April 18 – “Sunday Afternoon”

We had a really large contingent of visitors at church yesterday.  From Dallas to Kansas to brand new residents of Sea Isle, they all converged upon Seaside to have a chance to worship Jesus.  And then a lot of them agreed to stick around after church for our Third Sunday Dinner on the Grounds.  Lots of food and some good connections made with great people. 

Our afternoon was one to covet, for sure. At least part of it.  Cailyn and Chris went on a long walk and collected sea shells from the vacant lot next door.  Hey, this is Galveston.  There are seashells everywhere.  Meanwhile I watched the bulk of the Astros victory over the Tigers.  See?  How was that for being honest?  I know I might have dozed off just a little, maybe once or twice.  But I did see the Springer homer and the final rally with the Marisnek headfirst slide into home plate for the winning run.  Oh, and a home run or two for the bad guys as well.  So, see?  What could I have possibly missed? 

The not-so-covetable part came after the ball game.  I was actually going to mow the grass, a feat that requires a trip over to Nathan’s house to borrow a lawn mower and edger.  But it was doing its best to rain.  I think the humidity had reached about 98.9%.  So instead I pondered my second option - spreading out the bag of Weed n Feed we had in the garage, just waiting for such an opportunity.  So take your pick, oh allergy connections in my nose.  Grass clippings or dust particles from fertilizer and weed killer?  The Weed n Feed won out.  The looming dark clouds and the possibility that the rains would soak the chemicals into the ground without us having to use city water tipped the scales.  Of course we didn’t really get that much rain.  Not like the swamp land to the north of us commonly referred to as Houston.  I understand they had 16 inches of rain last night.  Schools, busses, even city government is all shut down.  Not so much here on the Island.  The ground is wet.  The sky is cloudy.  Pretty much a typical April day. 

Mark 6:56 says, “And wherever he went — into villages, towns or countryside — they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed.”

Father, please give the Houstonians some relief from all that rain.  Amen.