Infant Baptism

On Sunday our son Joshua was baptized. We are so blessed that "our Lord Jesus has of His goodness called this child to holy grace and blessing, and to the fountain of baptism."

It was also very special to me that Joshua's uncle, Pastor Williams read the baptismal liturgy and that he was baptized by his great-grandfather, Pastor O'Connor. What an incredible privilege!

Why baptise infants? The Bible teaches that infants are born sinful and like everyone else, desperately need forgiveness. (Psalm 51:5, "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.")

This past week I've been thinking about Matthew 18 in a baptismal context. "Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." When Jesus spoke these words he was not referring to age or ignorance but to the defining characteristic of a baby. Babies are unable to do anything for themselves. They can't take care of themselves. They are are totally needy and completely dependent on something outside them self. That's how we are. We can only receive from God. Simply believe and receive. Trusting God to do what we cannot do for ourselves.

But infants can't make a decision? Without faith there is no baptism. When an infant is asked, "Do you wish to be baptized?" the infant answers through the mouth of his sponsors, "Yes"... Faith in which one stands in for another. Just as in the healing miracle recorded in Mark 2; according to which a lame man is brought to Jesus by his friends and Jesus forgave him his sins "when he saw their (his friends') faith"! For faith always comes to me by other people who stand in on my behalf and make intercession. (Oswald Bayer,  Martin Luther's Theology)

How can baptism do such great things? It is certainly not water that does these things but the Word of God which is in and with the water; for without the Word of God the water by itself is simply water and no baptism; but with the Word of God it is a baptism, that is, a gracious water of life. (Martin Luther, Small Catechism)

Preaching is baptism. The preacher is the one who, in service to the church, strikes the rock and brings forth water in dry places. The promise of baptism call to us, "Come forth, be washed, and you shall be odd". Through baptism we are given a radical, peculiar, distinctive identity and vocation. (William Willimon, Peculiar Speech) Baptism is not just a one time thing. It's once begun and ever continued; daily. Through the washing water of God's Word we are baptized each day.

Joshua's sponsors, Daniel & Joan Scamman

"Children of the Heavenly Father" a video of Baby Joshua

Baby Joshua from Grace Jordan on Vimeo.

Children of the Heavenly Father
Safely in His bosom gather
Nestling bird nor star in heaven
Such a refuge e'er was given


Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord His children sever
Unto them His grace He showeth
And their sorrows all He knoweth


Though He giveth or He taketh
God His children ne'er forsaketh
His the loving purpose solely
To preserve them pure and holy

Joshua's First Snow!

The man-cub first discovers snow!

Joshua David Jordan

It's a boy!!! Joshua David Jordan was born shortly after 10pm on New Year's Eve. He weighed a healthy 6 lbs. 13 oz. and measured 19" long.

Lutheran Prayer at the Birth of a Child:
With joy and thanksgiving we praise you out of the fullness of our grateful hearts that You have gladdened our home with the birth of this newborn babe.
We know that this child is a gift of Your bountiful hand. Grant us grace and wisdom to bring up this precious soul in the knowledge and understanding of Your Word, which makes us wise unto salvation. Watch over him with Your tenderest care and continued grace until the day we bring this little one to the font of Holy Baptism.
As surely as you will endow our child with faith and strengthen him in spirit so to endow our child with a healthy body, and strengthen and preserve him according to your good and gracious will. Grant that our child may grow in favor with You and bring sunshine and joy into our hearts and our home.
Keep us all in your grace, forgiving us daily our sins and filling our souls with peace. You are our hiding place. And now to you be praise, glory, and thanksgiving for this precious gift, this day and forever; through Jesus Christ who is the Friend of children and the Savior of all. Amen.

Living, Loving, & Laying down your Life

This has been the longest week ever. Other than the time we spend at our jobs Monday through Friday, this is the first time I've spent time apart from Joe since we've been married and I really, really miss him. But it's funny, in one sense I feel good that I feel this bad. I mean, if I didn't truly love Joe and really like being with him I know I couldn't miss him this much. My mom tries to encourage me and to cheer me up by saying Joe is "making money for his honey".

At the same time I miss Joe excrutiatingly, I have also grown to love him more this week. I am beginning to catch a glimpse of the true meaning of sacrificial love. I'm beginning to understand what it means for a husband to love his wife and give himself for her (Ephesians 5:25). Working long nights, catching only a few brief hours of sleep during the day, going to work again, and doing this day in and day out- all this my husband does willingly and cheerfully. I'm am amazed and humbled. I also can't wait till tomorrow night when Joe comes home.

I love you Joe!

Bombin' Omelets

This title wasn't exactly my choice. It was Joe's decision. He said that if I was going to write a blog article about his superior omelet making abilities, I had to title it "Bombin' Omelets", or else. (I would have preferred something more refined like "A Brilliant Breakfast".)

Experts have been telling us for years that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Well, I can't say I fully agreed with this statement till I'd tried one of Joe's specialty omelets. Actually, I never used to like omelets or any type of eggs for that matter. But that all changed about a year ago once Joe made me try an omelet he had made. Now I look forward to breakfast on the weekends (Actually it might be more true to simply say, I look forward to the weekends). We usually have omelets Saturday mornings or for Sunday brunch after church- it's become a sort of tradition.

Mmm.... our weekend omelets. A fusion of flavors, with loads of awesome goodness packed into every bite (wow! I'm starting to talk like Joe!). What's really great about them is that you can raid the fridge for just about anything good- tomato, green onion, avocado- ya! left over ground beef- why not? sour cream- you know that'll be good. The more stuff the better.

Red, Green, Handsome, & Handy

Ever seen the "Red Green Show"? Perhaps you haven't. It's a Canadian show, hence the humor is very... well, Canadian. And as the show says about itself: it's like the flu- not everyone gets it. Each episode features new and ingenious uses for the handy man's secret weapon, Duct Tape. Anyways, my post was not to tell about the Red Green Show. It just happened to come to mind because 'Red Green', the lead character, ends every episode by saying, "If the women don't find you handsome, at least they should find you handy." 

I consider myself doubly fortunate because my husband possesses both qualities- Joe is both handsome and handy. Joe is also still under the influence of the get-it-done mindset and so the handy man projects continue at our home (except we don't use duct tape). And once Joe has been  grasped by this mindset there's no turning back. Once the project is begun, he fanatical, and won't stop until things are perfect. I'm glad about this- glad Joe like things to be excellent. I am very thankful for our beautiful home and appreciate all the work he's put into it. Currently, Joe's favorite tool is his new drill. (I think the fun of finding new uses for his drill is part of the inspiration behind these upgrade projects.) 

Last night our evening included another trip to our favorite store- Home Depot, where we picked up a couple necessary materials. Back at home Joe drilled a hole in the wall behind the TV so that he could run the cords to a hidden electric source. He also mounted the DVD player on a small shelf just below the TV and ran those cords through the hole as well. No messy cords showing anymore. After that, Joe began weather-proofing our wood box using some type of foam insulator strips.

While Joe was working on these projects I was assembling our new coffee table. I like to help out with the home improvements and not just be a bystander.

It was quite late by the time we finished but now our living room is so well-organized and homey. We just sat on the couch for a while and enjoyed the fruits of our labor.