July 14 - “Hard Hot Helping”

We woke up to some thunderstorms again. Well, I guess that’s not completely accurate. Chris woke up at 2:30 with her leg hurting. That happens every so often. I woke up at 5:30 when Freddy made an attempt to jump back up on the bed - and missed. No second tries for her. She just started whining. I was already awake, so I just got up to begin my day. It wasn’t until I was in the bathroom that I heard the first rumblings of thunder. So … it didn’t really wake us up. Just greeted us. Great way to start the day, I guess. 

Once the brief morning rain shower subsided, we made our way over to Seaside for the workday. Not for the church, though. We were there to walk around the neighborhood and pick up trash and debris from the storm. The power is still out for a lot of the homes in Jamaica Beach, so we thought it would be helpful to check off some of the stuff that gets left until last. 

Almost 25 Seasiders and community people worked to clear debris from street drains and ditches and picked up whatever trash we could find in people’s yards. Here are some of our (me and Chris) coolest discoveries:

Multitude of coke and beer cans (no surprise there). 

Lots of candy and energy bar wrappings (Hey. Gotta keep your energy level high in these trying times)

One Nike athletic sock (umm. No idea). 

Oleander branch walking stick (Ok, it wasn’t intended to be that, but it sure came in handy for a certain senior citizen). 

And here is our Best Ever Find: Business card for The Cleaning Girls (Wish we had found you sooner, ladies. We’d have invited you pros to join us!). 

After work we headed over to the McClung’s house for some lunch and to cool down. They have one of those automatic kick-in house generators. The cool air was certainly welcome, especially for those whose homes don’t have power yet. The sandwiches were great, and whoever thought to bring watermelon deserves a medal. 

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭6‬ ‭ says, Love finds no joy in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth.

Father, thank you for the great turnout to get some work done. Bless those folks who came out to work. And bless the linemen who are working hard every day as well. Amen. 

July 13 - “Ominous looking (and sounding)

We did our walk yesterday, in spite of some pretty ominous looking (and sounding) thunderheads in the distance. They eventually reached us with a light sprinkle, but we were safely back at home, high and dry, by that time. 

I got some birthday cards addressed and ready to send while Chris spent some time working on flowerbeds in the backyard. At one point I heard clomping around on the roof. I raced up there to see what was up (see what I did there? “Up” as inn”up on the roof”?). Chris never hops the little fence we have around our deck to keep small children and Freddy-type dogs off the roof. All was fine, though. She just wanted to see for herself what the shingle damage was. We did discover that our sycamore tree in the front was really beat up by the storm. It needs some serious TLC. Not right then, though. A thunderstorm exploded on the scene, so we cleared out. Back inside for some supper and another Astros game - and victory over the Rangers, I might add. 

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭ says, 

Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs.

Father, thanks for that slow steady rain. The grass loved it, and it sure was easier to handle than the hurricane way. Amen. 

July 12 - “… but one couple sure was”

Chris was back on track with me yesterday. And by track, I mean the streets of our neighborhood. We walked our two miles again. Not as many neighbors were out, but one couple sure was. 

A few streets over lives an elderly couple (By that I mean, of course, older than us). Ever since the storm they have been out doing branch and brush and leaves cleanup. But here’s the thing … they are working not just in their own yard. 

Every day they have taken their rakes and brooms and trash bags (and a really cool trash can that looks like it was made upside down - the bottom is wider than the top), on the road, so to speak. They have gone up and down both sides of their street with one focused goal in mind - To keep the street drains clear of debris. Even yesterday, after much of the debris was hauled off in the trash pickup the day before, they were still out, sweeping the residue of leaves and bagging them up. Folks over on Youpon Drive … I hope you appreciate the incredible gift you have been given. 

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ says, Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited, does not act improperly, is not selfish, is not provoked, and does not keep a record of wrongs.

Father, bless that sweet couple over a couple of streets. Help their neighbors to really appreciate them. Amen. 

July 11 - “Lotta lights still out”

Chris had an appointment for a blood draw prior to her next cancer checkup next week. She didn’t walk. But I decided to give it a shot, even in the heat. 

It definitely turned into another Neighbor Walk. I waved at a little girl sitting on the porch staying as cool as possible with what looked like Mom and Dad and maybe Grandma and Grandpa as well. She was a real cutie. She even waved first. 

I met another neighbor for the first time. Again, he stopped me, just to chat. His first words were, “Do you see those four trash bags there?” I did. He then added, “That’s my freezer.”  Ouch. Poor guy. 

Speaking of poor guys … Pick me!  I was almost attacked by a dog the had escaped the clutches of it’s owner. It came at me with teeth bared and non-stop barking. Pair that with the non-stop yelling from its owner, and you have a … noisy situation. I escaped that initial encounter by telling the dog to go home and walking in that direction. I thought perhaps his less than amiable “greeting” was complete, but no. When I reached about three houses away, he broke loose again. This time I went straight for the “Come on. Let’s go home,” and began retracing my steps. He stayed about six feet away (canine social distancing, I guess), and continued the verbal barrage. Fortunately, this time the owner picked up the dog and forced it into the house. Oh. Did I mention that the dog had one of those high-pitched, whiney voices. Yep. Yippy. And it was about the size of Freddy! Yippy-Dog, for sure. Frightening. 

Several other neighbors waved and smiled.  Then, just before I got home, Stephanie, the lady down the street, stopped me to chat as well. She was worried about Chris since I was alone. Love it when neighbors know you well enough to ask. 

Speaking of Chris, she texted me to let me know she made it to UTMB. she said her blood pressure was up, though. In her words, “Scary drive - people don’t know what to do when lights are out!!”

After lunch we made our trip over to Walmart to replenish our grandkids snack supply. Oh, we needed some other stuff too, I suppose. But the snacks? Had to happen. 

Late afternoon we had a visitor. Helen, from Seaside and home group, came over. The power is still out at her apartment complex, so she needed a place to wash clothes. Well, and cool off, too. Like the night before when Doug came by just to chat. And come to find out, he was on his way to Corey and Janell’s to do the same.  I think Doug was getting hot. Glad we could be here and be cool for you guys. 

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ says, All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Father, bless our neighbors with peace and a desire to draw close to you. Amen. 

July 10 - “Neighbor Walk”

Accumulated a temporary boarder. Sam’s cat Snickers is here for a stay. She has been at Cathy’s in Sea Isle, but they have no power out there, and it has gotten hot quick! 

We almost had a whole houseful of boarders to join the cat. Kel and his family didn’t have power up in LaMarque, so they were loading up to move in here as well. But just as they were putting the finishing touches on the load, their power came back on. Crazy, crazy, crazy. 

We took our Neighbor Walk. Neighbor Walk … That’s where we don’t worry so much about the health benefits of the exercise. Instead we focus on  checking up on neighbors after the storm. Several folks were doing the chore we began the day before - sweeping leaves and stacking tree branches. We found out that the entire middle section of the neighborhood is still without power. We have been so fortunate - (No. Blessed) - that ours only went out for a few hours. And it’s still on. 

Ezra and Noa spent some time with us. While Mom and Dad checked in on the church and at Jamaica Beach City Hall, the kiddos helped rake leaves and pick up more branches and shingles in the front yard. 

Later, Nathan came over to help with our back fence. He and Jachin and Josiah got the fence propped up with a pretty good temporary fix, so Freddy and the dog behind us should be safely separated. Nathan said he’d try to come back again to help with the big broken branch in the sycamore tree. He also said he was confident he could cut down the tree straddling our fence line. That would save us a lot of money. Sounds like it might be kinda fun, too. 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭31‬:‭24‬ ‭ says, Be strong and courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord.

Father, thanks again for our neighbors and our family. Bless them. Amen. 

July 9 - “Into the Storm …”

When I finally gave in and got up yesterday (around 4 or so), I stepped out on the front porch to get the whole hurricane experience. Well, not the “whole experience.”  I stayed on the porch out of the driving rain and extremely high winds. I did shoot a video with my phone camera, though. Of course, a video will never give the same sense of awe and wonder at the sheer power of it all. 

As of 5:30 in the morning, all I could tell damage-wise was some sycamore branches down. Of course that happens pretty much every time it rains. The power was on, but it was definitely flickering occasionally. 

I did spend some time praying. In fact the prayer was constantly “interrupting” whatever else I was doing at the time. Why? The fire department app was even more active than it was at 3 when we first woke up. I tried to at least shoot up a prayer every time one of those calls came through. 

I was finally able to doze off for a few minutes at my desk. But when it started getting light, we went outside and started taking some pictures and videos. In a nutshell, we had fences down or trying to come down, shingles flying off the roof (it was still storming), tree branches everywhere, including one pretty substantial one still desperately hanging on, everything in the backyard was in disarray (including Chris’ plants. Ouch!). We were without power, but only for about two hours or so. Just your average, everyday hurricane results. I texted our contractor and insurance agent, and both replied right away. Now we wait. 

In the aftermath of the storm, several fun things happened. The neighbors started gathering in the middle of the street to check on each other and compare notes on power outages and wind damage. We also had a surprise visitor knock on our front door. Chris started toward it to see who it was, but she stopped dead in her tracks. She whispered to me to come to her, but to move slowly. I may or may not have exaggerated my tiptoe, but I was quiet. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but … a baby great blue heron. It was beautiful. It was also eyeing us carefully for any signs of predatorial movement. We both managed to get our phones out and take some great photos. I then switched to video. 

And just as the camera started, who should arrive to see what all the fuss was about? Freddy, of course. She hesitated at first, looking up at us for behavioral clues. Receiving no assistance there, she turned her head to see for herself. Yep. She did a double-take when her eyes finally focused on the interloper at the front door. She instantly switched into territory protection mode. She raced to the door, barking crazily. 

It was the heron’s turn to look briefly bewildered, then react to this tiny, but very loud creature. It turned away, spread its wings and flew into the windy morning. It was a beautiful sight. God did good when he created great blue herons. They are my favorite water bird. 

We spent some time after lunch trying to clean up some of the downed branches from the two sycamore trees. Brennan came over and gave us a hand. Neighbors helping neighbors. We also piled our little plastic slide on top of the downed fence to try to keep Freddy in our yard. I don’t think she’d trespass. The neighbor back there has a rather large white dog. One gulp, Freddy. That’s all you’d be. One gulp. 

Last night we had another knock on the door. No heron this time. It was our neighbor. They are a young couple just starting out in home ownership. And yes, this was their first hurricane. Newbies. Their house fared well, but one of their really big trees almost blew down. As a result she got an estimate on tree removal for that one and one other that is infringing on power line space. She just wanted to know if we had any trimming we needed done on any of our trees while the guy was here. Actually, we have been talking about cutting down the tree next to the one being uprooted. It has roots that lately have begun to encroach upon both of our foundations. We may try to come up with the money to get that done. But even if we don’t, that was really nice of them to think about us. Neighbors helping neighbors. 

‭‭2 Chronicles‬ ‭15‬:‭7‬ says, But as for you, be strong; don’t be discouraged, for your work has a reward.

Father, thanks for making great blue herons. Beautiful. Just beautiful. Oh, and neighbors. Also beautiful. Amen. 

July 8 - “Beryl Barrels”

Oh, a quick note from Waco before I begin. The Spain mission team made it home safely. Wish the same could be said for their luggage. About half of it is somewhere between London and Houston. Or maybe between Valencia and London …

We woke up yesterday to a really nice morning. Sun was shining (or it got to shining as soon as it woke up). Temperature was manageable - around 80 or so. But out in the Gulf …

Now-Tropical Storm Beryl was busy strengthening and making her way on a line toward Matagorda Bay, just south of us, placing us on the “dirty side” of the storm. Weather radar showed the initial outer bands of rain and wind ever-so slowly making their way toward us, inching ever closer in the future-track interactive screens. Ain’t technology grand? 

Back in my youth we lobbied our parents to stay in town so we could go stand on the seawall and watch the angry waves. On the times when that failed, the family  just retreated to Spring to a relative’s house and waited. 

Then as I grew older with kids of my own, we deliberately sat through a few storms - just so they could experience the fun of it. Well, that and Chris had to work. 

Then Mom came to live with us, and she got a little too nervous to stay, so we evacuated early and had hurricane parties at Josh’s house. From there, all we could do was watch TV for The Weather Channel’s Jim Cantore to show up and tell us which parts of the coast were being totally destroyed. Also, we insisted that Josh get cable for our trip so we could get local updates. Now? I guess we’re reverting back to the sit through it phase. 

Our initial task for the morning was to get to Sam’s house. She had a few things in her garage that needed to be moved upstairs. We also brought her car back to our house so it would be parked on a little bit higher ground. 

Well, we did make a stop before coming home. No. Not Walmart. We joined the other 22 brave souls at church. The staff put together a somewhat abbreviated version of the worship service for us. Then afterward Kel offered out himself and his hearty children to help anyone who needed help getting their homes ready for the impending weather. We headed on home to do the same. 

The rest of the afternoon we spent watching TV and keeping one eye on the storm. We started getting the outer bands in earnest around 3 p.m. That’s always an eerie time. One minute the sun is shining and wind is calm and nice. The next, the skies are dark and angry. Thunder rolls. Rain falls, often sideways. And the wind whips through the trees, causing them to dip perilously, then sway back and forth. It’s a beautiful, scary mishmash demonstration of God’s awesome power. 

Of course it got worse. We got up around 3 a.m.  I just wanted to look at the sycamore trees in the front yard. They are much taller than the house, and they have a tendency toward that sway and bend to their max. I’ll just say this … they did not disappoint. The winds were sustained around 40 mph here, with gusts up to at least 60. The storm actually came ashore at Matagorda, as expected, around 3:30 as a category one hurricane. All the hurricane and tornado and storm surge and flood warnings were renewed for our area. 

My fire department app was indicating call after call, for power outages, downed trees, transformers on fire, power lines down. Even a stuck elevator. I know our fire fighters will be exhausted when this is all over. 

I tried to get back to sleep like Chris did. To no avail. I finally just got up so I could do some praying for my fire fighters and some … experiencing. 

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬ says, to seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you

Father, thanks for getting Josh and Caleb and the Columbus Avenue Baptist Church Spain mission team home safely. Please work out the same for the rest of their luggage. And thank you for protecting us through the literal storm last night. Please continue to watch over us as Beryl barrels her way through. Amen.