Megan's Graduating

In February of 2008 I posted comments about the fact that I am getting older and not liking it. With that BLOG was a photo of my oldest daughter Megan with her friend Ashley Chang as they headed off to their first high school dance. It was a bittersweet moment then and even more so today. Today is Megan's last day of high school. She is ready to graduate. I am not ready.

Over the last four years we have watched her grow into a beautiful young woman. We have been absolutely blessed as God has watched over our family and kept us from many of the pitfalls high school students face these days. She has done well academically earning cords from the National Merit Honor Society and the California Scholastic Federation and the "Golden Tassel" award. She has been a 3 year varsity letter-person and co-captain of the Tribe volleyball team advancing to CIF in all three of those years. She has made many lasting friendships with kids we have come to love, appreciate and hope to continue to see for years to come. She has served the community both at her school and locally in many service projects from Grace Works, to the Walk for Life, the Special Olympics & many more. She has served globally, traveling to the Ukraine to teach English at a summer camp. And, she attended her last high school dance with a dear friend and looked beautiful as she drove away.

So, Cal-Poly Pomona her she comes. You are getting some of my best efforts at parenting and certainly loving another. I hope we have done well.

So today I am feeling just a little bit older than four years ago. Not much, but definitely more melancholy. My daughter has grown up. She is now a Godly young woman ready to launch into the world.

CLARK FAMILY CHRISTMAS LETTER 2009

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)

We ushered in 2009 in 28 degree weather in the snow in Victoria, B.C. Canada, the close of our first family vacation over the Christmas/New Year’s holiday. Victoria may be beautiful but we missed most while it was covered in snow or raining. We enjoyed high tea, outdoor ice skating and fun restful time together.

The spring brought the usual club volleyball for us with our girls continuing to play for Smack Volleyball Club on the 14’s and 16’s team. Megan had the privilege of playing in Colorado in March, while tournaments almost every weekend were the norm all over Southern California. Club brought the opportunity to meet and spend time with both Keri Walsh & Misty May, our volleyball idols. Sandy became the key fundraiser and supporter for the club and did an awesome job.

The spring also brought a return to Biola University for Jim. He has entered a grad school program in organizational leadership. All is going well and he is both enjoying and being challenged by his studies. Maybe he will be done with school by the time Courtney graduates from high school.

Two major milestones were reached as summer approached. Megan earned her driver’s license and the freedom for our whole family that that brings. Courtney graduated the eighth grade and left Calvary Chapel Christian School behind for the challenges of high school.

The summer sent us in many different directions. Jim headed to Morocco for ten days with some of our friends to help observe and encourage new friends there. Megan and Courtney headed to camp at Hume Lake and also to various missions service teams from our church. While the girls were at camp, Jim and Sandy were able to enjoy a week together, reconnecting and enjoying just spending time together. We also enjoyed a family trip to Sedona with a day jaunt to the Grand Canyon. Then a quick trip to the family farm in Iowa by Jim ended the summer.

Early November, Jim and Sandy went on a five-day cruise to Catalina and Ensenada. We had a great time on the cruise with Sandy’s sister, Susan and brother-in-law, Dave and our friends, the Nicholls.

The fall brought new challenges. Back to school for Megan with a very rigorous schedule as a junior. High School as a freshman for Courtney. High School volleyball—both on the varsity team! Their team went to the second round of CIF. Then came the “great flood of ‘09.” On October 15th, we were flooded out of our home for the next six weeks. We are now back in our “new” home with fresh paint, tile, carpet, a new washer and dryer and TV. We are very thankful for friends and family who helped in the process. Sandy is working hard at putting it all back together just right as time permits between work, USC football, volleyball and helping Jim in ministry. It is good to be home.
We are very blessed!

We wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love Jim, Sandy, Megan and Courtney

Coffee & Fellowship

Coffee seems to be one thing that unites friends. In my case, it is no difference. I started drinking coffee when I would go to breakfast with my grandfather. It was bad coffee filled with sugar to make it palatable. But then my friend J.C. moved to Seattle in the early 90's. Soon after my love of Starbucks and coffee was born.

I now meet with two groups of friends every week over coffee. I treasure these times! Add to that the countless times we grab a coffee on a break during the middle of the day and there you have it. Coffee addiction? No, usually I drink decaf.

While on vacation this past week, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Mecca of coffee; the first Starbucks store at Pike Place Market in Seattle, twice! No pastries. They still have bean bins. Just good coffee. It is still the way it was years ago, and is not the new corporate starbucks. Yeah!

Grad School - Biola

It took a while to get this post written. Grad school will be at Biola University in the MOL program. A Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership will be the degree. It will be a great program and quite a challenge. It is very similar to what I was hoping to take at SC. Biola has been a blessing to me. My undergrad was done there with a great group of folks in the Bamboo cohort group as well as two others in the psych program Almond and ?. So this is an update post and a salute to my friends from Biola. The photo is of Bamboo in 2005 on our last night together.

Grad School Bummer

Proverbs 16:9 says “In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.” (NIV). This morning I am reflecting on this wisdom with a little bit of a sad heart. You see in my human nature, it is sometimes hard to understand when your plan is not His or when He gives you such a strong desire and then changes your path, but that has happened today. The truth of the proverb is real but sometimes that does not make the change in course any less painful.

I have been praying in hopes that I would get accepted to graduate school at USC. After 12 stressful weeks of waiting, the news came last night that I was not accepted. I do not have any further information than is contained in the letter which says not accepted and probably never will. It does come as a bit of a shock after having been invited to orientation, receiving a student number and even receiving some sense from my admissions officer that the decision would be different, but there is not much I can do at this point.

So what’s next? There has always been a “plan B”. Understanding that this was a possibility, I have also applied to the Masters of Organizational Leadership program at Biola University. I am waiting to hear from them now as well with hopes that this is the change in path that the Lord has for me. It would be a blessing to be back at Biola, where I did my undergrad degree and in a program that is led by one of my friends as I do love it there and know that I fully support their mission.

So thank you for your prayers and support. Please keep them up but with a shift in direction. Thanks also in advance for your understanding of me being in a little bit of a funky mood for the next few days while I work through the questioning of why. I am looking forward to seeing what path the Lord has in store next with great trust in Him.

Perks

One of the benefits of having a wonderful wife with a great job is that there are some fantastic perks that go with it.  If you don't know, one of Sandy's jobs is that she is the ticket master for her firm.  She controls a suite at Staples Center (Lakers, Clippers, Kings, Sparks, Avengers, Concerts, etc), court side seats to the Lakers, dugout seats as well as others at Dodger Stadium, two boxes at the Hollywood Bowl, third row seats at the Disney Concert Hall and seats at the Home Depot Center (LA Galaxy aka Beckham, Chivas USA).

Over the years this has meant the opportunity to do some rather fun things.  Groups of friends in a suite for a game or concert, sure.  First choice to buy concert tickets, yep.  But one of the fun things we have gotten to do is the special events for the suite holders/administrators. We've been to a closed Universal Studios, Rod Stewart concert and many, many dinners.  They have all been tremendous blessings and allowed us to do for free what we could never have afforded to do ourselves.

Sandy's run as the ticket master may be coming to a close soon.  We are both sad and glad about this.  Sad that a great perk is coming to and end, glad that she deserves a break from what is probably the most stressful part of her work life.  So it was time to BLOG about it and share a photo from dinner last night.

The dinner was on the floor of the Staples Center.  They boarded over the ice.  Great food and drink.  A chance to shoot some hoops on the Laker's court. A tour of the locker room. Free stuff.   Another great night.  

Teenagers

As of yesterday morning, I became the father of not one, but two teenage girls. Happy birthday to Courtney who turned 13 on September 30th. I am really wondering where the time has gone. Please stop growing up. Love, Dad