January 19 – “A suitable helpmeet, and … BOOM!”

Happy birthday to me … well, sort of.  Today is the anniversary of the day 46 years ago when I made a decision to love Jesus back.  I prayed and gave my life over to his control, and have never looked back.  Oh, believe me, I have messed up.  At least twice.  Maybe more.  OK.  That’s a joke.  I realize there have been more than a few times over the years that I have messed up … royally.  But that’s the awesome thing about a relationship with Jesus.  He keeps on forgiving.  Amazing.  Just amazing.

We went up to the church yesterday.  I had staff meeting and Chris went to undecorated the last of the Christmas trees in the retreat center.  I joined her when Jim and I got finished, and we now have a special pronouncement to make: A suitable helpmeet hath been found for the Beast.  A Bride of Frankenstein, if you will.  A Beautiful Belle to his frightening Beast.  That’s right.  While up there I put together the new vacuum cleaner we bought, and the thing … well, the thing just … works.  It sucked up the tiniest pine needles from those trees.  Made me want to vacuum the whole center.  Almost.  But congratulations to the Beast on his new companion.  Things are looking up for the Retreat Center.  A happy Beast makes for a clean (and dry) facility.  (For those late-comers among you … the annals of the Beast and his antics are sprinkled throughout this journal.  He is the monstrosity of a wet-dry vac who cleans up water spills and leaks). 

We picked up Cailyn after school yesterday.  Mom and Dad were both at work, so she got to spend the night with us.  One of her requirements is to read or have read to her for about twenty minutes each night.  Then she has to write out an answer to a question or two about the reading so the school can be assured that she is actually doing it.  Now the book she chose was the one we gave her for Christmas, the children’s illustrated version of the first Harry Potter book.  We started out with Nana reading a page.  Then Cailyn read a page.  And then it became my turn.  Two chapters and a little over an hour of my own “personal interpretation reading approach” later we finally stopped to get ready for bed.  Oh, I tried to stop at the end of that first chapter I was reading, but for some reason, when the chapter ends with a mysterious and extremely loud “BOOM,” it’s just difficult to say, “I’ll be back tomorrow.”  I closed the book, and Cailyn immediately protested, “NO!  We have to read some more.”  Now that’s what reading is all about.

Philippians 4:23 says, “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.  Amen.”

Father, thank you for Cailyn’s excitement about reading.   May it continue to grow.  Amen.