Archive for the 'Children' Category

Ultrasound

Published August 3, 2010 Children , Family Leave a Comment

This morning I had the privilege of accompanying my bride to an ultrasound appointment. Yes, in early January we will be expecting our sixth child.

I was just about to write about the fact that no matter how many I see, it always becomes real for me when I see the little fingers moving around. Then I thought to myself that I might have written something like that. Here’s what I posted on September 22, 2008, when we saw Miriam for the first time:

Today we got to see ultrasound images of our littlest one. We’ve seen plenty of ultrasound pictures, but seeing those little arms and feet moving around never gets old. It always amazes me to see four chambers of the heart and a cross section of this or that, or to measure the skull or abdomen. But what always gets me are the little fingers and toes.

The remarkable thing is that it gets me every time, but the reason that it does (I think) is because each new child is a new child. Yes, they have so many similarities and they do so many of the same things. But the thing that gets me about the whole things is just how different and unique they all are. Nearly every day I marvel at some unique trait of one of the kids. And that uniqueness starts now. This baby at 18 weeks is not same as any of the others.

Seeing a new baby squirming around in the womb brings home to me the reality that—God-willing—I will now have the opportunity to get to know a brand new member of our family. It reminds me that my vocation as father just got bigger. It reminds me that God has heaped upon me and my family yet another blessing from his gracious hand.

Let the Children Come

Published January 23, 2010 Children , Devotions Leave a Comment

As I was getting ready for bed this evening, I turned to today’s selection from the book of devotions I am reading this year, called To Live with Christ by Bo Giertz. The devotions are arranged by the church year, not the calendar year. But it seems like it could have been written specifically for today, the 37th anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade decision.

Friday after the Second Sunday in Epiphany
“Let the children come to Me; do not hinder them.” Mark 10:14

This was a severe reprimand to the disciples. They thought children should wait until they were able to understand what the sermon was all about. That would be soon enough. But the parents wanted the right thing for their children.

Being a parent is one of the greatest gifts God can give. It’s also one of the greatest tasks you could ever undertake. Having a child together allows parents to share in God’s creative work. We couldn’t live here on earth or be God’s children eternally if the parents of countless generations before us had not labored with their own children and even given their lives for their children. Now it may be our turn to bring life into the world. We cannot take this task lightly.

God put us here in an immense generational context. Of course, not everyone is called to be a parent. Not everyone gets married and is gifted with children. But if you get the chance, you can’t deny children their right to live. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? You can’t exchange the life of one child as payment for the luxuries you want to provide another. Jesus says, “Let the children come to Me.” It’s awe-inspiring. The first condition for being able to be a child of God and share all the joy that is the meaning of life, now and in eternity, is that there are people on earth who are willing to take upon themselves the task of parenting.”

One wonders just how many little children have been hindered, not just those who have been killed by abortion, but those who have never had the chance to “come to Jesus” because of a negative attitude toward God’s gift of life, marriage, sex, and children, which pervades our culture and society, of which Roe v. Wade is just one part. Kyrie eleison.

[Quote from: Bo Giertz, To Live with Christ. Concordia Publishing House: St. Louis, 2008. pp. 121,122.]

Christmas Medley

Published January 2, 2010 Children , Music 2 Comments

For those of you who haven’t seen this on Facebook or YouTube, here is a little video of the kids singing a few Christmas songs. We got a new video camera for Christmas, and it’s perfect for exactly this kind of thing. Hope you enjoy, especially Isaiah and Lydia’s “Dueling Christmas Carols.”

Ours Paso

Published November 29, 2009 Children , El Paso Leave a Comment

When we lived in California, our kids thought that our house was California. When we moved to Texas, we had to explain that other people also live in Texas, but they have a different number (house number).

Now, Isaiah says that we live in Ours Paso. If you don’t live in El Paso, you live in Yours Paso. We live in Ours Paso.

It’s kind of cute the way a two-year-old tries to express his understanding of places. But even if he doesn’t fully understand it all, he gets this: Ours Paso is the place we call ours, that is, it’s home.

Not Unto Us

Published September 18, 2009 Children , Hymnody Leave a Comment

On Sunday morning, our school kids will be singing a couple stanzas of Kurt Eggert’s hymn, “Not Unto Us” (CW 392). Our kids have been practicing it both at school and at home. This evening while the kids were singing I managed to record a little bit. Consider it a preview. This is Hannah (6), Andrew (5), and Lydia (3). Lydia isn’t really in school, but she always learns the songs that the big kids learn from school (Go here for another example).

O faithful love—that shepherded through faithless years;
Forgiving love—that led us to your truth.;
Unyielding love—that would not let us turn from you
But sent us forth to speak pardon and peace.


“Not Unto Us”

Stained Glass Catechism

Published September 17, 2009 Catechesis , Children Leave a Comment

This week our new stained glass windows at church were installed. This project has been in the works for almost a year. And I understand that the congregation always intended to put in stained glass windows someday. The church was built almost twenty years ago.

On Tuesday night, the windows in the nave were installed, and tonight they installed the window in the pastor’s study. The windows contain symbols for the six chief parts of Luther’s Small Catechism. The seventh window, in my study, has Luther’s seal.

Stained glass windows have historically been a means for teaching the faith, even to those who were not able to read. I am looking forward to making use of these windows to teach the core elements of the Christian faith. And yes, even to those unable to read. Just today I walked with Lydia (she’s 3) into church and had her guess what the symbols were for. She knows some of them. The easiest for her is baptism. The older two kids can at least name the chief parts. We’re working on learning them.

I imagine that there will be many opportunities to refer to these windows in sermons, chapel devotions, catechism fields trips, etc.. The ones in the back of church (Commandments, Creed, Lord’s Prayer) are more like summaries of the faith, whereas the three in front of church (Baptism, the Keys, the Lord’s Supper) are more specific. These are the concrete ways in which God brings to us the content of our faith. But all of these will surely find constant application to our life as a congregation and constant use in daily lives as Christians.

Windows at Night

There is yet another use that I believe these windows will have. When evening comes, and the lights inside the church are on, light shines through these windows and displays the same images to those who drive along Hondo Pass. Perhaps they won’t get a good look at the symbols. Perhaps they wouldn’t even know what they mean. But maybe, just maybe, they will give some of our people the opportunity to explain them to someone. Of course, that means that our people must know what they mean. They really should be taught (catechized) well enough that they not only know and take to heart the basics of the Christian faith, but that they can then relate that to others. I guess that’s our goal, and these pieces of glass and metal will, God-willing, give us, both inside the church and outside, the opportunity to reach it.

On Sunday, during our 40th Anniversary service, we will dedicate these windows to this use. I’ve uploaded an album of pictures of the windows here.

Vocation

Published June 16, 2009 Children , Family , Military Leave a Comment

DSC_8011 The little girl to the right of Miriam in this picture is about two months younger than Miriam. This afternoon, her daddy left for a 5-month deployment overseas. 

It makes me think of two things. 1) It makes me appreciate and enjoy every day that I have to watch all my little ones grow. I may not get to be home with them as much as I would like, but I don't have to be away for even days at a time, much less months.  2) It makes me appreciate the sacrifice that other fathers will make so that I can live in safety and be with my family. 

This appreciation sheds new light on the vocations in which I serve. What else can I do but to strive to be the best father and husband I can? And to be a shepherd to families such as this, in times such as this? What else could I want?

Singing the Catechism

Published May 10, 2009 Children , Music , Teaching 5 Comments

In 2006, we introduced Concordia Publishing House's new Sunday School curriculum, Growing in Christ, to our congregation in California. We did that for several reasons, but probably the biggest reasons were that it followed the flow of the church year and that it was distinctly Lutheran. One of the ways that the curriculum is distinctly Lutheran is its regular connections to Luther's Small Catechism. As a part of that, I was so pleased to find that on the CDs which accompany the student materials in the lower level there were newly composed tunes for singing the words of the Small Catechism. The first quarter had sections from the first article of the creed. The tunes were catchy and memorable.

The one downside, I thought, was that the translation used for these recordings is just a little different from the catechism translation published by Northwestern Publishing House and generally in use in the WELS. When we are dealing with texts to be memorized, consistency and uniformity is usually a plus. It makes me think of Luther's comments in his preface to the Small Catechism:

In the first place, let the preacher above all be careful to avoid many kinds of or various texts and forms of the Ten Commandments, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, the Sacraments, etc., but choose one form to which he adheres, and which he inculcates all the time, year after year. For [I give this advice, however, because I know that] young and simple people must be taught by uniform, settled texts and forms, otherwise they easily become confused when the teacher to-day teaches them thus, and in a year some other way, as if he wished to make improvements, and thus all effort and labor [which has been expended in teaching] is lost.

Also our blessed fathers understood this well; for they all used the same form of the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, and the Ten Commandments. Therefore we, too, should [imitate their diligence and be at pains to] teach the young and simple people these parts in such a way as not to change a syllable, or set them forth and repeat them one year differently than in another [no matter how often we teach the Catechism]. From bookofconcord.org

On the other hand, I realize that our translations must adjust over time so that they might remain understandable and memorable. I know that I learned the words of the catechism slightly differently than I teach them today (but I've re-learned them in the new version). And both are different from the way my parents learned them, and in a completely different language than my grandparents learned them. So while the translation issue is something I'm aware of, I'm not too concerned about it. I have thought that if a student of mine were able to learn the words of the catechism by heart and they happened to use a slightly different wording, I wouldn't make them re-learn it using the official WELS translation. 

790004.jpg So I haven't made much use of these recordings—yet. But I'm now thinking that perhaps I should. In the most recent quarter of Growing in Christ, the section of the catechism on the kids CDs is The Sacrament of the Altar. The CD has been playing in our van's stereo for about 10 weeks now. And Lydia, our three year old, loves to sing along with it and pretty much has the whole section memorized. It's like pulling teeth to get my 7th and 8th graders to memorize these words, but a three year old sings without hesitation, "What is the Sacrament of the Altar? It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ…" She will even sing these words outside of the car, while playing around the house. And if I start singing a phrase, like, "Where is this written?" She will sing, "The holy Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke and St. Paul write…" (I just tried it and that's exactly what she did.) Even Isaiah, our two year old, will sing along with parts.

And then, just this morning, I was teaching Bible Class on the Lord's Supper and when I started reading a section on Communion from the Small Catechism, I could hear the melody in my head as I read the words. This has even helped me.

So I decided that it would be worth it to purchase the whole collection and to encourage others to do the same. You can purchase the recordings on CD from Concordia, as well as in a printed songbook. Or, you can download the whole thing or piece by piece (much more expensive) in iTunes or on Amazon.com. For just $7.99. That's really nothing when I think of how much it is worth to me to have these words of faith imprinted on the minds and hearts of my children.

Maria Kristina

Published March 27, 2009 Children , Family Leave a Comment

A week ago, my brother Adrian and his wife Lia had a baby born at less than 26 weeks. She weighed 1lb. 8 oz.  Maria was received as a child of God by Holy Baptism not long after she was born.

So far things have gone as well as can be expected. This afternoon at 1:30, Maria will have surgery to take care of an air pocket in her right lung. The doctors have been watching it closely and after a CT scan yesterday, decided to go in.

You can read more about Maria and the situation on her CaringBridge site:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/mariakristinacaauwe

I would just like to ask for your prayers for this little one.

Kyrie eleison – Lord, have mercy

Miriam Jeanette

Published January 29, 2009 Children 2 Comments
DSC_6985

Miriam Jeanette Caauwe was born this afternoon at 4:26pm. She weighed 7lbs., 14 oz. and measured 20 3/4 inches.

We knew she was coming for nine months. We made plans. We anxiously waited. But it always amazes me how quickly new babies go from an idea, an unknown individual, to a dear person who suddenly becomes the object of my love and affection. Not that I didn't know that she was an individual in the womb. Not that I didn't love her yesterday. But something is different this evening as I think about what has happened today and how everything has changed for this little one and for us, now seven of us. Now she has a name, and a face we can see. And in the years ahead, we have a million ways we can now show our love to her, by caring for her needs and by being father and mother to this one who is now so small. And perhaps that is what has changed from yesterday to today. Now we have these concrete ways of showing our love.

But it strikes me that God doesn't work that way. He doesn't/didn't wait for us to even be born before he showed his love for us in the most concrete way. In the birth of a child—his, not ours—he expressed love to those yet to be born. In acts of obedience and acts of love to others, with bloody nails and spear, with an empty cave, God acted in love before we ever came on the scene. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you," God told Jeremiah.

And all the while we (and our children) were in the womb—known to our parents only in their imagination, God knew us and loved us before and while he knit us together in that womb. What an extraordinary and concrete act of love! So this whole process of birth seems to be God's way of introducing to us the one he has known all along.

What an awesome joy it will be then, to re-introduce this one (whom God knew from eternity) to her heavenly Father, not simply as one of his (fallen) creatures, but as one who has been washed and clothed in the blood of His Son. It will be a joy to bring her to Holy Baptism, to be marked with the name of God and the cross of his Son.

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