July 12 – “All Star Scavenger Hunt”

We took the car into the shop yesterday.  It was time for the annual inspection and oil change.  I got a call from the mechanic, though.  He asked if we had been having any problems with the car starting.  I told him I would ask Chris since I don’t drive the car that much.  In the meantime he recommended looking at buying a new battery just in case.  I didn’t see that would be a big problem so I assured him I would follow up.  I pulled the old one out so I could see where we bought it.  And what to my wondering eyes should appear??  Right there, etched rather than stamped into the side of the battery, was a date.  August 2008.  It was the original battery that came with the 2009 model car.  Now it did promise to be a seven year battery, but we were working on year nine.  That’s some reserve power, there.  I told Dennis that there had to be a sermon illustration in there somewhere. 

Cailyn joined us for the day around lunch time.  She and I then stayed here at the house while Chris went to the church for her ladies’ Bible study.  Now what does a DadDad do with an eight-year-old girl when the major league All Star game is playing on TV?  She did play softball, but watching on TV has never been her strong suit.  Before the game started we did play a few rounds of poker, no betting, of course.  And we didn’t get into straights and flushes and all that stuff, mainly because I don’t know the ins and outs of it all.  In fact she had a pretty good handle on it already.  Seems her Dad has been doing a little indoctrinating before me.  Good.  I can blame that one on him. 

Now, I knew that I was going to have be on top of my game.  That would put me only a few fathoms below the top of Cailyn’s game, but I was hoping that would be enough to hold me.  All afternoon I worked on my plan, and even after Cailyn arrived, I took her into my confidence.  Together we developed the perfect plan for watching the 2017 major league All Star game.  All Star Scavenger Hunt.  We filled up a sheet of paper with things to watch for while the game was on.  It included some obvious things, like the names of each Astro on the team.  It also included some very baseball things like someone hitting a home run and someone stealing a base.  Some got pretty random.  Someone dressed like a judge (Yes, we saw this one.  Thanks to Aaron Judge of the Yankees).  Someone in the Hall of Fame.  A player laughing.  She got most excited about the ones she found on commercials.  A Car.  Money.  An airplane.  An animal.  The very first thing she saw came as Jose Altuve approached the plate to bat (It didn’t occur to her yet that he was actually on the list).  Nope.  She noticed in the stands behind him … someone selling cotton candy.  Amazing.  One of the items was a player wearing number 99.  That’s Aaron Judge’s number, so when he came to bat I asked Cailyn what his number was.  Now, he was in his batting stance, and the camera angle was from behind the pitcher.  So Cailyn jumped up, ran to the TV and stood to the side of it (and behind Aaron Judge), hoping to get a better angle of the number on his back.  Ah, the problems of a 3D mind in a 2D world.  We actually found almost all of the items on our list.  Nobody attempted a bunt, so that wasn’t there.  And we didn’t see anyone kissing.  I guess the Kiss-Cam wasn’t in action.  I also never saw a doll, a Bible verse, or somebody saying “dragon” (Even though Chris Divinsky did pitch and did well.  His nickname is Dragon.  Does that count?).  We had a really good time clear up until Dad called to FaceTime with here, and then Mom called as well.  That’s about the time Chris returned from her Bible study, so we paused the game and headed for bed.  All in all, it was a pretty successful experience for me.  Of course I failed to mention that she had at least four snacks and glass of strawberry flavored milk.  I’m sure that had nothing to do with her inability to settle down and fall asleep.  She was still snoring away when I left for the church this morning …

James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Father, thank you for my baby sitting session last night.  Cailyn was a great sitter, and we behaved almost the whole time.  Amen.