Spectacle

Ministry Update

The Lord provided a preaching opportunity for me in the end of last year. I left for Alexandria, VA on Saturday, December 27, 2008 in a vehicle that had recently been made available to me to use. It had a lot of miles, but it was Toyota-they go forever, right? After being warned to change the oil before making my trip, I promptly disregarded the advice and decided to head out anyway. In my understanding, dirty oil was not good, but it could wait until after I got back and had some time to change it.

The trip was a smooth one on the way up. Inexpensive, as well: I was able to drive from my home in NC to northern VA on less than $40 of fuel. I have never in all of my ministry been able to do that.

The Lord blessed at the Lighthouse Baptist Church where I preached on Sunday, December 28. I had a wonderful time staying in the home of a family in the church, and it was not long before I was all packed for the trip back home in the car. The trip back home was as uneventful as the trip up-that is, until I got to Petersburg, VA. At Petersburg, I stopped at a gas station to take a brief break before heading onto I-85 and continuing my trip. On my way to the restroom in the gas station, I passed their quarts of oil and wondered if I should buy any. I went out and checked the oil, but it seemed to have oil on the dipstick, and above the add mark. It may have been dirty, so I thought, but it should be sufficient to get me home.

I had not been back on the interstate ten minutes, when the car began to lose power going down a hill. Not a good sign. I instantly pulled to the side of the road and shut off the engine. It has never started again. It had gone 261,000 miles, the last part of that with oil trouble and had decided that enough was enough. When I checked the oil this time, the dipstick was dry.

Now I found myself 60 miles deep in VA on I-85 with no way to get home. I called a friend in Richmond, but he happened to be out of town visiting family, ironically less than 60 miles from my home. I tried calling others, but all to no avail. Finally, I thought of another friend in Gaston, NC, and called him. In the providence of God, he was planning a trip to my home area and had not left home yet. He swung up into VA to get me and took me all the way back home.

I got home, secured the help of a friend and a tow dolly, and headed back to get the broken down car off the side of the road. It took us all night to get to where the vehicle was, get it onto the dolly and get it back home. It now sits in the church parking lot, not far from our trailer. If anyone happens to have a motor for a 1998 Toyota Camry lying around that needs a worn out body to go with it, let me know.

January has kept us at home where I have preached in my home church and taught adult Sunday school every Sunday in January on the subject of Baptist history in America since the Constitution. That series ends a week from tomorrow, after which we will hit the road again.

We are closer than ever to my book's completion, although nothing has gone as fast as I would have liked. I will let everyone know when it is finally done.

Our website has a new look and we would invite you to check it out. The new look is another product of Sarah's creative talents.

Thank you for your prayers.

Family Update

The last two months have been a flurry of activity around our house. Of course, with the new baby, there are more chores and new routines that must be established for the entire family. At two months of age, Daniel now needs a moderate amount of quiet in order to get the rest that he needs. He can still sleep amidst the dull roar of the other three children, but it is getting more difficult. He is also on the brink of outgrowing the bassinet, which means that he will be sleeping in the same room as the kids very soon. Hopefully, his night cries will not disturb the sleep of his siblings too much. He is a very happy and contented baby most of the time, for which I am grateful.

Josiah has resumed school after the Christmas break, and is working hard to be done as soon as possible. He is already counting the "days left" of school this year.

Abigail and Esther keep each other company while Josiah is doing school, and get along quite well until they start fighting. I have dubbed their many squabbles, "the Polly Wars," since most of their disagreements are over the tiny dolls and their rubber clothing. At any time during the day, you could walk into our trailer and see what looks like a maid service commercial. Toys are strewn from one end of the trailer to the other, although lately, I have made our bedroom off limits to toys. This came about from too often jumping out of bed in the middle of the night and stepping on a toy soldier with plastic bayonet, or perhaps, a toy spaghetti spoon with eight sharp tines pointed at the sky. I told them they can play anywhere but in my room. There are also the mounds of laundry - both clean and dirty that either needs to be put away or washed. (Does it ever really get done?) Paul has done so much in helping around the house until I can get back into the swing of things and juggle the normal chores along with the demands of school and a new baby. I am so thankful for his work - he has truly gone above and beyond!

Currently, all the children are sick with head and chest congestion. Daniel and Josiah are both struggling to overcome the infection. Daniel succumbed to the sickness after having the other three breathe, cough, and sneeze in his face for two weeks. Josiah still continues to have breathing problems, and we aren't sure what is troubling him. He is on a very restricted diet in order to help control asthmatic flare-ups, but still struggles daily and must have nebulizer treatments to keep his airways clear. We covet your prayers for all of our children's health, but especially his right now. Soon we will be on the road again, and we never know what we will encounter from week to week. Your prayers are greatly appreciated.
Recently, my ancient glasses (circa 2000) bit the dust when a rivet in the frame broke and sent my right lens spinning onto the ground. They could not be fixed, and therefore, whenever I took out my contacts, having no backup coke bottles, I was in danger of running into walls and falling down steps. I suppose I could have tried the monacle thing, but that gets tiring on the cheeks when you have to squinch your face around the lens! There was no option but to get new spectacles. I made an appointment with the eye doctor, and dutifully went in to have my eyes examined. They gave me a new prescription, and I started looking at frames. I was horrified to find that the only available styles were straight out of my parent's high school year books! Aaagh! I found a really nice (gag) pair of blue cat-eye glasses, but decided that they wouldn't match enough of my outfits. There was one pair that looked like the kind an eighty-year-old organist would wear, you know - big, round lenses set in pink plastic frames with the bead chain around the neck. They were eerily reminiscent of the glasses I had in junior high, and I passed them by so I wouldn't get stuck in a fashion rut. Mine were brown, however, not pink. Paul went with me, and we had a hilarious time trying out the different frames and laughing and taking pictures of one another. Had our children been teenagers, they would doubtless have died of embarrassment at our shameless display of immaturity. As it was, though, they just thought the pictures were funny. So I finally decided on a suitable pair and am getting used to seeing myself in them.

It was shortly thereafter that Josiah decided he needed to wear glasses, too. We had an old pair of "Groucho" glasses (some of you may remember that family picture) that seemed to fit the bill. Thankfully, the nose had fallen off some time ago, so it was just the big black frames and woofy eyebrows. He commenced to wearing them around the clock. He wore them while doing his schoolwork, while playing cowboys and Indians, while reading, and at mealtimes. We drew the line however, at wearing them to church. He was somewhat disappointed at this, but recovered quickly. It was all I could do not to laugh when he came strolling out of his room in the morning clad in his pajamas and "grouchos." Sometime, try having a serious conversation with a seven-year-old wearing the most ridiculous pair of plastic glasses that keep falling down his nose. What a riot! I took several pictures of him wearing the glasses, so we can scare off any hopeful girls when he gets old enough to date. These pictures, along with the fact that he has stated he wants to have nineteen children, will probably scare off any normal girls anyway, so he may be living at home for quite some time! I hope the groucho phase won't last until then, or we may never get rid of him! Ha!

There is so much more that I could write, but since I have already been accused of being quite verbose in this update, I shall draw the proverbial line and end right here. I plan that the next update will not be so long in coming. Keep us in your prayers, for they are much needed.