex from marriage from procreation. We still have many Americans who are more likely to vote based upon peer pressure, or how nice somebody is, or their own self-interest, or by what the media told them, or by what's socially easy than they are to vote based on their own moral or religious convictions. We still have lonely and suffering people in our communities who need to be loved.

 

Whether marriage is redefined now or later, whether our religious freedom is trampled now or in 10 years, these are not at risk because politicians are getting bolder, they are at risk because our convictions are getting colder.

 

And if you're waiting for a politician to fix that, you're wasting your time. Sadly, most politicians are not leaders. And that's because politics has become less about leadership than it is about marketing.

 

Politicians are not in the business anymore of changing people's minds (leadership). That's too hard. They are in the business of marketing. They look at the cultural map of the day and then create a platform and a message that tickles enough ears to win them an election. And that's not all bad when you consider that they are our servants, sent on our behalf to accomplish our agenda. We get the politicians we deserve, as the saying goes.

 

But the lesson is this: Elections are not the leading edge of change.

Elections are the lagging indicators of what's already changed. They tell us where we already are. So stop waiting around for politics to change this country back or to move it forward. That's not what politics does.

 

And if you find yourself talking about whether Romney (or any politician) lost because he was too conservative, or not conservative enough, or he should have talked about social issues more, or the party needs a "bigger tent" - just stop. Those are political games focused on trying to mirror the culture rather than change it. It may lead to political victory, but it changes little. Culture warriors have chased such illusions for too long.

 

What we need is to impact the culture by changing hearts and minds. We have to shift the entire conversation and cultural values, not just gerrymander the platform. We don't need a bigger "tent." We need to make a more convincing case. That's what brings about real change. That's leadership.

That's evangelization. And it rarely comes from a politician. 

 

Does that mean elections don't matter? Of course not. They matter a lot.

But if you want to change their results, the mechanism is not a political one. It's cultural. And politics rarely drives culture, it's almost always the other way around.

 

So stop worrying about how to change the politics and go sit down and figure out the next big way that you are going to change our culture for the better. How are you going to lead?

 

Figure that out and the elections will take care of themselves.

 

The world is surely upside down. Mother Teresa agreed. She said, “I think the world today is upside down. Everybody seems to be in such a terrible rush, anxious for greater development and greater riches and so on. There is much suffering because there is so very little love in homes and in family life. We have no time for our children, we have no time for each other; there is no time to enjoy each other. In the home begins the disruption of the peace of the world.”

 

Real change starts in the home. Not in the Whitehouse. In *your* home and the homes around this great nation. That's where it begins. It ends in the election booth. If we're only showing up to fight in the election booth, we've already missed the battle.

 

And if you are discouraged after the election, Mother Teresa has something to say to you about that, too:

 

“If you are discouraged it is a sign of pride because it shows you trust in your own power. Your self-sufficiency, your selfishness and your intellectual pride will inhibit His coming to live in your heart because God cannot fill what is already full. It is as simple as that.”

 

It's as simple as that, folks. Transform discouragement into the motivation that moves you to change things. (And for more inspiration from Mother Teresa, read her 7 steps to a holier life.)

 

What we need right now is leadership. And if you're waiting for a politician, you're going to be waiting a long time. We need leadership 1) in your home and 2) in the culture. We need cultural leaders. We need individuals and organizations to rise up and provide inspiring, convincing leadership that will lead to conversions of mind and heart.

 

That's the surest way to change the politics. That's where real change will come from. And we already know where our hope comes from (and it ain't from a politician).

 

Start with the culture. Start with your home. Start with yourself.

The Leaves are Falling !

This is the only leaf pile we could come up with this year. 

The boys didn't miss the chance to dive in !

GRACE IS TURNING FIVE !

Sunday we celebrated my Godchild Grace's 5th Birthday at the Brunswick's house. 

Yep! She is definitely Dave and Connie's kid.

I would give anything to know what she is wishing for at this moment.

The anticipation on the face of Carson and Hayden is priceless!

Laundry Day !

I walked into the laundry room only to find the boys making a train out of the laundry baskets. 

Bennett seems to think this is all quite funny!  

Finalization Day For Bennett !

Bennett had his big day in court last Wednesday making him and official Poeppelman.

Below is a picture of us with Judge Zitter.

Judge Zitter let (from left to right) Grace Brunswick, Nolan and Hayden Poeppelman slam the gavel down to make the adoption official.

 Here is a picture of the whole family.

Nashville Trip for our 15th Anniversary

Kim and I took a trip this past weekend to Nashville for our 15th wedding anniversary.

Carrie Underwood performing at The Grand Ole Opry House.

Kim and I on stage at The Grand Ole Opry

 A view from the Gaylord Opryland Hotel.

This hotel is the largest non-casino hotel in North America.

Hayden's First Triathlon

Hayden was the youngest competitor in the 1 Heart 2 Souls 

Triathlon this past Sunday in Minster. He did not place but had a 

great time competing. I'm sure he will be back next year to try again.

Hayden just starting the Triathlon by swimming the length of the pool.

The second leg of the race was riding his bike for a mile. 

The last leg of the race was running a 1/4 mile.

Here is a picture of Hayden, Nolan and Dad after the race.

Hayden is sporting his new gold medal from the race.

Storm Damage

This past weekend's storms left the boys without a swing set for a few days. 

The swing set was positioned by the sand box in the background.

Luckily a 4x4 is all that was needed to repair the set.

The Bradford Pear tree in our front lawn has seen better days.

 Here are a few pictures of graduation yesterday at OSU. 

This was the 400th graduating class from Ohio State 
and the largest ever in the history of OSU.  

My Godchild Elizabeth Coons with her diploma. 

Elizabeth graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Agricultural Communications.

This is the beginning of 10,600 students entering the shoe. 

It took 35 minutes just to seat the graduates.

Believe it or not handing out the diplomas went pretty fast.

As you can see they had about 12 lines handing out the diplomas.

Dad with Buckeyman at the agricultural brunch before graduation.

Gotta love these answers.

Kim has never even watched Star Wars.

click picture to enlarge

Ed & Merilyn with Grandchildren

Ed & Merilyn Borchers with their Grandchildren.

Ed & Merilyn will be celebrating 50 years of marriage next month !

Picture of Hayden's pre-school class below. 

These children will be a part of the Marion Local Class of 2025

click on picture to enlarge

Below are 2 pictures taken of the same house almost 100 years apart.

This house originally owned by Peter Paulus is located on Redmund Road near St. Rt. 48 where my Grandma Helen (Paulus) DeMange grew up. 

The second picture was taken this past Sunday showing 8 of the 14 children of Paul and Helen DeMange. They got a chance to go back and visit the house that they have not seen since they were children.

Bernice Paulus (my great-aunt) who just passed away a few weeks ago lived there with her late husband Adrian(Grandma's brother). Bernice was the last of the Peter Paulus family.

Here is a picture of Adrian and Bernice 

Cory Luebke gets it honest !

Here is a picture of the old Norb's Place baseball team from Osgood.

This picture is from the late 40's and shows Bob Luebke in the middle 

back who is Cory Luebke's Grandfather. 

Bob and Cory's father Jeff (Monster) were quite the ball players years ago.

Click picture to enlarge

The Most Impressive Train Display In The World !

Growing up my brother Dale and I had a very large sheet of plywood that we used to build our train display. We would glue down grass, trees, electric poles and buildings. We would paint roads and build mountains out of paper mache trying to make everything as realistic as possible. Usually we spent way more time building the display then we did actually playing with it when it was complete.

We ended up selling the display to a guy who bought it for his kids and never thought about it again until a few years ago. Dale was working at an auction and low and behold our train board was for sale. The mountains were gone and the display looked pretty bad, but it brought back many great memories of years gone by.

Dale just sent me this link to the World's largest and most elaborate train display. There are no words to describe this display, you just have to see it for yourself !

Train Display

Vote for the Best Friday/Saturday Night TV Shows

Please check out the following links on You Tube and then vote on the side bar for your favorite Friday/Saturday night TV show when you were growing up.
As you can see from below I grew up watching TV in the late 70's and early 80's

Dukes of Hazzard

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRX4mlFi06A

BJ and the Bear

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3GpxAyM6yc

The Love Boat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmUlKPthrag

Fantasy Island

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwaEydIpS0E

Hee Haw (Gloom Despair and Agony)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQ5ob9B9yD4

Solid Gold
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D37T_PYnhoc&feature=related

Dynasty

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MijaRcVaRK0

Nolan Showing Off His Eating Skills

This is what happens when you let your 

one year old eat a cup of yogurt by himself.

Too Young For Video Games ?

Here is a short video of Hayden (5 yrs) and Nolan (14 months) playing 

their new Wii that they received for Christmas. 

Pretty amazing how Nolan picks up on what to do from his big brother.