January 20 – “Out of the blue”

We are heading off to Waco for a flying trip to help Caleb celebrate his birthday party.  The plan is to return tomorrow night after Zakary’s basketball game that starts at 5 p.m.  At this point we are taking Cailyn along with us as soon as she finishes all of her Friday tests at school.  And speaking of Cailyn, here are a few quick anecdotes from her last stay with us.

Out of the blue she made this proclamation:

Cailyn: “DadDad, you know you can ground my Daddy any time you want to.”

Me (typically stunned and more than a bit taken aback): “Wait.  What?  But he’s a grown man now.”

Cailyn (more assured than ever): “Yes, but you are his Daddy and you are old and you are alive.  So you can do it.”

So … I get the “his Daddy” part.  It’s the other two parts of the grounding trifecta that cause me pause.  I’m old.  No real argument there.  And I’m alive.  Glad to hear that one.  When I mentioned this to Nathan, he said he was going to file it away and spring it on her when she hits her twenties or thirties and wants to start dating.  No, really.  He assures me – and Cailyn – that her dating days are a considerably longer way off than she could ever imagine.

A second little interchange happened as she and I were enjoying a robust breakfast of cinnamon frosted pop tarts (Hey, she was offered more, but apparently it was pancake day at the school breakfast line.  We never had a school breakfast line when I went to school).  Again, there was no particular lead-up to the question.  Out of the blue is her specialty …

Cailyn: “How many times do you and Nani go to WalMart?”

Me (No idea where this came from or where it was headed, but it sounded innocent enough): “I don’t know.  Every so often.”

Cailyn (Guardedly pensive): “Do you go about once a week?”

Me (Also guarded now.  Where is she going with this?): “That’s about right.”

Cailyn (Explosively excited in an instant): “I knew it!  I told my Daddy that I want to move in with Nani and DadDad because he and Mommy go to WalMart every single day and you and Nani only go one time a week.”

Um.  Hope I didn’t say the wrong thing.  Maybe we need to spend more days at WalMart?

Colossians 1:3-4 says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints”

Father, thank you for surprises.  Gotta love ‘em.  Amen.