God's gifts: Understanding man's mortality, and a generous God
By Daniel F. DeLong, Globe Editor
Posted March 21, 2002

CHEROKEE - For those who are reading this, the gift of life is often overlooked and taken for granted, despite the teachings of the Lenten season.

It is certainly not this way in the home of Greg and Elaine Stieneke, a couple from the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. No, the Stienekes fully appreciate the mortality of man.

They also know the love of God, and how understanding and giving the Lord can be.

Despite an ongoing battle with the deadly Crohn's Disease, Greg Stieneke always prayed that the couple would someday have a family.

"I was written off by the doctors," he said, which would certainly put a crimp in the plans of people who don't have strong faith.

His diagnosed condition put the couple into a position of having to adopt a baby.

Even there, a roadblock was thrown up. First there was a 10-year waiting period to adopt a child in Iowa, and in consideration of Greg's poor health, the adoption agencies recommended that the family foster an older child before even considering an adoption.

Then they heard about couples who had successfully adopted children from outside the country, avoiding the long waiting period.

The Stienekes contacted Holt International of Carter Lake, Neb., and found a much friendlier reception.

Ten years ago, they took Paige, a 14-pound South Korean national who was born on Dec. 31, 1991. The toddler arrived in the United States on April 17, 1992 and found new parents that were full of love.

"We were overwhelmed," recalled Greg Stieneke, still smiling over the turn of events.

The couple felt that daughter Paige was a direct gift from God.

Two years later, the Stienekes decided that they should round out the family with a boy. Following their earlier path, they adopted Adam, a 16-pound baby from South Korea.

Thinking that their family now was complete, the couple began to carry on with a normal, quiet small-town life of raising their children.

Elaine Stieneke, who graduated in 1983 from the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, with a degree in therapeutic recreation, went to work at the Mental Health Institute in Cherokee.

She had met her husband shortly after arriving in town. He was the manager of the local theater. She liked to stick around for the movie's closing credits, so it was inevitable that they would meet.

After they married, he began working with his brother at Stieneke Ford in Holstein, remaining there for about 10 years. But the Crohn's Disease finally forced him to remain at home.

While that might sound like a horrible end of things for many people, it was simply another part of a compelling story that only serves to glorify the goodness of God.

You see, the Stienekes shortly thereafter received the shocking news that they were about to have a baby.

Sure enough, a healthy Matthew Jeffrey Stieneke checked into this world last Aug. 29. He is named after Jeff Stieneke, Greg's brother, who died of cancer last June.

And now the Stienekes - all five of them - sit close to the front of the 8:30 a.m. every Sunday, giving thanks to the gifts from God.

"Our church family has been so supportive," Elaine Stieneke says. "When Greg almost died and when each of the children have arrived, they have been there for us."

When asked about the turn of events, Sister Janice Hoffman of Immaculate Conception, simply grinned, looking upward.

"God is always good," she said.

Amen.