Campus Ministry Retreat and Other Cute Stuff

Some pictures of our campus ministry retreat with Grand View College's Lutheran Campus Ministry, and other stuff, too!

Pictures: Home With Alanna

The oppressive heat here in Ames is keeping the girls inside most of the time, so Mommy has taken LOTS of cute pictures of Alanna the last few days. Here are some of the best:

Hanging out in our new swing:


Sleeping like Daddy:


Bath Time!


Sleeping like Mommy:


Tummy Time!

More Alanna Pics

Big sister got her first good look at Alanna today, and was very excited. Unfortunately, "excited" translates to "Why does she cry when I poke her nose? My doll doesn't cry when I poke her nose!" But a hug and a kiss goes a long way towards making things better:

Now We Are Four

So much for baby widgets - we had a baby girl this morning!

Alanna Sophia Faye was born at 9:23 AM via c-section. Kristin started having light contractions around 11:00 last night. When contractions hadn't stopped this morning, we went to the hospital and discovered that yes, Kristin was in labor, so the doctors elected to do the procedure this morning rather than put things off any longer.

Alanna (pronounced ah - LAH - na, Gaelic for "dear one, darling child, beautiful child") weighs 7lbs 8oz and was 21 inches long. She has brown hair and brown eyes, cause for much rejoicing from Mommy as it is proof that we aren't just cloning Johnsons around here. She beat big sister Ainsley's score of 9 on the newborn evaluation scale with a 10, which I'm sure is only the first of many sibling competitions to come. She is a very alert little girl, but also likes to nap and appears to be very content when swaddled tightly. Feeding has gone just fine so far. Mommy is uncomfortable, as you might imagine, but doing well and very happy to be done with this pregnancy. Ainsley was very excited to hold Alanna - she even said "Hi" when they first sat together in the chair at the hospital. But Alanna doesn't do much, so Ainsley wasn't too impressed after the first few minutes. Daddy is vacillating between being extremely happy and completely freaked out - holy cow, we have another newborn. :-) Now we are four. Life is good.

Now, If We Could Just Get Her To Tape The Daily Show...

Giggly Running Girl

Hi - this is Ainsley. So, I woke up all happy & such yesterday, and after breakfast me & Daddy played upstairs while Mommy took a shower and got dressed. We played the "Chase me!" game - it was fun!

Uh-Oh - Second Baby Syndrome? OR Haven't We Done All This Before?

So, last Wednesday was the final ultrasound for Baby #2. I'm just now posting the pictures. Is this a sign of things to come? Hope not - and I imagine when she's a real, kicking baby as opposed to some alien looking thing on a computer monitor, things will be different.

Anyway, here she is! Everything is as it should be and where it should be, and it was quite a show. She sucked on her fingers and tried to wave at Mommy, Daddy & Grandma M while we were watching - it was precious. Still on target for the 25th of July, if not a bit ahead of that, which isn't surprising, as Kristin looks VERY pregnant these days and is even more ready not to be. Have I mentioned the awesomeness of my wife before?


In a really funny concurring development, Ainsley has taken to carrying her baby doll EVERYWHERE over the last two days. Her Uncle Kevin bought her a nice doll for Christmas, but for the most part she ignored it until just a few weeks ago. Then one day, she insisted we diaper the baby when Ainsley's own diaper was being changed. Now she takes it with her everywhere - outside, to the table to eat, all over the basement when she's playing, everywhere. We just hope she doesn't drop her little sister like she sometimes drops the baby!

Another somewhat-related note: we watched the movie Waitress last night after Ainsley was down for bed. It's a great little movie, with lots of heart. Some uncomfortable abuse issues and a remarkably talented group of actors make it a bit more than your everyday "woman with a bun in the oven having existential issues" movie. And the pies? Wow, do they look delicious. Good stuff.

Peace!
Proud Papa

Memorial Day 2008

First, some cute pictures of my kid. Because, you know, it's my blog:

I posted last about doing un-homiletical stuff upon our return from Minneapolis. Well, the urge stayed upon me all day on Monday, which led to an all-out assault on the Honey-Do list. First, I split some hostas to fill in open space around the foundation of our house:

Kris wanted to do some cleaning in the house, so I took an hour and sat outside, reading while Ainsley played in the yard. Then I moved to Ainsley's room. Kris found some blinds on sale and I've not yet cut them to fit the windows. You can see in this picture the bunch of extra slats at the bottom of the blind.

After much cursing and mangling of strings, extra blinds and plugs, I was able to get one fitted correctly:

After that, I cooked brats on the grill, we ate supper, and we watched TV after Ainsley went to sleep. All in all, an awesome day.

Speaking of awesome, a story about my wife is in order. Our next door neighbors are three college-age women. Three very attractive college-age women. These things happen, normally there's not a lot of need for comment. But in the lovely afternoon sun on Monday, one of our neighbors and her boyfriend decided to wash their cars. Ergo, she was outside in a bikini top and shorts. Being a dedicated spouse, and determined NOT to be the creepy older guy who ogles the neighbors, I paid much attention to my magazine. But when Boyfriend started spraying his car down with his thumb over the hose nozzle, I did decide to be neighborly and offer our spray header to make his job easier. Boyfriend, Blonde Cutie and I had some small talk, they oohed and aahed over Ainsley, then we went back to our work. But Kristin saw me talking with the neighbors, and poked her head out the window to say hello. Here's the awesome part. My wife's only comment later was, "Boy, got some eye-candy over there, don't we?" Funny, completely non-jealous and yet aware that while I might be 34, I'm not dead and I'm not made of stone. That's a pretty awesome combination in a spouse - I'm a blessed guy.

Festival of Homiletics: The Un-Homiletical Homecoming OR T-Minus 2 Months and Counting...

This is my final post from the Festival of Homiletics. I'm happy to say that the Big Lutheran Wrap-Up went very well - score one for the home team. Mary Hinkle Shore preached on today's passage from 1st Corinthians and had the entire assembly eating out of the palm of her hand within the first 45 seconds. Best of all, the body of the sermon was worthy of the great introduction. It was a sermon aimed at preachers, so while it probably wouldn't have flown in the congregation, I for one felt very, very edified by her proclamation.

David Lose gave a great lecture following worship. I'm pretty sure it was a short synopsis of his book Confessing Jesus Christ: Preaching in a Post-Modern World, but it was still good to hear from him. What I noted was an emphasis in his title that I hadn't understood previously: I had thought his book title was emphasizing Jesus Christ, but in actuality, his particular point of emphasis is on Confessing. His argument, which I endorse whole-heartedly, is that our preaching (and indeed, the whole life of the church) must now center itself on confession of our belief in Jesus. In the post-modern world, empirical rationalism has become quite limited, but the church, for some reason, continued to insist that her claims could be empirically proven through bigger and better arguments, making 'the case for Christ' (if I might borrow from a well-known apologetics book). Lose believes, as do I, that the church's witness is most effective when we cease our efforts at argumentative coercion and manipulation - the safe road - and simply state our faith in the boldest, most vulnerable means possible - in the same way that God once boldly, vulnerably came among us in the life of Christ. Well, at least, that's the story in a nutshell.

Between that lecture and the final worship service, I ran into an old friend from campus ministry at the University of Nebraska. Turns out he's in a call 35 miles from my hometown these days. We didn't have a chance to talk a whole lot, but it was nice to see him again, and I realized that even if the conference had been a complete bomb, meeting all these new friends and catching up with old friends would have made the time pretty special on its own.

Finally, Fred Gaiser preached a poetic interpretation of the crossing of the Red Sea for our closing worship. "Something There Is That Doesn't Love A Wall" was his title, and joining Robert Frost to the Exodus narrative Gaiser made a moving case for the end of walls between God's people. Powerful stuff, exactly what I expected from the good Dr. Gaiser. Throw in some beautiful music from Beth Nielsen Chapman and a celtic worship group from Westminster Presbyterian, and you had a lovely morning of worship. All in all, a great end to a great week.

After driving home Friday, I was all keyed up to do some stuff yesterday that involved anything but sitting. So, I took the kiddo shopping for tools, and then I

• changed the oil on the car
• sharpened the blade on the lawnmower
• changed the oil on the lawnmower
• mowed the lawn
• sprayed the weeds in our walkway
• cleaned some weeds out of some of our flowerbeds
• cleaned up the garage
• and started replacing the head on our string trimmer

So, that's how I spent yesterday's un-homiletical homecoming. Today we went to church, where I sang in the choir and did special music as well. We came home, had lunch, then the girls went down for their naps while I read the Sunday papers and watched Phil Mickelson tear up Colonial (he wound up winning on a birdie putt on the last hole. YOU DA MAN, PHIL!). After everyone got well rested, we went grocery shopping, I made pizza for supper and finally Kristin and I watched a movie after putting Ainsley down to bed.

During worship this morning, Kristin looked at her watch and noted that the due date for She-Who-Is-Yet-To-Be is two months from today. Yikes. Just thinking about it makes me excited and a bit worried all at once. I can handle one - indeed, most of the time I love taking care of our one kiddo. But two seems exponentially larger, like the complexity jumps by a factor of three or four or eight instead of one. I suppose there's nothing for it now but to just jump in and learn to sink or swim, huh? Should be a fun ride, at the least. Well, that's the word from Ames tonight. Tomorrow, it's long run and a long, hopefully sunny Memorial Day with the family. I foresee parks and grilled turkey brats in our future. Mmmmm - love me that grill.

Peace,

Scott

First Words!

Catching Up On Pictures

A friend told Kristin she missed the regular pictures of our Ainsley. Thus, I oblige:

Ainsley helping Grandma Johnson read a book:


Ainsley and Daddy with Ainsley's first car, courtesy of Grandma & Grandpa Johnson

Playing outside in the new back yard. Check out the boots!

Bathtime for Baby & Daddy!

Playing in the street at Uncle Jerry & Aunt Kimmie's house.

Hi, I'm Scott - this is my blog...

It's been more sporadic blogging lately. I don't know why, precisely - I'm just not feeling as inspired to write and reflect at the present. That doesn't bother me so much, but I've not been reading blogs as much, either, and that makes me uncomfortable. So many people have great things to say, and I'm not giving them an audience they deserve. Anyway, I'm going to stop playing Scrabulous for a bit and tell you what's up here in Ames.

Speaking of Facebook, it's been kinda fun suggesting friends and having them suggested to me. I've connected with a few old friends and lots of new ones, and I've kept in touch with some folks from our previous calls as well. Scrabulous, though, is definitely the best thing about Facebook.

Ainsley continues to be a wonderful blessing to Kris and me. Having learned some basic children's signs, she can now ask for food, help with various things around the house, and lots of other stuff. I took her to the pediatrician on Monday, and all of a sudden she started signing "Baby." Then she pointed to the picture of a mother and baby on the cupboard above my head. Talk about a proud moment! Then she asked for milk and food to eat and we proceeded to enjoy a snack together in the examination room. I've remarked more than once to Kristin that she may not be talking yet, but she is communicating, and it's a lot of fun.

I've picked up my training for Grandma's Marathon, which is two short months from yesterday. *gulp* We've joined a gym in Ames and have been putting our membership to good use - in the 23 days of April I've gotten in 13 workouts, and that includes my trip to Nashville when I was so tired from the long travel days that I just slept in. In the past week alone I've lost two pounds - hopefully I'll keep losing weight and approach my goal weight of 190 lbs. for the marathon. If I'm going to make it under 4 hours I'll need to cut the weight. On Monday night I enjoyed my last bit of ice cream until my birthday, and I've eliminated the late night TV snacks as well. We'll see how it all goes, but I'm pretty happy thus far.

Is it me, or does it seem like God just flipped a switch and spring came ON? We went from cold and rainy and even snowy to green and warm in less than twenty-four hours, it seems, and I'm loving every minute of it. So is Ainsley, who now asks to go outside several times a day (when she's not already out there, that is). We were definitely feeling cabin fever the last few weeks of March, and apparently we weren't the only ones: either Ames is home to the highest per-capita percentage of runners in the world, or everyone's out feeling their oats this spring.

Watched a neat little program last night on NOVA: Tom & Ray Magliozzi, aka Click & Clack the Tappett brothers, hosted The Car of the Future. It wasn't as funny as I'd hoped it would be, but damn, as soon as Tesla comes out with an affordable plug-in I'll be first in line. That sports coupe they are building right now is HOT. Here's a video promo for the show that also shows the Tesla AND Ray's beloved '52 MG:



Good stuff there - brought to you by Dewey, Cheathem & Howe, naturally.

In book news, I've finished the Irish Century series by Morgan Llywelyn. 1999: A Novel of Ireland and the Search for Peace was the last and, unfortunately, very disappointing. After the Halloran family was so deeply involved in the republican cause for most of the century, watching them watch the rest of the century happen was very much underwhelming. You just never got the sense of the historic figures in 1999 like you did with Padraig Pearse, Michael Collins and even Eamon de Valera in the earlier volumes. That having been said, it's a worthy series with much to recommend it, even the final volume. Now I'm looking for good books on ancient Irish history, Brian Boru and the like, and not necessarily historical fiction, so if you've got suggestions, please send them my way!

Campus ministry continues to feel like a good fit for me, and I'm very thankful for the opportunity to work with and for these young people in our community. It's just incredible to watch them live and study and work and grow and become who they're becoming. Jan E at A Church for Starving Artists had a post about her church and their struggle to be a better community for each other - her frustration hits why I feel called here squarely on the head. I did NOT become a pastor to churn out confirmands and pray at every church supper - I'm here to help people ask the questions for themselves and learn what it means to be a disciple of Jesus every day for the rest of their lives, to never stop growing in faith, and in campus ministry I feel like I can really put that passion to good use. As I said a while back, it's good to feel useful again.

Well, that's the news from Ames - blessings to you all!

Peace,
Scott

Random Monday Musings

Just some random Monday musings for you today.

First off, will SOMEBODY please send a memo to anyone in showbiz explaining the difference between a Sigma and an Epsilon in the Greek alphabet?

For future reference, this is Sigma:

And this is Epsilon:
The first correlates to our English S, the second to our English E. Therefore, when you use the Sigma because it sort of looks like a fancy E, all Greek and stuff, what you’re really doing is a horrendous misspelling. Like, “My Big Fat GrSSk Wedding.” Or the new show on ABC Family, “GRSSK”

I wonder if there are any fraternity or sorority alumni/ae producing these shows? Or if they all killed that particular brain cell at a Thursday night kegger and never remembered that THOSE ARE ACTUAL LETTERS ABOVE THE DOOR OF YOUR HOUSE.

Morons – I’m surrounded by morons.

Second, I’m really enjoying The Pillars of the Earth on my iPod right now – for crying out loud, the thing is 40 hours long, so it’ll be more than enough book to get me through the month. Good thing audible.com doesn’t charge by the minute. But Mr. Follett’s constant return to sexual themes is getting a little old. The plot is already fascinating, and his descriptions of cathedral construction and the social and environmental setting are great, and every time some young wench bares her heaving bosoms to somebody, I wonder, “When did I download Clan of the Cave Bear?”

Third, The Pillars of the Earth, at 40 hours, is one monthly credit at audible.com, while The Amber Spyglass is two credits, though it is less than half the length. Not cool.

Item the Fourth: I’d like to register my chagrined aggravation with God rewarding my parents' steadfastness of 30+ years ago by giving me a child exactly like me. I was that kid in church who couldn’t sit still for a second and hated every blasted minute of it. (I was actually dragged out by my father once, screaming "Don't spank me, Daddy!" the whole way.) Guess who else must be moving constantly and will not, under any circumstances, be contained within a pew for any length of time? And worse, she doesn’t yet understand that church is a sit still activity, so I can’t try out my dad’s patented Vulcan knee grip just yet. But am I looking forward to that day? You bet your sweet bippy I am.

Finally, just because it’s freakin’ funny, another song interpretation from David Armand. Have a great Easter Monday.

Broken Cookies Have No Calories, Right?

Yes, Sir, That's My Baby

So, here's the good news: Kristin has found a part-time job working in youth ministry at Collegiate Presbyterian Church in Ames. The staff is great, she likes the office and her co-workers, things are good. So, great, right?

Well, yes. They're good folks, and we realized this when Kristin went in on Friday to sign some papers and get things rolling on the payroll stuff. Ainsley, of course, came along for the ride. She walked into the office with Mommy and was, of course, an instant hit; our little girl is pretty much our best public relations ploy at the moment. That is, until you put her down and let her walk around and see what's what.

There was this statue of Jesus somewhere in the office, and naturally Ainsley wanted to investigate. So, under Mommy's watchful eye, she walked over and patted it on the head. It promptly fell over. And broke.

That's right: my kid broke Jesus.



When I was five years old or so, my aunt & uncle bought their first house and we helped them move in. It was a split level with fairly modern construction, including an open staircase and railings. To a five year old farm boy, of course, such things are meant to double as a jungle gym. Within ten minutes of arriving in the house I had pulled their railing out of the drywall. Fifteen years later, the same aunt and uncle moved into a new house in the same city, and we again helped them move. This time, I was just walking downstairs when I stepped wrong, grabbed the railing for support and again pulled their railing out of the wall. (When we moved into our new house in Ames, we invited the aunt & uncle to return the favor when they came for a short visit - and they politely declined.) I've got a reputation for breaking something the minute I get going in a new house/job/etc. It's nice to know that my kid is now known for making the same destructive first impression.

But that's not the worst of it. At the time, the office administrator just watched the statue topple and said, "That's really funny." Sort of bemused about it, you know - kids just break stuff sometimes. But when Kristin returned to attend her first staff meeting yesterday, she discovered that Ainsley had not just broken a statue - it was a sculpture done by Christian Peterson, a local artist of some repute whose works are all over the campus. I'm assuming it's a reproduction, because the staff was still laughing about it yesterday, but seriously, I'm beginning to feel like the Topper - "That's nothing. My kid broke Jesus!"

Womb With A View, or, Where The Boys Aren't, or, Somewhere My Mother Is Cackling With Glee

It's a girl! We just got back from the ultrasound and it is undeniably a female alien crawling around Kristin's uterus. Very active, very healthy, very much where she should be in terms of size, etc. Moving a LOT during the ultrasound, too - we think we saw her sucking her thumb once or twice. Guess this one's Daddy's girl in a whole different way.


I'm happy - very, very happy to know we're having another girl. But I'm also screwed. Undeniably, irrevocably, absolutely screwed. With a boy, there might have been a chance of holding my own at home. But three on one, with Daddy horribly, ecstatically, over-the-moon in love with all three? Please.

If you need me for the next 30 years or so, I'll be the confused looking guy sitting in the corner, hiding in a book or working in the shop, wondering exactly who these wondrous creatures are that share his home and life. It will be mystifying and adventurous, being the only man in the house; sort of like Jane Goodall among the apes, albeit with less hair and a far better smell. And hopefully less slinging of feces. Best of all, God is again laughing at us, well, me in particular, because after raising up three boys without a daughter in sight, my mother is finally getting her revenge.

Peace,
Scott

Friday Five: Signs of Hope

Sally gives us the Friday Five this week:

I believe that if we look carefully we can see signs of hope all around us.... as for signs of spring... well you tell me....

Bluebells in my garden, before the snow!

What have you seen/ heard this week that was a :

1. Sign of hope?
This is a tough one for me to answer right now. I'm essentially a hopeful person, but I've been smacked with reality several times this week. Said some things I wish I hadn't. Saw that the level of work to be done in my new call is pretty intimidating. Realized that I've entered the time in my life when I have to make my peace with the child I love (soon to be children) taking precedence over the professional opportunities that feed my soul in different ways. So, let's go with this: it was warm for a few hours on Sunday, and I spent time with an aunt and cousin I hadn't seen in years. Maybe it isn't hopeful, but it certainly did feed my soul a bit.

2. An unexpected word of light in a dark place?
From our administrator via a conversation with the regional director of campus ministry. Apparently, Admin said "I'm so glad Scott's here - things are really starting to buzz here at the Center." That was certainly a nice thing to hear.

3. A sign of spring?
Well, we haven't had much in central Iowa: we've received almost twice as much snow as a normal winter, and there's usually several inches of ice underneath it. We did have temps in the 50s F Sunday afternoon for a few glorious hours before the next storm front landed with rain, sleet and snow. But Saturday night is the beginning of Daylight Saving Time (it's SINGULAR, people), and that usually gets me in a springtime state of mind (like a New York state of mind without the Hudson River line).

4. Challenging/ surprising?
The sheer amount of renovation work that needs to happen in my new church building. While a lot has been accomplished, there are a lot of things that need fixing, and it's hard to know where to start. Well, besides asking for the money, that is.

5. Share a hope for the coming week/month/year....
Today we will go to our 20 week ultrasound and, hopefully, find out if we're having a girl or a boy. I'll be happy with either, though of course I've still got a small hope for a boy so we can have one of each. But seeing our little one and looking forward to cuddling with a newborn son or daughter in another 20 weeks or so is a real moment of hope for us - especially after watching Matt's family welcome their little girl this week.

Bonus play... a piece of music/ poem guaranteed to cheer you?
Here are a few I especially love:
"Ants Marching" by Dave Matthews Band (depressing lyrics, but this is the single most grooviest song I know, and I literally cannot hear this song without drumming along)
And a few YouTube videos of independent "hopeful" songs:

"Give Up The Ghost" by Storyhill




"Dead Horse Trampoline" by Justin Roth



"Molly O'Malley's" by Peter Mayer



So, there you go - independent music makes me smile. Here a few others you should check out:

The Wild Clover Band
Sligo Rags
The Celtic & Irish Music Podcast - see link button on my menu to the right.

And, of course, this always makes me feel better:

Prepping for St. Patrick's Day

Much dancing. Life is good. Slainte!

Aggravated in Ames

It's snowing. Again.

Beloved got up awkwardly this morning and pulled a muscle in her abdomen. I mean, a serious tear - she's in a lot of pain and on orders to take it easy.

The combination of these two factors leads to this: I'm staying home today. I stayed home in the morning to make sure Beloved was okay; I actually took her to the doctor to make sure the baby was fine (it was). Then my secretary called Beloved while I was showering and said "No one's called. No one's come in. I'm done with the bulletin. It's snowing. I'm going home. Scott doesn't even have to come in if he doesn't want to." I don't: so I won't. Personal day, here we come! (one of the benefits of being in ministry and only working one day a week, I guess.)

This has been one of the hardest winters I've ever experienced. The combination of cold and snow in Minnesota with tons of ice and snow since we've moved to Ames has led to us feeling lethargic and more than a little cabin-feverish. Not to mention heavy - I've gained weight because, well, it's just hard to run outside when there's ice on the ground, our treadmill is broken, and we don't have money to join a gym just yet. So, we're frustrated and injured and fat and lazy. Not to mention aggravated (always acknowledge all alliteration, affirmative?).

I know there are lots of folks who have things a lot worse than we do - we're warm, we're dry, the utilities are paid up and our cars work, the babies are healthy and happy. But, nonetheless, this is where we are right now.

In happier news, I'd like to extend a warm welcome to the newest member of the LutheranHusker clan - Matt's Sweetie delivered a healthy baby this morning. I wonder if they'll let me call her Thumpy McNosetackle? Anyway, mazel tov!

Bath Time for Buddha

So, apparently we're contributing to the childhood obesity epidemic. Sorry about that. :-)

She doesn't appear too worried, though, does she?