September 21 – “Accomplishments”

We got the yard mowed.  Accomplishment number one.  Sounds easy, doesn’t it?  Let me hasten to add then, that this momentous event occurred after two solid weeks of rain around here.  There was a thick layer of grass growing out of grass surrounding weeds hiding colonies of mosquitoes waiting to pounce and suck blood in an instant.  I gotta say, there were not many steps recorded on my step counter app, but it definitely counts as a strength building day for the knee.  My leg was, and is, sore all the way down into my ankle and foot.  I feel pretty good otherwise.  Maybe a day off today …

I connected with the Humphries family up in Alaska again.  Accomplishment number two.  We have been praying for them every Sunday at church, so I reached out to ask for some specific prayer requests for the family and for the ministry.  You might add them to your prayer list as well.  It’s tough living in that cold, barren wasteland of the north, even during the season when it is beautiful.

The LaMarque cousins came over for a visit yesterday.  It was quite a calm invasion.  After lunch (pizza, of course), Jachin and Micah played a game of Monopoly on the Wii.  My first time to see that one.  Irritatingly captivating.  Josiah played some games on his iPad.  Noa began a sewing project with Nana.  That just left the two younger ones.  Ezra took a nap.  It may or may not be true that I took a nap as well.  No comment.  Well, other than … Accomplishment number three. 

In anticipation of our excursion coming up on Sunday, I went through my stuffed animal buddies.  Accomplishment number four.  Had to make sure I had each of their names and birthplaces recorded for posterity.  They have grown into quite an entourage.  I can’t wait to see if any cousins emerge on our road trip. 

Psalms 101:1 says, “I will sing of your love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will sing praise.”

Father, be with Kenny and Lauren Humphries and their kiddos.  Give them encouragement every day in little ways as well as some mighty ones.  Amen.

September 20 – “Another fire snuffed out”

Yesterday I waded through a huge pile of stuff that has accumulated on my desk over the past few weeks.  Amazing how something at the time seems so important, so significant to my life and times, and then, a mere few weeks later, it is revealed for what it really is … a huge pile of stuff with little or no significance at all.  Needless to say, I tossed a bunch of it.  I did file some of it appropriately.  Chris even got excited about what I was doing.  She came through like a whirlwind, dusting and re-arranging.  It definitely looks better than it did.  Now if I can get the handle on the file cabinet replaced with two cabinet knobs, I’ll be all set. 

But as I was working on the handle, a fire call came through.  I quickly changed into my uniform and hurried over to the site.  Well, as quickly as one can when you catch every single red light and it is still school zone time.  The crews were still all in place, though.  The fire was long extinguished.  That happened swiftly, of course.  One crew cleared the apartment building to make sure no one else was inside.  Hoses were hooked up to the nearest fire hydrant.  Water was poured on the blaze.  Safety officer kept close tabs on those entering and exiting the fire scene.  Command called for city utilities to cut off the electricity and gas to the building.  Another crew worked hand in hand with the EMS unit to assist the resident who had been inside the apartment with oxygen and with just calming down.  Still others were helping with traffic and crowd control.  Fire marshalls were hard at work searching for the fire’s origin and noting safety concerns.  And all that … in 90 plus degrees of heat.  What can I say?  Once again, I am proud of my guys in Galveston Fire Department. 

Psalms 100:4-5 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name.  For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.”

Father, once again I ask you to protect the fire guys.  Thank you for the adrenaline that keeps them going in the heat.  But would you constantly remind them to grab some water every chance they get?  Amen.

September 19 – “Better than Hollywood”

Well, here we go.  Back up to three miles again.  First time since the dreaded Weekend Sickness.  Made it just fine aerobically.  However … the old knee was barking. 

Last night we had dinner with some old friends from our Denver days.  Well, Jessica was from our Denver days.  She was one of the stars on the girls’ basketball team I coached up there.  Certainly one of my all-time favorite teams to coach, too.  We did some rather “creative” plays back then.  Jessica was the point guard and was always all in with whatever craziness we threw at the opponents.  She later became a pretty good basketball coach in her own right.  I didn’t meet Brent until they got married.  I performed the ceremony for them.  Really good guy.  They now have four kids of their own.  I have really appreciated their keeping up with us over the years.  Makes me feel special.  So, what better place to reminisce than Shrimp and Stuff?  Good food, great friends.

Finally, I have been pondering this little tidbit I read in My Utmost for His Highest (Oswald Chambers).  “Temptation means the test by an alien power of the possessions of the personality.”  Gotta love the ominous, intergalactic uneasiness that comes over your body when you think about that one.  And then the rush of relief and empowerment when you realize that you already have victory over that alien, without ever pulling your light sabre.  Why?  Because you are a kid of the true Master of the Universe.  Awesome.  Can’t mess that one up with a Hollywood ending.

Psalms 100:1 says, “Know that the Lord is God.  It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.”

Father, thank you for the better-than-Hollywood ending you have written for us.  Amen.

September 18 – “But then I saw it …”

Amidst my working at the computer, Chris and I also did some online window shopping for things she has discovered that we might need for our upcoming cruises.  Most of them involve electronic wizardry of some kind or other, so she is doing extensive research before we pull the trigger on any of them.  She has really burned up the internet lately.  By the time we leave she will be able to open her own travel agency.  Or at least a travel information web site.

Later in the day we went to WalMart to see if by some chance they had some of those online marvels.  It would be helpful to see them in person.  Sadly we had no such luck, so we settled for our typical horde of fruit – bananas, grapes, pineapple.  But then I saw it. 

There, off to the side as we approached the checkout counter, was something very strange and wonderful.  I had to see it up close, to touch it and handle it to make sure it was real.  And it was.  Imagine my excitement.  Here in my own hands was an ingenious new creation.  It was kind of like Google Maps, but it was made out of paper.  Paper.  Can you believe it?  An entire book chock full of nothing but maps.  Oh, I’ve read about these in school.  Ancient explorers once used them to blaze trails.  Dreaded pirates used them to locate their buried treasure.  And as I understand it, normal human beings once used them to plot courses for things like vacations.  This particular cartographic delight included the entire country.  All of the streets and cities of the USA in one book.  And all you have to do when you switch states is turn to a different page.  No GPS coordinates.  No worries about signal strength.  No dead spots in cell phone coverage.  And get this … a bonus section included maps of all of Canada as well.  Another covered some of the National Parks, our particular area of interest for this year.  And all of this for just $7.95 plus tax.  Believe me, we are now all set for our next road trip.

Just … wow.

Psalms 100:1-2 says, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.  Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.”

Father, thank you for the chance to see in person some of the fun places on those wonderful things called maps.  Amen.

September 17 – “Some Seaside Moments”

A few pretty interesting occurrences fell into place at Seaside yesterday.  The most exciting of course, involved a young twenty-one year old man named Drake. Drake is the guy who started coming when he found out it would be OK for him to bring his work to church.  See. Drake is a dog-sitter, and the only way he could come would be to bring the pups along.  They always behave quite nicely, carving out a corner of the room near one of the back doors.  During communion time Drake approached me and said he had been thinking about it for a very long time, and he was ready to be baptized.  Seems his Grandma died about a month ago, and, in his words, “She was heavy into the Christianity thing.  And she talked to me about Jesus.  I’m ready.”  I went over salvation with him, and he had a really strong grasp of it.  Along with Grandma’s influence he had also been to church as a youngster and even a school back in St. Louis that “had the words ‘Christian Academy’ in its name.”  The Seasiders were all very excited to welcome him into the family, and now we have a baptism scheduled for next Sunday.

Another encouraging moment for me came just before dinner on the grounds.  A guy who lives in Nashville and has connections in Conroe but just loves the beach, and who has been to Seaside a total of maybe three times (one of which was a sunrise service on the beach), told me he was really sad to have to leave what he felt in his heart was already his home, his church.  He then paused for a moment and asked me honestly how I had felt beginning worship today.  Well, I couldn’t lie.  I started the day having a difficult time getting going after our weekend of being sick in bed in Waco.  By the time we talked after worship I was exhausted.  I told him so.  He let out a long sigh, sat back in his chair, and said, “I want you to know that even though you were in a depressed state physically, God still used you spiritually.  That teaching today was for me.  I’m not sure why everybody else was here.”  We then prayed together.  I’m not sure he understands how encouraging things like that are to a pastor. 

On a lighter note, I managed to pull off a prank before church.  One of the guys who was on the trip with us this past weekend was Mr. Bob.  Bob is a fine Christian layman who has done prison ministry and can introduce himself and Jesus to just about anyone.  Now, remember, he was on the trip, making him more than aware of my little encounter with that nasty stomach bug.  Around 9:35 (services start at 10) I sent him this text: “Hey, Bob.  Think you can handle the sermon today?”  My phone rang mere seconds later.  It was Mr. Bob.  His first words were not “Are you OK?  Are you sick again?”  Instead the words that met my ears were, “Are you serious? Do you really need me to do that?”  I waited a count of two or three seconds before answering, “No.  I’m fine and I’m already at the church.  I was just wondering if you thought you could.”  Let me put the aftermath this way: I think need to verify the cardiac health of the prank-ee before I try something like that again. 

Psalms 99:5 says, “Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.”

Father, thank you for Drake and Bobby and of course, Mr. Bob.  Bless them all in their walks with you.  Amen.

September 16 - “Glen Rose – The Last”

Here’s the final installment of the Glen Rose Saga:

Our first moments back in van

Talk of food?  It should be banned

Rest’rants, steaks and oysters, too

Even sugar.  What to do?

All the torment didn’t last

Those folks switched to love so fast

They gave me a big surprise

One stuffed dino, thanks, you guys

Bob and Amber, Jim and Pat

Headed home to scout our path

After bathroom stop (what smell!)

Passed on cruise for home as well

Suzann’s trusty coffee urn

Always there where she would turn

Forty-two ounce drink she bought

Need a bathroom?  Yes … a lot!

Stopped in Bryan town for lunch

Aggie game day was our hunch

Cathy’s UT shirt drew stares

Sam’s good sis showed us she cares

Learned that Pat as Cy-Fair Flame

Preferred Patsy as her name

Cathy recalled our first drive

Nudity!  Land sakes, alive!

One last stop was Ed’s request

“Get my puppy from the vet”

Julie worked her magic touch

Won release – she does so much!

Back at home, what did we find?

Could it be?  Yes, that’s sunshine!

One more tropic wave is gone

One more trip – and we had fun.

Psalms 99:5 says, “Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.”

Father, thank you so much for the compassion shown to us this weekend by our Seasiders and by Josh and Christi and the kids.  Amen.

September 15 – “The Glen Rose Gala Two”

Well, Chris and I are still not back with the group.  We were hoping for a miraculous recovery in time to see the Promise production, but since we just ate our first meal last night night, I don’t think we had the energy to make it.  So all my information has come to me from my various plants among the people.  Code names only to protect identities: Julie, The Pinball Wizard, Rebel-without-a-blue-shirt-but-with-plenty-of-coffee (Hey, some names just don’t translate well) and all the ones who sent or posted photos documenting the trip.  Thanks to you all (Especially you, Jules, Wiz and Reb).  Here are just a few weak verses to add to the trip account:

On his sickbed your poor bard

Heard word from pinball wizard

Seems the first were not the last

Dee fell too, may it pass fast

Violet, Suzann, Dianne, too

Daughters of the Dungeon Crew

Lauren, Sam, and Cathy now

Bunked with creatures – who knows how?

In this valley years ago

Dinosaurs walked to and fro

Now Museum Creation

Honors what the Lord has done

Seasiders made presence known

In blue shirts, well, all but one

Swept museum up and down

Helped the Promise crew with sound

Sunset beauty and a meal

Added to the play’s appeal

Music, drama, all abound

Praising God is what we found

But alas as sad things go

Unexpected glitches, whoa

Added concert blaring loud

Jarred some ears within our crowd

Then about the point midway

Came another guest to stay

What could be our newest bane?

Yep, you guessed it … it was rain

Now have future tickets, see?

They are complementary

And more weather’s rolling in

So we’re heading home again

Psalms 99:2-3 says, “Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.  Let them praise your great and awesome name — he is holy.”

Father, thank you for the Promise experience for our Seasiders.  And bless them for their readiness to serve in unexpected situations.  Amen.