March 14 – “Sunday Report”

We had a great worship service yesterday.  The 35 or so extra people from Austin didn't hurt any, but the singing was fabulous.  We did a Body Life service.  Numerous people shared testimonies and scripture.  One girl from the Austin group even sang a song totally acapella.  Very nice.    After worship we hosted a Community party outside on the church grounds.  There were two bounce houses, a face painting booth (very popular with the kids who came), popcorn (Chris' favorite), sno cones (killer lemon-lime), games (I got into a horseshoes game with a new guy who just moved to Jamaica Beach last month.  He had a beautiful Irish Setter with him named Bear.  Seems that he had looked for a church in Galveston that morning but wasn't able to find it), hot dogs (those big fat ones), hamburgers, cookies, chips of all kinds, and some great baked beans ala Chris' kitchen.  I had several queries about Seaside Christian Academy that seemed serious.  At least two grandmothers were trying to get their grandchildren into a Christian school.  One of the Seaside kids went back through the neighborhood to roust some of his buddies out of bed and get them to come.  They eventually showed up on their really long skateboards.  Way to go, Casey.  All in all it was a highly positive experience for Seaside, and I think for the students from Austin as well.   Speaking of the Austin connection, they will be doing at least two more block parties as part of their mission trip to Galveston.  Tonight they will be at the Captain's Landing apartment complex right around the corner from our house.  Then tomorrow they will set up across the street at Ashton Place apartments.  They plan to be here until Thursday, but I'm not sure what else they have planned.   It is supposed to rain today.  At least over in Texas.  It might make it over the causeway this time, though.  there is a cold front headed this way.  Supposed to get back down into the high 40's again at night.  But it'll still be in the 70's during the day.  Ah, Spring on Galveston Island.    Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed."   Father, thank you for the peace that was so costly to you.  Amen.

March 13 – “Now pitching …”

So today is Daylight Savings Time day.  I set our clocks back like a good boy before we went to bed last night.  And amazingly enough, I woke up at 5:30.  Now that was really 4:30, so I should be way more tired than I feel right now. But then I need to be awake and alert because today is Sunday, after all.  And not just any Sunday.  Today we are hosting 35 or 40 extra people from Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin.  Actually they spent the night at the church last night, so in a sense they are hosting us in their bedroom, aren't they?    The wedding went off fine last night.  No serious complications, just the usual glitches.  They had two four year olds as ring bearer and flower girl.  The little guy was great, all dressed in his tuxedo, and proud to be carrying the pillow.  The girl was not so much excited about being there.  She decided she did not want to wear the crown of flowers they had on her head.  Said it was sticking her.  They insisted, so that led to her refusal to walk down the aisle.  She didn't throw a fit or anything.  She just stood there.  The boy tried holding her hand and taking her arm and even walking on ahead without her, but the farthest she would go was right to the edge of the back row.  The violin and piano reached the end of their song.  All eyes were on the little girl, so the boy bravely completed his walk alone.    Her Mom finally reached into her basket and dropped a few of her flowers to the ground, obviously trying to show her how important her job was.  And we could all see the light bulb go on in her head.  She stepped boldly to the center of the aisle, took a deep breath, reached into her basket for a handful of rose petals, and threw them with a force that would have made Nolan Ryan proud.  Then she grabbed another fistful and again threw with all her might.  Another.  And another.  And her basket was empty.  She had accomplished her task.  And she had not moved a step closer to the front.    Her Mom had gone on ahead to a seat on about the third row, and was coaxing her from there.  Light bulbs were flashing all over the crowd.  The girl never cried, never showed any signs of fear or even frustration.  Finally, amidst the flashing lights and giggling and pointing, she located her Mom.  Again, the recognition was visible all over her face.  She pursed her lips in determination.  One step.  Another.  She made it all the way to her Mom, who encouraged her to continue on to the front.  But alas.  The little one had arrived.  Mom was the end of her journey.  The flower tiara came off and she sat down, completely content with her accomplishment.  And that was enough for the crowd.  They clapped and cheered.  I wouldn't say the bride's arrival was an anti-climax, but … well, maybe it was.  Who could follow something like that?  They all heard the gospel as part of the ceremony.  The only other snafu came when the bride's veil fell off about halfway through the ceremony, but she calmly picked it up and handed it off to the maid of honor.  Mission accomplished.   Isaiah 52:7 says, "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, 'Your God reigns!'"   Father, send your blessings on the couple from yesterday, on the group of missionaries from Austin, and on those who will receive their ministry this week.  Amen.

March 12 – “Ah, Spring”

Ah, working in the yard.  Another sure sign that Spring is in the air.  And in the weeds.  And in the concrete blocks to repair the patio.  And in the bags of dirt to fill the holes in the yard left when the magnolia tree and the pecan tree came down last year (Was that just last year?  Seems like a lifetime ago).  And in the evil plants that grow in a circle and crush the life out of the Saint Augustine grass.  And in the weed and feed product that continues to get more and more expensive every year.  And in the lawn mower that keeps on sputtering in spite of a new spark plug.  And in the incredibly sore muscles.   On a more positive note, Spring is also in the baseball practices that Jachin and Micah have begun.  And the tiny little buds that are finally appearing on one of our two free sycamore trees that we got from the city's giveaway last year (Gives me hope that the other one – the bigger of the two, the one that we were counting on to give us shade in the evenings - will show signs of life soon.  And the green sticking out on the little bushes that last year were covered by the onslaught of periwinkles in the front flowerbed.  And the tiniest sign of life on the poinsettia that Chris was sure succumbed to the freeze.  And the wee little round things that look like what I assume satsumas look like (I don't remember ever seeing one in real life) on the satsuma tree we planted.    Of course on a larger scale, you know Spring is here because conference basketball tournaments are in full swing, leading up to March Madness.  And the Astros are in full swing (At least some of them are.  I saw where that new first baseman finally got some hits yesterday).  And my wedding appointment book is beginning to fill up.  I had two this week.  One was for an older couple who wanted to get married on the beach.  It was just the two of them and another couple who were friends of theirs who acted as their photographer and videographer.  Tonight I do another one at the San Luis Hotel.  This couple was married by a justice of the peace earlier, but they wanted to have a Christian wedding as well.  The bride is a non-practicing Moslem from the Philippines, so I'm looking forward to sharing the gospel.  They have some of the most interesting names I have heard in awhile.  Titik is the bride.  Her bridesmaids include Titin and Chili ("Like the hot peppers" is how she introduced herself).  Another one said her name was Budiyana, but to call her Boodie.    Ah, Spring.   Isaiah 51:5 says, "My righteousness draws near speedily, my salvation is on the way, and my arm will bring justice to the nations.  The islands will look to me and wait in hope for my arm."   Father, this is one island that really needs you.  We're waiting.  Help us remember to be looking … expecting … as well.

March 11 – “Pretty scary stuff”

It's taken me a few days to write about this next one.  Pretty scary stuff.   When we left Kel's house the other night, sans snail, we headed home.  Mom and Cailyn were safely tucked away in the back seat, Cailyn in her car seat, of course.    But just as we got to the top of the causeway, the car's interior lights suddenly came on and a warning signal started beeping.  Chris and I both jumped like we had been slapped in the face.  What was causing it?  It couldn't be a secret message from Onstar.  We didn't pay that renewal.  It took Chris a good second and a half to analyze the situation.  Nurse instincts, I guess.  She blurted out, "There's a door open."  Intelligent guy that I am, I reached over for my door to pull it shut.  "No," Chris stated with an ever-increasing sound of urgency in her voice, "It's Cailyn's.  She got the door open."   Sure enough, Cailyn had somehow managed to reach over from her car seat and open the door next to her.  Now she was firmly buckled in, so she wasn't going anywhere.  And it's not like the door flung open and dangled precariously open.  We weren't rapidly losing cabin pressure and in danger of being sucked out the window into the nothingness wormhole of space.  It was just enough to kick off that "your door is not properly closed" warning.    Fortunately Chris' car is fairly small.  It's a Chevy Equnox, the small end SUV.  I reached back and across Cailyn and managed to pull the door to its proper shut position.  It was pretty scary there for a minute or two for Chris and me.  Cailyn was fine.  She sang to herself through the whole thing.  And Mom never did get a handle on what had happened.  When we told Cailyn's Mom about it, the first thing she did was turn on the child locks in her car.  Do we have those?   Psalms 16:1 says, "Keep me safe, O God, for in you I take refuge."   Father, thank you for wrapping your arms around Cailyn and holding her the other night.  Amen.

March 10 - ”Snail on the Hood”

The other night when we went out to Kel's for supper, we noticed something that surprised us, then intrigued us.  We first noticed it after we had cleared the causeway and were well into Texas.  There was no fanfare, no sudden thump and it arrived.  We just noticed it.   Chris was driving and all was quiet when she remarked with a chuckle, "Oh.  Look at that."  Now since I was not in the driver's seat, I must confess that I was not at all paying attention to our outer surroundings.  Again, it's not that I was particularly startled, but I did look up immediately to see what she meant.  I didn't want to miss anything that brought joy to my bride's demeanor.  But I just didn't see it.  I scanned the countryside for signs of a four-legged cow.   That's a family joke from one of our vacations with our boys years ago.  Once we were driving through who-knows-where when we began to see signs about a five legged cow on display.  Feeling adventuresome, I pulled off the road when we got to the exit.  Here was a teachable moment, a true educational opportunity.  How often does one see such a creature?  The family stayed in the car as I went in to get some more details.  And I returned to the car forthwith.  They were quite proud of that unusual cow.  It was to cost $15 per person to catch a glimpse.  Way out o four budget).  Now, since I had been the one to encourage excitement about the phenomenon, I had to figure out a way to break it to the boys that we wouldn't be seeing him today.  On my dejected path back to the car, I had an idea.  I started up the engine and said, "The cows are just up the road."  We drove for several miles, hoping the boys would forget about the alien creature, but no.  Their interest had been piqued by the earlier musings of their dear old dad.  Finally I saw my opportunity.  Up ahead was a herd of cows grazing in a field.  "Look.  Up ahead.  There amidst all those other cows.  See him?"  The boys jumped to attention.  They craned their necks to get the best view possible.  "Which one is it?  Move, let me see."  As Chris looked at me quizzically, I replied, with all the excitement I could muster, "See?  There it is.  A real live four legged cow."  It took a good five or six seconds before the realization began to dawn.  "Wait a minute, Dad.  All cows have four legs."  Oh, I tried to convince them with numerous, perfectly logical arguments like, "This particular cow though was supposed to have five legs, but at the very last second before birth everything changed miraculously."  But to no avail.  I was finally shut down by a final dig, "This is just like one of your short cuts, isn't it, Dad?"  Short cuts, indeed.  But that's another story.   Back to the original tale.  And then, there it was.  Slowly making its way across our hood.  Understand that we were traveling 65 miles per hour.  And there on our hood was a small snail.  And he wasn't just hanging on for dear life.  He kept on crawling.  I didn't know his travel plans, but he was intent on getting there eventually.    And then the rain started.  He went inside (every smart creature knows when to come in out of the rain).  But he couldn't go all the way in or he wouldn't have been able to hold on.  Every so often his antennae would emerge to check out the most recent weather patterns.  Finally the rain let up.  He moved on.  What was his destination?  LaMarque, I guess.  He was there when we arrived but gone when we left after supper.   Great lesson there.  No matter what the adversity, even if it be storms or 65 mile per hour winds while we are gripping desperately to the hood of a car, hang in there.  God has promised his family that we won't be called upon to face anything that he won't give us the power to handle.    1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."   Father, thanks for the example of that snail.  Help me be like him.  Amen.

March 9 – “The rescue”

We were invited to have supper in LaMarque yesterday.  That's a small town in Texas about 12 miles north of Galveston.  It's where Kel recently started as pastor of a church.  Chris hadn't yet seen the house they moved into, so we were excited about heading up there.  Of course getting to see Jachin, Micah, and Josiah had nothing to do with our excitement.    Cailyn was over for the day as well.  Her Dad was working and her Mom was studying, so she joined Nani and DadDad for the journey into Texas.  Any opportunity for the cousins to get together is a great chance for their bonding to take place.  Of course, bonding between a girl and three boy cousins looks a little different than the wild and crazy football, baseball, action figure, Legos filled episodes that result when just the guys gather.  Now, Cailyn does her best to prove she can keep up with the rowdiest of the boys.  But she still has that pink tinge to her spirit.  It makes for an odd result sometimes.  And yesterday was no exception.  As he boys dove into the Lego room and began the latest installment in the ongoing saga of Iron Man vs. whatever evil criminal mastermind happens to show up, Cailyn made her way into the baby's room.  She located a stuffed dog, which became her baby.  She lavished affection on the unsuspecting canine, and finally decided it was time for the creature to take a nap.  The crib was right there, so she tossed the little guy in and proceeded to scale the heights after him.   What happened next is not completely clear.  Micah was in there with her, and he wasn't talking.  Some kind of cousin bond, "I'm not telling" moment, no doubt, between the four year old and the two year old.  But Chris heard Cailyn's cries first and hustled to check out the situation.  When she walked in, Micah was on the floor, eyes wide and mouth agape.  The stuffed animal was sleeping comfortably in the crib.  Cailyn, however, was in a predicament.  Apparently, in her effort to join the sleeping stuffed one, her foot had slipped in between the crib bars.  That caused her to lose her balance, which in turn led to the foot turning just enough to become lodged.  She tried to push off as she had certainly done many times before in similar circumstances, but alas, the foot remained in position.  So instead of landing on her feet as she had hoped, she dangled from the bed, held aloft by the one entangled foot, with one hand holding her off the floor, in some kind of twisted, gymnastics pose of Olympic proportions.   Chris rescued her forthwith (I've always wanted to use that word in an appropriate context), and checked her over from head to toe.  After a brief cry, always suitable response in such a setting, Cailyn was ready to move on to her next adventure.  It took Chris a little longer to recover, but I'm happy to say she is now fine as well.   Isaiah 50:10 says, "Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the word of his servant?  Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light, trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God."   Father, thank you for the light bulb that clicks on when we are smart enough to turn the switch to "trust."  Amen.

March 8 – “Follow me”

We decided to spend the day in Houston yesterday.  The graveside service for Scott was at 10:30 in north Houston just off I45, and the memorial service was at 2:30 way over in Northwest Houston.  So we left the house early and med our way north.   The graveside service was just for family and a few close friends.  We were honored to have been invited.  Bo, Scott's son-in-law, led the service and did an admirable job.  He informed the group that Scott had written his memoirs some years before, so he promised to share some from that document later at the memorial service.  I was immediately intrigued.  Scott wasn't what I would call a man of many words.  And he had an amazing sense of humor.  I wondered what stories he must have left for his family.    The memorial service was packed with friends and family.  It was great to see people from our time at Langwood Baptist Church back in the 70's.  And stories were the definitely on the menu.  Bo read several from Scott's memoirs, and he even read the story from my blog the other day.  Several others shared as well during the "official" time, but people were buzzing before and after.  One little Scott tidbit that didn't make the public time came up in banter just afterwards.  One of Scott's favorite things to say when conversation seemed at a lull was a quaint poem:             Roses are red,             Violets are purple.             Sugar is sweet,             And so is maple surple.   After the ceremony and a long time of lingering, we headed to Bo and Nancy's house.  We had never been there, so we asked for directions.  Bo thought for a few moments, then said, "It's too complicated to tell you how to get there.  Just follow me.  I won't lose you."  Well, we lost him.  Coming out of the parking lot we got caught by a stream of traffic, but dutifully, Bo pulled over to wait for us.  That should have been our first clue.  Follow me.  But we finally made the turn and took up our place behind him.  The problem intensified as we entered the freeway heading even further north.  First it was a Ford Explorer that pulled between us and kept riding his brakes.  It was like he thought we were an unmarked police car, and he didn't want to get up to the speed limit just in case.  And the traffic was just heavy enough that we couldn't get around him.  Every so often we caught a glimpse of Bo's car ahead, though, so we plodded on.  Follow me.  Finally, the Explorer exited and we breathed a sigh of relief.  And just then a huge Hummer pulled in front of us.  So much for locating Bo.  We couldn't see around it.  By this time the glimpses of Bo had pretty much ceased.  Follow me.  In fact I was reaching for my phone to see if I had his number saved when we saw him.  Just ahead.  He had changed lanes and was waiting for us, just as he said.  Follow me.  Traffic had finally thinned out, so after all that stress and worry it became easier and easier to keep our eyes on Bo.  Even when he took an exit off the freeway that didn't exist on the map we were following.  Follow me.  I had a pencil, so I actually added the road to the map as we drove it.  It was kind of fun.  Follow me.  Their house was out in the middle of nowhere.  I have no idea how they found it, except that someone must have told them about it.  The property was beautiful, though, and their new house was very nice.  We stayed and enjoyed the company for awhile, but soon we knew it was time for us to head back to Galveston.  They texted us direction to get back to some main roads, and it was good to have those assurances.  But we didn't need them.  Now I had a map.  Anybody want to go see Bo and Nancy?  Follow me.   Follow me, indeed.  Talk about a spiritual lesson learned from that whole experience.  All we need to do to get through this life is follow Jesus.  There will be times when circumstances seem so big that we can't see him, or when people seem to deliberately distract us from keeping focused on him.  But he's always up there, ready to pull over and wait if we need him.  Sometimes the way is clear and we can see him at every turn.  That's nice.  Sometimes he takes us on unexpected roads that are not on our map, but he knows what he is doing.  He knows where we are heading.  It's a beautiful place, the presence of Jesus.  The company there is wonderful.  And once we have followed him and know the way, it's time for us to go back out and show others how to get there.  He offers us lots of assurances to keep us on track, and we even have a map, his Word.  Wow.  Follow me.   Luke 9:23 says, "Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'"   Father, help me keep my eyes open.  I know you are just ahead and you won't get too far for me to keep up.  Amen.