October 29 – “Not just any Sunday”

Sunday was a different one for me.  Luke was consigned to the hospital for yet another night with jaundice that just wasn’t coming under control.  Christi was frustrated, because the pediatrician on call told her, “If it had been a sunny day I would have let him go home.”  Yep.  Sounds odd to me, too.  Zak and Caleb were exhausted from the stress of Mommy separation.  Josh had a two sermons to preach.  So our assignment for the day was to hang out at the house with the two big brothers and let them play.  I know.  It was one of the toughest jobs we have had since we’ve been here, right?  But someone has to do it.  And I have to say, from the time their feet hit the floor, Zak and Caleb took advantage of their opportunity to do some heavy duty playing.  They became lego spacecraft pilots and super spy ninja fighters and ninjago … whatever ninjago does.  They did take a brief break when they saw Daddy on TV.  Pretty funny stuff there.  Josh and Christi don’t have cable and only get one station.  As it happens, on Sunday mornings that station airs the worship service of Columbus Avenue Baptist Church where Josh is pastor.  The boys were very quiet as the choirs sang and even as Josh welcomed everyone.  But when the camera panned the crowd during one of the songs and passed by their Daddy, both of them jumped to their feet and yelled, “That’s Daddy!  Hi, Daddy!  We see you!”  They acknowledged that knew him when he was preaching, but didn’t seem all that impressed.  Just that random pass of the panning camera.  Guess the excitement was all in the mystery and discovery.  So, Josh, don’t even try to be incognito with those two boys.  They would know you anywhere. 

I made a quick trip to Target and Home Depot.  I’m still working on “The List” that Christi had from two weeks ago.  Home Depot had the weather stripping for their front door.  Check.  Target had light bulbs.  I checked out two random light fixtures in their garage.  One was burned out, but was operated by an unusual kind of switch on the wall.  Looked like it was supposed to be automatic on and off with a photocell, but I don’t think that had worked for a long time.  The manual switch still worked, though, so replacing the bulb gave them a little more light.  The other fixture was in a closet at the back of the garage.  Nice little storage space, but very dark.  It was operated by one of those pull chains.  The fixture was hot, so the light bulb flashed on right away, but the chain was broken, so I couldn’t turn it off.  I unscrewed it a bit until we can get another fixture.  Always something, right?

I also made one trip to the grocery store.   Actually I filled the car up with gas first ($2.97 a gallon).  We needed some key essentials like toilet paper and corn dogs and cinnamon rolls.  Oh, and Blue Bell ice cream.  I found out that HEB carries the same frozen lemonade that they sell at the Astros’ games.  We now have four of them in the freezer here.  That’s some good stuff.  I did get a roast so Chris could cook something here at the house instead of everyone having to eat out yet again.  Of course when she called the boys for lunch, she was duly informed by Zakary that, “Today is Sunday.  We eat out for lunch on Sunday.  We only eat at home at night.”  Well, there you have it.  Get to know the family traditions, Nani.  On the other hand, Josh was ecstatic to have the change in diet.  Something about Mama’s cooking, I guess.  Of course he didn’t make it home until mid-afternoon.  He went by the hospital after church, and was told that they were admitting Luke to the pediatric floor to continue those glowstick treatments for jaundice.  His tests for that were revealing that he was holding steady, but the number wasn’t quite what they prefer to reach before sending a baby out into the cold, cruel world.  He was eating great, though, and his weight was also holding. 

That meant a trip back to the hospital with Zak and Caleb so they could have some Mommy and baby brother time.  Once they had their fix, we did take them up to the church.  Zak went to his Bible Buddies class.  Caleb got to take his usual Sunday night trip to the church library.  He also found ample room to practice his cartwheeling skills.  Afterwards, we went by McAlister’s Deli, got everyone a sandwich, and headed back up to the hospital for a picnic in Luke’s room.  It is amazing how the little one reacts and turns to the sound of his brothers’ voices.  I think he’s going to do just fine. 

Psalms 118:20-21 says, “This is the gate of the Lord through which the righteous may enter.  I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation.”

Father, thank you for baby brothers and seeing Daddy on TV and Mommies who want to cuddle even with the biggest brother.  Please bring Baby Luke home safely real soon.  Amen.