November 7 – “A Taste of Winter”

Well, OK, then.  It is very cold here on Gilligan’s Island.  Weather Bug indicated that it was forty-eight degrees when I turned on the computer this morning.  Just to give you some perspective, any time the temperature reaches below sixty here in the tropics, we pull out the winter coats, so below fifty is icy as far as we are concerned.  The dead of winter.  Freezing.  Chilly.  Bitter.  Glacial.  And of course this is the day I have water therapy to go to first thing.  That’s what I was looking for.  A chance to get wet and then walk around in the cold.  Great.

Nathan also brought Cailyn over for us to take her to school.  He got called in for some overtime.  And she knew it was cold.  Told me right off that today was the first day of winter.  I had to agree.  She noticed what I was wearing and queried, “DadDad, why are you wearing socks with your sandals?”  A valid question, I suppose.  One I had no trouble answering, either.  “Because it’s cold outside.”  For some reason that didn’t seem to satisfy her.  She just looked at me and shook her head as if I was a lost cause.  So, wait.  Are you not supposed to wear socks with sandals?  Is that a fashion faux pas?  Well, here’s a news flash.  Fashion and I have never been particularly close friends.  All those requirements about matching shades of color and stripes and plaids and flowers.  It’s all too much to worry about.  Non-essential information.  Doesn’t matter to me what it looks like.  I don’t have to look at it anyway.  Besides, my toes were warm.  Now that was an important consideration. 

I said nothing to Cailyn to dampen her enthusiasm about the exciting discovery she made yesterday.  We were driving home after school and she announced, “Look, DadDad.  I found one of the bones in my nose.”  Interesting mental pictures flooded my mind.  Was her nose bleeding?  No, it couldn’t be that.  She was totally calm, and even chuckling a bit.  Did she find a random souvenir on the school ground that she was making scientific observations about?  Perhaps.  Or was she maybe pranking me somehow, and I was totally clueless about the possible outcomes?  Certainly probable.  Cautiously, I peered into the rear view mirror to see if I could detect a clue as to where that statement was coming from.  I had to lean over a bit to see behind the head rest, but finally there she was.  Calm.  Cool.  Collected.  With a finger stuck up her nose.  Uh-huh.  There it was.  I must say, I have discovered that bone in my nose a time or two as well.  But you gotta be careful.  Sometimes lurking near the bone is some sticky, gooey, sometimes slimy stuff.  It can easily get caught on your finger as you pull it out.  But don’t worry.  If it does, it can be a lot of fun to chew on.  Lasts a long time.  Not much flavor, though ….

Psalms 118:24 says, “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Father, thank you for this taste of winter.  Cold enough for us, though.  Amen.

November 6 – “Back to School”

We received some schooling yesterday.  Some serious schooling.  April had a late day working in the operating room, so we had Cailyn a little longer than usual.  That meant she had more time to expose us to the rigors of a typical day in her school classroom.  And what better way to do that than to play school?

Cailyn was, of course, the teacher.  Chris was assigned the name Kyree, in honor of one of her school friends.  MeeMaw was now Cailyn.  And my name?  Well, I was assigned to be Justa Beaver.  Go figure.  We each had to wear one of the small plastic fire fighter hats that I picked up at the open house the other day.  Interesting look for a school dress code, but we all complied.  Chris, er, Kyree, was apparently the problem child for the day.  She was instructed to sit with her legs crossed in her chair.  “Criss Cross, Applesauce” was the actual command.  Glad she didn’t say it to me.  I would have had no idea what she was talking about.  Chris knew immediately, however, because right away she said she couldn’t do it.  Ah, gotta watch that insubordination, Kyree.  She was reprimanded with, “If you don’t want to learn and if your leg hurts, then don’t come to school.”  Ouch.

Teacher began class by reading us one of the books she got at the library about coral reefs.  She broke character for a second to ask DadDad what kind of fish she was seeing, and I identified it as a redfish.  Actually I couldn’t tell, but for the sake of the story, it seemed to fit.  She returned to character and to her position in the chair in front of the room.  With a brief wag of the finger she noted, “This is a red fish, and that’s why Justa Beaver is so smart.”  Ha.  Take that, rest of the class.  I’m the teacher’s pet.  Of course she then pointed to a picture in the book and asked Kyree/Chris to identify it.  Chris answered “coral” and received this acclaim: “She is a smart kid because she listens to me.”  We each earned a sticker for our efforts.  MeeMaw got one, too.  I guess because she was being quiet and not disrupting class.

Next phase of the class was “metorolgis.”  Again, I had no clue what that was until Chris translated it to “meteorologist.”  She got to be the helper for this segment.  We had to all sing a song – three times – as the introduction.  Went like this: “Sunny day, cloudy day, rainy day so gray.  Look outside and tell us now, can we go out to play.”  Cute.  Chris looked out the back door and observed that it was too dark to tell what the weather was.  Wrong answer.  She was reprimanded.  Everyone else could tell that it was snowing.  Problem was, we didn’t have a snowflake to use as an indicator.  Now, while this was all going on, Kyree/Chris raised her hand and asked if she could go to the bathroom.  She whispered to me that she really didn’t have to go, she was just trying to get out of class.  But our dear teacher saw right through that ruse, young lady.  She answered, without skipping a beat, “No.  Stay here until we are done.”  Come on, you troublemaker.  Did you really expect her to fall for that one?  Kyree/Chris tried again later, but she was really stopped short that time with, “Would you not interrupt me?  Please.” 

Teacher finally got back to the book and taught us some fascinating facts about sea creature.  “Turtles make babies and lay eggs on the beach.  Sharks can change to whatever color they want to be.  Sharks are not nice.  They bite you.  And an eel and a stingray and a jellyfish.  They are the only things that sting you in the water.  Is there anything else that stings you?”  Wanting to maintain my teacher’s pet position, I offered, “A Portuguese man-o-war can sting you.  They are like a jellyfish, only purple.”  She pondered my offering for a brief second, then replied, “We’re not going to talk about that now.” 

Must have been because it was time for “Letters and Sounds.”  She wrote down a series of random letters, and we had to say them out loud and tell the sound.   W.M.I.B.P.N.  I missed the last one.  I said U.  Didn’t lose my status, though.  She just felt sorry for me and corrected me.  Then we moved to numbers.  1-7. When we got to number 7, though, she admonished us, “Say it louder.”  We tried, but it wasn’t enough.  “Louder.”  I, for one, yelled it.  Ever the curious one, Kyree/Chris broke character briefly and asked, “Does Mrs. Applegate yell?”  At first she simply shook her head to indicate no, but then she seemed to remember something, and said, “Sometimes.”  Of course came the follow-up question, “Who does she yell at?”  And the answer: “The bad people.”  And the follow-up to the follow-up question: “Who are the bad people?”  OK.  Now here is where I am going to choose the better part of valor and not reveal the actual names on her list, but there were a few.  Four, to be exact.  And sadly, three of the four were boys.  Chris then had one more question.  Maybe she was carrying it a bit too far, but if she hadn’t asked it, I’m pretty sure Justa Beaver would have.  “Well, does Mrs. Applegate ever yell at you?”  With a horrified look on her face she assured us, “No.  No way.”  And with that response we effectively ended our school day.

Psalms 119:2 says, “Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.”

Father, thank you that our grandkids are all learning about you as well as your world.  Amen.

November 5 – “Starting at the beginning”

Yesterday (and today so far, which hasn’t been all that far yet) was one of those days where you can’t really get motivated to do much of anything.  Well, at least for me it was.  Chris was busy as usual.  She pulled out one of the unfinished quilts that her Mom had been working on before she died.  She was pretty determined to get it finished, so it won’t take her that long.  “Long” of course has different meanings in the quilting world.  It may take several months, and in the grand quilting scheme of time, that will be just a drop in the bucket.  Or she may get it done in one weekend and feel like it took her forever.  I guess I don’t understand the mindset yet.  But the point is she was quite motivated and focused, so I was honestly a little jealous.  Monday is one of my biggest workdays in terms of preparation.  I was doing my best to come up with a flow of things for the teaching at church next week.  I finished the website article and entered the teaching notes onto the church Facebook page.  Those were just reporting kinds of things.  It was the creative stuff that was just beyond me.  I have been teaching through the Gospel of John, so I knew the next passage.  I just wasn’t inspired with any word from God to communicate.  So that meant most of the day was given over to praying for some direction.  Not a bad thing, by any means, and certainly not the first time it has happened, but it always puts a crimp in my weekly schedule.  I guess I was kind of sad to realize that there are so many areas in which I have become a creature of routine.    

So what do I do when I hit one of those lows?  As I said, in this particular case I remembered to pray first.  Not always something that comes to mind in one of these mini-crises.  Once I got assurance that God was still in control and would guide me, then I did relax a bit.  Still didn’t have a clue which direction to take the teaching, though.  So that’s when I considered some other possible approaches to my drought of mind.  And for me, that usually means finding something completely mindless to engage myself in.  See, I have tried doing some crossword puzzles.  I like crossword puzzles.  I do one every night before I go to bed.  But crossword puzzles have the opposite effect on me.  I get sleepy.  Requires too much brain energy, I suppose.  There is always the “Take a nap” approach.  I often do that one without even intending to.  Has something to do with the medication I’m taking, I think.  I have tried changing the focus of what I’m doing, and sometimes that is effective.  Like instead of working on the teaching, I switch to the kids’ sermon.  Problem there is, I try to make the kids’ sermon an introduction to the teaching, so if I don’t have an idea of where I’m going, I can’t really devise an introduction to it.  I have worked on the other Bible studies that I teach during the week.  There is always something else to work on.  Or I could read a novel.  I really enjoy good Christian fiction.  Ted Dekker is a favorite.  I don’t always have a new book available, though.  Sometimes I take a break completely and watch TV.  Nothing like an episode of The Mentalist or Doctor Who or Flashpoint or NCIS.  It certainly fits the “mindless” category.  For me, though, probably the best idea-starter is to do something physical.  Take a walk around the house.  Mow the grass.  Make a WalMart run for Chris.  Go visit one of the fire stations.  Hey, it’s getting close to Christmas, so I’ll have to make some time to do some carving. 

Can I be honest about something here?  When I started this blog entry today, I had no idea what to write about.  Probably shows.  But it also has shown me that the biggest problem in motivation is getting started.  Once the beginning is out of the way, the rest will come.  So here I go.  Let me see … John 7:1-13 …

Psalms 119:1 says, “Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord.”

Father, thank you for loving us even in the times we are too dull to recognize where you are active around us.  Amen.

November 4 – “Pumpernickel”

It was good to be “back in the saddle” again yesterday, worshipping and leading worship at Seaside.  And once again it was the kids who kept us all on our toes.  The Scripture passage was a teaching by Jesus from the Book of John on how he is the bread of life.  To get us started, I asked the kids what their favorite flavor bread was.  That brought the expected confused stares at first, but I finally got one answer, “White.”  Not exactly a flavor, but he got the right idea.  Then he explained further, “Sometimes my Mommy buys that wheat bread and it is just yucky.”  Ah, so he did understand.  To help the others out, I had samples of several different kinds of bread: the usual wafers we use for communion, small crackers, a tortilla, some wheat pita bread, some cinnamon swirl raisin bread, and some pumpernickel bread.  I held a sample of each one up so they could see and decide if it was something they would be interested in tasting.

The communion wafer and tiny cracker were things they had seen before, so they were interested, and said they would certainly try them out.  The tortilla was already a favorite, so it seemed unnecessary to try that one.  The wheat pita brought back memories of yuckiness to one particular boy.  The cinnamon swirl raisin bread was an instant delight to all of them.  Not so much the pumpernickel, though.  I held up a large slice so they could all see it, and the comments began:

“Is that really bread?”
“It looks like cake.”
“Is it chocolate?  I like chocolate.  But chocolate bread?”
When I told them the name, Pumpernickel, they laughed like they had just heard the best joke ever.  You gotta admit, it does sound funny.  I then took a chance and asked if they wanted to try some of it.  The answer came back immediately and loudly: a chorus of “Nooooo.”  I did pass around a plate with samples of everything on it.  Couldn’t get any takers on the pumpernickel, though.  One girl was almost brave enough.  She picked it up and looked at it.  Just couldn’t bring herself to follow through, though.  Besides, that cinnamon swirl was just too compelling to pass up. 

While they munched at their bread, we continued on with the kids’ sermon.

        Today we get to look in the window when Jesus does some serious teaching in response to some questions people ask him. 

But first, help me remind everyone about the story we have been hearing.  It started with 2 fish and 5 loaves of bread … (They did a great job of piecing the story together for me)

            Jesus fed 5000 people by starting with a few fish and some bread.  And they had 12 baskets of leftovers.  The people wanted to make him King of the World right then, but the time wasn’t right.  So he sent the disciples off in a boat to a different area.  And while they were headed there, a major storm came up.  They feared for their lives, and even thought a ghost was coming to get them, but it was Jesus walking on the water.  Peter walked to him for a moment or two, then took his eyes off of Jesus and began to sink.  He cried out for help and Jesus grabbed him and helped him into the boat. 
          Now, Jesus and the disciples have reached the shore after going through that all-nighter fighting a storm out on the Sea of Galilee.  It doesn’t take long for the crowds of people to start showing up again.
          But why are they there?  (At this point they were really into the story, and it didn’t take long for one of them to shout out, “To get some more bread.”  Hey, those kids are closer to understanding the minds of people than many psychiatrists, aren’t they?)
          I suggested a few other options.  To get healed?  Sure.  To hear him preach some more?  Probably.  Sounds like a pretty good group, doesn’t it?  But there was something else, too.  And Jesus saw it right away.  So did you.  They were hoping he would feed them again, or maybe do some magic tricks.  But he was more concerned that they understand who he is and why he came.  They wanted bread and he told them he was the only bread they needed!  (That was a bit confusing, and even drew a comment or two along the lines of, “We’re supposed to eat Jesus?” and “How would we eat Jesus?”)  I understand their confusion.  It led to some pretty serious persecution in the first century when people heard about the Christians and their communion meal.  They were accused of being cannibals.  But it was just Jesus’ way of helping them understand how important he was.  We have to have food to live, right?  Well, we need Jesus even more than we need food.  Jesus is all we really need now, too. 

Psalms 118:29 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

Jesus, thank you for being enough.  Help me live like I believe it.  Amen.

November 3 – “The Case of the Missing Fire Pup”

I made it over to fire station five yesterday with little fanfare from the thousands of motorcycles here on the Island for the Lone Star Bike Rally.  I guess ten in the morning was a little too early for the cruising to begin.  The Fire Prevention Open House was coordinated by a team under the direction of the Galveston Fire Marshall Gilbert Robinson.  The event marks the end of the fire prevention emphasis that every school is encouraged to take part in every year.  Fire fighters and fire department staff members go into the schools and do programs encouraging fire prevention and educating about what to do in the event of a fire.  A contest encourages kids to create posters encouraging fire prevention, and local insurances associates provide trophies and cash prizes for the winners.  Yesterday was the day the day those trophies and prizes were presented.

I particularly enjoyed what happened when the presentations actually began.  One of the fire fighter rookies had the “honor” of dressing up as Fire Pup.  The Fire Pup costume consists of gloves that look like dog paws, a bright yellow fireman jacket, and a massively huge Dalmatian head.  I must say that Firefighter Thompson carried himself well in the outfit.  He managed to emote a sense of excitement, and the first little kindergartener seemed proud to be photographed with him.  But suddenly, the fire alarm went off in the station.  A call came through for the rescue truck, and the fire fighters assigned to the unit leapt into action.  The only thing was, one of the fire fighters assigned to the rescue truck yesterday was … you guessed it … Fire Pup.  To his credit, Firefighter Thompson jumped as well.  He waved goodbye to the children and raced around the side of the building, like Superman heading for a phone booth to change into his superhero outfit.  And when he emerged to take his place on the truck, he received an ovation from the crowd.  Apparently that was the first time in all the years of doing the ceremony that Fire Pup had to leave to answer a call.  Nice job, Will.  Fire Chief Wisko stood in for him, and did a fine job posing for photos, but, hey, there’s nothing like having a picture with a human-dalmatian hybrid with a huge head. 

 

After the presentations were completed and the people were enjoying refreshments, the station five firefighters set up a demonstration to show the difference in response and results when a home or business has or does not have a sprinkler system.  Two very small rooms had been built, each containing identical furniture – a couch, a table, a trash can, and some curtains on the window.  On was equipped with a sprinkler system.  The other was not.  After some initial struggles with the high winds, the fire was lit in the first structure – without sprinklers.  Fire Marshall Robinson gave a play by play account of what was happening with the fire and the time that was elapsing, all superimposed on a countdown of the typical six-minute response time of the fire department.  He described the action of the flames, and predicted exactly when the flashover would occur, with flames rolling up to the ceiling and exploding out of the front of the structure.  All the while alarms were sounding all around.  Three fire fighters were suited up, crouched in front of the structure and ready to move in at a moment’s notice.  Two held a water line.  One was recording the temperature of the fire and relaying it to the fire marshall, who then shared it with the crowd.  Several of the spectators began to notice something unusual about these three as they waited for their cue to attack the fire.  Every so often one of them would seem to shiver or shake himself.  Occasionally one would punch one of his cohorts.  I had a chance to explain that each one was wearing a safety device that alarmed whenever the firefighter stayed in a still position for too long a period.  The idea is that if he for any reason was injured or trapped, the alarm would automatically alert his fellow firefighters that a rescue was needed.  These guys were simply turning off the alarm by moving.  Finally the signal from Marshall Robinson came and the firefighters on standby rushed in.  In short order they had the fire completely put out, all to the cheers of the crowd standing by. 

The second fire began the same way, with the fire marshall providing the countdown.  Suddenly the sprinkler system kicked on and in seconds the fire was completely extinguished.  There was never even that much smoke generated, a point Marshall Robinson made as key to the ability to find the exits in such a circumstance.  I had the privilege of talking with Marshall Robinson after the event, and he further pointed out to me the “V” pattern that the fire had made on the wall of the first building.  He explained that the point of the “V” invariably reveals the starting point of the fire.  Fascinating.  I told him I was quite impressed, and he humbly responded, “That’s what we’re trained to look for.” 

Very impressive job all the way around, from the obvious early preparations by Trish and Nora to the cake and cookies to the personal touch by the fire fighters in showing kids the truck.  I would say the event was a rousing success.  Thanks, everyone.

Psalms 118:28 says, “You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you.”

Father, this weekend has been really active with fire and rescue calls.  Keep our guys safe as they respond.  Amen.

November 2 – “Candy Bonanza”

I had one short outing yesterday before leaving the Island to the motorcycle enthusiasts.  It is Lone Star Rally weekend here, so thousands of motorcycles and their riders have descended upon Galveston to make lots of noise and show off their rides.  Oh, and I suppose to spend lots of money.  At least that’s what the island hopes for.  I have already seen some strange concoctions that pass for motorcycles.  One looked strangely like a volkswagon with three wheels.  Very odd.  This crowd is actually one of the best behaved groups of all the tourists that come to Galveston.  There are a few extra vehicular accidents, though, and those are always more dangerous without the extra layers of metal that a car provides.  Just gotta keep praying for safety.

After a quick stop at the bank to deposit a check, my outing began at Academy.  I got a ten dollar coupon in the mail from the fishing tournament I sign up for every year.  Not very many strings attached.  Just ten dollars toward whatever I want to buy from Academy.  At Chris’ suggestion I was looking for a simple, cotton, long-sleeved t-shirt.  None to be found.  I finally settled for one of those nylon, stretchy workout shirts that are apparently the hottest thing right now.  I’m not sure how comfortable it will be, but, for two dollars it was worth a shot.

Wal-Mart was my last stop.  I had instructions to determine of any Halloween candy was on sale and get some.  No, really.  I’m totally serious.  Chris actually asked me to go buy some candy.  Woo Hoo.  Permission to go crazy.  And the deals weren’t that bad, either.  Half of what they were they day before.  Skittles, candy corn, Yorks, M&M’s, Reeses’s, Butterfingers, Smarties.  Unbelievable.  Of course there were some strange offerings as well.  Do you like Starbursts?  Any Candy Corn aficionados?  How about Starburst flavored candy corn?   (Yuk).  Or maybe Candy Corn flavored, white chocolate M&M’s (yuk).  I settled on just a few items.  Well, just a few more than Chris intended for me to get, but I was on a roll.  And it WAS for the grandkids, right? 

While I was hovering around the candy display, an older guy (well, he looked a little older than me) came over and introduced himself.  Nice old chap.  Wearing a Tiki Island volunteer fire department cap.  I’m guessing my Galveston fire department cap is what caught his attention.  He informed me that “they canceled Halloween in Tiki last night.  The mayor decided to be the Grinch that stole Halloween.  It’s been rescheduled for tonight.”  Well, OK.  I suppose I needed to know that tidbit of trivia.  Guess he was well-stocked for the post-Halloween Halloween in Tiki Island.

I’m headed this morning over to fire station number 5 on Broadway by the Criminal Justice Center.  It is the Fire Prevention Open House, and I have been asked to pray an invocation.  Sounds like fun, and the public is invited.  “Bring the kids,” I was told.  They are having refreshments, and a fire sprinkler demonstration.  That means … there will be fire. 

Psalms 118:27 says, “The Lord is God, and he has made his light shine upon us.  With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar.”

Father, watch over these motorcyclists.  Amen.

November 1 – “Reformation Day Remembrances”

Aaaaaand … another month has passed.  There was excitement in the Waco branch of the Vaughan household.  Caleb was beside himself with excitement.  Why?  Because baby Luke’s own personal “worm” finally fell off.  He now officially has a belly button like the rest of us, so I guess that makes him unquestionably human.  I’m excited, too, Caleb. 

Ah, Reformation Day.  It went well here on the Island, I suppose.  Not many cases of vandals nailing thing up on people’s doors, though.  Ever since I heard about Reformation Day, I always thought that particular brand of mischief would be especially appropriate.  But, sadly, so few people would understand the historical significance that it would just be lost in the array of nonsensical hooliganisms that generally accompany the Halloween season. 

We had a much smaller crowd this year than last.  I’m pretty sure the morning and afternoon of solid rain and thunder and flash flooding reports might have had just a little to do with it.  Oh, we still ran out of candy, make no mistake about that.  And we gave away 387 New Testaments, so that was a major plus.  We actually had two little guys dressed as firemen this year.  That has become my special treat costume.  The first little fire fighter got here just after I had greeted one of Galveston Fire Department’s captains who was out with his young son.  Oddly, the captain’s son was dressed as a police officer.  His Dad said the boy had told him he was tired of being a fireman.  Wanted to try something different.  So back to the little fireman.  This first one received an extra scoopful of candy.  His parents didn’t really understand my reasoning, but who were they to argue, right?  The second little fire fighter came much later, and I almost missed him.  His special prize was an Easter egg.  Think his parents didn’t wonder what that was about?  I made sure they understood that it was because of his choice of costume, and I’m pretty sure they will assist him in spending the three dollars bills I put inside. 

We could certainly have continued long past the 8:00 or so cutoff we established, but in deference to our neighbors, who were all turning out their lights and shutting down for the night, we responded in kind.  That didn’t stop the hangers-on, though.  We were still seeing folks traipsing around the neighborhood in the dark with very small children in tow until well past 9:30.  Much too late for the tiny ones.  Now it’s on to All Saint’s day, and preparations for Thanksgiving.  If we can avoid the Christmas decorations for another week or so. 

Psalms 118:25-26 says, “O Lord, save us; O Lord, grant us success.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. From the house of the Lord we bless you.”

Father, thanks for the fun our kids had realizing giving away Bibles is, well, fun.  Amen.