#25 On the Homefront

Yesterday Tess and Lanie came home from the hospital. We bundled Lanie up in a blue sleeper and a knit stocking cap, secured her in carseat, and introduced her to the soothing sounds of The Decemberists on the way home. Once I brought Lanie through the door, things started to feel real. I think I'm finally getting it through my head that Lanie is here to stay. She sleeps in a bassinet next to Tess and my bed. She's waiting for me when I come home from work. She stares at me with her big blue eyes and makes confused faces. She sucks on my finger when she gets fussy and scares herself more than I ever thought a person could. But most of all, she just melts my heart. I know her plan is to be sweet and cute enough now that I never really can get mad at her. But even though I see through her plan, I know that it will work. It's only been four days, and she already know me too well. I'm done for.

Grace and peace,
BMH

#24 She's Here!

We have good news! Alena Joy Hofman was born yesterday (January 27) at 10:58 AM. Lanie weighed 7 lb. 6 oz. and was 19.5 in. long at birth. She's only been here a day, but she's already brought us so much joy. Lanie was born by Cesarean section, which meant I got to hold her first. She wraps her little fingers around my index finger. She makes cute faces and squirms and coos. I get to swaddle Lanie and change her diapers. I'm pretty much obsessed already. But anyway, you're here for the pictures, so here you go:

I'm sure there'll be plenty more to come!

Grace and peace,

BMH

#23 Sorry to Disappoint

As I write this post, Tess is two days past her due date. We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our baby. But it's not just us. It seems that EVERYONE we talk to, including people who hardly know us, is on the edge of their seat waiting for Baby Girl to make her appearance. This puts in me in a somewhat awkward situation. No matter where I go, people are just a little bit disappointed to see me. They know that if I drop in on coffee time or swing by for a visit or show up at church then I'm not at the hospital, and the baby hasn't come yet. Everyone wants to hear updates, but I really don't have much to report. No signs of labor at this point. So I just continue on with my daily life, dashing hopes wherever I stop. So it goes. Hopefully I'll have baby pics next time I blog. Until then...

Grace and peace,
BMH

#22 A Great Idea

Every once in a while I have an idea that I think is pure gold, something that I can hardly wait to tell Tess. I'd guess about half the time she simply shakes her head or rolls her eyes at me, but sometimes she agrees that I'm on to something. That's when the magic really happens. A couple weeks ago I had one of these epiphanies. Over the years through Christmas presents and Black Friday deals and such, I've built a collection of movies I really enjoy. I was browsing my collection and found a few beloved movies that made me think, "It's been too long since I watched that." The trouble with movies is that they can be quite the time commitment. (Especially in the case of The Lord of the Rings. I refuse to watch anything other than the extended editions.) I can't just watch a movie any day. I've got other things on my to-do list. And then I had the solution: Sunday Night Movies. By the time Sunday night rolls around, I'm pretty much toast. I have a decent chunk of free time but don't have much energy, so movies are a welcome way to relax. More importantly, this also gives Tess and me some regular time to just be together, which is something else I think about quite a bit. I'm always working to try to ensure ministry doesn't swallow up my family time. So when this idea hit, I knew I'd knocked it out of the park. And Tess agreed. Two weeks in, we're almost through the original Star Wars trilogy. It's been a blast. I get to take time to be with Tess and enjoy exciting cinema. To riff on Brian Regan, I submit that life cannot get any better than that. Well, at least until I get my next big idea.

Grace and peace,
BMH

#21 Is It Break Yet?

I think the biggest adjustment so far between my pastor life and my student life was Christmastime. Before this year I'd been a student as long as I could remember, which meant I never had less than a week and a half off at Christmastime. This year? Not so much. My work continued pretty much as usual until and through Christmas. The biggest difference was that we had an extra service on Christmas Eve. Because that extra service was led by our youth group, I really didn't have much extra work to do, so for that I am quite grateful. Celebrating Christmas as pastor of a congregation for the first time was really exciting. I'd never preached the story of Jesus' birth before; that was a thrill for me. However, there definitely were a few times I had to remind myself that Christmas was quickly approaching. It just didn't feel normal. I'm sure I won't even blink after a few more years, but right now I'm still adjusting.

Celebrating Christmas became a little different as well. Since I was working on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, Tess and I didn't travel home to see our families. Instead, our families came to us. It was a bit strange, but we had a wonderful time. Plus, with so many people in the congregation and community being busy with their families, I was able to scale back my visiting a little bit for the week before and the week after Christmas Day. That opened up more time for me to be with my family and to recover from the extra busyness of church life in December. Our traditions will change almost certainly change over the next few years, especially since Tess and I will be parents ourselves, but that's not so bad. We'll make new traditions, and we'll probably have lots of fun doing so.

Grace and peace,

BMH

#20 Phoning It In

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas season. This week I want to talk about phones. As you may or may not know, I hate talking on the phone. A wise friend of mine once helped me understand why this is: I often can't tell how the person on the other end is responding. When I talk to others face-to-face, I get all sorts of nonverbal feedback. That doesn't work with a phone call, but I still have to keep the conversation going. I don't get to pause and carefully plan out my words. It's terrifying! Answering machines are even worse. I don't think I've ever finished leaving a message and not thought to myself, "Boy, am I an idiot!"

Here's the funny thing: I spend a pretty decent amount of my pastor life on the phone. I call council members to ask questions about how we should do different things at the church. I call members of the congregation to try to set up visits. Sometimes I follow up with church visitors on the phone. Plus, I'm almost always the only one at the church, so I have to answer the phone and return calls that we get from people who want to do things like check out our boilers. Nothing weirds me out more than having to call someone I've never met before. Phones aren't my favorite, but calling is part of my job, and most people are pretty friendly. Maybe I'll even get better at this over time. So if you ever come to church and find me trying to psych myself up for something, don't worry. I probably just have to make a phone call.

Grace and peace,
BMH