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|  It’s amazing what God can do and how quickly He can do it. It’s amazing how little He needs to do it. And it’s amazing who He is willing to do it for. I speak of myself, the guy who for quite some time has felt a bit discouraged about his career and about what his life really has amounted to. For a few years now, I’ve lamented the fact that I haven’t had a career; I’ve had a series of jobs. Some were decent jobs, some even paid fairly well, but a job does not a career make. You don’t need to be a professional to hold a job. I speak for myself and also for my wife Janet. We have been married for nine years now and for those nine years we have been more or less alone in a tiny family unto ourselves. We’ve had, from time to time, friends living in our home, friends who needed a place to stay while they got back on their feet. I always considered it a blessing that I had a home to share with them; however, in the home that my grandparents once raised seven kids, Janet and I found ourselves with no children of our own. God is amazing. Exactly one month ago today I received the gift of a new baby boy – a son! – of my very own. At last our family has grown beyond just the two of us. This is one of the greatest blessings that God has ever bestowed upon me! He is perfect in every way. Handsome. Healthy. Filled with life and beauty and all the  love that we can pour into him. He weighed 7pounds, 2 ounces (about 510 grams) at birth and he now weighs 8½ pounds. I am so proud of everything he does. People tell me that this will wear off, but I can’t help but feel a bit like Isaac when his son Joseph was born. After you wait so long for something this wonderful, when it finally comes, it’s all you can think about. It feels like Christmas morning every day.  Yesterday I started a new job, not just a job, but a true career. It is a fantastic position with a government owned biological laboratory. They produce vaccines here, tetanus, diphtheria, and other drugs that prevent diseases and truly help people. It’s a wonderful thing to be associated with a company that really does good for people. I was hired by the Information Technology department as a software trainer. This takes advantage of my greatest strengths and lets me do something I truly, truly love doing. This company has had no true training department. The company’s plan (and my hope) is that I will build a whole training department and become the manager of a team of trainers. This is exciting. This is what I always wanted to do. Praise the Lord! He loves me and He has shown His love in such powerful ways! | | |
| This Sunday I was excited to have had guests from the glorious country of Ukraine. Sasha & Olya Skripa and Nickolay & Ketrin Skopych, pastors of the Almaz Church in Kiev, were in Boston this for a week long Christian conference. Sunday, the 14th, Janet and I were thrilled to host a BBQ in honor of this visit from our friends in Ukraine. Earlier that day, Sasha and Olya spoke to Brookville Baptist Church and presented to them the work that God is doing in Kiev.  It was an exciting day, a tad on the chilly side as the shadows crept over the yard, but I started a bonfire in the fire pit and everyone sat around the fire talking, drinking coffee & tea, eating Boston Cream Pie, and staying warm. It is moments like this that I feel like I am seeing just a little glimpse of what heaven must be like. 
Nickolay & Ketrin took a tour of my little house and expressed their interests in my antiques, replica swords, gargoyles, and other historical and architectural curious. They were looking at a picture of a armored knight being knighted by a princess, when Nickolay turned to me and told me how much Ketrin loved knights and such things. I flashed them a big smile and said, "Follow me." I brought them outside to my car, where, in the trunk I had my chain mail armor, my favorite sword, and one of my helmets. (I had been to a Renaissance Fair a week before and hadn't unloaded my things.) I proceeded to put equip Ketrin with a chainmail coif, tabard, gauntlets, and my favorite sword. I would have put the entire suit of mail on her, but it probably weighed twice as much as she did.  Nickolay loved it and proceeded to fire off a whole series of pictures with Ketrin in a variety of poses. I don't have any of those pictures yet, but I hope to get a few and post them to this blog soon! The day was one of the most enjoyable I have had in a long time. To me, one of life's greatest pleasures is to entertain a group of people, particularly people who love the Lord -- and to sit around the fire and talk makes it all the better. Sasha & Olya spent the night with us while Nickolay & Ketrin stayed with Dave Pickett. Their itinerary had them on a flight to Florida this afternoon. Though they were only here for one night, I will miss them very much and I look forward returning to Kiev and seeing them again. God bless Ukraine and the work that He is doing there. | | |
| The Lord continues to bless me with new friends and wonderful experiences. This time, I had the privilege and the pleasure to work with Belarusian students in the beautiful country of Ukraine. Because of the freedom that is enjoyed in Ukraine, we found it to be a very effective place to hold this year's summer camp. We enjoyed one of the best camps that the project has stayed at to date. We saw Kiev, getting the opportunity to walk its streets, to take a boat ride along the Dnepr River, and to tour the Chernobyl museum.   It was wonderful to see so many of my friends once again, My Sasha, Gleb, Masha, Maia, Gera, Yulia and on and on... and to meet so many more new friends. | | |
| KING ARTHUR: Whoa there!
[clop clop clop]
SOLDIER #1: Halt! Who goes there?
ARTHUR: It is I, Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon, from the castle of Camelot. King of the Britons, defeater of the Saxons, Sovereign of all England!
SOLDIER #1: Pull the other one!
ARTHUR: I am... and this is my trusty servant Patsy. We have ridden the length and breadth of the land in search of knights who will join me in my court
at Camelot. I must speak with your lord and master.
SOLDIER #1: What? Ridden on a horse?
ARTHUR: Yes!
SOLDIER #1: You're using coconuts!
ARTHUR: What?
SOLDIER #1: You've got two empty halves of coconut and you're bangin' 'em together.
ARTHUR: So? We have ridden since the snows of winter covered this land, through the kingdom of Mercia, through--
SOLDIER #1: Where'd you get the coconuts?
ARTHUR: We found them.
SOLDIER #1: Found them? In Mercia? The coconut's tropical!
ARTHUR: What do you mean?
SOLDIER #1: Well, this is a temperate zone.
ARTHUR: The swallow may fly south with the sun or the house martin or the plover may seek warmer climes in winter, yet these are not strangers to our
land?
SOLDIER #1: Are you suggesting coconuts migrate?
ARTHUR: Not at all. They could be carried.
SOLDIER #1: What? A swallow carrying a coconut?
ARTHUR: It could grip it by the husk!
SOLDIER #1: It's not a question of where he grips it! It's a simple question of weight ratios! A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut.
ARTHUR: Well, it doesn't matter. Will you go and tell your master that Arthur from the Court of Camelot is here?
SOLDIER #1: Listen. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a swallow needs to beat its wings forty-three times every second, right?
ARTHUR: Please!
SOLDIER #1: Am I right?
ARTHUR: I'm not interested!
SOLDIER #2: It could be carried by an African swallow!
SOLDIER #1: Oh, yeah, an African swallow maybe, but not a European swallow. That's my point.
SOLDIER #2: Oh, yeah, I agree with that.
ARTHUR: Will you ask your master if he wants to join my court at Camelot?!
SOLDIER #1: But then of course a-- African swallows are non-migratory.
SOLDIER #2: Oh, yeah.
SOLDIER #1: So, they couldn't bring a coconut back anyway.
[clop clop clop]
SOLDIER #2: Wait a minute! Supposing two swallows carried it together?
SOLDIER #1: No, they'd have to have it on a line.
SOLDIER #2: Well, simple! They'd just use a strand of creeper!
SOLDIER #1: What, held under the dorsal guiding feathers?
SOLDIER #2: Well, why not? | | |
| Naked and covered with slime, I at last emerged from my place of concealment. For months I had hidden myself in my dark hiding place, but now something drew me forth. I felt strangely compelled to venture out beyond the place wherein I had made my home. Call it fate. I have come to believe it was instinct.
But now, after having been alone for so long, I began to perceive there were others nearby. Suddenly, a bright light shone down on me. I flinched, tried to flee -- but it was too late. A large and powerful hand caught me. I was hoisted up into the air. Panic rose within me. I struggled to breath, but could not. And then another hand upon me, battering my backside.
I began to cry.
Some thirty-something years later I find myself at a desk, sitting before a keyboard, trying to compose something of note to commemorate the day of my birth. Not much comes to mind regarding myself. Rather, what really seems important to me are those good friends who remembered. friends who from far away sent emails, e-cards, and good wishes. It's friends that really make a birthday special, and every other day of the year special too.
 To celebrate Valentine's Day and my Birthday, and just to have a good time, my wife Janet and I joined several other couples from our church in New Hampshire, the state to the north of my beloved Massachusetts. New Hampshire is a largely wooded and mountainous state where people go to hike, and camp, and ski. We rented a seven-bedroom house in the woods and enjoyed a weekend of fellowship, praising God, and having fun. The highlight of the weekend was the sleigh ride many of us went on. I bought tickets for me and Janet and away we went, "over the river and through the snow", as one old American song says.
It was a remarkably warm day -- at least for me anyway. I rarely get cold. I love the cold! How people live in places like Florida and Arizona I'll never understand. Real life doesn't start happening until the temperature falls below 10 degrees Celsius (50 degress F.). The weekend was a pleasant one, filled with games, leisure, and my first ever mandolin lesson. Yep, that's right. I'm learning to play the mandolin. I knew I'd love it, but I had no idea just how much. I really love it, and Dave Pickett was very kind in helping me tune it and get going. Now it's just a matter of practicing, practicing, and practicing. I hope that by this summer, I'll be able to actually say I play the mandolin.
My first song... Happy Birthday to me... Happy Birthday to me... Happy Birthday, dear Glenoooooo...
 
Here's me and Janet, and a shot of Dave Pickett and Janet riding along in the back of the sleigh together...
 
Here's a shot of me sitting up next to the driver, and a picture of my view... (did I get the butt end of this deal?) | | |
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