I know we’re in the season of Epiphany, but I love the hymn, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten.” The text is great, the tune is great. Below are the words of the hymn as they appear in our latest hymnal, Lutheran Service Book.

1 Of the Father’s love begotten
Ere the worlds began to be,
He is Alpha and Omega,
He the source, the ending He,
Of the things that are, that have been,
And that future years shall see
Evermore and evermore.

2 Oh, that birth forever blessed,
When the virgin full of grace,
By the Holy Ghost conceiving,
Bore the Savior of our race,
And the babe, the world’s Redeemer,
First revealed His sacred face
Evermore and evermore.

3 This is He whom seers in old time
Chanted of with one accord,
Whom the voices of the prophets
Promised in their faithful word.
Now He shines, the long-expected;
Let creation praise its Lord
Evermore and evermore.

4 O ye heights of heav’n adore Him;
Angel hosts, His praises sing,
Pow’rs, dominions, bow before Him
And extol our God and King.
Let no tongue on earth be silent,
Ev’ry voice in concert ring
Evermore and evermore.

5 Christ, to Thee, with God the Father,
And, O Holy Ghost, to Thee
Hymn and chant and high thanksgiving
And unending praises be,
Honor, glory, and dominion,
And eternal victory
Evermore and evermore.

Amen.

To hear an excellent hymn study of this, click here.

Available for an early upgrade.  I might be hitting the local Verizon stores in town that day.

The first contest I won was on December 21 via Twitter.  @FamilyGuyonFOX was giving away 25 copies of their new Star Wars spoof, “It’s a Trap!” That should be on its way, if it isn’t already.

The second contest I won was through “You Could Win a BlackBerry Torch” sweepstakes on December 22.  They were giving two BlackBerry Torch 9800s away each day from Nov. 20 – Dec. 24, one via Twitter and the other via Facebook.  I scored me a red Torch (approximate retail value of $499).  Unfortunately, when I was entering the contest, I didn’t take into account that the Torch is only available for AT&T, which means I won’t be able to use it on Verizon.  It arrived today.  For now, it means it will sit in the closet.

My last contest that I won was another Twitter contest.  This was by Jim Irsay, the owner of the Indianapolis Colts.  The contest, an AFC Division Champion hat, all for spelling the word “cheese” correctly.  Seriously, that was it!

It was a good few weeks, I have to admit.  The only thing that would have made it better is if the Torch would be available on Verizon.

So, what kinds of things can you expect to find on here?  Well…I’m not sure yet.  I’ll be putting my sermons up when I preach (I really failed on this the last year).  I might include something I enjoy: video games.  I may write about what happened that day.  I may post a simple prayer.  I may just post a picture.  Regardless, I really want to try to make this work. 

For you, my readers, please help me to do this.  Leave comments.  Ask questions.  Give me topics.  I’m sure somebody reads this (or at least I hope somebody does).

He’s a fairly good baby.  During the day, he’s either eating or sleeping.  During the late night, he seems to want to do nothing but eat the last couple of days.  It was either Thursday or Friday night that he decided to be up just about every hour from 11:30 to 3:30 or 4:00.  Talk about a long night! 

I’ve been home since Monday trying to help when and where I can.  That means trying to keep up with all the dishes.  It’s amazing how many dishes we seem to go through in a day.  I guess I never thought of how much we go through.

Update: Wesley and Daddy have been spending a lot time together in the mornings.  He usually comes into our room between 7:00 and 7:30.  I get up with him and we go upstairs.  He watches a little bit of Mickey Mouse and then it’s time for breakfast.  I’ve been doing the morning routine so Mommy can get a little bit more sleep/feed Bryce.

Wesley has had his ups and downs since we came home.  He spent Saturday and Sunday at a friends house.  Fortunately, they have a kids a few months older than Wesley, so he’s had a playmate.  At night, it’s been a different story.  Bedtime has been rougher than usual for the last couple of weeks.  As soon as we turn off Mickey Mouse (our bedtime routine), he throws a fit.  After we read some books and say our prayers, it’s lights out, but they don’t stay out for long.  He’s been getting out of bed 3+ times a night.  After the third time, it’s time-out.  Last night was the worst night by far.  We couldn’t even read books because he was throwing a fit so bad.  After quite a while of holding and rocking him, Mommy had to come down.  I think he feels that Bryce is getting all the attention.  Wesley sees him in Mommy’s arms constantly (because she’s feeding him) and I think he sees that she’s not paying him any attention.

That’s all for now, folks.  More to come…