Editor’s note: “Where Are They Now” is a Muscatine Journal series written by former Muscatine Journal editor Gil Dietz, who welcomes comments and suggestions. You can contact him at 563-263-5499 or gvdietz@machlink.com.
DES MOINES, Iowa – Pastor Jeff Arp works with people who are struggling with addictions and life-controlling problems in his position as Program Director of the Urban Center for Teen Challenge of the Midlands.
Arp, 47, is the son of Leon and Elnora Arp, lifelong residents of Muscatine County. They are both retired and living in their home on the property where Leon was raised near Wildcat Den State Park.
Read the rest of the article Here
As I read this article and thought back to the many memories I have growing up I think one of the most interesting occurred in the last year of my Junior High tenure. Room 212 is where you were sent to be disciplined. By ninth grade I had my own desk in room 212. So obviously I was in there quite often. A big part of the reason for that is because that was the year I had Mrs. Panko for Algebra. And I never met a formula I could comprehend. English - loved it! Science - survived it. Math - well, it has always chewed me up and spit me out!
Mr. Koopman was the Assistant Principal at Central Junior High and he was often the guy hanging out in room 212 with the guy who often got sent there by Mrs. Panko.
Mr. Koopman was very soft-spoken. We didn't have many deep conversations. But what I do remember from the talks we had is that he never made me feel like a failure. Which I thought was always pretty cool considering the reason I was in room 212 was because I was a failure in the subject of math.
Towards the end of my 9th grade school year I was facing a dilemma. I don't think anyone would ever believe that the solution to my dilemma would arrive by way of Room 212. But that is why this is one of my most favorite memories.
One of the biggest invitational track meets of the year was fast approaching on the calendar. I was the anchor on our long-distance relay track team and I was also tasked to run the half-mile at a regional invitational at North Scott High School which was about an hour away from my hometown. This is where the dilemma came in. I also had a solo part in the spring musical the same night as the North Scott regional track meet. The only way I could make it to both events was to get a ride from the track meet at North Scott as soon as I was done running my events, and taken straight to the auditorium so I could change into costume and perform with the rest of the choir.
Mr. Koopman told me that was going to be a very important day and that I had to do the track meet and the concert. I told him my folks had to work and I didn't have a ride. Mr. Koopman then offered to drive me from the track meet to the concert if my folks couldn't do it and we even made plans for it to happen. At the last minute my dad was able to get off work and he attended the track event and then drove me to the school concert. I was really glad he was there. It meant a lot to me. But I'll admit, the fact that Mr. Koopman offered to do it really spoke to my spirit in a big way.
I ended up setting up the school record in the half-mile that night. And I was able to overcome a huge deficit in the relay race to bring our team from a distant 5th or 6th to second. (The first place team was a speck in the distance by the time I crossed the finish line.) It was one of the best meets of my Junior High career.
The school concert went very well. It was my last performance as a Junior Higher. Actually, it was my last public performance ever (other than with a few church choirs) I gave up school choir and band in high school to concentrate on athletics - so it was my farewell performance. I think I hit almost every note correctly and received a pretty good reaction from the crowd when it was over. I still have fond memories of it to this day.
The next morning I was sitting on the bench in the commons area where the students gathered before class. I was still there when the custodian came in with the step ladder and replaced the previous best half mile time with my name and my final time. The record only stood for a few weeks though. After the school year ended my home town school district went to a four year high school and the two freshman classes from the Junior High Schools in Muscatine were combined. Since the 9th grade boys' half-mile record at West Junior High was faster than the 9th grade boys' half-mile at Central, my mark was removed from the annals of Muscatine's history.
But what I remember most is the look on Mr. Koopman's face as my time was placed on the record board. For a kid that spent a lot of time in room 212, I sure had a good friend in my Assistant Principal. It was nice to know that even in a place like a disciplinary room, there are people who believe in you.
It reminds me of Hebrews 12:5-9 that speaks of how the Lord disciplines His children because He loves them.
5 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said,Sometimes we go through a difficult time and we think it is because the Lord has stopped loving us - stopped believing in us. I think the reason we are tempted to believe that way is because that is how the world often deals with us. When we disappoint someone in authority they often make us feel like a disappointment and then we internalize that feeling and begin that is all we are ... one big disappointment!
“My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and don’t give up when he corrects you.
6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves,
and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?
I love reading the progress reports on our students because you literally see a transformation take place in many students' lives when they realize that they were never a disappointment to God - in fact, God couldn't love them, or us, anymore than He already does! But He loves us too much to leave us as we are. But when He invites us to the divine discipline room - the room 212 of "supernatural corrections" - it is because He wants us to reach our potential!
The older I get, the more I appreciate the way Mr. Koopman used the discipline room to encourage me to believe in myself! I didn't realize it right away, and I certainly didn't appreciate it until I was no longer living in my hometown. But as I look back, I am grateful for it. And I believe it works the same way with divine discipline. We'll seldom appreciate it while we we're in the process of it... but if we keep renewing our perspective and focus on God, we'll never stay he same because of it and we'll become a little more like Jesus through the process.
I can honestly say I did not enjoy getting sent to Room 212 at Central Junior High, but I am grateful that the Assistant Principal who spent time with me there never stopped believing in me. I think that is one reason I never stopped believing in me.
Thanks for letting me share a little home town story, that played a part in making me who I am today, with you from my hometown of Muscatine, Iowa.
You Are Loved,
Jeff Arp
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