April 30 – “Embracing the madness”

Two big events highlighted the day yesterday.  One was yet another drive-by.  No, not a shooting … exactly.  Actually there was a shooting involved, but not the kind you think of when you hear “drive-by.”  OK.  Let me explain.  The drive-by in this case was one of those drive-by birthday parties.  No on site activities.  People simply drive by in their cars and say happy birthday.  Sweet, right?  This one was for Noa, so we even had to drive off-Island to get there.

We coordinated with Nathan and April and Cailyn to arrive at the same time.  In fact we met at the fire station right down the street from Noa’s house.  Cailyn hopped out of their car and raced over to decorate a window on ours with some shoe polish.  It was the window behind where I was sitting, so she wrote, “Ho Ho Ho, Noa.”  Hey, that’s my go-to greeting around these kids.  We led the way and waved and hollered a bit before pulling over to the side of the road and getting out of the car.  I know.  Defeats the purpose of the drive-by concept, but we are grandparents.  What do we know?  That’s when we witnessed the shooting.  As Noa went up closer to Nathan’s car, a flash of activity exploded forth.  They had brought along some silly string and were pummeling her with it.  Great move, Nathan, since you did forget the water balloons.  Snicker, snicker.  Some other friends came by to celebrate as well, including her karate instructor and the grand master of the karate school.  Impressive.  Someone else gave her a bag with her very own silly string and some of those confetti-filled Easter eggs that you crack over heads.  The party got a lot more … active after that. We left after a while so the kids could get ready for an online karate lesson.  Great fun.

The second big event to remember?  Power outage.  It hit the neighborhood a few minutes after seven p.m.  We were watching a movie.  In less than a minute we verified that our neighbors across the street lost theirs as well.  A fire call came through about a transformer explosion over by Schlitterbahn (not far from us).  Our neighbor on one side texted to see about us.  While I was on the phone with the electric company the neighbor on the other side rang the doorbell.  When I got through and got word that repairs were underway and were expected to be completed by one a.m., we decided to sit on the front porch and listen to Corey across the street play his violin.  Beautiful.  After a while, though, Chris was getting really cold, so we adjourned to get a jacket and sit in the back yard for a bit to watch and listen to the birds.  We could still hear the violin, too.  Great evening, actually.  Embracing the madness.  I think the power came back on around 9:30.  Kudos to the power company for that. 

Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Father, thanks for drive-by parties and talented and concerned neighbors.  Amen.

April 29 – “Just a chicken”

I went to Randall’s again yesterday.  Hey, it was old folks time again.  I had to make an appearance.  Actually, we needed some groceries, so I volunteered to take the danger upon myself, ever protecting my young bride from the harsh elements.  Since the list was longer than usual, I decided to follow the one-way signs on the floor and visit every aisle.  Most folks were going the right direction.  I did have one encounter with one of the shop-for-you employees.  She was pretty much going where she pleased.  She even admitted being pointed in the wrong direction.  That had confused a couple that was following her around.  When they realized their mistake, they apologized.  I told them to just turn their basket around and pull it through backwards.  They chuckled.  And complied.  I was joking, folks.

My favorite grocery encounter of the day, however, came in front of the tuna fish.  As I searched for the tuna in “water, not oil” (I felt like the James Bond “shaken, not stirred” of the fish world), a lady rounded the corner.  And as she pulled her cart straight again, she was obviously inspecting the contents of my basket. 

“Hmm,” she commented.  “I see you are preparing for a healthy meal this week.  Dr Pepper and Cheetos.” 

Interesting observation, to be sure.  Not to be deterred, I countered with, “Well, I had to add some things to the list my wife gave me.  I’m just showing initiative.”  Pretty snappy comeback, don’t you think?  But she was just as snappy.

She chuckled and quipped in that way only experience as a wife could give her, “Yeah.  Initiative in the wrong direction.”  Ouch.

Last night we took part in one of those drive-by parades people have been organizing.  Except we were the organizers of this one.  And the only participants.  Short parade.  It was fun, though.  We drove by to say Happy Birthday to April.  Even took the truck so I could honk with my three new horns.  As it turned out they were down the street at a friend’s house for dinner.  Nope.  Can’t hide out from us that easily.  Also helps that we happen to know the friends.  In fact their little boy was the one who rode his bike down to let us know where they were.  We drove down in front of their house and April finally showed up in front of the house.  So I honked the Happy Birthday song to her.  I’m pretty sure she could make out the rendering. 

As an extra treat they took us down to their house and we were introduced to the newest members of their family.  They have chickens.  Well, baby chickens.  Chicks.  All different kinds.  Two of them either have Mohawk haircuts or they are victims of the Corona ban on hairdressers.  The other three are different species, but they will eventually earn their keep as egg-layers.  Cailyn put one in each of our hands.  Tiny, fragile creatures.  Mine was a Rhode Island Red.  Now for the point of this story.  I woke up this morning at 4:30 to a dream.  Very short dream.  And in this dream that little chicken fell out of the sky from nowhere and landed at my feet.  That’s all.  Just a chicken at my feet.  No particular meaning assigned to this one.  Other than maybe … it has been a while since we have had fried chicken …

Psalms 56:3 says, “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in you.”

Father, please take care of those little chickens.  Cailyn – and April – are already becoming quite the chicken ladies.  Amen.

April 28 – “Joy again”

Just two accomplishments for the day yesterday.  Well, not counting the stuff I did to begin getting ready for our first Sunday back next Sunday.  That’s going to take all week, I’m afraid.  Now we have to add to the usual sermon and worship service preparation, plans for traffic control (Which has been out of control since Jamaica Beach has been the only part of the Island with open beaches).  Great fun looms …

So what are the two memorable things?  Now, remember.  We are in the middle of a quarantine.  Lower your expectations.  First off, we finished the 1,000 piece puzzle we have been working on.  Again … lower expectations.  We have learned to be joyful in the small things, right?  So … woohoo!

The second thing is a bit more noble, I suppose.  We were just getting ready to watch a movie.  Something about a post-apocalyptic Huntsman in Queen Elsa-by-another-name’s frozen Northern wastelands.  About that time I received a distress call from our neighbors.  They were out on a bike ride and one of the bikes had a severe flat tire.  Bad enough that it was unrideable.  The request was … could I please come with my truck and pick up the bike and give them a ride home.  Well, the “them” was one person and one bicycle.  And the one person promised to ride in the back with the bike to effectively maintain social distancing.  Of course I went.  Hey, I’ve always been a sucker for heroics.  Besides … I got to leave the house.  Joy again!

Well, today is grocery day, and I do have to get in under the Old Folks Wire.  I’m off …

Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.”

Father, as we start reopening and getting reacquainted around here, please keep us safe and help us remember that “don’t be stupid” still applies.  Amen.

April 27 – “We’re Baaaaaack”

And now for some really big news.  It started early last week with a phone call from our worship pastor, Jim.  We chatted about our plans for holding services in the future, both online and on site.  The only decision we reached for sure was that the upcoming Sunday – yesterday - we would continue with Seaside Online as usual, then watch for further updates from the local and state powers that be. 

That is … until a second phone call I received later in the afternoon.  In response to an earlier text I had sent inquiring about the state of things in Jamaica Beach, Steve, the city’s mayor called me.  He was over-the-top supportive of us resuming services.  In fact, he said we had the city’s “complete blessing” and even asked what time services would be.  He had double-checked the word they received from the attorney general’s office, and he assured me that churches were specifically designated as essential services. 

Now, no, we are not going to just pretend nothing ever happened and meet as usual.  In fact, if you are in Galveston rather than Jamaica Beach, be careful to follow those guidelines.  They are a little more stringent.

But here’s our plan.  On May 3^rd - NEXT SUNDAY - the plan is to have our first post-Corona worship service at the church! 

But it’ll be outside. 

We encourage you to bring lawn chairs and umbrellas and BYOCD (It means “Bring Your Own Coffee and Donuts”).  Now, for some folks that might also mean “Bring Your OCD.”  That’s fine as well.  Be as careful as you need to be. 

Everyone is encouraged to follow that highly inspiring, youth group motto version of the CDC recommendations … “Don’t Be Stupid.” 

Just take personal responsibility. 

If you feel safer doing so, wear a mask. 

If you are sick or if you feel that you are risk because of other medical conditions, stay at home. 

Cluster your chairs in family groups and keep them a bit apart from each other (What’s that I heard?  Six feet?  Well, OK). 

Just do what is right for you and your family.  No judging here. 

We still have to work out logistical issues. 

1. The Praise Team will be setting up on the Worship Center porch, so the paved parking lot will be the staging area for seating. 

2.  That means the entrance from 3005 will be blocked.  Park in the fields on the east side of the retreat center or the north side of the worship center.  Now, if you have driven past the church at all in the last few days you have noticed that all our parking areas have been full to the brim with beach-goers.  The police who have been turning people away from parking on the beach started directing them our way for some reason.  That’s fine during the week, but we’ll need the space on Sunday, especially in the paved area.  We hope to have signs printed up to indicate “Church Parking Only” for our Sunday hours of operation (and maybe for Saturday evening, too.  We have a group that will eventually return to meeting at that time).  But we will need someone at the church really early to set up tables to block that 3005 entrance. 

3. We have ordered some individual communion cups, but every company has them on back order.  Bring along a cracker and a cup of juice from home (like we have been doing on the broadcast).

4. The plan is to have tables outside with the offering box and printouts of the song words (if we can get that done in time).  Please share with your family.

5. Oh, and we are still planning to continue with the Facebook Live broadcasts.  Those of you who want to stay at home and watch in the safety of your living room … that’s fine.  Those of you who are out-of-town Seasiders … keep watching!

As you can see, this re-start-up event is quite the planning ordeal. 

Oh, and those who were planning to be baptized at Easter … in the coming weeks we will be doing baptisms.  Hey … we will be outside anyway!  Let me know which Sunday you can be here, and we will add a baptism to the docket as well.  Shoot me a text or email (pastor@seasidefamily.org). 

Whew.  Lots to think about.  And pray about. 

Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

Father, give us guidance as we start back with our worship gathering.  Give each family wisdom to decide what is your best for them and to carry it out to the best of their ability.  Amen.

April 26 – “Good day”

We got word yesterday that Jamaica Beach (and Crystal Beach over on the Peninsula) was both packed to the gills with people.  As far as Jamaica Beach is concerned, guess where they were all parked, since no vehicles are allowed on the beach?  Well … the church parking lot was full.  So was that of the convenience store next door.  So were all the streets.  Everywhere.  It was like an Easter sunrise service crowd.  I guess it was a good day for the city.  But social distancing?  Yeah … nope.  And that parking situation is going to be interesting when we start having services on Sundays again. 

I enjoyed some leftover steak for lunch.  Chris located some in our freezer on Friday, so we grilled them to perfection.  Better than the Food Channel guys.  Why?  What made them better?  Because they were on our plates and we actually got to eat them.  And the leftovers were still good the second time around.  Good day.

Chris accomplished some things yesterday.  She finished a quilt.  That’s always a red-letter day.  She also pulled weeds from the last remaining flower bed in the front yard.  Oh, and she took me for a walk to boot.  That’s a good day.

Speaking of good days … we got word that our good friends the Winkle’s are now grandparents for the first time.  To say they are excited is putting it mildly.  Little girl.  And she already has grandpa wrapped around her little finger.  But, hey, from one grandpa to another … that’s as it should be.  One word of advice … practice saying “Yes,” Cary. 

John 16:33 says “I have told you these things, so that in me you might have peace.  In this world you will have trouble. But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”

Father, thank you for little Lillian.  She will make her grandparents very happy.  Oh, I guess she’ll do the same for Mom and Dad as well.  Amen.

April 25 – “Corona Movie Marathon”

Where is everybody in their quarantine movie marathon?  Or maybe that’s just us.  We do still have that 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle on the table.  And Chris is still perpetually sewing on a quilt.  And it still takes me all week to prepare for the Sunday Seaside Online broadcast.  But hidden in there somewhere is our homage to the antique practice of theater-going.  Movie theater, that is. 

It makes it easier that we have quite an extensive collection of dvd’s.  Even the ones that made it through Hurricane Ike (with a thorough cleaning, of course.  Yep, we had to do it back then, too.  And we made it through.  All is not lost in the Corona-infested world) remain in a notebook designed to hold that even more antique collection of letters – the CD.  So we have a plethora of options to choose from when it comes time for viewing. 

So far our prime movie viewing time has been in conjunction with our evening meal.  You know, dinner theater.  Yum.

For some random reason we started our personal marathon with the H’s.  No idea why, other than the fact that there are six Harry Potter movies.  We saw Hancock, a Will Smith movie where he is a disgruntled super hero.  High Crimes was another one.  It was a kind of forgettable thriller about a lady trying to clear her husband of war crimes charges.  And then there was Heaven Can Wait, one of my all-time favorites.  It’s about a professional football player who is accidentally allowed to die by his new-to-the-job guardian angel.  As a result of the snafu, the angel has to find him a new body to inhabit.  Lots of light-hearted fun there.  And some romance.  True love and all that, of course. 

But our latest quest has been to make it through the three Hobbit movies, followed by the Fellowship of the Rings trilogy.  One movie a night, you understand, so it has really helped us pass some time together.  We almost had a crisis last night, though.  We were on the very last movie – Return of the King.  The glorious climax of the whole series.  And the disc – one of those that made it through Hurricane Ike – started glitching.  Apparently there was a serious enough scratch to disrupt the laser reader.  We restarted several time.  We even went to Disney Plus to watch it there, only to discover it was not free.  You had to rent it.  Plan C.  We went back to the original disc.  We bypassed the offending scenes by selecting one a little further down in the story.  And it worked.  All we missed was Aragon recruiting the dead soldiers to fight for him.  It helps fill in the blanks when you have read the book and seen the movie a time or two. 

Where to next?  Another trilogy?  Individual favorites?  Any recommendations from the Peanut Gallery out there?

Psalms 46:10 says, “He says, ‘Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.’”

Father, thank you for being there when we do finally stop for a minute and be still.  Amen.

April 24 – “A question for the ages …”

I had a resurgence of sore back-dom yesterday.  It was because of that old bag of quickcrete I lifted into the trash, I’m pretty sure.  Really heavy stuff.  And I almost dropped the whole thing just before I reached the lip of the can.  I guess it was that weight shift that did it.  And Chris has sore legs again.  Beyond her usual sore from whatever her problem is that the docs have yet to figure out.  This sore is from squatting in the flower beds.  Yup.  We’re getting old.

We did talk a bit of a walk.  Actually it was just about a block over to the mailbox on 69^th near Parker School.  We live on 70^th.  Not far.  But it does count, doesn’t it?

Speaking of going somewhere, we decided to do our part in support of local businesses.  We called in an order to Shrimp and Stuff.  When I asked how they were doing payment (over the phone or in person) the guy told me they were handling it at the window.  He even told me they were wearing gloves to handle credit cards.  That seemed a bit of overkill to me, but I appreciated their efforts.  Of course when I picked up the order the guy who took my credit card wasn’t wearing gloves.  Or a mask for that matter.  But then, neither was I.  But I was outside.  I think people around here are beyond ready to just move on and take whatever comes.

I have a question for the ages for all to ponder and weigh in on with the ultimate life answers for me.  When you are putting together a jigsaw puzzle, and you have come to that inevitable part where all the colors are identical (i.e. the blue sky), do you look for specific shapes to match available holes, or do you simply grab the next closest piece and try it in every space on the puzzle?  Now, I know that may be too existential for some to deal with early in the morning, but perhaps as your day progresses and you feel a bit more alert (after a cup of coffee or two), you might be able to give us some pointers.  My eyes are crossing from searching for barely discernable cloud formations.

Jeremiah 17:7 says, “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.”

Father, be with the small business that have had to shutter down.  Help them to stay alive and even thrive in the days of opening to come.  Amen.

April 23 – “Well, that’s cool”

We had quite a day yesterday.  The big news was that our brand new air conditioner compressor unit was delivered and installed.  And just in time, too.  Temperatures are expected to be in the eighties all week.  And tropical island paradise summer is just around the corner.  It was fascinating to follow the guy around the house and see how cold the air actually was that was coming out of the vents.  Fifty degrees coming out.  Nice.  I was worried for a while about what they would do with the old unit.  But I didn’t have to fret.  Before the installers even left, the scrap metal guy they called drove up.  He just happened to be nearby on his way home, so he decided to swing on by and do the pickup.  The small amount of grass on my front lawn appreciates your decision. 

Meanwhile, while the unit was being installed, Chris attacked yet another flower bed, this one in the front yard.  She is really getting things into shape outside.  The Mother’s Day lilies are doing well.  Those are commonly referred to as Easter lilies, but they rarely bloom before Mother’s Day, so we are simply realists in that regard. 

I spent the time working on a project I have been putting off.  The garage.  Honestly, it was one of those classic garage remodels.  You know the kind I mean.  Take everything out.  Put everything back.  But at least I managed to sweep out the top layer of dirt and leaves.  And I cleaned off my workbench tops.  Well … mostly. 

Oh, and I had a great idea.  Finally air up the tires on our bicycles so we can do a round or two in the evenings.  But … I blew them up.  Yep.  Totally exploded both tires on Chris’ bike.  I knew it had been a while since we used them, but I certainly didn’t expect that.  Exploding bicycle tubes make a really loud noise, especially inside a garage.  I don’t think anybody reported us for shooting off fireworks, or worse.  But it really was just an inner tube, guys.

Acts 4:12 says, “Salvation is found in on one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Father, thank you for the team that installed the air conditioner yesterday, including the scrap metal guy.  I guess we have become accustomed to the cool.  Amen.

April 22 – “Well, that’s just trashy”

We have an interesting Corona-development at the church.  Jamaica Beach is the only place on the Island where it is still OK to go to the beach.  You’re not supposed to put down roots and stay all day, though.  It’s technically for those who want to exercise.  Well, West Enders are a level beyond Texans in regard to being fiercely independent.  So people have been out in force to the beach in Jamaica Beach. 

But here’s the problem.  Beaches are still closed to vehicular traffic.  There is no place to park for those who do want to go to the beach.  So what’s a family to do?  Well, it seems the Jamaica Beach police officers have come up with a plan.  Instead of just turning people away, they have been making a suggestion as to where parking is available.  “Park at the church up at the light.”  Yep.  That’s Seaside.  And you know what?  That’s fine with us.  We like being able to provide another creative service to the community. 

However … (Isn’t it sad how often there is one of those qualifiers around?) … Some of the people who have been parking in our lot have also been using it as a dump site for their garbage.  We have even found dirty diapers strewn about.  Talk about an abuse of privilege.  But one of our Seasiders, Robert, had a great idea to help with the issue.  Since we are not generating any garbage of our own with our remote Facebook Live broadcasts, Robert pulled our outdoor trash receptacles over to the parking lot.  He placed them in strategic spots on site, clearly marked with the word “Trash.”  Guess that makes him our unofficial Official Minister of Trash.  Great creative idea and thanks for carrying that out, Reverend Robert.  I mean … how many churches can say with a straight face that we now have a Trashy Ministry?

Psalms 24:1-2 says, “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.”

Father, thank you for the folks using our parking lot.  Give them an hour or two of respite from the quarantine.  And bless Robert for his ministry efforts.  Amen.

April 21 – “A trip to the Island’s latest tourist attraction”

Our Monday was quite a day.  It actually started out Sunday afternoon when we began to realize the horrifying fact that our air conditioner was not blowing cold air.  I know that’s not a real crisis … yet.  But it has reached the high 70’s and even low 80’s around here already.  Fortunately our AC guy managed to fit us in and came by for a check.  He figured out a way to bandaid the problem, but he also told us the bitter truth.  The condenser unit has a lifespan of eight to twelve years.  We just entered year twelve.  Yup.  Here we go.  We are now scheduled for a replacement unit to be installed on Wednesday.  Just what we needed.  Another big expense.  Ah, well.  We can’t travel anywhere anyway.  Savings account, here we come.

On a positive note, Chris did allow me to go to WalMart.  We needed a refill on printer ink, and a few other groceries.  We also needed some more AC filters.  Gotta keep that bandaid working for two more days.  We heard that WalMart was requiring all workers to wear a mask now.  I have to say, pretty much everyone in a WalMart vest had a mask tied around his neck.  A few of them even had the top half covering their mouth and nose.  Several had their mouth covered, but not their nose.  Maybe corporate just wasn’t specific enough with their directive. 

We have been battling a flea problem with our little pup Freddy for several weeks now.  She had been getting baths with Dawn soap that works wonders on the short term … very short.  We apply the flea treatment from the vet following directions explicitly.  Chris vacuums every other day and washes Freddy’s bed.  Still fleas.  So yesterday Nathan treated us to a surprise flea treatment.  He sent Jarod over to treat our house and yard for the critters.  We had to leave for 45 minutes during the process, so we headed over to the church.  I had to deliver some checks to Cathy and drop off some books for the church library anyway.  But what to do with Freddy?  Yep she came with us.  Now, you have to understand, she does not go with us many places.  Pretty much the vet.  Period.  So the whole time we drove around she shivered like one of those Aspen trees in Colorado.  Crazy dog.  Other than that she did fine, though.  Well enough that we took a little side trip out beyond the church to see the Island’s latest tourist attraction.  Someone installed a huge statue of a bird on the side of the road. Nothing else anywhere around, and you can just pull off to the side and see it from your car.  I think it’s supposed to be a phoenix, but I could be wrong.  It is impressive, though.  Go see it if you have a chance.  Gives you an excuse to get out of the house.

Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”

Father, thank you for Nathan’s surprise flea treatment.  And thank you for Lynn’s swift response to our AC issue.  Amen.

April 20 – “the doorbell rang …”

Ah … more craziness on the Seaside Online front.  Right towards the end of the teaching, the TV screen behind me went blank.  So did my computer screen that was attached to it.  And therein lay the source of this irksome malady.  It was the computer’s fault.  Well, the computer operator’s fault.  It had suddenly chosen to go into full-on screen protection mode. 

That of course shut down the screen pairing with the TV, which caused it to switch back to the regularly scheduled programming.  I don’t even know what it was.  Something from the Food Channel, I think.  That meant I had to excuse myself - again – and reset everything.  I don’t know how it looked to the viewing public, but at least everyone got a chance to see a tiny portion of what I have to go through to set up every week.  And, hey, if nothing else, when you tune into Seaside Online, you never know what madness may happen.  By the way, I did figure out how to prevent the screen saver from doing that again.  I think.  We’ll see next week.  Same Bat-time, same Bat-channel.

Yesterday afternoon we were talking to some more really good friends, the Winkles.  They are one of the two couples we went to Alaska with last year.  Just doing some checking in and catching up.  They are about to become grandparents for the first time, so the quarantine is hitting their world pretty hard.  We love those two.

At one point in the conversation, our doorbell rang.  Now, the doorbell ringing was a shock, given the world’s situation.  I was actually really excited to see what was going on.  It was our neighbor from down the street a ways.  Seems a friend’s church in Texas City had been given, by their local WalMart, a bunch of the random Easter supplies that people didn’t buy.  They church up there had way more than they needed, so they were spreading the wealth, so to speak.  He invited me to come over and take whatever I thought we might be able to give away to kids that we knew.  He invited Corey and Brennan to come as well.  I ended up with a handful of Frisbees with rabbits on them, a few boxes of Easter egg dye, a stuffed cow, some plastic eggs filled with Minion tattoos (not sure what that has to do with Easter), and one chocolate bunny.  Brennan was a little hesitant, so I hooked him up with a big ol’ stuffed green frog.  Very cool item.  And our neighbor even provided us a taste from a bottle of his best hand sanitizer to cleanse our palms when we were done.  It’s great to have generous neighbors. 

1 Corinthians 13:6 says, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”

Father, be with the Winkle’s in their wait for a grandbaby.  And keep that baby safe as well.  Mommy and Daddy are both nurses.  Essential personnel.  Oh, and please bless our neighbor.  Honor his generosity.  Amen.

April 19 – “Dream shovels”

Started the morning waking up with another dream very fresh on my mind.  This one starred former Galveston fire chief Mike Wisko and our son Nathan.  No, it wasn’t in the context of a fire or anything.  Mike had called Nathan to come help him.  The two of them had shovels and were removing Astroturf and bits of concrete from a large, perfect circle of ground.  Somewhere.  Sometime.  No idea on this one.  It was amazingly clear, though, so you two guys can rest assured that you both got prayed for around six this morning.

Yesterday we received one of those phone calls that I have been encouraging you all to make.  Some of our best friends from many, many … many years ago, Robert and Melinda, called just to check in on us.  They are hunkered down on their farm out in the middle of nowhere.  Robert is a professor at a seminary in Waco, so he is teaching classes online now.  Well, in between tending his garden and staring at wildlife.  He keeps an eye on Josh for us.  It was great to talk to them.

We walked a mile again.  It was kind of tough for Chris though.  Her legs are really giving her fits.  At least the new meds she got help to dull the pain a little bit.

We are slowly advancing on our latest jigsaw puzzle.  We finally reached the sky.  All blue and white.  No distinguishing features of any kind, unless you count the occasional cloud.  Problem there is that I can’t tell the difference between the very light blue and the white clouds.  Chris is separating the pieces, though, so that should help.  Isn’t it fascinating that putting together a jigsaw puzzle should become such an integral piece of news that it makes it into the daily blog?  Sigh …

1 Peter 1:3 says, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”

Father, once again, would you please be with Nathan and Mike in whatever pursuits they deem necessary today.  Surround them with your love and protection.  Amen.

April 18 – “The 5 P’s - PowerPoint Presentation Production Problems”

Chris finally finished her second order of face masks for the sheriff’s department.  That pretty much used up her stash of quilting material scraps.  I’m not sure what her next project will be, but she was looking into more quilting supplies online.  Sounded like most of the suppliers are running behind on stocking, though.  I think the earliest delivery date she found was sometime in June.

I started having some issues with incorporating videos into the PowerPoint presentation for tomorrow’s Seaside Online production.  All but one of them melded quite well with the system, but for some reason one of the song videos from Jim just wouldn’t go.  In fact, it shut down the whole PowerPoint program.  Hey, I just thought of something.  Maybe I should play it backwards and see if there is a hidden message that my computer is protecting us all from. 

Anyway, I tried everything I could think of.  Re-load the file.  Nope.  Restart the computer.  Nope.  Have Jim re-send the file and try from scratch.  Nope.  Delete one of the other songs first.  Nope.  Save the presentation itself in a different version of PowerPoint.  Nope.  I have one more thing to try.  See if it fits into a PowerPoint of its own, and then build the other stuff around it.  The frustrating thing is, the video plays perfectly on the computer.  Just not in PowerPoint.

Ah, well.  We just may have to be creative on Sunday, then.  All you online worshippers … please be patient if I have to minimize and double click and maximize.  It’ll give you a few extra seconds to take in the view of my computer desktop screen …

Isaiah 53:6 says, “We, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Father, thank you for Lord of the PowerPoint Presentations.  Whatever happens there, please draw people toward you.  Amen.

April 17 – “Supermarket Ticket?”

Chris let me out of my cage once again for my weekly trip to Randall’s.  Here’s hoping the frequency of road trips increases very soon.  This time she had a prescription waiting.  We also needed bread and bananas and milk and toothpaste.  The toothpaste was for Chris.  She likes the gel kind.  That stuff makes my whole mouth rebel.  For some reason it reminds me of the bubble gum I used to get when I bought a pack of baseball cards.  Of course I would chew five or six sticks at once.  Ever since I have a hard time even smelling bubble gum in any form.  What that has to do with gel toothpaste, I have no idea.  But then I have often been accused of having numerous misfires and short circuits in my brain.  It’s probably just one of them rearing its ugly head. 

The memorable event of this trip, however, came on the inside of the store.  Oh, most people inside were wearing their masks.  Most in fact were wearing them correctly, so there was that.  I didn’t see an infraction of the mask rule until I got back outside.  Old folks’ time was over, and one of the YI’s (Young and Indestructibles) was on his way inside to terrorize unsuspecting shoppers.  But speaking of infractions, one of them was the fun experience of the day.  As I was in line to check out and the lady reached for my bananas, she saw something over my shoulder that caused her to leap into action.  “Sir!  Sir!” she cried.  I glanced back and saw the elderly gentleman stop dead in his tracks.  He instinctively checked his mask.  No, that was not it.  Puzzled, he looked around for the source of the voice, hidden, of course by the checker’s own mask and somewhat muffled by the plexiglass partition.  Realizing she had his attention, she loudly explained, “You’re going the wrong way down that aisle.”  Ah, yes.  The infamous one-way aisles I discovered on my last trip into the supermarket world.  It was clear that he was going to get off with a warning rather than a ticket this time, so I called out in encouragement, “Just turn your basket around and back down the aisle.  That’s what I did.”  True statement, there, by the way.  Always face the correct direction.  Letter of the law and all that.  He mumbled something about wrong ways and backing up and strange new things to deal with, but he also chuckled a bit and tossed a wave at us as he proceeded on to the correct aisle.  See you on the flip aisle, my friend.  May you ever avoid being hit with a Supermarket Ticket.

Isaiah 25:8 says, “he will swallow up death forever.  The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.  The Lord has spoken.”

Father, watch over that guy I indirectly met in Randall’s yesterday.  Help him - and all of us - with “new things.”  Amen.

April 16 – “That’s Corona”

Chris has still been having pain issues with her legs.  It had gotten so bad at night that she was not sleeping well at all.  It was like having a newborn in the house for a while.  The doctor finally called back to discuss what might be going on.  She had x-rays taken last time she went in.  In a nutshell, he was still stumped.  He wants to send her to an orthopedic doc, but he did give her a prescription for the only meds that have given her any relief at all.  I’m heading out into the world to pick those up today.  In the meantime she doubled up on some meds she already had to equal the new dosage.  Finally slept all night.  Maybe we can get her through this.

We received a letter from the Social Security Administration wanting to verify some information about our income.  I’m pretty cautious about giving out that kind of data to anybody, so I sent a copy to our tax lady.  She said to fill it out and send it in.  So I did.  Then later that afternoon she emailed back.  Apparently she had taken a closer look at the document and decided that I really didn’t have to send it in after all.  So … never mind.  Great.  I told her I had already followed her earlier instruction, and the paper was already in the mail (Thanks to a rare early mail delivery by our carrier).  She replied that it should be fine.  If they contact me again, I should let her know and she would deal with it.  WooHoo.  Maybe I’ll actually get audited or something.  Can’t wait. 

We were having a FaceTime chat with some LaMarque grandkids the other day.  Three year old Ezra and six year old Noa were taking us on a tour of their house and showing us some of the amazing new tricks they have learned since being quarantined.  At one point Ezra coughed.  Without missing a beat, he said, “That’s Corona.”  Sigh.  What a time we are living in …

Galatians 5:1 says, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Father, we are adding a few new things to our “Trusting You” list.  Chris’ pain issues, for sure.  That whole social security thing.  Not something I need to spend time worrying about.  And Ezra, of course.  He’s already on the list.  Many times … Amen.