So, it's Sunday. That, of course, means the Divine Service. The gifts were given and received.

Then, it was on to the potluck. I was making "Knuckle Soup," though we also brought a brown rice and bean dish. Instead of using the Knorr bouillon cubes, though, I switched to Rachel Ray's chicken stock so that there would be no sugar in the soup for those who couldn't eat sugar. Unfortunately, the stock was also low sodium, so the soup was lacking for salt.

After the potluck it was time for the quarterly voters' meeting. It started off as it usually does, but quickly devolved into a love the pastor fest. This is quite a turn-around from what I had experienced at my first two calls. I'm still not used to it. Part of the show-the-pastor-love activities was a vote to cover the cost of a round-trip ticket to Tampa in the event of my grandmother's death, so that I may attend the funeral. I'm still not sure what I would do, as I refuse to fly under the current security measures, as I find them to be a breach of the Fourth Amendment. I do appreciate that they want to do that, though it makes it harder for me to decide whether I go or stay.

After the meeting, we dropped Robert off to play with a friend while we did some WIC shopping. Two hours later, we headed home to stuff our fridges and freezers.

It was a slow evening after that...for the most part.

The day started out fairly normally. My alarm went off at 5:30, as it does every day. I turned it off and fell back asleep, but I was up again in two hours.

Once upstairs, I set about doing some file management on the file server and some thumb drives and from my PSVita. Once I had completed that, I tried playing Don't Starve on the PS4. It's an interesting game; I guess that's what I can say about it. It's fun, but not in a typical way.

Then, I received a phone call. We had been asked a couple of weeks ago if we would be willing to share some freezer space. Some church members were having a hog butchered, with the hopes of having some of it ready to send home with some family that were visiting for Christmas. Things were late, so they had more pork than they could store at home, but we had some freezer space that they could use. Today was the day. So, I set out to do some cleaning up downstairs where our freezers are; it had been a while since things down there were organized.

Back upstairs, and I tried my hand at LEGO Marvel Superheroes for PS4. I've earned some trophies for that game, which you can view if you look at my trophy cards.

As I did that, the pork came, so back downstairs to pack the freezer.

I played a little more LEGO Marvel when that was finished.

Then, it was back downstairs to install a magazine rack in our bathroom and drying rack by the washer.

Things quieted down after that. Now, the kids are in bed, and I'm watching the first of the Stadium Series NHL games: Anaheim Ducks at Los Angeles Kings at Dodger Stadium.

So, the morning was spent at the office. I got the sermon for Sunday put together. Bits of it by one brother in office, bits by another, bits by me, and bits of a hymn. After the sermon, I finished putting together the hymn selection list for the special Lenten services for the musicians. With that done, I had to update my report for Sunday's voters' meeting.

Back home for a bit, and I worked on setting up profiles for the eligible video gamers on the PS4. The two older kids now have PlayStation Network/Sony Entertainment Network accounts, sub-accounts of my own. Robert is exochos8 (the Greek word for "super," he wanted to be SuperHero8, but that was taken, as was everything else he wanted, and the suggestions sucked). Mikaela is PinkSnowflake6; she also had some other ideas in mind that were taken, but this one worked right away. Genevieve is gen_here. The log in screen on the PS4 shows adult account full names. Sub-accounts, however, only show their PSN/SEN name. I looked forever to find a way to change that so that the kids would have their names shown on the log in screen, but that's not to be, I think.

Once I had finished that, it was time to go to Bible Study. We read some more through the Wisdom of Solomon, comparing what was read to what is familiar from the Scriptures. I even noted how part of Wisdom is used for one of the Great O Antiphons of Advent, on which the hymn Oh, Come, Oh, Come, Emmanuel is based. In that regard, I think it was an interesting study.

Well, the day started in the office, completing the special service preparation for Lent. Now I just need to finish collecting all of the hymns for our musicians. That shouldn't take too long, but I don't know how much time I can commit to it tomorrow with sermon writing on the slate. As far as that is concerned, I'm borrowing some phrases from a couple of brothers for Sunday's sermon. What I have in mind will echo the Hymn of the Day quite nicely.

However, it didn't take long for me to head into Castle Rock and pick up a new video game console. It was a belated Christmas gift thanks to so monies that were given to us to share among the family. We each have gotten something so far, and there is a little left. My gift is the PlayStation 4. I don't have much to play on it right now other than some free games (either free through being a PlayStation Plus member or because I had purchased them for a previous console and they are "cross-buy" enabled, meaning I essentially bought them for all the consoles, even before those consoles were released).

Setting it up was an adventure. The firmware that the consoles came with didn't work too well with our TV. The audio-video signal was not properly making it's way to our television, probably an issue that it had with the video adapter and HDMI port. In addition to that, the console that I brought home booted up into an error state. The folks at Sony told me to download the reinitialization firmware update to a USB drive and see if that will correct the error state; it will correct the HDMI issue. Well, the update didn't take, so it was back to Castle Rock for an exchange; fortunately, they had one more unit in stock and were able to switch it out for me. The second console works flawlessly following a firmware update–the audio-video issue is corrected.

I connected my phone to the system via the PlayStation app, so now I can use my phone as a second screen for the games that support it. I connected my PS Vita to the system, so now I can control it with the Vita (full functionality, unlike with the PS3) and also use it as a second screen. I played a little Zen Pinball 2 on it, earning a couple of trophies (which you can view via my trophy cards in the appropriate sections on my site: scroll down so that the menu appears on the left side of my site, and hover over the right section title).

Following all these adventures, it was time to get the kids ready for bed and it turned out to be a pretty calm evening.

It was a fairly easy day today. I was in the office, where I worked on Mid-week Lent services. Then I was home for a bit before I had to leave for church again. Before I left,a friend from Denver arrived to spend some time with Genevieve and the kids. Then, I was off to church again for the Book of Concord study. We're going through Article III in the Formula.

So, I was back in the office today. It was a fairly easy day. I read through the lessons for Sunday to start thinking about Sunday's sermon. Mostly, I planned the hymns for the Sunday services in April. Before I move on to May, I need to work on Ash Wednesday, the Mid-week Lenten services, Maundy Thursday, and Good Friday. April 20th is the Resurrection of Our Lord.

While I did that, I watched Olympus Has Fallen via Netflix. It was a pretty good movie, especially once all disbelief had been suspended. Could a group break into the White House? I suppose it's possible, with enough planning and resources. Of course, it will unleash the full response of the American people and military (and I think in better fashion than the movie portrayed).

Back home to rest and think. It was done over clearing some more stuff off of the DVR. Well, now that I think about it, we only deleted one item from the DVR after watching it.

The rest of the evening was pretty par for the course...

A day off is usually spent relaxing. This one was no different, but the morning started out with a trip out the door. Ikea "sells" free breakfast plates on Monday mornings.

After dropping off Genevieve and Tirzah at a friend's house, the rest of the kids and I headed into Centennial for breakfast. The normal platter includes eggs, sausage, and potatoes. The girls are not big fans of eggs, so they got a kid's pancake plate. After drinks (which were not free, other than coffee, which I don't drink), the total cost for four for breakfast was under $11. That can't be beat, and the food is really good, too.

After picking up a couple of items from the "As-is" department, we headed home. At home, the big kids played outside for a time while Molly and I hung out inside. I was able to clear some of my programs off the DVR.

The rest of the day was pretty much uninteresting. The kids went to bed, Genevieve and Tirzah came home (they had since gotten the car), and I had supper. Shortly after that, it was bed time.

Today started as Sundays do. Up, to church, and the Gifts were given and received. The sermon is posted (though the audio will come later, my apologies).

There was a baby shower at the church after services. The girls stayed for that, so Robert and I had some guy time. We went to Costco where I purchased a new toaster oven; this one is convection. The price was amazing. I've found, with regard to convection, that the more dense the food being baked, that the convection does not decrease the cooking time; though for my crispy chicken strips, it makes for a nice, crispy breading—almost like frying, but with circulating air.

After Costco, we had lunch at Burger King. It's been forever since I've been to one. It's just not the same; I wasn't impressed.

Back home, and the new oven is set up. We had the Broncos game on, as Robert is a fan. I guess now we'll need to have the Super Bowl on; I really had no desire to watch it.

Once things got set up and cleaned, the girls came home. Molly was dropped off while the other three went to Joann for something. At that time, Robert and I played a little LEGO Batman 2 on the PlayStation 3. Molly watched. I was also able to work on updating a PivotX extension—the Useragent Information in Comments extension. I'm not quite done with the update, yet.

For supper time, I put on Matrix Reloaded. I had seen it once before, but I didn't remember a lot of what was going on. Of course, now I'm set up to watch Matrix Revolutions, which I have never seen.

The night was late, and the kids are finally in bed...

Sermon Audio

“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14) The Son of God is conceived of the Holy Ghost and born of the virgin Mary. He grows up and makes His way to the Jordan. There, John sees Him, points to Him and says,

Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is He of whom I said, “After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.” I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water. (John 1:29-31)

Jesus is baptized by John to fulfill all righteousness. (cf. Matthew 3:15) Some of John’s disciples, at John’s direction, follow Jesus. Jesus calls a few more disciples.

Then, Jesus is invited to a wedding in Cana. His mother and disciples attend with Him. And how we like to pick apart that wedding. There’s merit in doing so, especially when the wine runs out and Jesus, at the behest of His mother, changes water in purifying jars to the best wine served at the wedding. Here we see a picture of the wedding feast of the Lamb on His Bride, of which we partake a foretaste when we consume the body of the Lamb as bread and drink the blood of the Lamb as wine—thereby making it the finest wine you will ever have.