June 7 – “We’re Back”

Thank you so much to all you great folks who wished us well yesterday.  And add to that all of you who joined us on our little journey over the last few weeks through reading the blog or checking out the occasional FaceBook posts.  Special thanks to Larry and Diane Huntley for being incredible hosts to us for our few days in Huntsville, Alabama.  The “Five Starfish Bed and Breakfast” treatment went far above and beyond what we ever expected or deserved.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Thanks as well to David and Kim Cullison for the great lunch you treated us to there in Evansville, Indiana, and for giving us a place to attend church with a familiar face or two.  Thank you to Mike Bell and Bryan Holt and Wes Foshee and all our “regulars” for teaching in my stead and for holding down the fort at Seaside while we were gone.  It really helps to know the Body was in great hands. 

We pulled into Galveston on Friday afternoon and have been recuperating ever since.  Anyone who has been on a vacation anywhere knows that it takes a while to get back into the swing of things when you get home.  We have seen all our Galveston area kiddos and grandkids, so that much-needed fix has been dealt with.  I still have to sort through the literally hundreds of pictures Chris took (OK, so I took a few as well).  Anybody want to come over and watch some home movies?  We could pop some popcorn.  I have a really scary one from the Babyland Hospital in Cleveland, Georgia.  See, even the name of the town is spooky.  Cleveland is supposed to be in Ohio (or maybe Texas).  We would be happy to rehash old memories (Wow.  “Old memories” from way back last week). 

I think Chris really liked her 40 yellow roses.  My accomplice couldn’t fit all of them into one vase. So he put three in a separate vase in the bathroom.  Guess which ones she found first?  Yep.  The bathroom.  She thought it was very sweet that “someone” got her a rose for every week of our vacation.  I assured her that was exactly the case.  When she saw the others, she asked if I knew anything about what was on the table.  I managed to come out with a little flower-lips speech professing my undying love, but I don’t know how well I sold it.  I think she might have a bit of an idea since she has stuck around for 40 years.  She liked the poster, though.  Took her about twenty minutes to track through all the pictures and find the one for each year we have been together … in order.  That’s my organized wife. 

She made some turkey enchilada pie for our big anniversary meal.  We decided it would be foolish to fight the tourists for a spot at any restaurant table on the Island, and who wants to drive clear into Texas just to eat?  Yep.  We’re back to being Islanders again.  Oh, and she presented me with a quilt she has been making for me by hand.  She’s been working on it for a while, but it’s not quite finished.  The best part of the presentation, though, was the letter that accompanied it.  She apologized for not being as adept at being “flower-lips” as I am, but the letter was incredible.  The binding around the outside of the quilt representing Jesus being the binding of our marriage was a great touch.  Even down to the part she added about it not being finished, but then neither are we.  We are constantly growing together.  Very sweet.  And yes, I couldn’t help asking if that meant when she finished the quilt, then we were finished as well.  If so, I’d just as soon she stop where she is and I’ll live with some frayed edges. 

It’s good to be back on the Island.

Proverbs 31:30-31 says, “Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.  Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

Father, thank you for a really good time with the fabulous gift you have given me.  Help me to cherish Chris as just that – a precious gift from you.  Amen.