March 7 – “In both worlds”

We took Cailyn to her softball practice yesterday at the Lassie League fields.  The Galveston College Lady Whitecaps were playing a softball game at the same time on the neighboring field.  I positioned myself on the top row of the stands so that I could keep an eye on Cailyn and watch some of the Whitecaps game as well.  (The Whitecaps eventually won the game, by the way.  7-4). 

I must have stood out in my mediatorial-ish position, one foot in both worlds so to speak.  A gentleman from the college game walked over and offered this word of observation.  With a nod of his head toward Cailyn’s team of six and seven year olds, he offered: “Before you know it they will be playing over here.  Time goes by fast, you know.”  I could certainly agree with the truth in that statement, as well as the sentiment behind it.  (Doesn’t mean I have to particularly like it, though).  Can’t keep them youngsters forever, no matter how hard we try. 

Revelation 3:19 says, “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.”

Father, thank you for the time we have with our little guys while they are little guys.  Keep them safe as they grow into big guys.  That’s their job, after all.  Amen.

March 6 – “Freeing up space”

We experienced what I would call a tedious day yesterday.  Oh, we had options, to be sure.  We could have gone to a few flag football games.  Sorry we missed those.  We talked about going to Moody Gardens to see the new Imax movie on the national parks.  We were even close to going to the new Bryan Museum that used to be an orphanage where I would play football once a week when I was in high school.  But alas, “the best lain plans” don’t always work out. 

Instead we spent the day in front of the computer.  That’s a typical day for me, but this time Chris joined me.  with the A&M and then the Baylor basketball games in the background, we plowed through the photos on her phone.  The idea was for her to locate the digital copy on the computer external hard drive, make sure it was in its proper place, and only then delete it from her phone.  Or not.  She kept  plenty of favorites to look at.  The point was to free up space for her to be able to take plenty of pictures when we go to DisneyWorld in May.  I think we are well on our way.  We worked our way all the way through to November of 2013 (working backwards from 2016).  She deleted around a thousand so far, but she still has 900 plus on there.  If anyone ever doubted that Chris was the Queen of Collecting Images, the Princess of Photography, I’m pretty sure our day yesterday can dispel any doubts. 

One weird thing did arise in our search.  When we got to December 2013 we discovered that we were not allowed access to one of the folders on our computer.  It said we had to contact our administrator for permission.  So wait.  I am the administrator.  I never kicked anyone out of permission to look at photos.  It wouldn’t even let me move the folder around or rename it.  Very strange.  Fortunately we had yet another backup plan.  That particular folder was among others we have also saved on Chris’s laptop.  I had to change the name slightly, but it worked to copy it and paste it back on the external drive in its proper place.  I probably wouldn’t have tried so hard, but the folder that was mysteriously restricted?  Christmas Day.  Gotta have Christmas Day. 

Revelation 2:10 says, “Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.”

Father, thank you for our Christmas Day recovery.  Those memories are pretty important to us.  Thanks for the recovery you pulled off on the first Christmas Day.  Impressive.  Amen.

March 5 – “Vomitus operandi”

OK.  Crisis of all crises.  Luke had the very first vomiting incident of his young career yesterday.  He made it through a few years without remembering such a devastating experience.  I’m fairly certain he had a few when he was tiny tot learning how to do basic things like eat, but since he has become a sentient being, there has been no recollection.  Of course he handled it like a trooper.  I understand after it was all over with he went directly into educational mode.  Coolly compared his vomitus operandi with that of his older brothers.  “Bubba goes bleahh.”  Yes, Luke, he does.  As do most of us at one time or another. 

We got all this information as a result of a FaceTime call.  The vomiting had become a thing of the past, but he was nursing a subsequent sore spot on his head.  Seems he had a rather rousing collision with … the ceiling.  Hey, when you grow up in a house full of boys (two brothers and a sometimes over-zealous Daddy reliving his early years with his very special friend and constant companion, My Buddy), the sky’s the limit, so to speak (or in this case maybe the ceiling), of what strange and wonderful things can occur in the course of a typical afternoon.  How did it happen, you may ask?  Well, it could have been one of a myriad of things.  Was he a cute little monkey, jumping on the bed?  Was he perhaps the stone in a massive catapult fashioned by his brothers out of Legos?  Was he simply practicing his gymnastics floor exercise routine for the 2032 Olympics?  Was it a screen test for riding a tauntaun in one of the upcoming Star Wars movies?  Or could it possibly have been a slight miscalculation of ceiling height change on the part of the Lone Ranger’s trusty steed at the point of dismount?  Sorry.  My lips are sealed.  Luke is fine.  Life event number 37 … vomiting … check.

Revelation 2:5 says, “Repent and do the things you did at first.”

Father, please keep the rest of the family safe from the bug Luke has.  Amen.

March 4 – “It has begun”

Well, softball season has officially begun.  No, not church softball.  There hasn’t been one of those seasons since Hurricane Ike destroyed the lights on the field.  Nope. This is Lassie League.  Little girls.  Cailyn.

I snuck out for the beginning of home group so I could be a part of the inaugural softball game of Cailyn’s career.  Mommy was in her place in the stands and her Daddy even managed to be there even though he was on shift.  Thank you, Moose, for being a part of such a transformative day by filling in for Nathan.  You guys with baby girls have to stick together.  Even ex-mayor Bobo Quiroga was in the stands for this one.  Of course the fact that he might have known one of the little ones out there could have had something to do with his presence.

Cailyn looked awesome, of course.  She looked like … a baseball player.  A really cute baseball player.  White headband.  Red team jersey.  Pink cleats.  White helmet.  Pink bat.  That’s our girly girl.  And old DadDad couldn’t have been prouder when she raced out to the field to take her position for the first inning … at shortstop.  My old position.  And right away she proved herself, fielding two grounders and making the throw right on the money to first base.  Good fielder.  It’s in her genes.  She takes after her grandfather.  And then she came to bat.  Bases loaded.  Nobody out.  She took three mighty swings but didn’t connect this time.  Also runs in her genes, no doubt.  Certainly reminded me of … well, me.  She’ll get it, though.  She had a great attitude about virtually everything that was happening.  She joined in with cheers on the bench, a staple of Lassie League in Galveston.  She is learning more and more about how the game itself works, too.  That should help as she progresses.  Bottom line, though?  She seemed to really be having fun.  That’s the only way to play baseball.  Oh … and they won. 

Revelation 1:17-18 says, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

Father, thank you for Cailyn’s chance to play softball.  Baseball was a great time of learning for me.  Let it be so for her as well.  Amen.

March 3 – “Sweep ‘n’ Swab ‘n’ Surgery”

The decision to perform surgery on Jennifer was finalized and time set for 3 pm yesterday, so Chris and I put on our custodian hats in the morning and headed out to the church to do some cleaning.  We managed to get a new sign saying put up, sweep and swab the deck, straighten up the kitchen and nursery, and haul out some garbage.  And then my text alert sounded.  It was Bryan letting us know that the surgery time had been moved up drastically.  They expected to go in within as little as thirty minutes.  I let him know we would be there as soon as we could, but it certainly wouldn’t be in the next thirty minutes.  We hustled to put away brooms and mops and get everything locked up so we could get home, get cleaned up, and switch into our pastor hats. 

On our way to Houston Bryan texted again and let us know that the surgery wasn’t happening as quickly as they first imagined.  Oh, they moved her to the surgery area all right.  But then it was at least thirty minutes before anyone came in to begin the prep process.  Another classic case of hurry up and wait.  We couldn’t speed up any more than we were already going, but we had a little bit of a chance to get there before surgery.  As it turned out, we were about five minutes too late to see Jennifer, so we settled in to spend the next few hours with Bryan. 

The surgery went well according to the surgeon.  They had to put in plates and seven screws because of the type of break.  Both bones in the leg had displaced fractures, and one little random piece was floating around on its own with no place to go.  It was deemed unnecessary anyway, so they just washed it out of their way. The ER doc had reset the dislocated ankle, so that was checked out.  All the stretched and wrenched ligaments and muscles will just take a lot of time to heal on their own.  We stayed until she was awake in the recovery room, so we did get that prayer in with her … just after the fact.  After her hospital stay she will be transferred to a skilled nursing facility for an undetermined amount of time. 

Whew.  That’s the report as I understand it.  Bottom line … Jennifer and Bryan really need our prayers over the next few weeks in particular.  Put on your encourager hats, folks.

And speaking of changing hats, we changed ours over on the way home to purchasing agent.  We used the opportunity of being in Texas to make a stop at Sam’s to stock up for our upcoming Easter Sunrise Service on the beach and then breakfast to follow.  Much preparation in store over the next few weeks along those Easter-ish lines. 

Revelation 1:8 says, “’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’”

Father, walk with Bryan and Jennifer and prepare all those you will be drawing to the sunrise service.  Amen.

March 2 – “Predicament”

Yep.  Predicament.  That most certainly became the word of the day yesterday.  but not before Chris and I managed to squeeze in one of those spur of the moments ventures into Texas.  We did have a purpose this time.  I received a gift card from my little brother to a place called Bass Pro Shop.  Never been there before, so I had no idea what to expect, other than maybe some fresh-water fishing equipment (bass), or maybe some kind of record shop specializing in opera (bass).  The closest one to our house was over in Pearland, so we filled up (our bodies – we went to Shrimp n Stuff) and planned to make an afternoon of it.  Bass Pro Shop first and the antique stores of Highway Six on the way home. 

Bass Pro Shop was pretty amazing.  Dead animals everywhere (the stuffed kind).  Big old tree in the center of the store.  Two huge fish tanks swarming with critters.  Even had a waterfall.  We passed by a seafood shop inside and we could smell barbeque coming from somewhere, but we couldn’t find the shop.  I think they were just pumping the smell through the AC system to get people to stick around.  Oh, I traded in my gift card for a pair of Tevas and an Abu Garcia fishing reel.  That was an exciting afternoon all by itself.  But it wasn’t over yet.

On our way back to Galveston we stopped at Highway Six antique store number one in Manvel.  Fun little place – the kind we especially enjoy since they realize most of their stuff is just junk.  Great place for surprising finds.  As we were studying the last row of treasures, I received a text from our good friend Bryan.  Not good news.  See, his wife Jennifer has been struggling for years to get her left ankle to fully heal after a break.  She has had that MRSA infection, and the docs think she is probably a carrier of it.  Right now she has one of those external halo things installed to keep the joint in place so it can heal.  Not a fun lifestyle.  She was just getting to where she could get around by herself some in her wheelchair.  She even drove herself to church Sunday.  So back to the text.  Bryan just wanted to let us know that he was headed to the hospital – following the ambulance.  Jennifer had fallen and appeared to have broken … are you ready for this one? … the other leg.  The always awesome Santa Fe Volunteer Fire Department and EMS rushed out and immobilized her leg.  They raced with her to the ER and even stuck around to let Bryan know which room she was in (He was following in their car).  As it turned out, we got there just before Bryan did, so we all made our way through the ER maze and found her room. 

There was little doubt the leg was broken.  It was officially a displaced fracture as well as a dislocated ankle.  The ER doc at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center and his crew did a great job of resetting the ankle and getting it splinted up.  There is still a possibility she may need some kind of surgery, but when we left they were waiting for orders from her own doctor to transfer her over to Methodist in Houston.  The pain was apparently under control, because her word for the day was “Predicament.”  Two broken legs, one encased in a halo.  I think I agree with her assessment.  Predicament, indeed. 

Revelation 1:5-6 says, “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”

Father, once again please hasten healing in Jennifer.  Give her and Bryan your peace and strength to walk through yet another setback here.  Amen.

March 1 – “We”

We took Freddy in to get spayed yesterday.  I still chuckle every time I hear that word.  When I was in college there was a fellow who had a tendency to miss class on occasion.  He always had, well, interesting excuses for his absences.  My all-time favorite was the time the professor asked him where he had been the last class meeting (the professor enjoyed the excuses as well).  The student sat up tall in his chair, and in the thick southern drawl that was his natural way of communicating, he replied, “Well, I had my wife spaded the other day …”  He said some other stuff as well, but no one in the class made it past “spaded.” 

So, back to Freddy.  The tech who checked us in was a very sweet young girl.  She obviously knew her stuff and was quite good at her job.  There was just one thing.  She was a “we” person.  You know.  Every question she was asking about Freddy was addressed to “we.”  So I started answering them. 

Tech: “Are we on any medications?”

Me: “I am.”  (She was kind of taken aback, but continued on)

Tech: “Do we have any underlying health issues?” (She directed this question completely to Chris, doing her best to ignore me)

Me: “I have rheumatoid arthritis.”

At this point Chris gave me a well-directed, spiritual elbow in the gut (she didn’t actually hit me, but the look did the job … probably better than her elbow would have) and said to cut it out.  But the damage was done.  The tech did her dead-level best to NOT say “we” for the rest of the check-in. 

As far as Freddy is concerned, she came through the surgery with flying colors.  They also removed the tooth that was cracked when someone hit her with a car.  Now we are supposed to keep a hyper-active crazy dog calm and quiet for the next three or four days.  Lots of luck with that. 

Revelation 1:4 says, “Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come.”

Father, thank you for the good report on our little one’s surgery.  Help her heal quickly.  Amen.