October Baseball

In case you missed it on facebook. here is Ezra dancing during our post-game celebration of the Braves making the playoffs.



Don't stop believing!

On Friendship

A few years ago I read a book called The Search to Belong by Joseph Myers. The book talks about the universal longing of all people to belong somewhere, but more than that Myers contrasts the myths of belonging with the reality of belonging. For example, one myth of belonging is that we should have a lot of people in our lives that are our "close friends." Have you ever noticed how many people you say are your close friends? Is it really true? Myers believes that there are different levels of belonging from social to intimate; social being the largest level of belonging (nationality/citizenship) and intimate being the smallest (spouse/closest friend). And in between are other levels of belonging that exist in church, schools, work circles, friends, good friends, etc.

You may not find this that interesting, but I write it because these days I am thinking a lot about friendship. We live in a new city and now have new circles of people we interact with everyday. I meet pastors, youth pastors, faculty, staff and students all the time, but are any them my new friends? Maybe. Only time will really tell. In the mean time, it's hard to live in a new place trying to find the people you can call your friends.

That's why it was such a blessing to have our close friend (and I don't use that term lightly) Matthew visit us this week from Mississippi. We've known Matthew for about 8 years; he played music at our wedding, held our boys when they were just babies, cleaned our dishes after small group countless times, and been a sounding board, movie buddy, fellow LOST follower, idea filter, ministry partner and great friend. But one true mark of a good friend is this:

A good friend not only loves spending time with you, but he also loves spending time with your kids.

From Drop Box

Matthew stayed with us for 4 days, and in that time he read books, sang songs, made up songs (about dinosaurs), fed, was woken up by, and babysat our boys. All in a spirit that showed he really loved them, not just tolerated them. I am glad to say that Corrie and I have a couple of friends that love Isaiah and Ezra in this special way, and we are glad that these friends continue to keep in touch even when we are apart. Because if what Myers writes is true, there only a few people we will ever know who are friends like that.

Me and the boys

Corrie is having a much needed and overdue weekend away with a friend,

so it's just me and the boys. (Aunt Riri arrives later today for a

little support. She's good help, just don't expect her to change

diapers!)

The weather has been less than ideal, so we've been discovering inside
activities. Below, you will see that yes, we play ball in the house.

But we also made play dough. That's right. Made it. From scratch.
Eat your heart out June Cleaver!

Ezra

con·tent·ment 

[kuh n-tent-muh nt]

-noun

1. the state of being contented; satisfaction; ease of mind.

Back in the Saddle

Wow. What a month.


Yesterday I walked back in to my office for the first time since Dec. 11. Usually I dread going back to the office after a long break, but yesterday it was quite refreshing to sit at my desk, go through the mail, check voicemail, and then get to the business at hand. (Which included calls concerning a fallen tree on the property, a leaky gas line on the property, and a burst pipe in the rental house.)


I never intended to be out of the office for a whole month, but our holiday season was quite crazy. I traveled to Houston for a conference and returned to an overtired wife and mother-in-law due to another double-ear infection in Ezra. The next week Corrie's dad joined us, Ezra still wasn't sleeping at night, and on Dec. 23, he had tubes put in. The day after Christmas, Corrie's parents left. On Dec. 27, I preached at our church, and the bronchitis Corrie had been battling got so bad she could hardly move for two days. And Isaiah had rotovirus, which meant a lot of....well, you don't need to know that. Needless to say, I was at home during this time taking care of the boys and Corrie.


Finally, on New Year's Eve, Corrie was well enough for us to travel north so we could spend time with her family and my family. We were gone 10 days, had 2 more Christmases, 3 birthday parties, 2 dinosaur birthday cakes, and maybe 1 good night's sleep.


Now we're home and trying to find the routine again. We love our families and we're thankful for their hospitality. We're also thankful to be part of a university community so that we can take the time to visit them during the holidays. BUT, it sure is nice to be home. Hopefully, everyone will stay healthy for a while, and Corrie can find the rhythm of work she needs to finish her comps.


And in case you were wondering, we're not planning any more trips right now. If you'd like to see us, you're welcome to come on down!

The Streak has Ended

Well, it happened.


We had two sleepless nights on Thursday and Friday with Ezra, who was running fever and had some congestion. Our pediatrician met us at her office Saturday morning to give him the flu test...and he passed with flying colors...which is not a good thing.

Isaiah's Week in Tweets

After giving twitter up for Lent, I re-entered the twitter-verse a healthier person. I definitely feel like the time away gave me some freedom from twitter that I did not have before. (I'll probably write more about freedom and Eastertide later this week.)

But I also decided over Lent that I wanted to set up a twitter account to capture some of Isaiah's funny sayings. If you haven't seen him in a while, you may not know that he is quite verbose. He talks all the time - to me, to Corrie, to Ezra, to Rigby, to Emily Elizabeth, to puppy...to no one in particular. So when he says something especially cute, I tweet it. (tweet = twitter message)

If you're on twitter, feel free to follow him (@isaiahsays) and me (@dmerrix). His updates are protected, but I will approve you.

isaiahsaysI like my outfit.

isaiahsaysWhoa! What a train! http://twitpic.com/4ije9

isaiahsaysStay here.

isaiahsaysWhat is mahna mahna?

isaiahsaysI'm gonna make ice cream Daddy. I'm gonna make ice cream.

isaiahsaysGiddyup!

isaiahsaysHello Donkey!

isaiahsaysI wanna touch the dark. Ooh. It feels good.

isaiahsaysDADDY! DON'T EAT BREAKFAST PLEASE!

isaiahsaysI like coffee.

isaiahsaysIs that good coffee Daddy? Is that good coffee?

isaiahsaysThat was a big truck!

isaiahsaysI wanna go to the playground. I need shoes first, though.

isaiahsaysRigby look! Daddy's making compost!

More than a Feeling, Part 2

We studied infant baptism in my Theology of John Wesley class this semester. We read an excellent lecture and essay on the topic, which I believe is the best treatment of infant baptism I've ever read.

One way to think about infant baptism is to see it as the circumcision of the new covenant. Now, we all know that circumcision is not required to be a Christian, Paul has made that argument very clear. What I mean is that circumcision was also a way of being initiated and identified as one of God's people. It is analogous to baptism in that way. Here is how I put it in a response I wrote for my class:

The Bible is filled with analogous relationships. The almost-sacrifice of Isaac foreshadows the sacrifice of Jesus, the Israelites deliverance from Egypt and desert wanderings foreshadow the life, baptism, and ministry of Jesus, David as King is the type that Jesus ultimately fulfills…I could go on and on. Therefore, the argument that baptism in the NT is like circumcision in the OT makes perfect sense. Circumcision was a part of the original covenant with Abraham so that God’s people might have an outward sign of the inward grace of the covenant. Once the church was established and the new covenant replaced the old covenant, baptism became the new outward sign of the inward grace, the one thing that marked God’s people as different in the world. What must be remembered when it comes to infant baptism is that it is a sign that the child is being initiated in to the community, to be raised by the community, in the common faith. Infant baptism is meant to be followed up by teaching from the community about the faith so that the child can one day receive faith on his/her own, at which time the baptism covenant will be confirmed.

I'm open to your thoughts. Feel free to leave comments if you like.

More than a Feeling, Part 1

(Pastor Pat and Ezra, and Kevin)

On Easter Sunday, we had Ezra baptized. We picked Easter because it is the traditional day of the Church (early church) receiving new members in to the community. The phenomena of membership as we know it today (walking down the aisle or coming forward to be received on any given Sunday) is actually quite new and quite American. Anyone who wanted to join the early church had to first go through instruction (catechism) about what it means to be a follower of Christ, and then if they still believed, they were baptized and confirmed as members.

As far as anyone can tell, infant baptism has always been practiced by the church. Many believe the New Testament only shows believers' baptism by immersion, but these are just baptism's most explicit references.

For instance, when Peter goes to Cornelius' house after his vision of food in Acts 10, we are told that Cornelius' entire household was baptized. I think it is reasonable to assume that there might have been small children or infants in the house who were also baptized. There are other implicit examples as well, just pay attention as you read.

In the early church, baptism was not just about making a profession of faith, but it was about being initiated in to the community of faith. It was about being identified as belonging to those who believe. As my sons, Isaiah and Ezra are part of the community of faith because I am part of the community of faith. Eventually, they will have to make that decision on their own, and I hope that when that day comes they will confirm their place in the community. But until then, they have been baptized as a way to signify the grace that God is already extended to them...even though they don't understand it yet.

BFFB

Our friends Pat and Sarah had a baby 6 days after Ezra was born, so naturally they are going to be BFFB (best friends from birth). In the interest of fun, here they are on Easter Sunday.

Kids are funny

Right now at our house, there's a lot to be happy about. We have a 2 year old boy who is changing so much every day, and we have his new little brother who can sleep through the chaos created by his aforementioned ever-changing brother.

But there are also things about having a new baby and a toddler that bring frustration. Little sleep. Cold weather (which limits outside playtime). LOTS of diapers. (Last night looked like an assembly line, we changed one poopy diaper and then literally turned around and changed another poopy diaper). Little sleep. You get the picture.

I saw this video and it made me laugh. Kids really are a joy!

Stoned Little Kid After Dentist Visit - Watch more Funny Videos

(HT to the Burnside Blog)

Ezra's 1st Week

Here's a peek of Ezra's first week in the world.

Ezra's 1st Week from D. Merricks on Vimeo.

The First 100 Days - Day 4

While the world is watching President Obama, we'll be watching Ezra.

We're home now and trying to figure out what life is like with two kids instead of just one. Last night was a good indication...

Ezra's days and nights are still a little mixed up so he sleeps a lot during the day, and not so much at night. Corrie and I take turns trying to sleep, but really neither one of us does. I finally drifted off between 12:30am and 1am last night only to be awoken at 4am by a gassy Ezra who's crying his lungs out. And then the inevitable happened...

The commotion wakes Isaiah up (he's always been a light sleeper), and so I go in to rock him. Usually, this takes 5 minutes. But last night I had to make 2 return trips before he settled down, and then he talked and played until about 6am.

If I'm learning anything these days, it's this. Patience. A two year old and newborn are going to try my patience almost everyday. I'm learning how to take it in stride, and treasure this time in our life...it will never be like this again.

Thank you, LORD!