When Did I Become My Father?

Today is my 35th birthday. 35?

I remember my dad's 36th birthday. We had a barbecue at the farm and friends came. I asked my grandmother how old she was - she said "34" and I told her "My dad's older than that!"

I really don't have a problem getting older. Frankly, life has gotten better the further I go. Sure, I'm starting to lose my hair and my back has become a problem lately. But I've grown. I've learned. I'm still passionate about the things I love, but the more I live and love, the more I understand that passion and channel it in proper ways.

One of the most enchanting ideas from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings is Bilbo's gigantic birthday party. I love the idea of the host celebrating by inviting friends and giving gifts rather than accepting them. If you were here, you'd be invited to dinner tonight. Life is good, even if I may not get a run in today because my back is hurting again. So, I'll celebrate. We'll grill some steaks and bake potatoes and peppers. I'll hug my girls lots. And, hopefully, we'll do this again for, oh, another 50 years or so.

With that, I leave you with today's Writer's Almanac. I share my birthday with some interesting folks. Have a great day, everyone - this one's on me.

Today is Cinco de Mayo, which celebrates Mexico's defeat of French invaders at the Battle of Puebla in 1862. Cinco de Mayo has actually become a bigger holiday in the United States than in Mexico, where it is mostly a regional holiday in Puebla. There are large Cinco de Mayo celebrations; with parades, music, and food — in Los Angeles, Denver, Portland, St. Paul, and other cities across the country.

It's the birthday of philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, (books by this author) born in Copenhagen, Denmark (1813). He inherited enough money to be financially independent for his entire life, and he published many books, including Either/Or (1843), Works of Love (1847), and The Sickness Unto Death (1849). He was almost unknown outside of Denmark in the 19th century. But in the early 20th century, he was rediscovered by European writers and philosophers, and he is now considered the founder of existentialist philosophy.

It's the birthday of the novelist Kaye Gibbons, (books by this author) born in Nash County, North Carolina (1960). Her father was a tobacco farmer, and she grew up poor. She loved to read but the only books in the house were a Bible and a book on cattle castration, so every week she walked to the local bookmobile. Her mother committed suicide when Kaye was 10 years old, and her father drank himself to death a year later. The girl lived with a series of relatives. She said it was "the sort of childhood that encourages someone to either become a writer or to rob convenience stores." So she became a writer. She won a scholarship to the University of North Carolina, and while she was a student, she started writing a novel based loosely on her own childhood, called Ellen Foster (1987). It got great reviews, and since then she has written many books, including Charms for the Easy Life (1993) and Sights Unseen (2005).

It was on this day in 1891 that Carnegie Hall in New York had its opening night. The performer was Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

It's the birthday of Karl Marx, (books by this author) born in Trier, Prussia (1818). He got a Ph.D. in philosophy, but he couldn't get a job as a professor because of his involvement with radical politics, so he became a journalist instead. His columns critiqued local government practices, like a new law that made it illegal for peasants to gather firewood from the local forest. His writing made his newspaper so popular that the government shut it down. He was stuck without a job, so he decided to spend a few months analyzing the previous 2,000 years of world history, and he came to the conclusion that all historical events were caused by economic forces. He moved to Paris, where he was introduced to the basic ideas of communism, and he met Friedrich Engels. In 1848, they published Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei,the Communist Manifesto.

It's the birthday of journalist and social activist Nellie Bly, (books by this author) born Elizabeth Jane Cochran in Cochran's Mills, Pennsylvania (1864). She wrote columns about working women, she travelled through Mexico reporting on life there, she faked insanity in order to write an exposé of life in an asylum, and in 1890, in the spirit of Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days, she broke the world record for traveling around the Earth, which she did in 72
days.

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

Grace & peace,
Scott

Friday Five: Movin' On Up!

This week's Friday Five comes from Singing Owl:

My daughter, her husband, and their toddler, Trinity Ann, are moving from Minneapolis, Minnesota to our place. It's a long story, but the short version is that they will be loading a Ryder truck on Saturday, and on Sunday afternoon we will unload it into a storage unit in our town. They will move themselves, their two cats and their BIG dog into our place. Yes, there will be issues, but this Friday Five isn't really about that. (Prayers for jobs for them and patience for all of us are most welcome, however.) This post is about locations. My husband has lived at 64 addresses in his life so far (16 with me) and he suggested the topic since we have moving trucks on our minds.
Therefore, tell us about the five favorite places you have lived in your lifetime. What did you like? What kind of place was it? Anything special happen there?
If you have lived in less than five places, you can tell us about a fantasy location.

Okay, so here goes with my five favorite places:
1. Lincoln, Nebraska.
I lived in Lincoln for seven years; outside of my parents' farm, the longest I've lived anywhere in my life. Lincoln is a city of approximately 300,000 these days, a bit less, perhaps, but it's just the right size for me: big enough to have just about anything you need, small enough to maintain a sense of community. Also, it's the home of: my alma mater, the University of Nebraska - Lincoln; Cornhusker football; my favorite coffeehouse, The Mill; the best prime rib in the country at Misty's Steakhouse; and much, much more, including several friends who stayed in Lincoln after graduation or moved back. Great town, great people, we're hoping to move there someday (but not in a hurry, thanks!)

2. Wakefield, Nebraska.
My hometown. The Baseball Capital of Nebraska. Home to the two-time defending Class C-2 Football Champion Wakefield Trojans. Home to one of the largest egg production complexes in the world, formerly known as the Milton G. Waldbaum Egg Company. Home to my family's church for four generations, Salem Lutheran Church. Home to the Little Red Hen Community Theatre, one of the best community theatres in a town of 1,400 in the country, IMHO. Again, great town, great people - even my wife likes coming back to this small farming community in beautiful, somewhat hilly northeastern Nebraska (and you all thought Nebraska was flat? Pshaw - that's just the interstate!).

3. Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota.
Commonly known as "The Cities" to those who actually live there, it's a wonderful metropolitan area that is underrated in terms of music and artistic venues. I had the privilege of befriending a trumpet player in the Minnesota Orchestra due to some Nebraska ties, and for three years I had comps to the Orchestra for just about any show I wanted. Kris and I took in the Orchestra on one of our first dates - obviously it was impressive! For someone interested in arts and culture, I think it might be even better than Chicago on the whole: the Guthrie Theater, two very accomplished orchestras, several art galleries, a good jazz scene headlined by the Dakota, the University of Minnesota, and many other items that I never got the chance to peruse in three years living there. And as many of us like to say, it's Minnesota, where the Lutherans are dense! (You decide which interpretation to take on that one...)

4. Ames, Iowa.
We've lived here in Ames for almost eleven months now, and we like it very much. It's like Lincoln distilled down just a bit: 55,000 people, with many of the same amenities in a geographically smaller area. Parks and recreation here are outstanding, as are the public schools and the Iowa State University campus. Opportunities abound for family functions, and we've got most of the stores anyone could need, with more shopping opportunities 45 minutes south in Des Moines and its suburbs. It's a perfect location for us as a family: we're 4 hours from my hometown, 4 hours from Kristin's sister in the Cities, and 45 minutes from the airport where friends and family can fly in for a visit. And we're not too far from Lincoln, either. Look for this one to climb the ranks the longer we stay here.

5. Barrett, Minnesota.
We loved much about our 4 1/2 years in Barrett. It's 30 miles west of Alexandria, on the southern edge of Minnesota's "Lake Country." Barrett is a town of 350 wrapped around 500-acre Barrett Lake, and in the fall it's about as picturesque as you could want:




In addition to being a beautiful small town, Barrett is home to West Central Area Schools, a consolidated area school system that is one of the best rural systems I've ever seen. We would have been very happy if Ainsley and Alanna had gone to school at WCA. Our former congregation, Peace Lutheran Church, is the only church in town and takes its "parish" responsibilities seriously, contributing much to the community throughout the year. I would also be remiss if I failed to mention Prairie Wind Players, the best community theater in Minnesota pound-for-pound. There is no reason a town of 350 should be able to produce the quality productions one can find at PWP, but 25 years of dedicated work has produced some stunning work. I had the privilege to appear in several plays in my time in Barrett, and I enjoyed each exerience immensely.

That's the "Movin' On Up" edition of this week's Friday Five!

Growing Up Too Damned Fast

This should NOT be happening. When did my little girl get this big?

Don't tell me she isn't watching Mom & Dad around the house:

Mommy took this picture of our pretty little girl before heading to worship Sunday morning:
And here are the pictures that provide the occasion for pondering - Ainsley moved into her "big girl bed" tonight:

That's the sign for "bed" she's giving Mommy:

"Daddy, stop snoring!"

Thankfully, the transition seems to be going well thus far. Here she is, thirty minutes after bedtime:

Now, if you don't mind, I'll just be over here in the corner, pondering the relentless march of time. Oh, and my evening beer. :-)

The Vocation of Parenting

Liz asked a pretty serious question over at her place the other day:

I want to ask you - parents and parents-to-be - what does a vocation of parenting look like to you? What do you feel you are called to be for your kids? What do you feel the need to model in your homes? What do you love best about your kids? And what do you hope for them in the future? Even if you don't have kids yet I think these are important questions to think about. Maybe by thinking about them now I'll have some clue about how to proceed when I do in fact become a mother. So blogland, please share your thoughts with me. I'm very curious.

It's such an intriguing question that I thought it warranted a blog post instead of a comment at her place. That and I'm not getting any closer to post 700 this week - it's just not been a blogging type of week. Too busy! I know, that's a cop-out, but it's the truth. Anyway, this is post #677 and I promise we'll get to #700 before the end of the month.

So, the vocation of parenting. What does it look like to me? Massive confusion. :-) Actually, 99% of the time it is the greatest privilege and burden any of us can ever bear. There's a movie where Keanu Reeves notes that you have to have a license for damn near everything except bearing children; it's one of the most painfully correct movie lines I've ever heard (and the fact that Mr. Whoa utters it always blows my mind a little, too). The thought of what happens to my girls if I screw up too often is ever-present. I'm called to be a lot of things to my girls: provider, supporter, comforter, discipline-giver, teacher, etc. But the deepest calling I have as a parent (and I think Kristin would agree with me on this) is to be one who loves them deeply and models a giving, nurturing love for my spouse and the rest of my family as well. Even the great mistakes I'll make will be less damaging if they are made in deep love.

What do I love best about my kids? Well, in Ainsley it is her joy. We have been so blessed by the presence of this happy little girl in our lives. Some of that comes from our love for her, we know, but not nearly as much as she gives. She is just a joyful kid and we love her all the more for it. Alanna, well, she's only now becoming something more than a newborn, so we are just now beginning to discover who she is and what we'll love about her in time. The adventure, of course, is part of the fun.

Future hopes? As Liz noted, it's not for success and wealth (well, at least primarily it's not those things): we hope for strong faith, deep joy, and great love. Get those three, and everything else takes care of itself, as far as I'm concerned. I've seen no evidence to the contrary in my 34 years.

So, that's parenting in a nutshell for me. Comments? I welcome them. Thanks for reading.

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!

Happy Times

I am still regularly amazed at how much I love being a father. Granted, sometimes it's a big pain in the tucchus - especially days like yesterday, when it was raining and Alanna would. not. sleep. But that 1% of life with my girls is overwhelmed regularly by the 99% that is a great adventure.

Cases in point. #1 - yesterday afternoon, while Kristin was taking a short nap, Ainsley needed a diaper change. Before I could even take her hand and lead her to the changing table, she walked over to it, pointed, and 'told' me she needed a change. #2 - Ainsley loves the "Teddy Bear Song," which includes one line, "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, show your shoes..." When I was singing it to her this morning, doing the actions with Ainsley's big pink teddy bear, Ainsley did indeed show me her shoes - both the ones on her feet AND THEN the ones in her closet. Again, with no prompting. Watching her begin to comprehend stuff like this is just joyful.

We had a fun weekend, even though I spent a good portion of it doing ministry work. Saturday morning we went to nearby Boone, IA for the Pufferbilly Parade. It was fun!

Before we left, though, we had to do some playtime together:



Alanna is trying to figure out if she really likes her new playmat or not - and how long Ainsley will let her enjoy it unmolested:



The Baby Bjorn is a great tool for the "baby who must be held:"


One big happy pre-parade group!


The happy family watching the parade:


CAUTION: BAND GEEK IN TRAINING:

note the lovely uniform step from the Little Cyclone Marching Band - nicely done, guys!

Who wouldn't love these girls?



Daddy & Alanna sharing a "no hair" moment...

Alanna, six weeks & change:

Alanna's Baptism

Life has been busy at die Johnson Haus lately: many family members arriving and leaving and lots of planning and cleaning and cooking and such for Alanna's baptism. I'm happy to report that the whole thing went off without a hitch, unlike Ainsley's baptism which involved a worship-canceling blizzard and at least one case of stomach flu/food poisoning. Yeah, fun times. Anyway, this weekend couldn't have been better: gorgeous weather, everyone got their hotels and the rooms were good, and the baptism was a snap. When the worst thing that happens on a big weekend like this is some slow-cooking burgers because I got impatient and scattered the coals too early, you know it's a good weekend.

Here are some pics from the weekend. First, Kristin got this beautiful closeup of Ainsley:


Cousin Z and Ainsley really enjoyed some time in the kiddie pool on Saturday:


Alanna in her beautiful baptismal gown:

Grandpa Johnson, Cousin Z and Ainsley getting ready for worship:

One happy post-baptismal family:

The Johnson clan:

The Mooneyham clan (at home because we couldn't catch Cousin Q at the church):

My brother (L) and father (R) showing my brother-in-law what it means to be Cornhuskers (Okay, not really - BIL knows how to husk corn. But the joke was too good to pass up.):


Ainsley getting her cute on in the backyard after lunch:

My brother trying to get Alanna to stop crying and start burping:

My baby brother and his SO laughing at something:


Like I said, a beautiful weekend with lots of family time (and it was fun in spite of all the family time!). Now we are just the four of us - everyone has gone home. It's both nice to just be home with the kids and a bit crazy now that no one is around to help - but it's a bit more nice to be finally settling into a bit of a routine. I'm sure it won't last, but for now we're having a grand time, just the four of us.

Getting A Life Back?

It's been an interesting week since last I posted. I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. Some good stuff happened, about which I'll post later. But it's been a real struggle this week also. Some things I think are pretty important are getting dropped, regularly, and figuring out how to handle this frustration is going to be an important piece of work for me in coming days. I'm overjoyed to be a daddy for the second time - but paired with that joy is an exponentially greater challenge to be patient and forgiving, which aren't natural character traits for me. I'm more from the "Get it done and stop giving me excuses" school, which can be great in some instances but doesn't always contribute to the happiest home environment. Just a few more days and things should settle down a bit, but those are going to be LONG days, I think.

One of the good things from the week was our trip to my hometown for the 125th Anniversary Celebration of Salem Lutheran Church, where my family has worshipped for four generations (actually, counting my nephews now that my brother has moved home, it's five generations). I'll post more about that later, but here are some pictures from the weekend. Enjoy!

Alanna & her cousin N:



Burping the baby:

Little girl, big fish at the new pool in Wakefield:


Hi!

Brothers and kids at the new pool:

Here I come, Daddy!


WHEEEEE!

We had a FUN day at the pool!


Ainsley's second tractor ride (because no one was around to take a picture for the first)


Cousins Z & Ainsley sitting at the table where Daddy & Cousin Jon sat, many years ago:




All the grandkids at Grandma & Grandpa Johnson's farm: