Studio711.com – Ben Martens

No, I’m not retiring from my job, at least not from the one I get paid for. For the past six years, I’ve been the “property deacon” at church. Basically it’s like a property manager. I’m responsible for the physical property (grounds, buildings, etc.) I’ve enjoyed the volunteer position, at least most of the time. The last six years have seen some major projects including a huge renovation of the parsonage, a new fire alarm system, a new church sign, an irrigation system and many other projects. More recently, I’ve felt like I’m unable to devote the amount of attention to the job that it deserves so I’ve decided to step down and not sign up for another term. Due to some reshuffling of the bylaws, there will be a few people taking over the property work. I think that’s going to work out better. TimS is one of the guys doing the job so I have no doubt that he’ll rely on me as much as I relied on him (which was a lot!) I’ll still be involved, but honestly, I’m looking forward to not being the guy in charge.

Big things in my life have happened on a four year cadence

• 1990: Moved to the “upper grade room” (5-8 grade.) It was a big deal in our two room school.
• 1994: Graduated 8th grade and started high school
• 1998: Graduated high school, started college at Purdue
• 2002: Graduated Purdue, moved to Jersey
• 2006: Finished grad school at Drexel, moved to Washington
• 2010: Got married

So 2014 should have been another major, life-changing event… but it wasn’t. And for that, I’m thankful! This year was, predictably, all about raising our little man. I watched him grow from a bump on the carpet to a jabbering ball of energy that runs around the house. That’s not to say that we didn’t do anything though.

At the start of the year, I took my first remote controlled airplane flight. It was a new hobby for me and one that I kept up pretty well throughout the year, building a few planes myself and then getting my first “real” plane for my birthday. The other hobby that really took off (how’s that for a segue?) this year was woodworking. It started with building some baby gates. I also built him a toy with lots of latches and family photos. Then later in the year I built a helping tower for Elijah (and five more for Tyla’s friends), and I’ve just finished up a table and chairs for Elijah too. The woodworking is a great hobby because I can do it in little chunks of free time and I don’t have to go anywhere to do it. The third hobby that I nursed along was shooting. We only went trap shooting a few times, but the last time there I shot 24 in a row before choking on the last shot that would have given me the elusive perfect round. I hope to get back there more in 2015.

In April we took a family vacation down to Portland. It was a short/close trip, but it was educational for us as parents. We were surprised by how much time we spent in the hotel watching Elijah sleep, but it was still fun and worth the trip. I also got to reconnect with Pastor Johnson. The last time I saw him was in 2004 in Minneapolis.

For Memorial Day, we flew back to Indiana to visit family and to attend the Indy 500. While it would have been a lot easier to go when I actually lived in Indiana, it was a blast. Dad, Luke and I went to a NASCAR race a few years back so it was fun to attend an Indy Car race with the same crew. Maybe next is Formula One?

Most of my summer was spent in the yard with Tim. I won’t bore you with yet another recap (read the back yard and front yard details), but this was a huge undertaking. Tyla made it all possible by watching Elijah way more than normal and many of you pitched in to help with the yard work. Thank you to everyone who pulled together to make this happen! I’m still amazed at what we accomplished. Mom and Dad were here for the demolition part of the front yard project and it was fun to work side by side with Dad again.

While Mom and Dad were here, we also spent a couple nights at a rented house on Lopez Island. That was a relaxing trip (it helps having extra people to watch Elijah!) and a fun opportunity to explore the island.

One thing we didn’t do much of was hiking. We took short hikes on Cougar and Squawk mountains. We’ve already said that we’re not undertaking ANY big projects next summer. So hopefully the combination of more free time and Elijah being a little older will mean we can get out and do some more hikes. I regularly think about how different Elijah’s youth will be from mine since he’s growing up in a subdivision. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I’m putting a focus on making sure he spends lots of time out in nature. I would love it if he grew up to be a good hiking partner!

I feel like I’ve always done a reasonable job of managing my time, but that skillset gets even more pressure when you’re raising a kid. There are two ways to survive: be more efficient with your time or do less work. This year I was about as efficient as I think I can be. Next year, I want to take on less work and enjoy this special family time. Elijah is growing so quickly and I know I’ll look back on these days and wish I could relive them. It’s good encouragement to live in the moment.

Previous Year In Review Posts: 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013

Luke 2

The Birth of Jesus

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. ² (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) ³ And everyone went to their own town to register.

⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. ¹² This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

¹³ Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

¹⁵ When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

¹⁶ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. ¹⁷ When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, ¹⁸ and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Off the top of your head, who do you think has more revenue in a year: Wal-Mart or Amazon? Tyla and I chatted about this while doing our Christmas shopping and we both thought it had to be Amazon. Wrong. In 2013, Wal-Mart had $469 billion in revenue compared to Amazon’s $74 billion. And looking at the charts, they both appear to be growing at about the same rate so it’s not like Amazon is on pace to catch them any time soon.

Wal-Mart is a sales juggernaut. It’s surprising to me but that’s just my own shopping bias. I only have two transactions at Wal-Mart in the last 2.5 years compared to hundreds at Amazon, but obviously most of the country is the opposite. I wonder where it will be in 10 years?