Saturday Mornings and Beyond

(Click to enlarge)

During each of Brevin's "stages", I try to keep telling myself to enjoy it while it lasts. And although I'm tempted to lump him in a broad "baby" stage, it's fun to see his little advances. Whether it's taking a bottle, moving up in clothe/diaper sizes, smiling/laughing, and now sitting up, I sometimes find myself saying "remember when" and he's only 7 months old.

Each "stage" does go as quickly as it came. Now as a rookie dad I don't know when that starts to slow down, but it's going fast. The reason I bring this up is this morning was his first "solid" breakfast. (Man I'm using quotations a lot in this post. Can you tell I'm not completely "with it"?) (Yes I used those quotations on purpose.) ;)

Anyway...being he's started eating cereal in the morning, it got me looking forward to when he's old enough to get up on his own, the both of us go downstairs (or where ever the family room happens to be) each having a bowl of Count Chocula, and watching Saturday morning cartoons with each other. I realize that's a few years away but going back to my initial ramblings of "stages", it won't be that long.

I'm really looking forward to being involved in his life. Watching what he's watching. Listening to what he's listening to. Doing what he wants to do. Obviously Erin and I are going to do our best at leading by example and guiding what media he does take in, but whatever his interests are, I want to be involved.

Some of my favorite memories consist of my parents being involved with us while we were growing up. Whether it was my mom taking us to the library during the summer to check out the books we wanted. Or my dad taking my brother and I to the baseball card shows and each of us, including my dad (much to the chagrin of mom) purchasing sports cards.

It was fun to do whatever I enjoyed with my folks. Of course they would bring us to church, their friends homes, or errands that we wanted nothing to do with. (Yes I said church.) But they were setting a good example even though I didn't see at the time. (Like probably every other kid, I thought they did it just to be mean.) ;)

My point of my current soapbox is before Brevin doesn't want to hang out with me, I'm gonna hang out with him. I know I won't always want to, but I'm going to make a conscious effort to put him before myself.

So on behalf of all of the sons and daughters out there, thank you mom's and dad's for leading by example by spending time with us.

—b

Men's Hand Lotion

I love winter. No surprise there. But my knuckles always crack and bleed which leads my wife to say my hands look "gross". Fair enough and I can't disagree with her. But the only hand lotion we have in the house came from Bath and Body Works. So if I want my knuckles to heal, I have no choice but to use it.

Now I'm not the most manly of men but come on. I had to suck it up and come to work smelling like Cucumber Melon. Nice. So that got me thinking. I know there are "odor-less" lotions but what about lotions designed for guys. You know "guy smells". Not a huge market I can imagine but none-the-less, I'd rather smell like one of the following:

(Please excuse my shotty quality of work. Being I'm at work, I didn't want to take a lot of time with this.)






So who's with me? I'm mean, who wouldn't want to smell like dead fish? ;)

—b

Trophy Vaccum

I don't know either.

—b

Happy Birthday Grandpa Johnson!

We all love you Kevin/Dad/Grandpa Johnson!

—b

A Martyrs Purpose

A 29 year old missionary in the Middle East was killed late last night due to his faith in Jesus Christ. He was living in a small community quietly serving the Lord. Although he stood out, he fit in. He had many friends, most of them were not Christians but loved him just the same.

Approximately 2:27 am CST, a militia group (not in affiliation with Al-Qaeda) attacked the community this young man called home. There was no apparent reason for the attack except to "steal, kill, and destroy." The majority of the residents of that community were able to flee with nothing but the shirts on their backs. The dozen or so who were captured were being taken as captives to the militia's compound.

As the other future victims were yelling, cursing, and crying during their death march, the young man calmly obeyed his captors instructions. Not only that, but he would casually attempt to strike up a conversation with them as well. He would ask about their religion and whom they believed in. His questions weren't answered but almost demanded respect for him as he was respecting them.

As they reached the camp, all of the captives (men, women, and children) were set on fire while not only the militia watched, but their family and friends as well. All of the captives except for the young missionary. While he did fit in, he did stand out. The militia soldiers immediately called to attention not the color of his skin, but the peace that had engulfed him.

It wasn't he didn't know the eventual outcome of the early morning raid. He knew his fate would be the same as those around him. This "peaceful difference" screamed at the soldiers. So much so that his demeanor demanded attention. Amidst the blaring sounds, smells, and feeling of fresh death, a few of them asked if he was scared to die.

He told them he didn't want to die but if this was God's will, he knew he would see Him soon. "Who is your God?" was inquisitively brought up by a soldier a bit younger than the missionary. Without a second thought "Jesus Christ" came from the 29 year olds mouth.

This set into motion a fury of anger, hate, and abuse towards the missionary. Although, not everybody was taken back by his answer. In fact, a few of the soldiers didn't seem surprised.

What appeared to be the leader of the militia stormed over to the young man getting within an inch from nose to nose. "Who is your God!?!" the man shouted once again.

In the same calm and peaceful tone, the young missionary spoke "Jesus Christ". The leader in turn struck the back of the Christians legs forcing him to his knees. "Crawl to me!" shouted the leader.

The man obeyed only with each painful advance, he quietly said "Jesus". The Christian didn't know what to do, the only thing he did know was Jesus. As the leader continued to taunt this follower of Jesus, a large crowd had gathered around the incident.

Loud chanting ensued. "Crawl, crawl, crawl!" But the young man kept saying quietly "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus." Amidst this he was praying, "Lord help me know what to do. Lord forgive them for they know not what they do."

The obedient Christian finally reached the antagonistic leader. He took the man by the arm forcing him to stand. "You believe in baptism do you not?" They both knew the question was rhetorical. "Well here we will baptize you with fire!"

The leader commanded the same young soldier who had earlier asked "Who is your God" to attach the Christian to a well burnt steel frame. As the young soldier strung up his captive for his final moments on earth, he looked into the Christians eye's and saw what he didn't expect. Nothing. Nothing scared. Nothing hateful. Nothing remorseful. Nothing. Only peace and what also looked like the love of a brother. The soldier knew he would never forget the look in his prisoner's eyes for as long as he lived.

At that moment, the young missionary knew why he was going to die for his faith. The soldier. The young soldier who would not only witness this final moments, but was responsible for his death. As the flame was lit, he had his last earthly conversation with his Heavenly Father. "Lord, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Please meet this young man and take him into your care. May you be glorified in his life. May my death lead him to life. I love you Lord."

"Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." —Romans 6:8–11

--

That young missionary was me in a dream I had last night. I woke up at 2:27 am this morning and new I wouldn't forget that dream. I want to have such a strong relationship with and love the Lord so much, the previous would be me. To love my captors. To have peace with my fate. To remember it was God's will and love Him for it. That would be my martyr's purpose.

I usually don't remember what I dream about. And when I do, it's about being Spider-Man or joining the rebellion against Darth Vader, but this time it was obviously different. I usually have the honor of leading devotions here at work on Tuesday's and what you just read is what I presented today. I just felt the Lord leading me to write out my dream and share it with others.

I also feel I must give a disclaimer. I didn't remember every detail that I relayed. The majority and overall message was conveyed but I don't remember all of the details. I had to add some creative liberty in my story.

The reason for the "Persecution.com" banner is it's a great website put on by Voice of the Martyrs. Most of you have probably heard of them. They are a great organization and share sobering and truthful stories of followers of Jesus around the world. Check it out when you have the time.

—b

Subscribe to Inconsistancy

Due to my inability to achieve my own low set goals, I thought I'd point out a feature that some of you may not have known about. Underneath the PacMan game on the right hand side is this Subscribe feature. If you type in your email, every time I update this blog, you'll get an email sent to you so you don't have to check in wondering if I did indeed create a new post.

Pretty simple and no spam. You can also unsubscribe whenever you wish. The only thing I'm not sure of is the automatic emails get sent to your inbox vs. your junk mail folder.



—b

Dedication Weekend

(For more pictures of the weekend, click here or the link at the bottom of this post.)

This past weekend was busy in a good way. We had both sets of parents here (and of course Naener as well) for Brevin's Dedication. (Do Baptists capitalize "Dedication"?)

One thing Erin and I always take for granted is how well both sets of parents get along with each other. In fact, I dare say "like" each other! ;) Besides the whole Viking/Packer rivalry, they are quite similar. The biggest factor should go without saying in how much both sets of Brevin's grandparents love Jesus. This boy better not turn out "emo". He's got too many loving people around him.

(On a side note, I also had more people loving me when I went through my "black period". I'll love him no matter what he decides to do.)

Anyway, last week Erin asked me to write up something for the bulletin as a bio for Brevin. I think it's funny that we have to come up with something to write about him. What am I supposed to write about? He's 7 months old, he hasn't really accomplished a whole lot. ;) So I came up with a bio I figured would be appropriate for the Sunday. The following is what I wrote and submitted to Erin for her approval:

She said, "Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the LORD. For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD" And he worshiped the LORD there. —1 Samuel 1:26-28

Just as Hannah prayed for Samuel, we prayed for Brevin Isaac. The Lord knew all along He would bless us with a son, what we needed to have was a continued faith in a loving God. Not only did God know about Brevin before we did (Psalm 139:13), God also knew his name.

We wanted a family name for our firstborn, but who does he get named after? Bernt's family? Erin's family? Why not both? Just as husband and wife became one (Mark 10:8), our firstborn son would follow suit. Bernt's father is Bruce, while Erin's is Kevin; hence Brevin.

As we live under grace and raise our son as he should go (Prov 22:6), only God knows what is to become of Brevin. It is our job as parents to make sure Brevin's main source of nourishment, comes from that which gives life, God our Father (John 6:56).

Not five minutes after I IM'd it to Erin, she called saying "That's nice...but...it's to churchy. Can you make it funny?" Hmmm...k. Sure. The following is my second attempt:

Brevin Isaac Eidsmoe. Circa July 20, 2007.

Immediately this little guy hit the public eye with questions concerning his name. Why "Brevin"? Is it marketable? Are the Erik's, Chris', and Steve's of the world ready for a Brevin? When the questions from the marketing department arose, Co-creator's Bernt and Erin Eidsmoe held a press conference to disclose the origin of the name. The following is a portion of the complete transcript:

"When the honor of naming anything is given, especially a gift from God, Bernt and I take the responsibility with the utmost of care." Said the mother Mrs Eidsmoe. She continued with, "Both Mr. Eidsmoe and I wanted to carry on a family name and due to the fact we could not choose one of our father's over another, we decided to combine the two. For those of you who haven't been informed, my husband's father's name is Bruce while my father's name is Kevin. I believe you will find the resulting name to be most pleasing and agreeable."

Mr. Eidsmoe then stepped to the microphone and yelled "Yeah!"

She said, "Oh, my lord! As your soul lives, my lord, I am the woman who stood here beside you, praying to the LORD. For this boy I prayed, and the LORD has given me my petition which I asked of Him. So I have also dedicated him to the LORD; as long as he lives he is dedicated to the LORD" And he worshiped the LORD there. —1 Samuel 1:26-28

Not knowing what my more down to earth wife would think, I was already mentally preparing to write a third draft. But as soon as I submitted it, I got the approval to run with it. Wow. I was not expecting that. So, Sunday came and that's what ran.

Thanks honey for letting me be me.

—b

FYI, Click here for a bunch of pictures takes by my dad. Thanks dad, they turned out great!