Super Mom

posted Dec 19, 2014, 9:00 AM by Jon Rumfelt   [ updated Dec 19, 2014, 11:07 AM ]

I grew up in Detroit until the age of 13. It's not the best place to spend your childhood. With the multiple drug houses in the area, the gang fights in school yards, the constant barrage of arson on vacant houses, and gun shots as common as dogs barking. It was a decision to live on Bentler made by my mom. She raised me on the back of poor decisions rooted in immaturity. From hiring a babysitter that unfortunately did some inappropriate things, to swinging the complete other side of the pendulum and leaving an 8 year old boy home alone for hours on end. I was even a tag-along for one of her break-up revenge attacks on some guy's car at his workplace. None of these things are usually associated with a Mom-of-the-year mom, and I could easily dedicate an entire post pointing out all the times where good parenting practices were left to the wayside, but I'm not going to do that. Instead I'm going to share with you how my Mom, my Hero, is "Super."   My entire life, I remember my Mom as a sub-100 pound figure best illustrated by drawing a stick figure with an ultra fine tip pen. When looking at her from a distance, one would not conclude that she is capable of performing some of the feats of strength she had in fact completed. Maternal instinct of a mother can instill a rage that allows a mouse to wrestle with, and beat, a lion. And my Mom learned how to harness this surge of adrenaline whenever anyone's child was in danger. I recall a time when the neighbor couple began to argue loudly enough that we could all hear them. With children in the front yard, my mom was concerned, observing from a distance, stewing. But when the man (and father) came out onto the porch with a shotgun and started waving it around, Mom went ballistic. Like the flash, she was in our yard in one instant, and the next she was standing between the arguing couple. Now starring down the barrel of a shotgun, she grabbed the barrel and pushed it toward the direction of safety and no children, then started yelling at the man for endangering his kids, and all the kids nearby. With a ferociousness only compared to a rabid dog foaming at the mouth, her words snuffed his yelling and he retreated to his home. Sure, when she came back into our yard, she wasn't the flash, but she was shaking quick enough to break the sound barrier with her hand! She ended up throwing up, but she put her life on the line for the safety of others.     Being Detroit, there are always times when a fight could break out, and kids were not exempt. One time I was trying to catch up to Mom as she was walking to the store, some kids decided to surround me and pick on me. Mom came back to my rescue and stood between me and their "top dog." Wielding a piece of re-bar like a baseball bat, this kid charges his 95lb opponent and takes a mighty swing at my Mom. With a bare hand she catches the re-bar in mid swing, and with her other hand reaches out to this kid almost as tall as her. As if she were Bat-Man, she gripped this little joker's shirt, she pulled him in close and lifted him off the ground. Then she began schooling this kid verbally. Words I cannot repeat. At that time a passerby in a car stopped and yelled at my mom "You better not hurt that kid with that pipe!" A brief silence occurred, like in a horror movie, my mom's head turned slowly and she flipped out; "Hit HIM? He was trying to hit ME!" And they simply rolled up their window and drove off! When she finally released the kid from his inescapable detention, all of them scurried away like bugs under a rock. My mom was also a master of weapons. Not the kind ninja's wield, but of the lesser variety. She could spay or neuter a fly in mid flight with a fly swatter. We used to play with the swatters in little fights. I would show up to school with little lines across my forearm, battle scars of trying to best my mom in her own game. She could strike with such precision, and consistency, that I could end up with only one mark, having been hit a dozen times. If you ever wanted to fight mom, don't pick a fly swatter. But she is not a wonder woman with only one weapon, no. She could get you across the room with the same accuracy as a sniper, using only a newspaper rubber-band. While I had become quite proficient with this art as well, I could not begin to achieve the level of competence equal to her rubber-band shooting skills. Together we learned how to dual wield, and even able to stage multiple shots off one hand, like a semi-automatic. We would turn our house into a close-quarters combat zone, and ruber-bands could be found in every crevice for weeks. I would have war marks across my face just from peaking around the corner.   Mom also had a heart. Sure, we were poor, well below the poverty line for the 80's. But that didn't stop mom from extending help to anyone who needed it, including animals. There was a time when we discovered the neighbors had left their 5 year old daughter home alone for the entire weekend! She was starving, and Mom didn't hesitate to cook her eggs and toast, and a complimentary glass of milk. I sat there with that little girl, eating my eggs as well, and she politely said thank you, and cleaned every crumb off the plate. She didn't have to feed the neighbor's kids, but rather than try to cause more trouble, she fixed the immediate need first and loved on this little girl. As I said before, animals were no exception to her generosity. We were frequently a "Hotel for Dogs" but all animals were welcome. My favorite was a dog we named "George." He was a pit bull that happened into Mom's care by accident. She opened the front door for some reason, and in comes this black and white pit bull. George waltzed into the kitchen, sat down, and instantly became a part of our family. My Dad would bounce the ball for him, but something was messed up in his head, he wouldn't track the ball. Instead he would react to the sound of the ball hitting the ground, but when he looked down, the ball had rebounded to a height well over his head. We all laughed at that. But she also dedicated her time to rehabilitating these animals. One instance strongly in my mind is of a scrawny mutt so malnourished you could put your fingers between his ribs. Mom discovered the canine's collar was so tight this dog couldn't even drink water. it took her a long time, but once the collar was cut off, that dog drank an entire bowl of water, then moved on to start gorging himself with food. After a few weeks, he was healthy again. You wouldn't think it, but Mom even had her day on two wheels! I tell you there is nothing more cool than having your mom pick you up from elementary school on a motorcycle!!! We used to put $3 in the tank, pick a road, and take it to the end, just for the scenic adventure. But my mom, shorter than 5'6" couldn't reach the ground while at a stand still. The bike would lean over and she would have to shift her rear towards the longer leg so she could catch the bike before it fell over. Like watching a little 8 year old girl ride a 10 speed mens bike. If the bike were to fall over, she was not strong enough to stand it back up and would have to ask a stranger for assistance. One notable occasion was when Grandma was dropping me off at home just about the time Mom was arriving on her chopper (at least it looked like it with her small frame). Because she needed to use the curb to stand up at a stop, and Grandma had taken her "landing pad" she had to pass the house and circle back on the sidewalk. That's when she suddenly, without warning, switched to Evil Knievel mode and and popped a wheelie, spun the bike to the left, and held on like a cowboy riding a bull. Her small stature was no match for the centrifugal forces at play and she was launched from the bull in under the 8 second time frame. However, she wasn't flung far enough to land at a safe distance and the bike, now riderless, spun around on the ground and trapped her leg, pinning it to the sidewalk. The throttle cable had become stretched during the tight left hand turn and was locked wide open. Still resting on her leg, the engine roared with all it's horses, spinning the back wheel as if the hero were to be cut in half by a table saw. Grandma and I quickly tended to her, but our three combined muscles were not able to overcome the gravity which held the bike firmly on the sidewalk. That's when I remembered to turn the bike off. Once quiet, Mom looked up at me through the opening in her helmet and said "Hello!" Throughout my entire life, my Mom has ensured I always ate, and was always loved, even if I wasn't always taken care of. She did her best with what she knew. At my wedding reception, my Mom and I had a chance to sit in private while the bride changed out of her dress. I remember her breaking down crying saying she was sorry for being such a bad mother. I told her I learned a lot from her, and I wouldn't trade my experiences with her for any other mother. Sure she never would have won the Mother of the year award, but every year I am awarded the mother of a lifetime. Now my mom's life decisions are catching up to her. Her frail body no longer able to endure the punishments of being a super hero. I pray she recovers fully, albeit selfishly, so I don't have to see my hero retire. But all things come to an end, and mom's cape must now be hung above the mantle of life, as a remembrance to those she cared over. For the hero must rest, and now needs the assistance of those who call her Hero. I love you Mom, my Hero, my Super Mom! Jon </rant>

Legos!

posted Nov 4, 2014, 6:40 PM by Jon Rumfelt   [ updated Nov 4, 2014, 6:42 PM ]

Ever since I was a very small child, I only remember having one toy consistently.  Legos!  Even some of my earlier photos of me contained at least one Lego in it. As you can see here, this Lego is in my mouth. I've constantly built things, cars, trucks, space ships, even people. And every build I would proudly take to my Mom (not in the picture) and show it off. Now I wouldn't always present my creation at the most appropriate time, usually while Mom was entertaining guests, or very much into a movie on TV that couldn't be paused like today's movies. I didn't care, this creation came from inside my head, and nothing was more important than having the approval of Mom. As I got older, my other toys became less interesting to me. I went through G.I. Joe's, Micro Machines, Transformers ( actually, Go-Bots came out before Transformers, and they were made out of METAL!), also had race tracks, RC cars, even a watch with a video game on it. But I never lost the desire to play with my Legos. My friends wouldn't show interest when I pulled them out, but I would always show interest when one of them pulled out their legos. I remember one school night I had a rare opportunity to spend the night at a friends house. (I suddenly had a desire to look him up on Facebook, and I just found him!) Jason Raitz had this cool Lego Castle, I didn't have any castle stuff, so I was super excited when he said I could build it for him. Well, I stayed up ALL NIGHT LONG building that castle! I was exhausted at school the next day, but the thing that got me through the day was "I built the castle in one night!" Grandma wasn't to happy with me, but it was worth it. In my mind, trading 8 hours of sleep to play Legos was an option I just couldn't pass up. Even in High School, I would set up the Legos on the pool table cover in the basement and have adventures. Most of the time I was home alone, to embarrassed to admit I, a 16 year old boy, would play with such childish toys. I had Legos everywhere in Grandmas house. Like little spies keeping watch, on special assignment. I even had names for the ships, trucks, and some of the people. When I lived in the dorms as an Airman in the Air Force, I STILL played with my Legos! I bought a Space Shuttle kit that had a motor and the bay doors opened, a satelite on a crane emerged and open it's solar panels. Retractable landing gear, movable flaps, and lights on the thrusters. It took me almost a week to put together, but when I finished, I played with it for HOURS. Flash forward to a family and kids, and suddenly I had an excuse to openly play with Legos! What kind of parent would I be if I didn't pass on my knowledge and imagination? Of course, I still played alone, when no one was home, but when the kids played with Legos, I would mosie on in and dump the legos out and build something cool. Michael even made his 100 days of school project out of Legos! Well, when it came time for this year's Fall Family Fun Fest, I couldn't even fathom the idea of building something for kids out of anything BUT Legos. So I jumped down stairs and started building a proof of concept target for a Nerf gun shooting gallery. Playing off an old school gallery seen in fairs. The kind they used to shoot actual guns at! Of course I couldn't use real guns, so the Nerf guns were perfect. The proof of concept worked well, so we moved on to making a prototype. I took the motor from the space shuttle and hooked it up. The first problem was that the RPM's of my motor are 4300RPM! No chance of hitting the target because the targets would fly off. So I quickly built a gear reduction system. Finally, after learning how to make a worm drive gear reduction system, the first prototype was ready for target practice. We put the prototype in the truck and I let the boys shoot at it. Above you can see the far pin wheel black panel will get hit by Michael. The concept was to make it as easy to manage as possible, so I wanted the targets to reset on their own. The motor was doing a great job, but we had some modifications that needed to be done to ensure the system wouldn't fail during the Trunk or Treat event. After all the modifications were done, Michael and I finished up and had to stop ourselves from wanting to improve on it even more. We were almost out of time, and we had to work on the scene. We went with a water theme, or ocean, or lake, whatever! I wanted dolphins and ducks, but since they aren't usually seen together, we opted for ducks and fish. I pushed to make the scene look cartoonish, and Paige added faces to the clouds. It was coming along nicely. Finally, we added the targets. Gabe is here to push one target down, and it resets behind the scenes. I picked up a 30 pack of Nerf Darts the day of the event, and tested every single one. Mike and I shot at the targets from across the room, and everything was working great. I grabbed a few extra pieces for field repairs/mods and we all packed up and headed to the Church. Now, I had every intention of taking photos and video of the kids shooting at it, but this is literally the last 15 seconds before the event started, and the next thing we new, it was almost 8:30pm! We had, at our lowest estimate, over 100 kids at our car. I believe we also had 10 adults take shots! But what was really encouraging to me was the faces of the parents who stared off into their x-ray vision mode to figure out how it worked. I offered to several parents that they can go to the passenger door and take a peak, and not one said "no thanks" but instead everyone wanted to see. What an ego boost for me (even now, I'm sporting a smile just thinking about it!) The kids had tons of fun, the parents had fun, Sarah and I had fun, and the targets held up to the constant deluge of darts. When it was over, I definitely patted myself on the back, and extended a "Great job" to Michael, who helped me out quiet a bit. But what now? What happens to Lego creations that serve one purpose? Do we just take them apart never to be built again? No! I discovered Lego Digital Designer! This program is the Lego geek's dream box of parts. ALL the parts you can imagine, and then when you think you are done, the program makes the instructions for you to build your virtual creation. So tonight I spent a few hours digitizing the target so we can, if ever requested, build it again. Here's our creation. Of course, it's easier to color code when you have every brick in every color! Ours was sporting yellow, white, black, blue, and a few others! enjoy! and PLAY! </rant> Jon

Rearrange

posted Oct 23, 2014, 8:02 AM by Jon Rumfelt

The other day I decided to rearrange my desk at work. I just received a new laptop from the company, and can't get my 4th monitor to work (I know, feel sorry for me) so I removed #4 from the desk. In doing so, I discovered many things missed by the cleaning crew.

For one, the dust. I still can't figure out how there is so much dust here in an office where the windows don't open, and the nearest dirt road is an hour away. But there was dust behind and under all my stuff, including the keyboard.

After seeing that, I completely cleared my desk of everything, cables and all. I went and found Clorox wipes and went to town on the surface of the desk, the backs of the monitors, and even some of the cables. How these things collect dust like that I'll never know.

Then when I was happy about my new clean desk, I started placing my objects. First was my docking station for my new laptop. As I pulled the cat 5 cable around (network cable) I discovered it was too short to reach the new location. After a few minutes of scrounging through a box of cat5 cables I found one long enough, but had to pull the desk away from the wall to get to the wall plate.

Behind my desk, just to the right of Narnia, is the wall plate for comms. But I was surprised when I didn't find the cable my laptop was plugged into. I was looking for a yellow cable, but no yellow cable was plugged into the wall. Confused, I traced my yellow cable to the one place it should have never been plugged into... the phone! (These are network phones)

I've been at this desk since last November, and the one thing I knew was the phone's pass-through cat5 jack is only a 10MB connection. We learned this when Trevor set his desk up. He made sure his connection was direct to the wall. When we did that, I was confident my cable was plugged into the wall because it went straight behind the desk.

So now here I am looking at the cable plugged into the phone and wondering how long it's been that way. Surely I, a skilled network administrator, would never allow myself to be restricted to the slower speeds of a pass-through port. But in fact, I did!

I promptly reconfigured my cables and placed my docking station on the right port and finished setting up my desk.

Here is my new clean desk, in all it's glory!

Once I booted my system up, I made a startling discovery, my connection was FASTER than it has EVER been here at the office! I was both happy and quite upset at the same time. Happy that I now have a much faster, and therefore more productive connection, but upset of all the hours I've sat here waiting for patches to download/upload.

Then I realized, how many configurations in our spiritual life are actually plugged into the wrong jack? What things in our lives are actually slowing us down from the fast track to God?

Galatians 5:1
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

I was burdened by the pass-through port between me and the true speed of our network. How often are we burdened by our choices to delay our true freedom in Christ?

We all have our distractions, it is when you deny that the distraction exists that it becomes sin, and therefore a burden of sin is keeping you in the yoke of slavery.

For me, I think it's games. I play a few games at night just before I go to sleep to get my mind to stop thinking of the day. What if I stop playing games, distracting me from Him, and do something productive?

I'm definitely going to try.

I leave you with this, ask yourselves these questions along with me:

1. What is my distraction?
2. What would happen if I read the Word instead?
3. How much faster would my spiritual connection be?
4. And what dust would I find while I reconfigure my life?
5. How much more organized could my spiritual desk be if I could be more efficient in my communications with God?

Looking forward to see just how much faster I can "download" from God on the new configuration!

</rant>

Jon

The Map of Life

posted Sep 4, 2014, 7:53 AM by Jon Rumfelt

Standing out in the 95+ sun sharing the gospel with some Mormon sisters made me rethink some of the things I said to them. While I know the Holy Spirit was using me as a tool to plant seeds, I can't help but think of the number of times they said "I know if you read the book of Mormon ... "  While standing there, the Holy Spirit showed me so many analogies regarding this whole new "testament" of Jesus as it relates to the Bible. The sister even shared with us a passage from the Bible, and read the parallel from their book. She then asked us if we felt they "lined up." Of course the scripture she shared was slightly different than that which was in the book of Mormon, but I can pick up any book with a scripture reference reworded and say it is a new addition to the Bible. This morning in the shower (my prayer closet) I asked God to give me a practical example of how the Book of Mormon is no different from any other book written by man which references the Bible. Here's what he gave me. A man decides to visit a friend in another town, but needs directions. He calls his friend, a map maker for the town in which he lives, to get detailed directions to the house. Being a map maker, his friend knows the town quiet well and is more than capable of giving directions over the phone. The man on the other hand is not an artist but does his best to draw directions to his friends house, carefully detailing every turn, road, and intersection to the best of his ability. The result is something like this: Another man is planning to visit the same friend, he calls the friend and also asks for directions. This man is a bit more talented with a pen, but lacks a little bit of detail. He ends up drawing something similar to this: On the way to their friends house, both men realized they needed to get gas as soon as they entered the new town to which they had no familiarization. The first man ran out of gas simply because there was no gas station on the route he drew and was afraid to divert from the route. The second man got lost after finding a gas station, but was unable to get back to his route because his map wasn't to scale. The map maker friend waited patiently for both men to arrive, but neither showed. Both men later wrote books of their adventure, the first man wrote a book on how his friend intended him to run out of gas and gave him false information because the friend didn't want the man to come to his house. Many people complained, and vowed never to purchase maps from this master map maker. The second one wrote about his tales as a wanderer through the back streets and even drew maps from his perspective of how the neighborhood was laid out and because he was there, he said it increased the accuracy of his friend's maps. Again many people purchased this book and were amazed at how well it depicted the area and started using it to navigate the area. Both men had maps, both men had street names, and both men had the address of their friends house. But because they didn't have the whole picture, they were unsuccessful at reaching their friend. You see, people can write books about the Bible, and they can quote scripture from the Bible, but those books are NOT the Bible and will not guide you to eternal salvation. The Bible is clear about this, in 2 Corinthians 11 it says: 3-4: But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough. Devotion to Christ is simple, but it is also easy to stray from. If God didn't give it to you, don't accept it. Both men gave their accounts to other people, leading many away from finding the friend's house. But even they are warned in the Bible. Reading Galatians 1 we see that believers are easily distracted from the truth: 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! Granted, not all books lead you astray, in fact, some can lead you to an even closer walk with Christ. But how do you know when a book attempts to become MORE than a book and becomes a "gospel?" The Mormons have a map, where it came from only they know. One thing is true about their comparisons, they ARE reading the Bible, but there is one very important process they are missing. The direction of comparison. When I am going to a friend's house for the first time, I call them, get directions, write stuff down (maps, roads, directions, stick figures, etc) then I ask for three specific details that will help identify the house on the street. 1. What color is your home? 2. What color/make is your vehicle? and 3. Tell me one distinguishable feature visible from the road that makes your home stand out. Then, I jump on Google Maps and type in his address. I'll even plan a route, sometimes going as far as using street view to try and confirm the directions given to me. What did I do? Did Google maps "line up" with my drawing, or did my drawing "line up" with Google maps? When I am given information, direction, suggestion, I take that information and identify key traits, then I go to the Bible and try and find the direction which Christ has given me, I get down to the roots and confirm the information. The Mormons should follow this direction when comparing books to the Bible.  God > Bible > information = right Information > Bible > God = wrong We know God gave us the Bible, the Bible should then guide our information. If the information can be confirmed in the Bible, then we can know it to be truth. When the sisters read the Bible first, naturally they were able to find a portion of their book to which it lines up. But this like the Duke's of Hazard jumping through a train car. That is one coincidence where both "line up," but extremely risky to then say you can jump any car on the train! Instead, she should be able to pick ANY random portion of her book (as well as any faith based book/study) and then be able to find it within the Bible. If your friend says to go to a specific city and you didn't confirm it on an official map, only you are to blame for not finding your friends house. It is when you confirm your information, that your information then becomes truth. You confirm your map with the Bible, not confirm the Bible with your map. If there is an error in your directions and you find it in the Bible, you don't scribble out the the Bible verse, NO! You change your direction to align with the Bible. By the way, map maker was looking at one of his picture/maps when he gave directions. It looked something like this:   Sorry for the long one, I could have gone on even longer, but that's only because I have a hard time ending these. I hope to make an entry every week or two, so please subscribe! </rant> Jon

The State I'm In

posted Nov 15, 2013, 5:55 AM by Jon Rumfelt

Have you ever wondered why people cry when they are touched by the presence of God? I mean, why not any of the other emotions? Sure, some laugh, some do some weird things, but for the most part, everyone cries. I thought about this while in my prayer closet this morning. Yes, I was crying, but that's not why I'm writing this. As I sat in the truck I glanced up at the frosted windshield, turned the heater on full defrost, and waited. Then it dawned on me. Some science (Cause everyone loves science) There are three states of matter, solid, liquid, and gas (Some argue a fourth as plasma, but that's just a super hot gas).  As the coldest of the three, solid tends to make no motion (or very little at a molecular level) and is very logical in its makeup. The molecules are organized in a very specific pattern. Second is the liquid. It flows easily, takes the shape of the container it's in, and as you can see is random and free flowing at the molecular level. And finally, Gas. Gas is evaporated liquid. The physical is gone, the atoms just pass each other by. Ok, Science class if over! We'll be talking about the first two, Solid and Liquid. I started watching the frost melt from solid to liquid on the windshield. Mesmerized I stared intently as some unseen force (unseen with my eyes) began interacting with the windshield and the blanket of frost that covered it. I watched intensely as it turned from a beautiful pattern of logic, into a random puddle of water droplets. The remaining liquid that held on was soon evaporated into a gas.     I can't link directly, but go here to watch a quick timelapse of a windshield defrosting, if you have never seen it!     http://www.pond5.com/stock-footage/12564347/timelapse-windshield-defrosting.html I felt a surge of emotion as I realized that without God, we are lifeless, frozen in a solid state. In that state we rely on ourselves to maintain order and logic. We can't flow with others, we are square pegs in round holes. And anything that isn't our shape or state is out of control. And like the frost on my windshield, there is no transparency, only secrets. It's when we allow God to sit in the driver's seat and turn on the defrost that we begin to see a change. But we don't SEE the warmth, we feel it, and we can see its effects. The ice turned to liquid right before my eyes.  He melts the ice in our hearts, allowing us to flow freely, be more flexible, take the shape of the container we are put in as we "go with the flow" and allow things to happen. Water doesn't get stressed out when it can't flow, it finds the path of least resistance, or the more peaceful path. And as the ice melts, it causes a great deal of water to flow, and we cry. We cry because order has been replaced by obedience to God's direction of flow. We cry because life has taken over the lifeless. We cry because now we can see through the veil that has covered our view. We cry because we are no longer in control. We cry because our hearts are warmed with love and compassion. Have you let God defrost you? Psalm 51:10 (NIV) says "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." Water purifies, it cleanses, and it washes away. Something a frost covered heart can't do. So from here out, I'm going to let God keep my windshield free of frost. After all, a windshield doesn't decide where the car is going, it only allows the driver to see through it while keeping the wind out of His eyes, even if it's water in mine. What state are you in? Matter type images from - http://www.chem.purdue.edu/gchelp/atoms/states.html Defrost image from - http://www.psd100.com/defrost-icon/#.UoYf_sSkq1Q

Are We Alone? Nope!

posted Jul 8, 2013, 3:09 PM by Jon Rumfelt   [ updated Jul 8, 2013, 3:12 PM ]

I used to be a firm believer that we were not "alone" in the universe. At this point, I feel that IF there is life on other planets, that it is simply bacteria or plant like in nature. Maybe as advanced as small bugs. I like what this astronomer, Allan Penny, from the UK had to say: “It’s quite possible that we’re alone in the Universe. And think about the implications of that: if we’re alone in the Universe then the whole purpose in the Universe is in us. If we’re not alone, that’s interesting in a very different way.” (http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/07/08/britain-launches-search-for-extraterrestrial-life/) Read again "if we're alone in the Universe then the whole purpose in the Universe is in us." The heavens were created for us to cast our eyes upon in witness of God's great power. To the point that "The stars can not contain" His presence. As far as God can see, He created it all for US!!! Every star in the sky, every point of light, every source of electromagnetic energy, He created for us to gaze upon, to discover. Every speck of light comes from a star. In Hubble Ultra Deep Field, scientists thought they were peering into a dark, empty part of space. Only that's not what they found! They found even more of God's painting! Every dot in HUDF was a GALAXY!! If the universe's purpose is to host us, it becomes incomprehensible the size of God's grace! Imagine if you owned the world's tallest building (as of 2010): You have the whole building to yourself. No renters, no businesses, nothing. All by yourself. Now lets say you have a friend coming over to visit. You want this friend to be comfortable and have space to move around. So you tell him he and his family can stay in the tower. He has the WHOLE tower to himself and you go get a hotel room so your friend will have privacy. Everywhere your friend goes is your property, set aside for his enjoyment. Every room he looks in is a reminder of your hospitality. Every fridge is completely stocked with food, every pantry full. Ever more a reminder that you are accommodating. Nothing is empty, not even the toothpaste in every bathroom. Imagine the space your friend would have! It would be overwhelming! How could he have such a good friend to let him stay in such a great space?  This example only pales in comparison to the universe. But you can begin to see why we feel alone or even insignificant. It can be quite daunting to look at such splendor and scale of the universe. It makes it difficult to feel honored that it is all created for us. Carl Sagan said: "Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark." Carl is a notable scientist, a great astronomer, but a lousy motivational speaker! Here he is looking at Earth as it was shot from Voyager 1 when it was 3.7 billion miles away. Yes, Earth is small, but NOT insignificant. As of now, it's the only place in the universe where we can live! When the enemy wants to discourage us, he makes us look within; at ourselves and our pitiful size compared to the problem. If you look inside, you see you are small and unable to handle the problem. You become that lonely speck in the dark. But if you look outward, to the sky and heavens, gaze upon HIS splendor, you will find that while you may be small, and smaller than your problem, you have a BIG God who's creation has spread beyond the interstellar horizons. His hand is on your side! The stars represent the amount of LOVE he has for you and that HE is bigger than your problem. The "delusion" Carl speaks of is not arrogance or "imagined self-importance."  We ARE important! Important enough to have an entire universe, even time itself, created for us. Scientists who look outward will see, those who look inward, will miss it. Are we alone? Nope! We have the best host. We have God!

Fully Committed

posted Jun 27, 2013, 4:26 PM by Jon Rumfelt
God is amazing! And I mean it! Not only has He blessed me with an amazing wife who has given me three outstanding children, he has truly blessed me with the best friend anyone could have. This friend keeps me focused on God and eager to reach out to receive what God has for me. He also ensures I follow through with my actions by giving me no excuse to walk on the water towards Jesus.

Our tickets, provided by God, are booked! We fly out of Alaska on August 6th and our new chapter begins August 7th. Then, 20 minutes later, I receive an email asking if I'm available for an interview!!

That means no turning back! We have to pack all our belongings, selling what we don't need or is easily replaceable. We've had an online garage sale, and an actual garage sale, and now a follow up online sale. We've all gotten rid of so much stuff, going from an estimated 10,000 lbs of household goods to an estimated 500 lbs that will be shipped, and maybe a few hundred pounds of stuff going with us on the plane. I myself have tossed five 30 gal garbage cans FULL of electronics from PC's to cables and still have tools to part from. Sarah has done what no man thinks a woman can do, she successfully decreased her closet space by well over 50% !! For a few weeks, I had more clothes than her. The kids have sacrificed as well, books, toys, clothes, nothing is off limits if it can be replaced cheap.

We are selling the car, today hopefully, and that will boost the moving funds and help get the house on the market. Which brings me to the house. We move out this weekend and will be putting the house on the market next weekend, the 4th of July weekend.

Now here's where the miracle prayer starts. We prayed that we would sell the house "as quickly as we purchased it." Which, for those of you that don't know, we were told on July 1st to "Go hunting for your home" and we had our price range we qualified for. We drove around the neighborhood and found this awesome house with a fenced in yard. We looked at it, estimated the asking price, and called. They were at Safeway in North Pole and had left the house 20 minutes prior putting the For Sale by Owner sign up!!! TWENTY minutes! That's it! They sold their house, and we made it our home, in 20 minutes!!

Flash forward to today and we plan on putting our home up for sale on the same weekend we found it. We pray that the perfect couple comes driving by a mere 20 minutes after we stick the sign in the ground. We pray they see what we saw (And MORE) and are so drawn to the house they call us. We also closed on the house in only 14 days, the notary said that was the fastest he'd personally seen!

So if you know of anyone looking to buy a house and make it a home, please send them our way. This Blessing house has been more than a home, it has been a teacher, a comforter, a party host, and a shelter for the Rumfelt family.

Details: 1270 sq ft, 3 bdrm, 2bath, garage, on one acre with 1/2 of the acre fenced in. We'll be asking at least $210,000. Signs go up on July 1st. We'll be painting and finishing trim all next week, and photos will follow along with a FB, Craig's List, and Eielson For Sale posting.

In the mean time, we are moving into the out-laws this evening and into the weekend. Things are going to get tight for the R5 crew, but one thing we know for sure... we are fully committed.

Jon

The Ants go Marching One By One

posted Jun 19, 2013, 12:50 PM by Jon Rumfelt

Hurrah, Hurrah ... The trailer is set, the boxes are loading, the house is emptying. The workers are sweating like pigs because it's unusually warm this week! We all feel overwhelmed with the amount of packing we have to do, the things we have to throw away, the things we have to sell, and the things around the house we have to fix. As we take our times and pace ourselves, the goal dates creep up and pounce like Hobs on Calvin. We have no couch, Paige has no bed, the kitchen table is sold, paint is in the waiting, and trim about to me measured. I also still have to tidy up the water lines from my November fiasco with the pump. It's operational and doesn't leak, but it does look a bit tacky. And then the trim around the wood stove needs to be installed. Our yard is also going to be a bare! We just had 79 stumps ground up, so we need to level and seed that, along with taking down the dog fence, and cleaning up their winter business!! We have wood to move, rocks to place, and brush to burn (if the red flag warnings will stop!!). We have some goal dates in place, August 1st is our goal to be in Virginia. So lets see if we can get close to these: June 23rd, have the kids moved into the out-laws house. June 29th/30th, have house ready to paint inside and let the father-in-law at it! July 1, put For Sale By Owner signs up and post photos online. I love owning a house, but I just wish I would have known this was going to happen so quickly. I would have done some of this last year. Oh well, such is life. On the job front, I've been working with 3 recruiters who each have at least 3 positions they think I'm a "shoe in" for. But here's the "kicker" about this. I've applied for around 75 positions in the DC region. Of the 75, I've had contacts from about 15 positions. Of the 15, about 9 I'm told I should expect interview calls. But going on 4 months now, I've not had an interview! Between September 2012 and February 2013 I had 5 interviews, but now none! So I've gone from 5 applications and 5 interviews (100%) with offers that were retracted when they realized I was in Alaska and not Arizona or Arkansas and didn't want to wait for me, to 20% response on 75 applications with 0 interviews so far. Why the dry spell? I know there are jobs, I'm applying for them! I know they are hiring, because they close! The problem is, I'm competing with people who are already IN the region. So I need to get down there. But I can't go without the income because our house isn't sold yet and my income pays the mortgage. So we have to sell the house before I can quit my existing job. But then we have yet another problem! We can't move down without paying. And with no job, I can't afford the $1600 to $2000 it will cost to drive out. Add on the fact that neither vehicle will handle the drive and now I have to purchase a car, so add another payment to mix during unemployment. Oh, we need to buy a trailer, which here can run over $2500. Or I can rent from U Haul a trailer for a grand. But, that's money I don't have, and definitely won't have if I quit my existing job. So how do we move with no money? Faith. Wisdom. Planning. I am having faith that two things will happen very quickly, miracle quickly. 1) Our house sells in the same amount of time in which we bought it. 20 minutes!! 2) I receive an offer that will cover at least a portion of moving expenses. I'm asking that you pray for us as well, that both of these will happen with speed, without problems, and without a doubt giving glory to God as a testament of His rewarding the faithful. Thank you Jon

Stepping Out - The House

posted Mar 4, 2013, 11:31 AM by Jon Rumfelt   [ updated Mar 4, 2013, 4:40 PM ]

Well, things are going good on the moving front. We have the site generating a great deal of traffic on our moving sale. Posts on Eielsonforsale and Craigs List are second and third to the traffic from Facebook. We appreciate everyone who has expressed interest in purchasing some of our belongings. The response is yet another confirmation that we are doing the right thing and pushing forward in this move. Above - Three shots of our driveway from the porch, Winter, Fall, and Summer (clockwise). The summer photo shows a moose at the end of the driveway, He's about 6ft tall at his back. The next thing we'll be putting on the list is the big guy. The House. I've loved this house from the moment we drove by. It has been our "little blessing" on Blessing Ave. This is our "Blessings Bench" that stayed near our front door since we moved in. When it was given to us, we thought it the perfect gift! When we moved in, I knew nothing about sweeping a chimney, felling a tree, driving a ride-a-mower, cleaning a furnace, or replacing a sink. But living here in this house has afforded me the opportunity to keep this building an operational house. Sometimes it has cost us a great deal of money and frustration, other times it has been a simple fix. We've had others feel us in our pain, from house sitters being the lucky winners of a broken well, or running out of heating oil. And friends and family there by our side as we fix our furnace and yet another broken pump. This house has been so forgiving, allowing me to make mistakes, cut fingers, almost burn drywall. Through it all, the house has kept us warm in the winter, cool in the summer, and the back yard has hosted many a party. The joys of learning have brought us closer as a family and have made the smores around the fire that more enjoyable. Devotions around the porch fire pit -> Then there were the trees. We decided that having an acre of land is great, but having an acre of cleared flat grassy land would be awesome! So we decided to start cutting down trees. When you have never cut down a tree, it can be a bit daunting and intimidating. So I found a tree that no matter which direction it started to fall, it wouldn't hit anything. It was only 6" in diameter, but you have to start somewhere. I ran through the steps I saw on "Ask This Old House" (hey, don't judge, your man has watched it, I promise!) on how to "fell" a tree. I made the notch in the general direction I wanted it to fall. Then I stepped around the back side, looked for my escape route, then proceeded to make the back cut. As the tree fell, I changed my rotation angle and watched the tree be steered to the ground. It was AMAZING! Little old me was man enough to challenge this tree and wrestle it to the ground in triumphant victory! At least that's what went on in my head. Then there was the tall spruce with the dead cap. As I started cutting that one, it decided it was going to start leaning towards the house!!! I jumped in front of it and pushed with everything in me, but I could only hold it up. Luckily I had my cell phone in my pocket, so I pulled it out and dialed the wife inside and yelled, "GET THE CAR AND ROPE" and we were able to pull it in the right direction. I learned from that to pull a tree whenever possible. Of course, when you can't, you can just have Sarah push it. One was falling towards the fence and she pulled an "Alaskan Mom" and pushed the tree over enough to just miss the fence! So now we have a yard that has many trees removed, but more to go. I need to learn how to remove stumps in an easy way, instead of using my dull chainsaw blades to cut the ground. <- This pic was taken in the fall, all the trees in the back yard (behind the house) on the right side have been cut down. Once all leveled and stumps removed, this back yard could easily host a great game of Frisbee football.  It's going to be tough to leave this house, that's for sure. But the next person will inherit a great domicile in a peaceful neighborhood with great neighbors. I pray my new home is in a great neighborhood like this one. Stepping out of a home and becoming "homeless" is a huge leap of faith into the next chapter.

The Move and Resume

posted Feb 25, 2013, 11:11 AM by Jon Rumfelt

I see it has been a while since I've posted up here. I also have a lot of photos to upload. I need to get back into maintaining this site, but I've been so busy studying for Net+, Sec+, and my CCNA along with the new job that I have been too tired at home to post anything. So here we go. You read that right, I have a new job! I no longer work out at Red Flag-Alaska. For eight years I had the best job ever, and built a cryptographically isolated, geographically separated mission network of nearly 200 end user terminals and 14 servers to support joint coalition exercises in the premiere exercise of the Pacific. I loved my job out there, maintaining nearly 50 servers (physical and virtual) across 4 networks and classifications. The pilots and support staff of the squadron were sad to see me go, but contract changes just made it too uncomfortable for me to stay, and with cuts in funding I fear it will only become worse. So I started looking for a new job. I landed this job here at Fort Wainwright at the Re-configurable Vehicle Tactical Trainer (RVTT) with the help of Scott Ahlstrom. While this position is fun, it's boring. I was warned when I was offered the position that it would be compared to the stress I've had out at Eielson and setting up for exercises with 1500 participants. Here I simply turn on the simulator, test it (that's the fun part!!), and hand it over to the instructors. Six hours later the instructors hand it back and I turn it off. Why did I take this job? I did it for those 6 hours! I have a full 6 hours available for me to study for my three tests. And the bonus is once I take the tests, the company will reimburse me if I pass. So this job will afford me the ability to make myself more valuable in the IT field. And while it may look like a step backward on my resume, it is a welcome furlough of reduced pressure. Speaking of Resumes, have you updated yours? Try something new? I did, and it seems to have backfired. I decided to add flare to my resume's first page by highlighting my career's top 3 positions, along with fancy graphics and borders. I called it my "modern" resume. Then I tried to apply for several positions across the country. I had a few interviews as a result, however, each one politely requested a "not so fancy" version of my resume, in their words. So what's wrong with a modernized resume? Why don't prospective employers want to see something flashy that get's their attention off the bat? Why do I have to conform to boring black and white resumes? I know if I were an employer looking to hire, I would want someone who stands apart, cutting edge, ready to take my company to the next level, not some person who simply wishes to fit in, blend, obey blindly, and just do their job. But alas, I am not hiring, I am seeking, and as a result, I have to conform. So my resume will be reverting to a traditional (read boring) style portfolio, and I'll start trying again. "Wait, Jon, you just said you started a new job, why are you still looking?" Because we are moving! Alaska is a beautiful state, and living in North Pole is a once in a lifetime experience. That is, if you are from some other place. My wife and kids, this is all they know, and the wife is done "knowing" Alaska's winters. I am concerned with her health, which doctors have told her if she were in a warmer climate, many of her health issues would go away. So we are looking for employment outside of Alaska, and towards the east cost near Virginia. Specifically Virginia near DC. Many of the jobs I am qualified for are in DC. And we have friends there to help us land on our feet. We knew God wanted us to move, but it took several years to figure out that He wanted US to move, not He wanted to move us. There is a difference. For the longest time I thought God was just testing our willingness to leave. But now I know it is a Peter test, a test of faith, am I willing to take my family, step out of the boat, and walk on water? The answer is a resounding Yes! And while there is a bit of fear and reluctance, it is only because North Pole is what I know. I have connections here, established friends, memorized the roads. Where we go I have no knowledge of the area, I don't know the bad areas of town, I have no connections other than my best friend there. I will have to rely completely on God, faith in the water, and keep my eyes on Jesus while trusting in my friend to help us plant our feet on new ground. Quite a step of faith, but I know it is for the better. I can't wait to see what this new chapter will be like!! OK, I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again for those to whom it still may hold merit. I'll try to post more often!! Thanks everyone Jon