Daniel Grothe

Today was a memory. For a lot of reasons. Church. Baptisms. Praying in three new elders. All of it.

But I’ll be short and sweet. After church, I got to take Wakley out for golf. He had his best round ever! He shot an 80! From the men’s blue tees. And he beat me by one stroke. What a joy to watch my 14-year-old boy do something he loves. And to watch him blow past me. Kid is a beast. Such a smooth stroke. Big future. Big joy.

Well done, Wakes!! Proud of you.

Wilson and his teammates showed some moxie last night. Started out very flat but found a way to turn it on when it mattered.

Proud of all of them. And a highlight for me was Wilson’s first time ever having back-to-back dunks in a game. (Pic of dunk from a different game.) Sophomore season underway. Just keep working and getting better everyday, boys.

You can find the article online at:

https://gazette.com/2026/01/22/tcas-wilson-grothe-notches-career-high-in-victory-against-sand-creek/.

H O N O R

“Give honor where honor is due.” - King Solomon

Gabe Jenkins and I went to lunch yesterday and we ran into Chris and Tina Quay. Chris has been one of the head ushers at for over 25 years. The other 6 days of the week he managed one of the most significant furniture stores in Colorado Springs. He did that for something like 35 years. And then on Sundays, he has shown up and helped organize and serve and seat and bless and welcome thousands of people. He’s organized schedules for our ushers. He’s made sure all the supplies were in place. He’s walked many hundreds of miles in and around our building. All because he loves Jesus. And all because he loves people.

I did the math. Chris started serving as an usher when I was a sophomore in high school. To put that in perspective, I now have a daughter in college, a son who is a sophomore in high school, and a son in 7th grade.

Chris has been in the game that long. He’ll be there again on Sunday, doing what he’s done for nearly 26 years. No fanfare. No pay. Just the joy of serving Jesus and his people. And, surely, great will be his reward in heaven. But he talks like the work, even now, is a reward. The reward of serving Jesus and his people.

If you see Chris, give him a big hug and tell him you love him. He is the stuff that the Kingdom of God is built on.

We love you, Chris.

Well, she did it. Lillian Carol Grothe is moved into her dorm room and she’s off to the races.

And we did it. We set her room up today and did what parents do and went to chapel with her tonight and worshiped. And wept. And then we walked her across campus past the Prayer Tower under whose shade my parents (50 years ago) and I (25 years ago) have prayed as students here.

And then Lisa and I prayed over her. Holy tears. Holy pride. On holy ground. Holy final hugs for a while. Holy smokes, it’s just gonna be the boys at home tomorrow. Holy God, show this girl how much you love her, and, of course, we know you will because could you do anything else? But still, Holy God who art in heaven, you better deliver on your promise to be her Good Shepherd when we, her little shepherds for the last 18 years, have to fly home at 6 am.

Bless our hearts. No, seriously, bless our hearts. And bless this girl, Lillian, whom you love, in whom you are well pleased.

There she goes. Here we are. What a day. What a joy. What an ache. What a girl.

Hey, Lil—have we ever told you how unbelievably proud we are of you? Oh, you mean like 10 times a day, every day of the last 18 years? Ya. That’s what I mean. Because we *are* so unbelievably proud of you. And we always will be.

Go to class. Learn a lot. Play hard. Go to bed at a reasonable hour most of the time. Make lifelong friends. Stay away from knuckleheads. Ask the best questions. Get every bit of wisdom out of your professors. Fall in love with Tulsa, the place that made me. But make sure it always takes 2nd Place to your home with us, the home that will always be ready to receive you so long as your mother and I both shall live.

Oh, ya. One more thing: Have I told you how unbelievably proud we are of you? Because we are. And we always will be.

With tears running down my cheeks,

Dad (and with just as many tears running down her cheeks, Mom)

Can I tell you what I saw?
 
This morning they gathered in the Penrose Public Library in the heart of downtown Colorado Springs. It was Shawnte’s birthday, and I just couldn’t miss it—firstly, because I love Shawnte and Roy, having been honored to officiate their wedding in October of 2023, and secondly because her husband, Roy, sent me the most unbelievable letter. His note opened with:

“I trust this correspondence finds you in good health and abundant grace. Pursuant to our recent discourse regarding the prospect of your esteemed presence, alongside your family and revered parents, at our forthcoming community convocation in celebration of Shawnte’s birthday, I wished to extend a formal invitation. While I had previously presumed that you might be engaged in a seasonal respite with your loved ones, should providence permit, it would be our profound honor to receive you amongst us.”

Providence gave me no choice. How could I miss after that letter? I drove downtown, walked in the public library, and here’s what I saw: a room full of people with their Bibles opened on the table, highlighters in hand, studying Colossians 3:1-25. It was deep study, thick conversation. Roy had made a slideshow that was projected on the wall with commentary on each section of the text. He had probing and incisive questions on the screen that he led us through. Everyone shared. Everyone read a portion of the text. Each person made everyone better.

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