August 7 – “Some good stuff”

I joined Chris on her walk yesterday.  We passed an estate sale a few streets over.  Well, not “passed” exactly.  OK.  Not “passed” at all.  We went in.  Almost went for the lawn chairs in the garage.  Chris liked a few of the “old-lady” hats.  She thought they might be fun for our girl-type grandkids.  I saw one of those old view-master viewers and some cartridges for it.  That would have been a real find, but it was more than I cared to pay.  Not like it was baseball cards or anything.  Speaking of cards, I did see an interesting trivia card game.  The only other thing that caught my fancy was a very cool stuffed crab.  Almost invited him to join our menagerie.  But we had just started our walk, so sadly, nothing joined us.  Estate sales.  Always fun.

 

After some lunch we hit the road for our afternoon of errands.  First stop was the post office to mail some packages.  That was just a matter of waiting in line … for a long time.  Next we went to Academy.  This is tax-free weekend for school clothes and shoes, so that means an opportunity to get me some tennis shoes.  The ones I have reached the point of deterioration that they squeak loudly.  It’s only when I walk, though.  I guess they could have lasted a while longer.  As it turned out, I did find some that fit really well.  And they are relatively quiet.  Chris also found me a pair of water shoes.  My other ones completely fell off at exercise class the other day.  I got a size smaller.  We’ll see how these work. 

 

Last night we decided to drive out to Jamaica Beach to JeMocha Bean to listen to some music by Jim and the Salty Sounds band.  Janell and Brennan and their relatives were there.  So were Cathy and Lauren and Ed and Marianne and Sonya.  And the crowd of obvious “regulars.”  I tried something different to drink this time.  No, nothing exotic.  Just hot chocolate.  The kind that is made with real milk that is fast-heated and topped with whipped cream.  Good stuff. 

 

Romans 15:5 says, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.”

 

Father, thank you for the interesting and fun ways we have found to be together.  Amen.

August 6 – “Excitement on Sycamore”

Just about the time Yordan Alvarez was hitting a monster home run in the bottom of the ninth inning, at around 10:10, I heard a loud noise.  At first I thought something had fallen off a shelf and crashed onto the floor.  But it sounded like a gunshot or a nearby explosion, to be honest.  I ran in to check on Chris, but she was still asleep.  I stepped outside and looked around the front yard.  Nothing that I could see there.  I came back in and walked the entire house, looking for whatever could have been the source of the noise.  Freddy was waiting at the door when I opened the laundry room, and she ran into the living room, obviously nervous about something.  She apparently heard it, too.

 

When I could find no evidence of anything, I turned off the front porch light and locked the front door, as is my custom after an Astros game.  I had to pick up Freddy to get her back into the laundry room, though.  She was shaking like a leaf, sure that something was afoot.  And she wanted no part of that very loud “something” any more. 

 

About that time I looked up and Chris was standing there.  She asked if I had heard the sirens, or if I had seen the police cars that were next door … again.  Yep.  More police action last night on Sycamore.  Sure enough there were no less than four police cars blocking our driveway.  The whole street, in fact.  Police officers were scrambling around with flashlights, obviously searching for a suspect.  On was armed with what appeared to be one of those small machine guns (but what do I know about big-time weapons?).  When I saw him I figured the suspect must be considered armed and dangerous, so I went back inside.  Actually I went in to answer the texts from Janell across the street.  Seems Brennan had heard the loud noise as well, followed by yelling, “Hey, you.  Get back here!” and the like. 

 

I finally went back out to check out the police follow-up (the big guns were now safely tucked away).  An officer saw me and asked if I had heard or seen anything, or was I just out checking out the situation.  Trick question.  Yes to both actually.  But I told him I had heard the explosion and came right outside, but I didn’t see anything.  He walked away, but the scene supervisor came over right after that, and we chatted a bit more.  I told him I was the FD chaplain and had been praying for them.  He appreciated the prayers, and then kind of filled me in on what they knew.  Someone had thrown a concrete paver and broken the neighbor’s car windshield.  Then they threw the paver completely through the driver’s side window.  And the slashed the front tire.  As he talked he glanced down at our flower bed and said, “The paver looked just like those.  Are you missing one?”  We walked together to the flower bed, and sure enough, one of the pavers was missing.  Imagine that.  One of my pavers was involved in a criminal action.  I didn’t know whether I should be proud or horrified.  I told the officer that they were more than welcome to keep the offending hunk of concrete if they needed to.  He chuckled and assured me he didn’t think that would be necessary.  I let Janell know the fuller details so they could go on to sleep.  And I figured I would do the same.  Sigh.   Excitement on Sycamore.  This kind I can do without. 

 

Isaiah 43:2 says, “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.  When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”

 

Father, would you touch the heart of whoever is doing the vandalism?  Amen.

August 5 – “Kids’ stuff”

Our day was once again wrapped up in kids’ stuff.  Well, not all of it, exactly.  Chris was able to get in her walk.  She has been amazing in keeping up with her training.  Guess she has been Olympics-inspired.  I stayed with the kids.  They were still asleep when she left.  She got home in plenty of time to beat the rain, too. 

 

Then she had physical therapy on her arm in the afternoon.  Once again, I was the designated kid-sitter.  And the kids did great.  Brennan came over again.  They played video games in the office or occasionally joined me to watch the Olympics or work on our jigsaw puzzle.  Micah is pretty good at the whole puzzle thing. Very determined when he sees a vacancy he wants fulfilled.  And he was working upside down.  Well, the puzzle was upside down to him.  He was on the opposite side of the table. 

 

After PT she had to take the Littles to karate.  I did help with that one a little bit.  I got Ezra dressed.  Hey, I wouldn’t want to get out of my jammies either, if I didn’t have to.  But he didn’t even question my motives.  Just got it done.  He did the same thing for me the other night at bath time.  No problems at all.  He jumped right in the tub.  Even let me wash his hair and rinse it with the famous hand-held shower attachment.  Great fun. 

 

My job with the older ones was rather simple.  Be there.  Oh, and heat up the pizza.  I did that, too.  I was a regular little Maxwell Housewife-husband-father-grandfather-ish …

 

Kel and Christina got back into town in the early evening and redeemed the kids.  Just in time for the Astros late game with the Dodgers.  Micah and Jachin wanted to stay and watch the game, but Mom and Dad wanted the whole family back in the fold.  As it turned out, the Astros lost.  There were a few good moments, though.  Tucker’s home run in the top of the ninth put them within two, but they just ran out of innings.  But the absolute best play of the night?  Correa faced Joe Kelly.  Last time that happened Kelly threw a pitch behind Correa’s back, then taunted him.  Inspired a whole graffiti wall painting of Kelly’s pouty face back in LA.  This time?  Correa smashed a home run.  Didn’t even do a bat flip.  Just casually dropped his bat and trotted around the bases, totally ignoring his opponent on the mound.  Much classier. 

 

Psalms 130:5 says, “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”

 

Father, thank you that Kel and Christina had a good mini-trip away.  Please use that time of rest to rejuvenate them.  Amen.

August 4 – “Explosion”

Gotta say at the outset, last night I watched the best baseball game I have seen in a very long time.  The Astros and Dodgers were embroiled in a pitching duel.  Both were amazing.  The Astros managed a single run on two doubles, and that was all the scoring for a long time.  Well, until Alvarez hit a two-run homer to put them ahead 3-0.  And that’s how it stayed the rest of the way.  The game was only marred by fights in the stands and fans throwing debris on the field.  The Dodgers pitcher even seemed disgusted at his home crowd.  Maybe things will be better tonight.

 

Back to journaling.  I got up early yesterday to go to water exercise.  That was the deal Chris and I made since we have the youngsters here this week.  I walked to the truck, got inside, even started it up.  And only then did the bottom drop out of the sky.  It started raining.  Hard.  Nope.  No class today.

 

When I went out to get the newspaper, I heard a loud explosion.  I recognized the sound right away, but it took me a while to track where it had come from.  I finally recognized the blown transformer a block or two away, out by Jones Park.  But then the backlash started a sparking, then a large fiery glow on the pole right behind my neighbor’s house.  It didn’t catch completely, though, and eventually faded.  Bet someone was without electricity yesterday.  Oh, and when I finally realized that an all-out fire wasn’t going to happen, I also figured out that I was standing out in the rain.  That counts as water exercise, right?

 

Romans 3:23-24 says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.”

 

Father, thank you for the rain.  Our grass and plants sure do appreciate it.  Amen.

August 3 – “Faster than a speeding …”

I was afforded the opportunity to ride to Baytown with Jachin yesterday.  First time I have ridden in the car while he was driving as I can recall.  Driven around by a grandson.  Sigh.  He’s a really good driver, too.  Stays under the speed limit.  Aware of his surroundings.  And he passed my one and only pet peeve test for driving on Galveston Island.  He stopped at the red light at 61^st Street as you are entering the Island.  He was in the middle lane.  The light was red and he was first in line.  And unlike 98% of all drivers on the Island in that position … he did not turn right on red.  That’s right.  He actually obeyed the clearly posted traffic law at the intersection.  Well, obviously not as clear as it could be, since very few people obey it.  But way to go, Jachin. 

 

Oh, so why were we driving to Baytown in the first place?  He had a pitching lesson at an indoor facility there. Other than being hot, which is not a real negative for what he was doing, the facility was amazing.  The guy had netting set up everywhere.  He also had numerous little gadgets, and even a radar gun that announced how fast each pitch was traveling.  Jachin’s fastest was usually around 67 miles per hour.  Guess that’s good for him.  The coach was impressed with him, anyway.  Hmm.  Just thought of something.  His fastball traveled faster than the car ever went on the freeway …

 

Back at home Noa and Ezra were apparently creating their own games.  I found a few pieces of scrap paper around my desk that were interesting.  I recycle scrap paper from documents I don’t need any more.  One piece was one of the extra invitations to the anniversary at Seaside.  Noa had repurposed it for art work.  Instead of writing on the back, she chose to embellish the front.  There was a cute little picture of a smiling person.  She also added in the words, “love you family!”  That’s my closing mantra every Sunday.  Also, on the floor nearby, I found a post-it note with these words written on it: “Little Fry Seaside Church.”  So there you go.  Kel, you might want to consider hiring her as a PR director for the future.

 

Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.”

 

Father, thank you for showing me a display of athletic skill and up-and-coming creativity all in one day.  Amen.

August 2 – “The Ezra Announcement”

Yesterday was a big day at church, in a different kind of way.  First, it was our first day in our new normal, with our new co-pastor taking on roles in worship.  Kel led several prayers.  Noa handled the Facebook Live camera.  Ezra assisted Miss Lauren at the worship computer.  All quite exciting additions. 

 

And secondly, we had a baptism.  That’s always a big day, because we get to end the service by walking down to the beach.  This one was really special.  He started out in Galveston as a homeless guy with a lot of problems.  He was rescued out of that through the grace of God and the concern, commitment, and downright tenacity of some Seasiders who insisted on being the church to him.  To mention a few, Lauren gave him rides and offered a listening ear.  Doug gave him a place to stay.  And Bob encouraged him spiritually.  It was definitely an exciting experience to see him baptized to solidify his commitment to the Lord.  We love you, Mark.

 

A pretty big group of us went to Salsa’s after church.  That place serves really big portions.  Micah couldn’t even finish his burrito.  My quesadilla will feed me for at least three days.  And Chris brought home two shrimp tacos.  On the way there Ezra had an announcement to make (He and Micah were riding with us).  Here’s the interchange:

Ezra: “DadDad, I’m gonna take over at Seaside and be the pastor. 

Me:  “Oh, you are, are you?”

Ezra:  “Well, my Dad is.”

Me: “Well, you’ll just have to take over for him.”

Ezra (excitedly): “OK!”

Watch out, Seaside.  The next generation is already being groomed …

 

Speaking of that next generation, we have Kel’s kiddos for the next few days.  He and Christina are celebrating their anniversary a little early by getting out of town for a day or two.  Sunday afternoon down time, right?  Not this time.  Media time was more than loud.  Josiah was playing his new Virtual Reality games.  We had to stay out of his way as he roamed around the room, swinging his arms and reaching for the air.  Noa was watching some kind of nonsensical stuff on a phone.  Ezra had some games going on a different contraption.  Micah was dividing his time between the Astros game on the regular TV and whatever he had going on his phone.  Then Brennan came over and the big boys retired into the office where the X-box they brought with them had suddenly been attached and was running.  A whole new set of sounds.  Wheeeee!   With all hopes of a nap dashed, I tried to concentrate on the Astros game.  All my concentration didn’t help them win, though. 

 

Things finally calmed down by around seven or eight.  We settled in to watch some Olympics events.  Micah was kind of frustrated that people who were born in the United States were competing for other countries … and winning.  I heard “Traitor!” more than once.  I guess in a sense he had a point …

 

Romans 8:31 says, “What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

 

Father, thank you that we can trust you to always be for us.  Amen. 

August 1 – “End to end adventure”

I woke up really sore and tire again yesterday, so we decided to take a day off from all things remotely physical.  We just crashed around the house all day.  It’s been a while since we have done that.  I think we needed it.

 

Meanwhile, we did have an adventure or two the day before.  We ventured out into the nether reaches of the East End of Galveston Island.  And why would we dare to undertake such a long and treacherous journey, rivaled only by treks into Texas itself?  We took mailman Kel a cherry limeade slush to celebrate his last day at work.  He always appreciates the cool drink on his hot days in the sun.  He was especially appreciative at the celebratory aspect of the whole thing.  Last day and all. 

 

He told us about an estate sale he went to at one of the houses on his route.  He found a first edition book printed in 1938.  A biography of Joseph Stalin, I think it was.  Even had the dust jacket still intact.  Cost him a dollar.  He looked it up, and it is apparently worth around $100 in the condition it is in.  I suspect that will show up on ebay soon.  And the best part is, on the next block over he found a dollar in the street, so the book cost him nothing. 

 

Since we were right around the corner, we decided to check it out.  They still had some old books, but they were in pretty rough shape.  They also had some record albums (the actual reason we went).  Some were interesting, and I almost bought a few, but in the end, I was dissuaded by the mold on the covers.  They did have some really beautiful antique furniture.  Oh, and most interesting of all was the old scrapbook the guy had kept of his career in the air force.  Lots of old pictures and newspaper articles.  Even the guy’s air force papers were there in frames.  The young couple who bought the house said they were planning to donate it to the Rosenberg Library.  Nice choice.

 

That night we went out to the opposite end of the Island to Jamocha Bean Coffee House to listen to Jim and his band Salty Sounds play some music.  It was great to spend some down time with some fun Seasiders.  Try it out sometime.  They are there pretty much every Friday night.

 

Romans 8:6 says, “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”

 

Father, thank you for the chance to relax a bit yesterday.  My body sure needed the break.  Amen.