December 21 - “Surprise!”

I had the early start yesterday. I went to the Central Fire Station to make a delivery or two … or seven. I had the fun job of taking loaves of friendship bread to the Chief, assistant chiefs, fire marshal, and the two administrative assistants (aka “The Real Chiefs“ - love you, Jenna and Nora). I always enjoy seeing adults react to friendship bread. It’s generally pretty exciting stuff. 

In the afternoon we did a return of some Amazon things. They have that return system down to a science - at least as far as Amazon stuff is concerned. Only took her a few seconds to scan the items and print us a receipt. I was impressed. And we even got to see our friend Sean in the process. 

From there we went to … OK. OK. Why do I have to keep saying it. But now is my favorite time of year to frequent Walmart (Christmas Eve is my all-time favorite day to be there). We found a few more presents, and found an open checker so we could request gift receipts. 

Imagine our surprise to be told that “Our new system doesn’t do gift receipts.” What? I guess our incredulous response caused her to rethink her response. She backpedaled a bit and approached it a different way. 

 Instead she appealed to a more experienced checker for help. And help came. Receipts were printed, and our checker learned something new about the wondrous “new system.” Glad we could be of assistance. 

Last night we attended Cailyn’s soccer game. Game ended in a tie, so better than the last one. Oh, and the wind chill was 47. I might or might not have worn my ski jacket. And a long-sleeved shirt. And a short-sleeved shirt. And a sweatshirt with a hood. And a blanket. I was almost comfortable.  Oh, and we got to see Cailyn’s boyfriend, Gavin. Fortunately, we brought along the Christmas gift we had for him. Just some candy. Sour skittles. Didn’t know there was such a thing. Enjoy, Gavin. 

After the game we stopped by Cailyn’s house. They had the tamales we ordered to help raise money for the soccer team. Of course we had to sample one. They are goo-oood. Then we delivered tamales to our mutual friends, the Luza’s, who live in Galveston. 

‭‭Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭46‬-‭47‬ says, And Mary said: “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior,”

Father, thank you for again keeping the girls safe and somewhat warm during the game. Amen. 

December 20 - “Reindeer Games”

It was Thursday. Add to that our home group party last night. Plus some bonus baking going on. Well, not exactly baking. Chris was mixing up her yearly batch of what she calls puppy chow. It’s a mess of Chex cereals and peanut butter and chocolate and powdered sugar. It would be great if it wasn’t for the peanut butter. Not a fan. But plenty of others are. Y’all enjoy!

Meanwhile, I attacked the Thursday clean house chore. Vacuum. Dust. Clean toilets. Chris stopped me when I started sweeping, though. That does hurt my back quite a bit. Hopefully my meager attempts eased her burden a little bit. 

Reindeer Games went pretty well last night. One highlight was watching Ed, Lauren and Helen rejuvenate some dehydrated reindeer antlers (aka balloons filling up pantyhose). And then they wore them on their heads. Good sports, guys. We made snowmen from marshmallows, played Hungry, Hungry, Reindeer, and passed Rudolph’s nose in a relay race of sorts. 

Good food. Good music. Great games. Tremendous friends. Perfect savior.  

Sorry. Got a little carried away there. Ho! Ho! Ho!

Luke‬ ‭1‬:‭35‬ says, The angel replied to her: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God.”

Father, thanks for the evening of fun and games and sharing together. Amen. 

December 19 - “Appliance-gate II - Trying Again … Again”

Well, Surprise! Surprise! Surprise! Guess what was in my inbox this morning? An e-gift card from the wonderful folks at the Home Depot extended warranty department. 

We high-tailed it down there right after breakfast. Went right to a similar washing machine, and said, “We’ll take it.” The delivery date on the price card said the 20th. Perfect. Will something actually go right here? 

As she wrote us up, the inevitable little charges started coming in. Haul-away. Delivery. Connection. Stainless steel hose. New warranty ($15 more than the old one). We finally told her to cancel the haul-away. We can just drag it out to the street. Once she had it all entered in the computer and a copy printed, she told us we needed to take it to the service desk to ring it up because of the e-gift certificate. OK. The only thing was … somewhere between the floor model and the order desk, the delivery schedule changed. Next available date? Christmas Eve. Bah. Humbug. 

The lady at the service desk was nothing short of amazing. She added haul-away back in, then discounted the cost right back out. She made sure delivery and set-up was free as well, and in a nutshell, saved us quite a bit more money. Delivery date didn’t change though. Still Christmas Eve. But maybe now I can manage a tentative … Ho! Ho! Ho!  

Chris spent the better part of the day on her feet. Not orating or walking or acting as one of those human statues. She was baking. Yesterday was Amish bread day. That’s one of those things that has to adhere to a strict schedule. Took her all day, and a replenishment trip to Walmart for me, but she got it done. All that remains is the givin’ and eatin’!

Oh! And I enjoyed my Walmart visits with Daryl and Patti as well as Traci. Always great to catch up with friends. Especially amid the craziness that is Walmart! 

Isaiah‬ ‭9‬:‭6‬ ‭ says, For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

Father, thank you for the helpful service desk lady. We needed that. Bless her. Amen. 

December 18 - “Appliance crisis again!”

 Appliance crisis again! This time it was the washing machine. It started making noise like it was switching to a different cycle, but nothing ever happened. No water. No spinning. Just racket. Fortunately, we bought the extended warranty on that one. The tech support folks were actually really nice and did their best to be helpful. But … their best guess after extensive over-the-phone ideas of things to try … we’ll just send you a gift card for the entire price you paid. Sounds like an “internal issue.”  Read here: the computer is messed up. Cheaper to buy another machine than to fix this one. Oh! And my favorite comment, “we don’t care what you do with the old one.”

So … now we wait until we receive that e-gift card, then go back and buy another washing machine. Yay! 

Chris had to make a quick baking trip to Walmart. I stayed behind this time. A few of the gifts I ordered for her arrived, so I wanted to get them wrapped before she started snooping. Not that anyone in our family has ever snooped … 

Last night we took a little field trip. Literally. We went to the soccer field up at Clear Lake High School. Cailyn and the Santa Fe team played them in a preseason scrimmage. Bad guys won 2-0, but it was for sure a good showing for our girls, especially by the defense. Held them scoreless most of the game. Guess who plays defense? We’re proud of you, Cailyn. 

Micah‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬ says, Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are small among the clans of Judah; One will come from you to be ruler over Israel for Me. His origin is from antiquity, from eternity.

Father, thanks for watching over those young ladies on the soccer field. Bless them. Amen. 

December 17 - “Eight days and …”

Back to the old grind again. Well, at least as far as doctor appointments go. Chris had her cardiologist checkup yesterday. All was well again. Come back in six months. Woohoo!

Speaking of old grind … yep. We had to make a Walmart run. We are slowly shifting into Christmas gear. Some presents, sure, but mostly … food. Home group party on Thursday.  Then Christmas with the fam the next week. Eight days and counting …

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬ says, Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive, have a son, and name him Immanuel.

Father, thank you again for anticipation. Advent is a great season. Amen. 

December 16 - “Worship with the kiddos”

We got to experience another special treat in “Our Waco Church” yesterday. The children’s choirs were leading the first part of worship with several songs. The preschoolers were extremely cute, as you might have expected. But the children’s choir of elementary kids was the treat for us. Luke and AnnaGrace were both in there, giving it their all. Of course they were the best out of them all. After all, their name is Vaughan. 

We left right after church to get back in the road home. But we had to make one quick stop about 30 miles outside of Waco. Yes, Josiah, you ruined us. We stopped at The Chicken Place in Marlin again. Can’t beat a place that fills a plate up with chicken livers and fried okra like they do. 

Well, it took them two tries this time. My first plate was not nearly as full as the last time. I had a hunch that I knew what the problem was. Yep. One bite answered my query. Gizzards. A plate full of gizzards. And I really don’t like gizzards. They are too chewy and have no flavor. I took the offending offering back to the counter and explained my dilemma. They graciously promised to make me some more - livers this time. They did. I tasted. All was well, with plenty of leftovers, to boot. We even had plenty of time to stop in Hearne for a Dairy Queen blizzard for dessert. Yum.  

Our goal was to make it back to Seaside in time for the Elf Fellowship. We made it with time to spare. Plenty of food was available - spaghetti with maple syrup, of course! The movie was fun. And Chris even won the tie breaker trivia question: What did the basement mail room smell like? Mushrooms, of course. Thanks to Terry and all the others who put its event together. Glad we got back in time to enjoy it. 

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭23‬:‭5‬ says, “The days are coming” — this is the Lord’s declaration — “when I will raise up a Righteous Branch of David. He will reign wisely as king and administer justice and righteousness in the land.”

Father, thanks for another safe trip. And thanks for those youngsters who led worship. Bless ‘em. Amen. 

December 15 - “that’s our girls!”

Time again for a mad dash to Waco. This time AnnaGrace was the star of show … literally. She danced the part of a little angel (type-casting) in The Nutcracker.  The only other time I have seen an actual ballet (I think it was The Nutcracker, too) was way back when Jennifer Stone was the lead dancer. As I recall, we had seats on about the second row. Jennifer was great, but that was just a bit … too close. Remember that one, Jim?

This show was put on by the Waco Symphony Orchestra at an auditorium on the campus of Baylor University. Phew! Sounds like quite the big deal, doesn’t it?  Well, it was! Way to go, AnnaGrace. We are proud of you. 

Speaking of proud … on the way to Waco we found out that Cailyn is a starter on the high school soccer team! Attagirl, Cailyn! 

Oh, and speaking of grandparently pride in granddaughters … Noa had her first recital playing the violin! That ain’t easy. Nice job, Noa!

Isaiah‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬ says, Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

Father, thank you for the chance to see some pretty incredible athletes in that ballet last night. Bless them. Amen.