June 30 – “Ending the Cailyn Adventure”

One more thing I share from camp; nay, perhaps two shall conclude that era.  First, the camp coordinator announced that 25 kids became Christians as a result of the intensive Bible study and one on one counseling with their individual church sponsors.  Nice.  And second … an anecdote.  As I sat in the closing ceremonies wearing my Jamaica Beach Volunteer Fire Department shirt, a youngster in the seat behind me hesitantly tapped me on the shoulder and stammered in awe, “Are you REALLY from Jamaica?”  With all of my being I wanted to go with that lead and pretend that I was.  The accent was even creeping up in my head.  In fact had we been at youth camp I wouldn’t have hesitated for a second.  But I took a deep breath and represented the department and Galveston Island instead.  Amazingly, he was just as awed.  The idea of living on an island, however close to Texas it may be, was nothing short of amazing.  He’s right.

After having breakfast and saying our goodbyes (Cailyn was even exchanging addresses and getting admonitions to come to the full camp next year), we left and headed out to the next part of our Cailyn Road Trip Adventure, Fossil Rim Wildlife Preserve.  It’s a pretty massive area of livestock from all over the place.  You are even allowed to feed the animals that might approach your car.  We were, however, admonished NOT to feed the animals from our hands (well, except for the giraffes.  For some reason it was OK to hand feed the giraffes).  Of course the four or five cars in front of us ignored the hand feeding ban.  They hand deer and some kind of long, skinny-horned creatures feeding out of their hands at every turn.  We did slow down to get a close-up photo of the ostrich.  Apparently he was used to being fed by hand as well.  He was not in the least bit shy about … well, about joining us inside.  Chris tried her best to get a picture with her phone, while the ostrich tried his best to … eat her phone.  Didn’t take long for the windows to go up on that episode.  In honor of the occasion we adopted another travel friend.  You guessed it.  An ostrich.  And he had to have a friend, so we grabbed a giraffe as well.  Cailyn was not to be deterred.  She found a fox first (her all-time favorite animal) and a really cute llama that she just had to have as well. 

From there we went to eat some lunch at a place called The Storiebook Café (That’s how they spelled it).  All of the walls were covered with bookshelves, and the bookshelves were covered with books.  Apparently you could feel free to select one and browse through some literature as you munched on your meal.  I really enjoyed my hot ham and cheese sandwich with a cup of potato soup.  Chris and Cailyn shared a chicken salad sandwich. And on Aunt Christi’s suggestion, Cailyn had some kind of chocolate concoction with brownies and ice cream and whipped cream and chocolate syrup. 

From The Storiebook we headed over to the Glen Rose State Park.  That’s where there are some dinosaur footprints embedded in the rock beneath the river bed.  Cailyn hiked down and crawled into the water (Hey, she lives on an island.  Do you think a little fresh water is going to scare her away?).  She took some great pictures in there, though.  We didn’t stay very long.  The temperature was hovering around 102.  That’s just too hot.  The dinosaurs can have it.  We did stop in at the little store they had (of course).  And Cailyn walked out with a triceratops.  Chris selected a fat, turtle-y looking baby dinosaur.  Come to find out it was part of a set of something that no longer existed, so they just gave it to us.  Score one for Nani.

Since the heat really sapped our energy, we decided to forego the planned marathon trip to Galveston in favor of spending one more night in Waco “with the cousins.”  Google Siri found us a great shortcut, too.  About 20 miles from Waco we hit one of those white, gravel and dirt roads that kick up lots of dust and cover one’s brand new car and cause one’s wife/driver to be less than thrilled at this particular shortcut.  The results were awesome, however.  We arrived in Waco in plenty of time to get in on a pizza dinner with Josh and Christi and the crew. 

And now we really do head home.  Cailyn has now officially experienced a little of the drama and a lot of the fun of a Nani and DadDad road trip.  So, where to next?

Psalms 73:23 says, “Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.”

Father, thank you for another little field trip.  It was a lot of fun having Cailyn along.  Amen.

June 29 – “At camp”

Here is a hodge podge of notes about the children’s camp.  No particular order here, just how I randomly recorded them in my phone.

The drummer for the worship band stood up.  Can’t remember ever seeing that.  Then Chris pointed out to me that he was also the keyboard player.  Can’t remember seeing the drummer double as the keyboardist, either.

The Camp Preacher did two simultaneous monologues.  Mordecai and … Esther.  Yep, he was a guy.  Esther was a girl.  Kind of odd.

Cailyn finally got into the swing of things and seemed to be having fun.  They have two swimming pools.  And a lake with blobs, trapeze swing, giant slide.  Water.  Pretty much home for a Galveston girl.  Didn’t get to do the zip line, though. 

The food was almost like old Glorieta.  Serve yourself (except for the meat).  and you could go back for as many seconds as you wanted. 

We found a roommate in the bathroom.  Daddy long legs spider (Spell check on my phone changed that to “daddy love no legs”).  He kept the cabin safe for us.  We even named him Bob.  At least until Chris accidentally stepped on him.  But his cousin Bob was waiting for us at the front door later in the day, so we were still safe.  Well, until that one interloper spider last night.  Not sure what kind, but Cailyn is convinced it was a tarantula (They do live in the wild around here, but I’m pretty sure this wasn’t one of them).  I managed to free the critter out the front door so the girls could get down off their chairs.  And speaking of critters, we also saw Leroy Lizard out for a suntan on one of our walks.  Oh, and Darryl Duck is now a permanent part of our travel menagerie.  I’m not sure why, but he is apparently part of the camp’s mythology.  Some say his name used to be Joshua Duck, and that he was named after a famous youth pastor who drove his golf cart into the lake.  You know how legends are, though.  I think we’ll stick with Darryl.

We were invited to hang out with the kids from Columbus Avenue Baptist Church (Josh’s church in Waco) for the opening celebration and Bible Study.  Lots of high energy and new songs.  Cailyn made the comment that they were “adult songs,” not the kids’ songs she was used to singing in VBS.  Afterwards we headed back to the cabin to change.  Except I fell asleep.  We did make it back in plenty of time for Cailyn to swim, though. 

Speaking of the cabin, we lived in absolute luxury.  Master bedroom.  Loft for Cailyn.  Keurig coffee maker.  Full kitchen.  Living room.  Even had a TV. 

Wait.  TV.  That reminds me.  For some insane reason back in Waco we joined Christi in watching her all-time favorite reality show (You can’t hide you addiction, Christi.  I asked Caleb about it, and he grinned knowingly and spilled the beans).  And what reality TV nonsense could possibly hold the attention of a bright, beautiful homeschool-teaching Mom?  Some British cooking competition on Netflix.  Weird.  Well, it gets worse.  The cabin I mentioned?  It has a TV.  Guess what signal it gets?  Netflix.  And guess what show Cailyn found in two shakes of a stick?  That British cooking show.  What am I going to do with these girls?  And more importantly, who is going to win season two?  I think that grandma-looking lady has a good chance.  But that one young guy is pretty creative.  I’m not sure about the guy who always uses Oriental spices though.  What?  Oh, not that I have watched any of it, you understand …

Now I volunteered to return to said cabin while she swam so I could download the pictures Chris had taken on our camera.  Already a full memory card.  And something happened to me as well.  The old man decided to shed his knee brace.  Somehow rejuvenated (at least for a brief time), I put on my swim suit and joined Cailyn in the water.  Great giant waterslide in the pool.  It was nice after a day or two of 100 plus temperatures.

So last night after worship (pretty powerful with 700 kids and adults singing from their hearts as only kids can) we headed over to the softball field for a frozen lemon cup (not Minute Maid, but still refreshing) and a fireworks show.  We sat on one side of the lake and the show exploded out of the other side (actually really close to us).  The display was pretty spectacular – certainly outshone anything Moody Gardens has to offer, and probably rivaled the City of Galveston Fourth of July Beach Spectacular (Except for the beach.  There is that plus for the Island).  Nice job, Riverbend.

As I sat there on my beach towel next to Chris and 698 other children, I pondered.  Yes, these fireworks were spectacular.  But every single one of them burned bright and beautiful and then burned … out.  Meanwhile God was providing a light show of his own.  The nearly full moon peaked out to watch the show with us.  It rose slowly over the trees surrounding us, massive against the treetops at first, then slowly attaining its usual size as it ascended higher in the sky.  And guess what?  Never once did it lose its bright or its beautiful.  I think you win this one, Lord.

Psalms 72:18-19 says, “Praise be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, who alone does marvelous deeds.  Praise be to his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory.  Amen and Amen.”

Father, thank you for that amazing light show last night.  I look forward to seeing it again soon.  Amen.

June 28 – “All in a Dad’s day”

It didn’t take long for me to discover the real reason we were spending the night in Waco before heading to the camp.  Luke needed to have a sleepover with us in our bedroom.  AnnaGrace needed help with her pancakes at breakfast.  Christi needed help figuring out where to put the final screws in the piece of furniture she ordered from Ikea.  Josh needed me to go with Christi to pick up the new mantle he ordered for their fireplace (Of course he had the keys to his truck with him at camp.  I think it was more our car that he needed).  And finally Josh needed us to bring him his spare pair of sunglasses when we came.  His walked away at camp.  So … the real reason we spent the night in Waco?  So I could be Dad.  Felt good to feel needed.

But back to the mantle.  That’s a story in itself.  Christi and I drove over to their local Lowe’s.  They had ordered the mantle online and all we had to do was pick it up.  Josh had already received the obligatory phone call telling him that it was ready for pick up.  So we went to … pick it up, right?  Well … not so easy after all.  See, the computer kept arguing with them.  “No, that item is not here.  And even if it was … YOU CAN’T HAVE IT.”  After some more arguing back and forth, the clerk went back into the receiving area.  Lo and behold, what did she find?  Our mantle.  She loaded it up on a cart and brought it to the front.  Returning to the computer she attempted let it know that the item was in hand.  In fact she requested a paper printout of the transaction so we could take our mantle and leave.  But sadly, the printer was in collusion with the computer.  It, too, either didn’t believe the actual mantle could possibly be on the premises, or it was just as evil as that offending computer.  Strange things were afoot in Waco Lowe’s.  And they only got stranger. 

Finally, the manager Christi had called in became just as frustrated as we were (Well, maybe not quite as much as us.  After all, by this time we had been there almost an hour).  But the manager suddenly had a brainstorm (That’s one of the things managers do).  She told the clerk, “Agree with the computer.  Tell it that the customer canceled the order.  And then … sell it back to them … through Genesis.”  She said that last part almost in a whisper.  “Through Genesis.”  Sounded pretty scary to me.  In fact I wasn’t so sure we would still want a “Through Genesis” mantle.  With great trepidation, however, we watched the transaction occur.  Boom.  Done.  Once again, human ingenuity overcomes the technological beast.  And for all our time and trouble?  The manager gave Christi a 20% discount on the mantle.  All in a Dad’s day’s work.

Psalms 71:23 says, “My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you — I, whom you have redeemed.”

Father, thank you for helping those Lowe’s people figure out how to overcome the computer stubbornness.  Help me to be an overcomer and not a stubborn-er.  Amen.

June 27 – “Miracle? Yep, it counts”

We headed out on our latest journey yesterday.  Interesting week so far.  Monday was a full day of work.  Had to make sure I got everything mostly done before we left.  The work stuff just never seems to do itself, you know?  Then came yesterday. 

Nathan brought Cailyn over fairly early in the morning.  Seems she was a bit excited.  She was going on a road trip with Nani and DadDad.  Well, it wasn’t exactly going to be a true weirdness road trip like we usually take.  We were actually going to check out a Texas-based Children’s Camp for possible future use by Seaside kids.  It just so happened that Josh’s Waco church was going to Children’s camp this week.  What better way than to infiltrate an existing camp?  So we enlisted Cailyn to be our spy in the ranks.  She doesn’t know she’s a spy though.  Her memories have been temporarily wiped and a new personality inserted into her brain.  There was no other way to get around the possible mind scanners that might possibly be in the employ of … Wait a minute.  That’s the plot of the last Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode I watched the other day.  Let me back up a little.  So Cailyn is going to part of the camp (It started on Monday).  We are going to see how she likes it.  Enough said.

As it turned out the camp ground has a special cabin that they have set aside for free use by pastors who want to get away for a few days and try to relax.  We managed to get that reserved.  Not sure what it even looks like though.  We’ll see …

So why aren’t we there yet?  Well, we were invited to spend the night with Luke and AnnaGrace last night.  How do say “no” to a five-year-old and a not-yet-two year old who got left behind by their Dad and two older brothers (All of whom went to camp)?  Now we almost didn’t even make it this far.  Yep.  We had one of those near misses on the freeway.  Chris was driving and suddenly, with no warning, construction had closed one lane – the one we were in.  Chris slowed, then sped up, then slowed again, them came almost to a complete stop.  Why so erratic?  The 18-wheeler right next to us wouldn’t budge one way or the other.  We all sucked in our breath and made ourselves as skinny as possible until finally she was able to pop in right behind the big rig.  The car behind us wasn’t all that happy about our interloping ways, but we were all safe and could breathe again.  That’s one of those little God things, you know.  If I squinted just right – just hard enough - I could probably have seen the angel giving the truck a shove and holding back the car behind it long enough for us to get over.  Miracle?  Yep.  It counts.

Psalms 71:22 says, “I will praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praise to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel.”

Father, thank you for your miraculous protection.  Forgive me for the times I fail to recognize it for what it is.  Amen.

June 26 – “Rescue”

Well, I started having lots of trouble with my phone.  It had become quite ornery with respect to charging time.  I had to wiggle the plug around and around in it until it made that dong sound, but that didn’t necessarily mean it was connected.  I still had to gently place it on a table with some object under the cord to keep it in place.  Finally, the screen on the camera went totally black.  That was a last straw thing for Chris.  Don’t mess with her picture taking.  New phone time.  We made our way over to the AT&T store and were greeted by a girl who reminded both of us of our friend from Mansfield, Cami Jones.  She was pretty impressive, too.  And fortunately, this time, we had the passwords we needed to allow her to completely set up the new phone.  We didn’t go highest-end.  Rarely do.  I think this one is an iPhone 8.  The iPhone X (Which I assume means ten.  Not sure what happened to number nine) was pretty expensive, and the bells and whistles it offers are not things I would use anyway.  I think the biggest advancement is supposed to be in the camera.  I’m pretty sure that will get a workout.  I even had the foresight this time to bring along the password.  Cami II got me all set up and good to go.

While we were out we stopped at WalMart (imagine that).  We needed to get snacks for our upcoming trip to Riverbend Campground in Glenrose, Texas.  Josh’s church is doing children’s camp there this week, but we managed to snag their pastor’s cabin for a few days.  Cailyn is coming with us, so she can get in on some of the camp stuff.  While we were there we picked up a knee brace for the old man (that would be me).  If this is “just mild osteoarthritis” then the brace is supposed to be helpful.  We shall see. 

Back at home I was preparing to watch the Astros game when Chris came running in and breathlessly asked me to get my fishing net and hurry outside.  Of course I complied without complaint and with an extra pocketful of curiosity.  I grabbed the net from the garage and joined her in the front yard.  To give you a quick lay of the land, our neighbors have a small kiddie pool set up in their front yard.  And in that pool this fine day was … a baby bird.  Momma and Daddy bird were making some horrendous squawking sounds.  The little guy was kind of bouncing up and down, struggling desperately to keep its head above water.  I swept in with the fishing net and collected the little guy as gently as I could.  I set him down on the grass and he hopped his way into the bushes.  Momma and Daddy bird immediately flew down to check on him, and he ended up hopping into some denser brush at the house two doors down.  But he was safe and sound … for the time being, at least.  Then Chris got permission from our neighbors to empty the little pool to prevent such a near tragedy from happening again.  They agreed, and the empty pool now sits high and dry under their house.  Mission accomplished.

Psalms 71:19 says, “Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, you who have done great things.  Who, O God, is like you?”

Father, take care of that little bird.  You have every feather on his back numbered, don’t you?  Amen.

June 25 – “Turn toward the touch”

Last night some Seasiders, along with folks from ten other Galveston churches of different denominations and worship styles, gathered at the worship facility of Coastal Community Church.  They were there to do one thing … worship together in unity.  I know.  That’s a pretty broad stroke to attempt, especially in Galveston.  But there were folks of all ages, races, and worship energies all in one place lifting up praise to Jesus.  Pretty spectacular, if you ask me.

After we had been singing for a while, I found myself getting somewhat overwhelmed by the perfume of someone standing nearby.  My body reacts weirdly to intense smells like that.  I get nauseous.  I start feeling really hot and often break out in a cold sweat, all of which were happening.  I finally had to make a quick exit, get a drink of water, and cool off.  Fortunately I found a spot where the air conditioner was blasting, so I stood there for what amounted to be the rest of the worship time. 

And as I stood and prayed I noticed several things.  One was the little tiny toddler girl who was with her parents in the back row.  I couldn’t help but notice her.  She insisted.  In fact she snuck up on me one time and since I hadn’t yet acknowledged her presence, she tugged at my pants leg until I did.  Another time she walked up to within a foot or so of me and simply stared up at me.  I finally reached down and touched her gently on the shoulder, and she was fine.  Not sure how her parents were handling her flirting with the old guy though.

I was also drawn to the people who were slowly walking around the facility as we sang.  One young man in particular, maybe late teens or early twenties, seemed to be aimlessly wandering around.  He would stop on occasion and sing a bit, but then he moved on, from one side to the other.  At one point, right after I had interacted again with the little girl, I felt another touch on my arm from the other side.  I turned toward the touch, and who should be standing there but the young man who had been roaming.  I gave him my full attention, and he said, “Well, uh, I have, uh, you know, been, uh, kind of, uh, walking around and, uh, I have been looking for, well, uh, I’ve been looking for an older gentleman to ask him to pray for me.  And, well, you’re the only one.”  Now how do you handle a request like that one?  I asked his name, and we talked briefly about his concern before I did pray for him.  Afterwards he took a deep breath and smiled, said “thank you, sir,” and made his way to the other side of the room.  The whole interchange didn’t take longer than five minutes, but I hope it had some impact on him.  It certainly did me.  There I was, the “only old guy in the building,” just standing around minding my own business, enjoying the music, when I turned toward the touch.  And that turn gave me a chance to pray for someone who had been searching desperately (read here, who was being drawn toward the Father by the work of the Holy Spirit).  Certainly made my night.

Isaiah 30:21 says, “Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Father, help me to be alert to the searching touches around me.  And give me the awareness to turn toward the touch.  Amen.

June 24 – “Where has all the random energy gone?”

We were kind of shamed into doing yard work yesterday.  We knew it had to be done, but we were debating whether the ground was dry enough after a week of rain.  About 7:30 we went out into the front yard to check, and what should our eyes behold, but good ol’ Corey across the street.  He had already finished mowing and was well into edging.  He had also done some serious tree trimming.  Ouch.  I went in and changed into some grubby clothes and got started.

I had to carry some downed branches (after our rainstorms) to the front, and got all tangled up in the now-dying sunflower arbor.  Guess what took precedence over mowing for a brief period?  Yep.  Chris made me keep three or four of the plants that seemed to still be in good shape, but the rest are down and out of the way.  I guess the birds will be saddened. 

While I was in the zone I continued to the front and trimmed some of the trees out there.  We felt bad because some tree trimmer guy has been to our house twice (same guy, same spiel) offering his services for a fee.  Trimming done, mowing done, edging done. 

I was reminded of something during the course of the morning’s work schedule.  I had forgotten how much random energy it takes to continue life when you are in pain (My knee).  I start physical therapy in July, and I have already been doing the strengthening exercises, but this “mild osteoarthritis” is making itself at home.  So I guess I need to adjust my life and activities again so I can relearn when to anticipate the pain and deal with it. 

Psalms 71:18 says, “Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.”

Father, thank you for a knee that does still work.  Help me through my learning curve.  Amen.

June 23 – “A cast iron rescue”

We finally made it to our little fishing excursion.  Took all week.  But it was a beautiful day after so many rainy ones.  Hot even.  Really hot.  We went to the little park om the Jamaica Beach canal since the red flags were still flying on the beach warning of rip currents.  We did pretty well, too.  We brought home two specs and six sand trout.  Oh, and Cary caught his first sting ray, too.  Unfortunately, someone had already cut off its barb, so he was deprived of his trophy, but maybe someday soon he will catch another and add that to his vast collection of fishing accomplishments.  All in all we had plenty for a fresh fish fish fry for lunch.  Except … our fryer died.  Took care of the first batch with ease, but that second bunch was apparently more than it could handle.  It just stopped heating.  We do have another fryer waiting in the wings to take its place, but we had to use Chris’ cast iron skillet to rescue the situation.  Good stuff.

Cary and Kay Lynn left for their home in Arlington shortly after lunch.  It was a great week with them.  We are looking forward to spending a few days with them at their home when we go to a convention in Arlington in July.  Meanwhile … I flat out crashed when they left.  Could barely move from my rocking chair.  Time to recover today.  Unless Chris realizes how badly we need to mow the grass …

Psalms 71:17 says, “Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.”

Father, thank you once again for old friends.  Help them to get even older and happier.  Amen.

June 22 – “Again”

No luck yesterday on the fishing front.  We woke up to blustery weather yet again.  The plan was to try fishing anyway, but no one had any bait.  No one.  No kind.  So we shifted into plan B.  We did the dead tree carvings tour of the East End.  We looked at the old homes, too.  Chris tried to talk Cary and Kay Lynn into buying one of the old ones and doing the renovating. 

We had lunch at Shrimp n Stuff again.  Can’t beat that.  Then we stopped by to see Nathan at Fire Station 4.  He gave us all a tour.  And finally we headed back home to get ready for home group.

And now … we are going fishing.  I hope …

Psalms 71:16 says, “I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord;

I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.”

Father, thank you for the rain.  And thank you that it appears to be over for a while.  Amen.

June 21 – “The Right of Hour Endage”

Cary and I went up to the church yesterday to check on the AC guy.  He was there and already working on removing the old part and putting in the new one.  That was some good news for sure.  We also went upstairs to say hello to the leaders of the music camp that is using the buildings this week.  They are very excited as well at the possibility of having some cool air.  We finally left Mr. A/C Guy still hard at work.  Jim, our worship pastor had stopped by, so he said he would come back and check on the situation later that evening.  And around 4:30 I got a text from him.  It said simply, “A/C is working.”  I told him, “That was the most understated exclamation I have heard in five weeks.”  And then I added, a rousing, “WooHoo!!!!!” for good measure.  His reply?  “Well, you know its track record.”  Thanks for that healthy dose of realism, Jim.

Yesterday evening Cary and I tried to go fishing … again.  We thought the rain was letting up enough to give us at least a few hours of a window.  We loaded everything up … and nobody had bait.  Nobody.  The only shop with white flags flying (indicating they have live shrimp) ended up being closed.  And then it started raining … again.  Except this time it was the worst thunderstorm we had experienced all week.  At one point we even watched the rising waters in the back yard threaten to lap against our back door.  Sigh.  We’ll be trying again today. 

With all hope of fishing gone, we turned the Astros game on the TV (muted, of course, so Chris would forget it was playing.  That didn’t help, though, when Springer and Bregman and Altuve hit homers back to back to back.  I couldn’t contain my glee) and set up my brand new game of Galveston-opoly.  It was a Father’s Day present from Nathan, April and Cailyn.  Just a word of warning for all you unsuspecting saps out there.  Be very careful when you play games with a third grade teacher.  She sits by, silently watching and waiting, ready to pounce and strike.  And then you are doomed.  KayLynn smoked us all.  And if we hadn’t invoked the Right of Hour Endage the damage would have been much greater.  May you have better success than any of us did. 

Psalms 71:15 says, “My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure.”

Father, we could use a little bit of a window so Cary can get in some fishing this morning.  Thanks.  Amen.

June 20 – “The Originals”

We had a great visit yesterday.  It was another Winkle visit, actually.  Not the same ones, though.  Last week was the offspring Winkle and his lovely new bride, come to regale us with tales of love and laughter and new beginnings.  But this week we host the Originals.  Mom and Dad of the male youngster from last week.  Friends from our own era in Fort Worth/Arlington/Mansfield.  One a mild-mannered, sweet, and unassuming co-worker of mine at South Oaks Baptist Church.  The other a brilliant shade-tree mechanic, capable of fixing virtually anything under the hood of a car, especially now, as we learned last night, that he has branched out into the You Tube realm for his personal research and development queries.  Together they form quite a pair.  Together they roam the universe, seeking out old acquaintances and praying that the rain will stop for at least an hour or two so we can go fishing …

In the rain yesterday evening we drove first over to Shrimp and Stuff.  Had to get that crab ball delight in honor/memory of some other friends, the Sprays, who love crab balls.  Oh, they’re not dead or anything.  Just not here this week.  I started to send them a photo of my meal, but I have never been that cruel type.  Of course, if we manage to catch any fish today or tomorrow, I might be coerced into sending a teeny tiny little image to Winkle the Younger …

We also drove by the church I attended as a mere sprout, Grace Episcopal.  Gorgeous edifice, and one of those raised by hand after the 1900 storm.  Well, by many hands, actually.  Then we made our way to the home of some other former South Oaks cronies, the Philpots, who have since retired to the Island and are in the process of renovating an old home.  Caught Celia with a jar of paint in her hands.  And there was some paint still in the jar, too.  They have done an amazing job on the house so far.  Can’t wait to see the finished product.

We closed out the evening just sitting around talking and watching the Astros on mute lose for the first time in 12 games.  I wonder if they would have pulled it out if we had only turned the sound on?  It’s great to have friends who can multi-task.  The plan today is for me and Cary to seek out fish while Chris and KayLynn completely plan out our trip to Alaska.  Sounds like a perfect trade-off to me.  Of course we may have to wait a day for the fishing trip, so the ladies may have the benefit of our wonderful male point of view regarding the trip …

Psalms 71:14 says, “But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.”

Father, thank you for The Originals.  Special, special friends.  Help them to relax for a few days here on Paradise Island.  Amen.

June 19 – “Diversionary tactics”

The rain has officially arrived.  We have been under drought conditions here on Gilligan’s Island for all of June and a lot of May as well.  Not bad enough yet to call for those water-your-yard restrictions, but close enough that the powers that be were certainly watching things closely.  And then one of our favorite summer events of all time occurred out in the Gulf.  A weather system.  It never achieved “official” status as a hurricane or even a tropical storm, but it did make its way toward us as a mass of rain and thunderstorms.  The rain began Sunday off and on and continued in full force all day yesterday.  The forecast calls for scattered thunderstorms tapering off over the next few days.  Of course Islanders don’t put a whole lot of stock in forecasts.  We have too often seen rain inundate the mainland while we stayed high and dry.  We do really need the rain, but we have some friends headed our way this week, and I would sure like a good window to take them fishing. 

Speaking of the weather, the air conditioner at church is still not fixed.  The company is waiting for yet another part to arrive (GLWW - gotta love warranty work).  Meanwhile, Sunday was pretty miserable.  I even had a hard time concentrating to do the teaching.  I applaud all those congregants who managed to stay awake for the whole time.  At least dinner on the grounds was in the room that still had a working air conditioner.  The tough thing is, we have a music camp group in town this week staying at the retreat center that uses the worship center for some of their activities each day.  They are going to join in the misery, I’m sure (although maybe the rain will give them a respite from the heat). 

Speaking of misery, Chris went into Texas yesterday to take care of Noa for a few hours.  The youngster was afflicted with a fever and everybody else in her family (except Dad, of course, who was at work) was headed for Vacation Bible School.  Chris told me that Noa greeted her with a very sad face and, “Nana, I can’t go to Bible school today.”  Holding up several fingers, she continued, now frustrated and almost angry, “There’s only this many days of Bible school and I can’t go to this one (closing one finger into her tiny fist) so I only have this many days left to go.”  Undaunted, Chris reverted back to homeschool Mom mode, “So how many days is that?”  Noa answered right away, and then added, “Can we watch a movie?”  I guess the diversionary tactic known as “Counting” worked. 

Psalms 71:5-6 says, “For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth.  From birth I have relied on you; you brought me forth from my mother's womb.  I will ever praise you.”

Father, help little Noa get to feeling better so she can get to her VBS experience for a few fingers of time this week.  Amen.

June 18 – “A Divine Chuckle”

Here’s a fun anecdote from The Church front.  Last Sunday we got word that one of our regulars, who happened to be in San Antonio for the weekend, was in the hospital there for treatment of kidney stones.  Bob has had that issue several times before, so as his Body of Christ we lifted him up in prayer last week.  Just the Church being the Church, right?  So far so good.

This week Bob was back, and he had a story to tell.  Seems it was not him who was having the issues with kidney stones.  Instead it was his 20-year-old grandson, who was also recovering from a major surgery on his arm.  Yikes.  So here are the questions we faced this week …

Did we need to ask God to ignore last week’s intercessions, kind of “Oops, never mind”?  In other words, were all those prayers last week wasted?  Bob doesn’t think so.  He’ll take every prayer he can get, and I’m sure with him on that one.  In the proverbial words of the playground, “No take-backs.”

Did we need to maybe ask God to put those last prayers on a celestial transfer list like switching money between accounts at the bank?  Take them off of Bob’s ledger and reapply them to Seth’s?  I don’t know.  Somehow treating the ear of God like a bank ledger just doesn’t seem quite right.

Neither of those options felt exactly right.  Honestly, I think we would be better served taking the approach we finally decided upon.  And what would that be? 

Joining God and Bob (and maybe even Seth when he feels a little better) in a little divine chuckle about the whole thing, and moving on to the next “person of interest,” the next point of intercession that opens up to us.  Keep those prayers coming.

Psalms 69:34 says, “Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and all that move in them”

Father, be with Seth and Bob as they deal with their kidney stone issues.  And thanks for laughing with us yesterday.  Amen.

June 17 – “2 feet by 2 feet”

I officiated another wedding on the beach yesterday.  As usual, there were more than a few things that didn’t go exactly as planned, but then I usually plan for that. 

This one was held on the beach at Jamaica Beach.  At 11 a.m.  On a Saturday.  In June.  To say that the beach was crowded would be an understatement of epic proportions.  They had arrived early that morning, however, and a very nice little arch was set up and anchored to the sand with two large sandbags.  There were groups of people crowded as close as they could get one either side.  Cars were parked and driving all around.  Golf carts were puttering through the area as well.  Each of them had someone either taking pictures of the cute beach wedding or ogling at the craziness of it all or sighing in winsome anticipation of just such an event in their own future. 

But the winner of the most unusual award for this particular wedding has to go to the lady acting as coordinator.  She set up a small, 2 foot by 2 foot table next to the archway.  And on that tiny table, in no particular order, were …

A bouquet for the bride to toss after the ceremony (which, by the way was caught by the wind cand blown through the traffic lane and almost into a parked car window).

A homemade wedding cake, made by the coordinator (How do I know she made it?  Because the icing was melting in the heat and humidity and she screamed at one point, “My flower!  My flower is melting!”)

A set of three beautiful unity candles (Not useful at the beach because the wind refuses to allow open flames of such a tiny nature)

Sand ceremony jars (Not to be deterred, she also provided jars of three different colors of sand and an empty, hand decorated wine bottle to pour the sand into)

Champagne cups and a tiny little bottle of sparkling, fizzy apple juice (For the bride and groom to toast each other and share a drink with arms interlocked)

Some decorative flowers (Can’t have a boring table that close to the archway)

Plastic forks and paper plates (Remember the cake?)

A large knife to cut the cake (One of those cake server things.  The bride and groom got fussed at though.  They didn’t follow proper procedure.  They didn’t squash the cake into each other’s faces.  Wonder if the fact that they had less than an hour to get to their cruise ship had anything to do with that decision?)

Napkins (Messy, messy, messy)

After the wedding the bride’s bouquet was added to the mix, as were several bottles of water and pieces of cake.  (2 Feet by 2 feet.  I think maybe that table belonged to Mary Poppins at one time).

Oh, and I almost forgot.  There was also a set of seashells.  Cool looking, but their purpose remained a mystery … until the wedding was in full swing.  I called for the rings at the appropriate moment.  The coordinator, who was now also the maid of honor, leapt into action.  She raced over to her little table, grabbed her purse which was now also there, pulled her phone case out, opened it, and, though she struggled a bit, finally managed to pull out from it … two rings.  She hastily placed the rings into the aforementioned seashell decoration and raced the concoction over to the groom.  He took it from her and handed it to the best man.  The best man then held it up for the groom to pick up one of the rings.  Now here’s the thing.  The groom already had a ring in his hand.  He had the engagement ring in his pocket, and was just going to use that.  Now he had to try to figure out what to do with the wedding band as well.  He crammed them both onto her finger in no particular order.  Figured that was easy enough to sort out later.  The bride then took his ring from the shell contraption and the wedding continued.  Reception was held right there on the beach.  All who wanted one got a piece of the melting cake and a bottle of water.  Photos all around.

We got ‘em hitched.  As far as I know they made their cruise departure time.  Their license is in the mail to their county clerk.  Congrats to the happy couple.

Psalms 69:30 says, “I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving.”

Father, walk with those two on their journey together.  Amen

June 16 – “Knee-d anything?”

I finally went to the doc about my sore knee.  Didn’t get to see my doctor, of course.  In fact the one I saw was a D.O.  Why is that a deal?  Well, for one thing, I specifically asked when I made the appointment and was told she was an M.D.  Get to know your staff, front desk.  And speaking of the front desk, I questioned their apparent listing of one of my medications twice, and one of them simply scratched a med off the list.  I later began to ponder the differences and realized the reason behind the two listings – a change the doc had made in the frequency of doses.  Got that one straightened out with the doctor. 

The appointment was about what I expected.  Get an X-ray or three and then probably go do some physical therapy and come back in six week if it’s no better.  Right on point there with my anticipations.  We drove straight over to the radiology clinic to get that taken care of.  Quick in and out.  Very efficient.

And then that night I got the email that my results were available on line.  Ready to see them with me?

Imaging of the knee demonstrates moderate medial compartment joint space loss with tricompartmental subchondral sclerosis and marginal osteophyte formation.  A small sized effusion is present.  Posterior intracapsular osseous bodies are present.  Chronic tibial tuberosity enthesophyte fragmentation is seen.  Degenerative tibial spine hypertrophy is present.

So how many of the words did you know?  Here’s what I got out of it …

Imaging of the knee demonstrates moderate blah, blah, blah joint space loss with blah, blah, blah and blah, blah, blah formation.  A small sized blah, blah is present.  Blah, blah, blah bodies are present.  Chronic blah, blah, blah is seen.  Degenerative blah, blah, blah is present.

Great.  So what does it all mean?  Chris and I spent about an hour looking up words and phrases.  I think I have it boiled down to this … “Your knee probably hurts because you are old.”  Yes, it does.  I suppose I am.  Now I have to wait for the doc to call and tell me that, so I can then go to the physical therapist so they can tell me that.  So … here we go …

Psalms 69:13 says, “But I pray to you, O Lord, in the time of your favor; in your great love, O God, answer me with your sure salvation.”

Father, thank you for my knee.  I’ve been pretty attached to it for a long time.  Help me take care of it.  Amen.