June 27 – “A gift I have”

We made a quick trip to the beach yesterday.  Had to get an ocean fix in so Zak and Caleb and Luke would have something special to talk about when they go back to their church tomorrow.  Caleb informed me that I would “most probably be out there fishing” while they played in the water, so I couldn’t disappoint him.  Of course it was terrible conditions for fishing.  Very strong current.  High winds.  Rough seas.  Dirty water.  Ignorant tourists.  Now I don’t mean that to disparage them as human beings in any way.  They were just obviously ignorant of some basic rules of the Gulf.  More than once a few of them drifted right in front of me.  I even had to yell at a young boy trying to depend on a boogy board to get him safely into deeper water.  Bad decision.  At least he listened and headed back to shallower waters.  I didn’t catch anything.  Lots of tiny whiting were swimming around, all happy to chew on the dead shrimp I was using as bait, though.  And I was bumped into by more mullet that I ever have been before.  Guess it was hard to see in all that churned up sandy water.  I think the boys all had a great time, though.  Luke was asleep before Christi could carry him back to the car.  DadDad was asleep shortly after arriving back home.  I usually manage to connect with the same wavelength of the youngest grandchild around.  Hey, it’s a gift I have. 

The rest of the cousins were waiting for us when we returned.  Well, Cailyn arrived soon after.  Kel and Christina’s car was in the shop getting an air conditioner repaired.  Gotta have that AC here in Galveston in the summer.  The kids were more than happy to entertain each other while waiting for the afternoon.  They even stopped for the briefest of moments to let Nani take her obligatory cousins photo.  Chris grilled some burgers for lunch (No, Chris, they weren’t burnt that bad).  And I friend some fish for supper.  Zak set some kind of International Zak Culinary Games record.  He ate somewhere between eight and thirteen spec fillets.  That kid can pack away the fish. 

Cailyn is sleeping on the floor next to our bed while Josh and his family are in town.  Well, sleeping was kind of a loose term last night.  I don’t know if she was just overly tired or what, but she talked most of the night.  Most of her nighttime discussions were private, in that I couldn’t understand them.  But there were a few things that came out quite clearly.  Like, for instance: “Well, let’s talk about what your Mommy and Daddy did when they were little.”  I guess her Mommy and Daddy’s trip to New Orleans this weekend has her ruminating over their early years.  And missing them just a little bit.

Psalms 36:7 says, “How priceless is your unfailing love!  Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

Father, thank you for all the little ones running around here.  Sure is noisy.  A pleasant, kid-sounds kind of noisy.  Amen.