November 26 - “Early Excitement”

We had a bit of neighborhood excitement yesterday. Early excitement.  Very early. It began for me when my phone’s text ring went off at 3:30 a.m.  Instantly in pastor/chaplain mode, I was wide awake. The texter was Sam. The message? “Are you awake?”  I checked around my immediate circumstance. It appeared that I was, indeed, awake. After all, I had to wake up anyway to answer the phone. She was wondering what three emergency vehicles were doing at the house next door. I quickly checked my app. Ah. One of our neighbors was having some trouble breathing. Proud of my fire department family. 

I was able to doze off again after that little wave of excitement, but I was up again just before 6. Luke joined me soon thereafter, and among his array of amazing verbiage came the following wisdom. It was his definition of the aging process. See what you think:

Young - 0-10 years old

Pre teen - 11-12 

Teenager - 13-17

Adult - 18-49

Old - 50-59

Old person - 60-79

Dead - 80 - 90 - 100

After breakfast  the morning grew strangely quiet. Josh and Christi took their youngsters to meet up with Christina and their young-uns at Home Depot. No, not to do Christmas shopping (as far as I can tell).  They went to one of those sessions for kids where they can build bird houses and the like. If I heard correctly, this time it was Christmas ornaments. 

The Turkey Bowl once again convened near high noon, this time out at the beach. A total of 23 brave souls attended, and a lot of them even played. Aunt Sam made an appearance, and surveyed the action from her luxury box seat (er, from the car parked on the Seawall).  I have no idea which team won, but there was sure a lot of scoring. 

My favorite moment of the game (apart from when Josh tossed a pass in my direction and I just happened to be standing in the end zone for a touchdown) came in the second half, after us elderly folks had retired (well, except Uncle Josh).  I was chatting on the sidelines with Chris and Nathan and April and Christi. All of a sudden I noticed a large SUV pull over to the curb. And out popped a young boy, maybe ten years old. He made his way down the steps, introduced himself, and was of course welcomed into the game. 

Backstory from talking to his Dad. They were just cruising the Seawall enjoying the view when young Ahmet suddenly screamed, “Pull over here, Dad! You have to stop the car now!”  Dad thought something was wrong, but no. Ahmet just really wanted to play in the American football game. 

Back to the game. Ahmet took his place on Uncle Josh’s team. After a few snaps, the inevitable happened. The pass was in the air. Ahmet circled under it. Caught! Touchdown!  He was ecstatic. So much so, in fact that he did a little touchdown dance that rivaled any I have seen in the NFL. I asked Dad if he had taught the dance to his son, and beaming, he replied, “Oh, no. He teaches it to me!”  Nice job, young man. After the game Chris explained to Dad the nature and history of this particular game. She also said that most of the ones out there were our kids or grandkids. He grinned really big and said something in a foreign language. “In our culture, that means,” he translated, “God has blessed you.”  I replied, “Yep. God has blessed us in our culture as well.”

The golden MVP Dee Clements Trophy was voted on and presented at halftime. It was a close vote this year. So close, in fact, that there was a tie for first. Cailyn’s memorable “I got got!” declaration that carried through from the practice game on Friday was a clear favorite. However, one other nominee rose to prominence when it became known to Nani that referee DadDad had actually scored a touchdown. You might say, in fact, “He got got!”  Yup. DadDad’s “Oops got got” got enough support for the official “Got Got” tie. 

Coming in a close second was Uncle Nathan’s arm across the chest salute, like he was a storm trooper or something. He played the whole game keeping his bum shoulder immobilized. Not an easy task, there, Nathan. Remember, you have a surgery scheduled in March. 

Numbers‬ ‭6‬:‭24‬-‭26‬ ‭says, The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.

Father, thank you again for the family you graced me with. Love ‘em. Amen.