My Turn

When we lived in Durham I missed having real winters with substantial snowfall (more than 3 snowflakes); Now I miss short mild winters and the snow is not so important. Of course, we have only gotten one meager little snow in VA this year, so maybe the excitement will return when the big one blows in. In the meantime though, I plan to escape the mild winter of Virginia, by heading to the much milder west coast in a couple of weeks. One of the perks (or downsides, depending on who you ask) of my job as software trainer/consultant is that I get to travel for on-site trainings. My co-trainer at VistaShare and I are traveling to downtown Los Angeles at the end of the month for my first trip on the job. It's the ideal scenario for me in the sense that this trip will serve as a "training" for me as well as our client. So not only do I get to travel to the west coast for 4 days, but my workload will be minimal training-wise. I'm looking forward to the trip, but am sure to miss my family as well. I may also be traveling on my own to Albuqurque at the end of March and beginning of April for a training, but this is yet to be finalized. I think that I will enjoy these more personalized trainings compared to the webinars that I usually teach.

In other Martin related events; I recently preached my first sermon in about 3 years. Our preaching team at Early Church consists of 8-9 folks and they recently asked me join in. I am always a reluctant preacher, but in the last few years I have sat under one of the great practitioners of the art of preaching. Dr. William C. Turner (Mt. Level Missionary Baptist Church - Durham) preaches with such conviction, power, and grace that my expository and rhetorical skills pale in comparison. I also have the good fortune of going to church with some pretty great preachers as well. I was hoping that some of the preaching excellence that I've absorbed over the years would leech into me. I enjoyed preaching in the unpretentious setting that is a homeless shelter, and received a lot of good feedback from church members and others on the preaching team. As I was preaching, Ron Copeland (our pastor) called me out for using a big word, and made me explain it before I proceeded. Also during the sermon, a drunk man stumbled into the room and apparently said "tell us about the devil" before passing out. I say apparently, because at the time I registered a disturbance and someone speaking but didn't hear the words clearly. These are the sorts of things that are prone to happen in our church services. Those of us who preach meet every week at Ron's house for breakfast and to give sermon feedback and encouragement, and this presents a nice opportunity for us all to grow as preachers. This week Philip is preaching, and I am looking forward to that as well.

In other news, our family is recovering from a bout with the flu. Elliot came down with it first and did not each much for the better part of a week. It really got to me watching him thin visibly with little appetite or energy. He was pretty sweet about the whole thing, but it was difficult for Sylvia trying to take care of two boys- one immobile, and the other lethargic and clinging. Not to mention the nights spent changing pajamas and sheets every few hours. He has basically recovered fully at this point,and is making up for his past lethargy by talking non-stop and running circles in the house. He still amazes me with his grasp of language and abstract concepts. Today he pointed out the car window and said "Jeep." The vehicle in question was an SUV (90's model) - made by Jeep. He almost always calls SUV's trucks normally. Sylvia explained that she had been differentiating between the two as they watched cars go by on 42 and he had apparently picked up on this. He can say just about every word that you give him to say, and knows quite a few letters, numbers, colors, and shapes.

Vincent is fighting the aforementioned flu currently, but doesn't have it to the extent that Elliot did (Thank God). He is also coming along well with verbal expressions, and is trying out various sounds. He says something approximating "Dadda" and makes tractor noises when looking at tractor pictures. He is also developing his throwing skills, and enjoys tossing things in the air. He is still refusing to crawl, but scoots backwards on his belly. Sylvia thinks that we should get shag carpet to cover our hardwood floors in order to encourage traction and other movements conducive to crawling. He loves being outdoors, and if you act like you are going out (i.e. walk towards a door) and turn around he gets very offended.

Sylvia spends her time being a wonderful mom to the boys and wife to me, and is also developing her social network here. She is looking forward to more interactions with young mothers, and also to becoming involved with several groups associated with our church.









On Sunday it was so beautiful and warm, that we took a family trip to the park. As we were leaving Hillandale we spotted these kites in the sky above Harrisonburg Mennonite Church. We drove up for a closer look and discovered some kite hobbyists who were taking as much delight in the day as we were. These kites are flying at 500 ft, are about 20 feet wide and the large one has a 100 ft. streamer attached. We were all duly impressed.


Snow! Finally! This picture is courtesy of Sylvia. It was a small snowfall, but quite picturesque. I'm still waiting for the blizzard though.