Merry Christmas!

Welcome to earth, O Noble Guest,

Through whom the sinful world is blest!

You came to share my misery

That you might share Your joy with me.

Ah, Lord, though You created all,

How weak You are, so poor and small,

That You should choose to lay Your head

Where lowly cattle lately fed!

And so it pleases You to see

This simple truth revealed to me:

That worldly honor, wealth, and might

Are weak and worthless in Your sight

Ah, dearest Jesus, holy Child,

Prepare a bed, soft undefiled,

A quiet chanber set apart

For You to dwell within my heart.

(Selected verses from Martin Luther's Christmas hymn Vom Himmel Hoch - "From Heaven Above to Earth I Come")

From Jon, Sheri, Abby, and Emma, we wish you and your family a blessed Christmas celebration.

Say It Ain't So!

Well, it actually happened here in Gulf Coast Texas. We had some snow! Snowfall is a rare event in these here parts. Sheri took a shot of my truck so that we would have photographic evidence. I am told the last time it snowed in Friendswood was Christmas Eve 2004. This time, we didn't get much at our house. But other parts of our community got enough to actually make snowmen. Needless to say, it was all gone by sunrise. Not a big deal for us transplants from the north. But a major event for the natives.

Christmas Musical

Last Sunday, the girls participated in our Church's Christmas musical "On Our Way to Bethlehem." They have participated in the past. But this year they REALLY participated - singing, hand motions, paying attention, etc. There is such a huge maturity difference between Pre-K and Kindergarten. We were so proud of them!

Baptism Birthday

Six years ago on this day, Abby and Emma were baptized with water and God's Word. On that day, at the font in the Chapel of St. Timothy and St. Titus on the Campus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, God's Name was applied to them - entering them into the narrative of Scripture and of Christ - His death and Resurrection - and making them lambs of His own pasture.
Today, we brought out the candles that were lit for the first time on that day and took time to remember and teach what happened to them at baptism.

Here is a pic from today's remembrance:

And here's a couple of pics from Novemeber 23, 2002:

Which is Abby? Which is Emma? You decide!

Kindergartener Break

This evening after dinner, I took a Kindergartener Break. Let me explain: the girls were watching The Hefalump Movie. And in the ending credits, one of the songs is, "In the Name of the Hundred Acre Wood", sung by Carly Simon. So, I joined the girls in the traditional parade we perform as we hear this song. Abby leads Emma, myself, and our two dogs as we march to the beat in various styles - parading around the house while our sound system is blasting the song. The wonderful thing about all this is, that for a few moments, I get to be kindergartener again.

I highly recommend that all adults do this from time to time.

Here is a video from YouTube for those unfamiliar with the song.

For All You Northerners

For all of you following along who live north of us (which is most of you): this evening after getting home from work, I was outside talking with the neighbors in shorts, a t-shirt, and flip-flops.
Have a happy autumn!

Halloween

In preparation for Halloween, we did (for the first time, mind you) the carve the pumpkin thing. It was the usual messy experience of digging all the guts out. Sorry, but I don't have a photo of the finished product. But here it is in production:

Abby planned to be a fairy witch (you will have to have her explain it) and Emma was to be Batgirl. And after the long wait, we finally got to wear them - a lot. Because the girls' classes were having Halloween parties, they wore their costumes to school. And then that evening, we did the traditional walk around the neighborhood and collect candy. After trick or treating for awhile, Abby said, "My bucket's getting heavy." Which was a perfect lead in for me to say, "Well, then I guess it's time to go home." And believe it or not, they bought it!

They are now old enough to really understand and have fun with the holiday - just like I did as a kid.

Birthday Girls

Today is Abby and Emma's sixth birthday. Today was pretty low key. We will be having their party proper on Friday.


Here is a pic to remember how far they have come in six short years:



(Taken when they were about two months old)

Our Camping Adventure

We, as a family, had never been camping before (save the pseudo camping we experienced post-Ike)...until this past weekend. Sheri and a good friend of hers, Jennifer, had planned a camping weekend together for our families at Garner State Park out in the Hill Country of Texas. So on Saturday morning, the Petering's and the Dippel's (Kirk, Jennifer, Zach, Bailey, and their dog Roxy) headed out west. And about the time the kids couldn't take it anymore (about six hours) we arrived and set up camp. Fortunately, we had tried out our new tent at home before our adventure, so set up was quick. We got a fire going and the Dippel's made fajitas for everyone. Then after talking around the campfire, and watching skunks patrol around around our campsite, we settled in for the night.

The next morning, Kirk cooked us all a great breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon.

Then Kirk, Zach, and Bailey, Myself, and Abby headed out to go hiking up in the hills. Sheri, Jennifer, and Emma stayed back and went down to play in the Frio River close by. The climb was steep, and challenging for the little ones, but worth it. We entered a couple of small caves and had a couple rest breaks on the way. The views were gorgeous:

Once down out of the hills, we took all the kids down to play in the river.

Sheri cooked up a marvelous beef stew for dinner that evening. And what would camping be without smores? The cool thing for us adults was that the kids all played well together all weekend with little to no parental intervention. They had a great time. It almost seemed like that this was the kind of play God designed for kids to do when he created the world. They did it naturally with no prompting from us having to tell them what to do or how to do it.

The weather was perfect the whole weekend: sunny, dry, and low 80's during the day; cool, clear, and in the high 40's at night. It was a long trip home on Monday, but the whole weekend was worth it: great place, great friends, great food, great times.

Abby's New Spectacles

Here are the pics:

Solo:

And with her sister:

Post Ike Pics - After the Cleanup

Here is the wall of debris after our cleanup:

(This is an older pic. Today, the wall is bigger.)

Post-Hurricane Ike Pics

As promised, here are some photos of the destruction around our house:

The following pics were taken the morning after.

View from the deck:

Front Yard:

Side Yard:

We're Done Camping!

OUR POWER IS BACK ON!!!!!
The power came back on about 2:00 pm today. It feels kind of weird having lights and TV and internet access and hot water. But it's a good feeling. Life can sort of get back to normal. Now we just need to get the girls back in school (high priority) and the brush and debris lining the streets as a five foot high wall on both sides of the street throughout the subdivision picked up (low priority). We're having pizza tonight to celebrate.

I will post the pics we have of the aftermath of the storm soon.

I also want to thank all of y'all out there concerned for us, thinking of us, praying for us, and offering help. Much appreciated. We are truly blessed.

Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go take a long, hot shower.

Post-Ike Update

Just a few bullet points:
1. We still have no power.
2. We currently have use of a generator - giving us some relief.
3. Gasoline is increasing in availability and the lines have dropped significantly.
4. The weather is still holding out for us.
5. School will resume for the girls on Monday, the 22nd at the earliest.
6. God is merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

Hurricane Ike Aftermath

We are still alive. Thanks be to God! This is the first chance I have had to get on the internet. The church office has power and internet. So for the time being, I will have to blog from here. My neighborhood currently has no power or telephone. But we did receive mail yesterday! We had a lot of limbs and branches down. One hit our chainlink fence and took out a section. We spent Saturday, Sunday afternoon, and Monday cleaning all that up and helping out our neighbors as well. If there is one bright spot out of all of this, it is how all our neighbors have come together to work together.
The hottest thing to have right now is a generator. There is the constant hum of generators throughout our subdivision. A number of subdivisions and a good part of the city core of Friendswood has power. We are hoping that we get power back again as well. Some grocery stores have opened. So we have been able to get some food. We were well stocked and we can go on for a number of more days, but it was good to get some more. Gas is very tough to get. But our cars are still well fueled from before the storm. Sheri's van still has almost a full tank and I have over half. We have been driving minimally. FEMA set up a a POD (point of distribution) this morning in a city park just past the church. And that was about two days too late. The cars are lined up almost as far as the eye can see. I think they are people from other areas. I am not counting on FEMA for anything right now. I hope they are doing a better job in the areas that were really hit hard by the surge and other flooding. Power company trucks are much more important than FEMA in my book.
The girls have been real troopers through this. They slept through the storm. They have been helping clean up. But they won't be back in school until the 22nd at the earliest.
Again, sorry for rambling. I will post as often as I can.

Hurricane Winds Here

As best as I can determine, the hurricane force winds are here. By my best guess (looking at various radar images) the eye wall is about 30 miles from us. The Gulf side of Galveston is going to be in the eye very soon. Granted, this eye is really wierd. There is sort of an "eyelash" north of the eye itself. Local weather guys are also saying that it's a weird formation brought on by dry air streaming in from the west along the coast. All the better for us. Maybe the dry air will help to disorganize the storm.

Still Okay

We are still okay. We still have power and utilities. Many people even north of us already are without power. It may have to do with particular providers and if electrical lines are buried. Fortunately, ours are in the ground. So, we may be able to hold out longer with power than others. Sheri and I probably won't get much sleep tonight.

Another Update

We put the girls to bed - trying to make everything as normal as possible for them. With everything boarded up, we for the most part don't hear the wind unless it gusts. It is hard to say how fast the winds are right now. We just heard on the news that Houston metro residents may be without power for upwards of 2 to 3 weeks. However, they also said that 7000+ electrical crew members were headed this way.
So we wait and see. Now I have a little picture of how Noah must have felt.

The door is shut

A big branch fell in the back yard right by the deck. In response, we boarded up the back door. We are sealed in (except for the side door off the garage).

Friday Evening Update

We are now experiencing tropical storm force winds from northeast to southwest. All the dead branches are blowing out of the trees. Still no rain or lightning. We still have power and utilities. We have not yet boarded up the back door. I will continue to blog as long as we have power.

Friday Afternoon Update

Not much change here in Friendswood. Everyone in the neighborhood is pretty much holed up in their homes. We have periodic gusts up to, I estimate, 20-30 MPH. Just sprinkles of rain from time to time. We still have power (obviously), water, sewer, etc. As we get closer to this evening, we will fill both bathtubs with water - to flush toilets if they turn off our water, for washing hands, and for the animals. We have not yet closed off the back door (kind of like closing the door of the ark!).
All that video you might be seeing on the news from Galveston Island just isn't happening here. Our Friendswood City website has announced that there is no danger in Friendswood from storm surge. However, those that live beside or near creeks may be in danger of flooding when the rains come. The creeks drain into Clear Lake. When the full brunt of the storm surge arrives, the creeks will back up. Once the eye crosses over, the storm surge will retreat back into the Gulf.
For good links to find out what's going on in the area go to:
http://www.click2houston.com/
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Also, if you have Google Earth on your computer, you can enable "weather" layers. That will show you the current location of Ike and it's projected path. Plug in our address, and you will see how close the eye will come to us. Latest trends show the eye making landfall just east of Galveston Island. The more the eye moves east, the better for us; because we begin to be on the "clean side" or west side of the storm. But, worse off for someone else.

Morning Report from Fort Belmont

We woke up to a calm morning on Belmont Drive. However, it was tough to tell it was morning because all the windows are boarded up. We have left the back door unboarded for now. The board is on the deck, ready to go and will take about 30 seconds to install. We will wait as long as we can (probably this evening) to close out the back - that is our only window to the world right now. Both vehicles are in the garage - a first for us.
Right now, it's kind of like a breezy day in Friendswood. As far as we know, everything is closed. As you may have seen on TV, Galveston is seeing very high surf and the western end of the island is already under water. To give y'all an idea of geography: we are 27 miles from the coast and 13 miles from Clear Lake (the upper portion of Galveston Bay). We are at 33 feet above sea level. I checked the most current storm surge predictions: we are several miles beyond the 5% chance for storm surge line.
The local news stations have been broadcasting in "news mode" for the last 30 hours. Pretty impressive, but that has to be wearing on their personnel. But...this is the kind of stuff they live for.
Sorry for rambling. I will probably post again late this afternoon or evening.

Fort Belmont

We are probably as ready as we will ever be on Belmont Drive. As Hurricane Ike approaches, we have gased up the cars and boarded up the windows. We have about six to seven days worth of water, and probably at least ten days of food. We have made the decision to stay. We are at about 33 feet above sea level and over 27 miles from the coast. At least 90% of our subdivision is staying. I think our biggest obstacle will be loosing electricity and the uncertainty of when it will come back on.

I will continue to update as long as I can on the blog and will keep in touch with my parents via cell phone as long as that holds out. Pray that God will be merciful.

Four For Four

Yesterday, Sheri took Abby to the eye doctor. Abby has been showing all the signs that we saw with Emma: getting closer and closer to the TV and computer screen, wanting to get up close to books, and the like. And, she needs them. We knew it was inevitable. When it comes to eyesight, Abby didn't exactly have a great gene pool. We were kind of hoping Abby would go a bit longer - I didn't get glasses until 5th grade and Sheri until 7th. But, now we are four for four. Abby's correction is not huge. The doctor said she just needs them for school, reading, and TV. But we plan on her wearing them all the time.
Abby will get her glasses in about a week or so. As soon as she does, I will post pics here on the blog.

First Day of Kindergarten

Monday (yea, I'm a bit behind on the blog), a big change in Abby and Emma’s life and mine and Sheri’s as well…the first day of Kindergarten. We had to get up very early – 5:45 am – the same time I get up every Sunday. The girls are scheduled to be picked up by the school bus. But on the first day, we drove them (driving your child to school the first day is a bit of a Friendswood tradition, as well.) We got their early, and good thing. Traffic around the school was an absolute disaster. We parked about two blocks away to stay out of the parking lot mess. We took the girls to the classrooms (we decided to separate them) and got them settled. There was another mother dropping her child off in Emma’s class who started to cry. Expected, I suppose, it’s a big life-changing day Sheri did okay. I think she was just nervous and a little worried.
That afternoon, when the bus dropped the girls off at the corner, Sheri was there to meet them. They said they had a good day. Later, when I got home, I asked Abby how her day was. Here answer, “It was boring.” I told her, it will get better once you get into your regular routine. She’s going to be fine!
A big day, a big change, and a right of passage all in one day.

In-Laws Visit

Last week, Sheri's parents were here. My father-in-law, the jack of all trades that he is, brought his skills to bear on our house once more. He built new drawers to replace the plastic drawers that were installed by the contractor years ago when the house was built. Build a house as cheap as possible must have been their mantra back then. The wooden drawer fronts were falling off the plastic drawers so something need to be done. We also installed new countertops and sinks in the master bath and the girls' bath. We quickly discovered that off-the-shelf kitchen countertops are not the same as bathroom counters. We cut and improvised and made it happen. They ended up looking great.
We did some fun stuff too. We took them down to the Island. Sheri got to hang out with her mom a lot. Great visit and look forward to their return

Tropical Storm Edouard

Tropical Storm Edouard made landfall yesterday about 30 miles east of Galveston Island (about 50 miles from Friendswood.) And ultimately, it looked worse on TV or on radar than reality on the ground. In Friendswood, we had about 2 inches of rain and 20-30 mile per hour winds. No damage except for some small branches down out of our trees.
It was fascinating watching how we all prepared for the worst. Everyone put gas in their car. But there were no long lines and everyone remained calm and orderly (like they have done this drill before.) We also had to do the "go to the store and get bread, milk, and bottled water." The milk piece of that equation is interesting. Think about it: if we lose power, the milk will quickly spoil. Water makes much better sense. The whole community experience reminded me of getting ready for a big snowfall up north - particularily in Tennessee.
Nevertheless, Edouard's punch was pretty weak. And we got some much needed rain.

Grandparent Visit

Last week, my parents came to visit for a few days. They have been here before, but we took the opportunity to do some things we have not done before.

We saw the movie WALL-E with them. Overall the movie was good and had a good lesson (as most all Pixar films do). But parts of it did seem to be longer than necessary, like they just needed to fill the time without telling more story. On the Fourth of July, we watched fireworks from the church parking lot. The park from which they shoot is only about half a mile from church. So we got a good view without all the crowds (yet there were several hundred people on the parking lot.) It was also a good chance to see and talk members from Hope - informal style. The next day, we went down to Galveston Island. Being from St. Louis, my parents don't get to see the ocean much. We didn't swim in the ocean. We just got our feet wet. Then we gave them a driving tour of the Island - including the Strand. On Sunday after church, my father asked me to go with him to our local Apple store to talk about how he might set up a home network with their old eMac once they get their new iMac. I had a good time being in the store talking tech with my father and the Apple dude. The coolness factor was high. Dad needs an Apple to do the music work he does. I don't need an Apple and am perfectly happy with my Gateway Desktop (blazing fast and with 3 gig of RAM and huge hard drive) running Vista and my new laptop (see previous post). The coolness factor just isn't quite there as much as Apple. But with Apple, you pay a pretty penny to be cool.

And that's about it. It was good to have them here and it was good for the girls to re-connect with their grandparents.

Dude, "I got a Dell!"

Yesterday, it arrived - my new Dell Inspiron 1525. Now, some of you might be asking, "Jon, why do you need a laptop? You already have a computer!" And my answer is, well, for several reasons. First, I have discovered that I spend way too much time in my office. Jesus said, "Go make disciples of all nations" not "Get your Master of Divinity degree and sit in your ivory tower." So, the laptop will be a tool for me to get out of the tower. So my plan is to spend at least a half to one day out of the office in the community. I can get out there and at the same time, continue my work on sermons, blogs, newsletter articles, confirmation, and the like. The Biblical image here is Paul out talking and discussing in the marketplace or the forum. Second, a laptop allows me to continue work from home without the mess of transferring or emailing files. Third, it will be great for travel. Fourth, I got a really, really, REALLY great price. I paid less for this computer than for our desktop at home.

For you tech types, here are my stats:

Intel Pentium Dual Core T2370 (1.73 Ghz, 1M L2 cache), 3GB RAM, 250G Hard drive, 8x DVD +/- RW dual layer Optical Drive, Dell Wireless 1395 802.11g Mini Card, Dell Wireless 355 Bluetooth Module, Integrated 10/100 Network card, Microsoft Vista Premium SP1.

And, I wrote this post from the laptop via wireless internet at home (our DSL box projects WIFI) In a nutshell, "It's so cool!"

The Beach

One of the benefits of living in Friendswood is that we are about 40 minutes away from the the Gulf. We can go to the beach on a whim if we so desire. Today is day two of our four-day "staycation" (a vacation where you stay at home). And this morning, we decided to go to the beach. We usually go to a place in Galveston called Stewart Beach - a family-friendly place with good facilities.

On this trip, Abby felt a bit-more brave. She headed out with me into the deeper water. The waves today were very unpredictable. And after a few minutes a rather large wave hit us - pretty much going over the top of her head. She was never in any danger. I had her hand the whole time. She did okay, but she decided she had had enough.

Philosophical thought of the day: Why does the place where land and sea meet hold so much appeal for us humans? Is this phenomenon limited to just Western Culture, or do they feel the same way in the East? Maybe it has something to do with the explorer in each one of us. The beach is the place where we can adventure into the unknown of the sea, where we are not naturally welcome (we are not designed to live in water), and still be close to where we belong: on land. It's kind of like a child adventuring out on his own, but Mom and Dad are still close enough to hear and see him.

Yet, humanity, with our intelligence and creativity, has taken steps to subdue the seas by venturing out in watercraft of our design - exploring and journeying beyond the safety of land to lands and adventure on the other side of the sea. Any other thoughts?

Speed Racer - The Movie

A couple of weeks ago, I saw the movie "Speed Racer." (Yea, I'm slow getting my blogging done.) Sheri had no interest in seeing the movie. But I did - because Speed Racer was a big memory from my childhood. When I was a kid, every weekday morning (during the summer) I would watch Speed Racer. Then right after it was over, I would go outside and join my other friends who had also watched. We would get together and then ride our bikes around and re-create the episode on our neighborhood streets and in our backyards. Great times.

Back to the movie: The movie did a good job of keeping your attention - some by the very loud color pallet, but the story was well written; kind of like an TV episode in three or four parts. The CGI was over the top. And the cars were way cool. But one thing I wish they would have done during the race sequences is obey the laws of Newtonian physics at least some of the time. For a good part of each race, cars were spinning, moving sideways, etc - almost like they operated in zero gravity with a perfectly lubricated track. Memo to the directors: it's okay for cars to behave normally, even cars in Speed Racer world. I will still enjoy it. Too much is sometimes too much.

Spoiler: the best shot in the whole movie was at the end of the second race. The Mach 5 crosses the finish line for the win. Speed turns the car sideways to slide to a stop and then immediately jumps out of the car and strikes the Speed Racer pose - a total homage to the end of the title sequence in the orginal cartoon series. When I saw that shot, I grinned like a little boy again from ear to ear.

Thank You, President Bush

We received our rebate check (direct deposit) a couple of weeks ago. That rebate gave us the funds to complete a project we had put off for a long time.

We tore out the carpet in our great room almost a year ago and then debated on what we would do next. We tried cleaning it and getting it ready to stain. But we decided that would not look right. We decided to tile. But we didn't have the funds. Then along came the rebate check. We put that money to work, and now we finally have a finished great room. We did our civic and patriotic duty by putting the money back into the economy - helping out our neighbor (the materials supplier, the contractor, his workers) by giving them a job that put food on their table. And they used their talents and skills to give us a new floor. Everybody wins!

Preschool Graduation

Last night, Abby and Emma had the opportunity to "walk the platform" at their preschool graduation. Our church, Hope Lutheran in Friendswood, TX, has a preschool program through Pre-K. They still have a week of school left. But graduation is conducted the week before.

The graduates sang, rang handbells, performed the story of Jonah, and were presented with their pre-kindergarten certificates.

Another milestone past, and, God willing, many more to come.

Kindergarten Registration

Yesterday, Sheri and I went to register Abby and Emma for kindergarten. It was one of those parent moments. You know, one of those moments when the reality and burden of the vocation of parent hits you hard. It was also the first time I have been involved with public education. I went to grade school, high school, and seminary at private institutions of education. My only public experience being my undergrad years at Mizzou. So this is all new stuff for me.

The process went smoothly. We brought all the required documents along with copies of those documents per Friendswood School District instructions. But we filled out a ton of paperwork on each girl. What got me was that they had us fill out the same information again and again on multiple forms - bureaucracy at its finest. An integrated, systems approach utilizing the full potential of computers would streamline the process quite a bit. But, it would probably cause a good number of bureaucrats to lose their jobs.

And now, the girls have their Cline Elementary t-shirts!

School starts in about four months.

What Took Seconds to Destroy Takes Hours to Fix

This morning, two members of Hope came over and repaired the hole I created when I fell through last Saturday. Everything went smoothly and by noon, it was finished. One of them will return tomorrow afternoon to put on another coat of mud.

Just another example of how the Body of Christ works. When one member of the Body rejoices, we all rejoice. When one person hurts, everyone hurts and offers comfort and help. And this day, the rest of the Body Helped me and my family. Thanks be to God!

Cricket Anyone?

Today, we had a cloudless sky and beautiful, dry (for Houston) weather. The girls spent most of the day outside. They have invented many games. But one game I "invented" with them is Cricket. The game we play is loosely (and I use "loosely" in the loosest possible manner) based upon the traditional game played throughout the Commonwealth. I am always the bowler. I bowl a large plastic playground ball down the pitch (our sideyard) where Abby attempts to hit it with a large plastic bat. She has gotten pretty good at wacking it. The goal is to hit it as far as you can. No score is kept, and we never change sides. When she hits it really hard, she and I just burst our laughing. What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon?

Sheet rock will not hold you

Last Saturday (April 12th), I was up in the attic putting some stuff away. I saw something unusual in the framing over the portion of the attic that has no decking. I went to investigate, lost my balance, and fell through, feet first, into the kitchen. I hit the sink first, then fell onto the floor. Everyone else was outside at the time. I collected myself and went outside to find Sheri. Later on, we went to a 24 hour clinic that declared my right elbow broken (fortunately, I am left-handed). The big issue was that I was scheduled to lead worship and preach the next day. Pastor Ralph (the senior rev.) was out of town. So I HAD to be ready. We made some modifications and with a lot of lay assistance, two worship services were conducted successfully.

I saw an orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday. We took some better x-rays and found a very small crack in one of the bones in my elbow. No surgery. No cast. Thank God! Pain has subsided and flexibility and range of motion is improving. I follow up in two weeks