October 14 – “What a welcome”

We grasped a small window of opportunity yesterday to make a trip to Waco.  Josh and Christi still have a lot of unpacking to do, and Christi apparently has a household to do list that is growing every day.  In fact she prioritized it the other day and presented Josh with a “this must be done by this weekend” version.  We’re hoping to help out with at least a few of the items on the “critical before the baby is born” list. 

We left as soon as we could after church.  That meant listening to the Texans game on the radio.  At least we did that until I fell asleep.  Honestly, I’m kind of glad I missed as much as I did.  It’s kind of a dubious distinction to hold a record like “most games in a row with a pick-six” interception.”  Ouch.

We made great time, though, and even got to Waco in time to hear Josh’s evening teaching on angels and demons.  He’s doing a big church version of the talk-back class we had at Seaside years ago.  People turn in questions aroused by the morning sermon and he answers some of them that evening.  He did a good job, of course.  I was even welcomed by an older guy (well, older than me) who didn’t know I was Josh’s Dad.  He saw my Galveston Fire Department shirt.  He had been a volunteer fireman, so he was just connecting with another member of the family.  In fact that’s how he approached me.  He pointed to the fire service emblem and asked, “How’s your family?”  Confused me at first.  I assumed he meant my wife and kids, but when he kept talking about his department connection and how “once you are involved with fire department, it stays in your blood,” I managed to catch up to where he was coming from.  He was quite surprised when he found out my connection with Josh.  He was excited enough to call his wife over to meet me.  She walked over from the back of the church and he told her I was someone he wanted her to meet.  She replied, “Well, I walked all the down here to meet you, so you must be someone special.”  How’s that for some introductory relationship pressure?  He explained the fire department connection, and I introduced my “Josh’s Dad” connection.  She didn’t seem all that impressed.  She continued to be polite, though, and we kept up the small talk.  All of a sudden she reached over and smacked her husband in the shoulder.  That was totally random.  Had nothing to do with our conversation.  He and I were both flabbergasted.  “You didn’t tell me he was Josh’s father.”  He and I made eye contact and traded puzzled looks.  He started to reply but she continued, “You said he was Josh’s father, but he’s not.  He’s Josh’s father.”  Now the men on the scene were really confused.  He gave up trying to explain, looked at me and shrugged his shoulders.  Obviously exasperated, she turned to me and explained, “We know someone else who has a Josh and I thought you were talking about that Josh, but you are talking about the other Josh.”  Of course.  I hastened to clarify that my son was none other than “Pastor Josh, your new pastor.  You know, the one with the pretty young wife who is going to have a baby and the two other boys?”  I added a nod in the direction of the boys playing nearby to punctuate the comment.  “Oh,” she began, then continued at a whole other level of excitement, “Oh.  Oh, that Josh.”  And so we began our introductions anew, down to a new handshake and new approach to small talk.  Gotta love this whole senior citizen realm.  This one is going into my notebook of goofy things to do on purpose just because I’m old and can get away with it.

Psalms 116:8-9 says, “For you, O Lord, have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.”

Father, thank you for welcomes of all shapes and sizes.  Amen.