March 6 - “Ready”

Chris had the big appointment yesterday. Time for her haircut to happen. She has gone a lot longer than I can wait for mine. Suzann tried something different this time. Chris pondered it for a while. Still not sure what the final outcome will be - keep or get creative on her own. 

We ran over to Walmart to grab some grape juice and pretzels for the Ash Wednesday service last night. Already had the ashes burned and everything else packed and ready to go. 

The service went really well. Lots of folks we haven’t seen in a while. Plenty of new people who were hearing the Ash Wednesday teaching for the first time, too. 

Speaking of packed and ready to go … we also loaded the car with all the stuff for Sam’s burial. That tombstone was plenty heavy, but fortunately Corey came over and helped. We had to stuff several tubs of genealogy stuff and photos as well. Those go to the different sides of Sam’s family who are supposed to be at the service tomorrow. Let me just say, after adding our suitcase, that car was stuffed. 

Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭23‬-‭24‬ ‭says, For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

Father, please ride with us on our journey today. Amen. 

March 5 - “The two worst”

Boy, was I ever sore when I woke up yesterday. All that yardwork really nailed me. Especially digging that three foot deep hole out of the old palm tree. The two worst painful spots? Yep, it was a tie. Lower back and … thumbs. Gotta love that arthritis. 

I had a big appointment. It was once again time for … a haircut. I know. Quite the letdown, right? But I like the final result, and it’ll be much cooler for our upcoming trip to Florida. Astros Spring Training. Can’t wait. 

Last night we got back on the soccer train again. Cailyn’s squad was taking on a powerhouse team from Friendswood. In Friendswood. The bad won big, 5-0. But our girls held them scoreless for almost the entire first half you could really tell when the fatigue hit, though. Cailyn played good, but she has been sick, so her aggressiveness was noticeably affected. Nevertheless, I’m proud of you, girls. 

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭13‬:‭8‬ says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Father, thank you for Whataburger. It sure hit the spot last night. Amen. 

March 4 - “Power tools!”

We engaged in some yard work extra ordinare (or however you spell it) yesterday. The yard needed to be mowed and edged. And it was thick. Almost had to go over the whole thing twice. Chris worked at cleaning out flower beds, then suddenly appeared just as I turned on the leaf blower. She greatly prefers the old school approach - sweeping. With a broom and everything. Why, when there is a perfectly good power tool available? 

I did get some backing for my side. Jonathan, one of the firefighters and also a neighbor, and his wife were on a walk. Brandy sided with Chris. Jonathan was Power Tool Guy all the way. Sadly, the tiebreaker was their young son. He was definitely in Mom’s court. Come on, Little Man. Power tools!

We didn’t stop with just mowing and edging. We also trimmed way back that evil demon bugger villa bush. Always a pleasure, to be sure. We then moved some pot plants to their Spring spots in the yard. Oh! And I started tearing out the rotting root ball of the old palm tree that used to be in our back yard. That was actually kind of fun. We ended up not anywhere close to finishing, but we dumped our last bag of dirt in the big hole. Now we need a Home Depot run again. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ says, Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who go through it. How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.

Father, thanks for helping us out in the “heat” today. Amen. 

March 3 - “Heavenly”

Church first. As usual for a Sunday, of course. 

After church we had some lunch with some friends at Way West Grill in Jamaica Beach. Even had some other friends occupying the table next to us. Always good to have some folks to chat with while eating. 

My bacon cheeseburger was, by the way, downright huge. And the fried okra was crispy - a definite win. Chris wanted the nachos, but in a real surprise, they came back and told us they were out of chips. I can honestly say I’ve never heard that one at a restaurant before. She ordered quesadillas instead. They did have soft tortillas. All was pretty good. 

I spent all afternoon with our wet-dry vacuum cleaner. I pulled Sam’s car up into the driveway and gave it a thorough vacuuming. Not sure when the last time that happened was. It was … in need. It does look a whole lot better now. 

As it got dark we gazed up into the sky once again. This time we managed to see the moon and Venus and even Mercury. Pretty fascinating, thanks to my Sky View Lite app pointing them out. 

Joshua‬ ‭1‬:‭9‬ says, Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

‭‭

Father, thanks for the wonders you placed in the heavens. Amen. 

March 2 - “Windexed”

I felt strangely motivated yesterday. So much so that I vacuumed out the inside of our car. Though much-needed, that wasn’t what I most wanted to take care of. My bottom line was that the interior of the windshield needed to be Windexed. And that is by far my least favorite car detailing chore. 

Chris hooked me up with the Windex and some instructions on how best to apply. However … did you know there are two different flavors of Windex? And of course I chose the wrong one. She managed to correct my blunder before too much application had occurred. So, folks. Stick with Windex Original you’re looking to clean windows. 

We checked in with Josh. We didn’t received our usual Friday phone call, so we had to touch base. All was well in Waco. Just really busy. 

AG and Luke played the piano for us. They were on their way to piano competition. Caleb had already played earlier and achieved Superior status. And in true Vaughan fashion, the two younger ones grabbed a Superior rank as well. Proud of you three. 

On the more athletic front, Luke’s team advanced to the semifinals in their end of season basketball tournament. As it turned out, several teams dropped out of the tournament. As a result Luke will be pitted against the top seed in the tournament on Monday. Then on Tuesday he is entered into the three point shooting contest. Go Luke!

Meanwhile, Caleb is running track and playing on the JV baseball team at the same time. And he is also giving speeches and doing podcasts for his co-op English class. Busy young man. 

We spent the afternoon watching football. No, not on TV. Ezra had a big double-header playoff series in his end-of-season tournament. The Good Guys in that one won the first and lost in the championship. So … second place. Nice job, Ezra and team (and coaches Kel and Micah)!

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭28‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭ says, Then Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Father, thank you for busy. Sometimes. Amen. 

March 1 - “North of …”

Our big journey yesterday was in some ways a sad one. My cousin Julie, who lived in Spring and whose family was always our go-to contact up there, died earlier in the week. She was just a tad younger than me, so the two of us became close. And we have kept up with each other through the years, though not as closely as we should have. 

On a positive note, she was definitely a believer. She and her husband were active members of a church in Spring up until he died and she started traveling. I know her kids and grandkids will miss her. 

The funeral was in Tomball, north of Spring, north of Houston. See where I’m going with this? It took us two hours to get there. We made it with 17 minutes to spare. 

My older brother Jay was there. As was Julie’s brother Larry. They helped make up the total of five relatives that I recognized (and in one case, only after Jay coached me behind the scenes). But hey, I don’t think they knew me, either. We did go to the graveside service as well. Gave us a chance to chat for a few more minutes with Jay and with Wil, Julie’s oldest son. 

Now the drive home was somewhat more hectic than that going. We left the cemetery around 3:45. And that put us gliding through downtown Houston at about 4:30 or so. Gotta love that rush hour traffic. 

In spite of the major slowdown, we made it through without too much difficulty. Except maybe a tiny taste of road rage. We then made our way to Nathan and April’s. See, we had the foresight to toss a change of clothes into the car so we could go straight to Cailyn’s soccer game. And we were so glad we did. The Good Gals won big. 6-0. That’s kind of outrageous for a soccer game. And Cailyn played one of the best games we have ever seen her play. Proud of you, Cailyn. 

Revelation‬ ‭7‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭ says, After this I looked, and there was a vast multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, which no one could number, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were robed in white with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!

Father, please be with Julie’s family and walk with them through their next few weeks. Amen. 

February 28 - “Texas sunshine”

We knocked out our two miles. Finished a little before ten. And it was an interesting journey. We made our way through intermittent fog, a brief chill or two, and even a peeking through of some Texas sunshine. I’m ready to be done with those first two. 

After working ahead on some desk work stuff and grabbing some lunch, we spent a while getting the house cleaned up for home group. We have been (and will continue) meeting really spasmodically. Mainly because of our travel schedule. And next week we are off because a group of us are going to Burnet, Texas, for burial of Sam’s ashes. We’ll meet the next week, and then it’s off on our Spring Training trip to Florida and the Carolinas. I’m ready. Let’s go! 

Revelation‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬ says, Our Lord and God, You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because You have created all things, and because of Your will they exist and were created.

Father, thanks for our home group family. Bless them in all they do. Amen.