April 19 - “Mere moments”

It’s been a while, but we actually remembered how to relax just a little. We didn’t have to be anywhere until 2:45, so we had a leisurely breakfast with … well, eventually with everyone we knew at the hotel. Cary and KayLynn first. Then I got a phone call from Ezra asking if we were at breakfast. Since we were, he and Noa jetted down in a heartbeat to join us. Bob and Linda came down next, and Kel and Christina followed soon after. Finally, just under the wire of when the kitchen closed on breakfast, Jachin and Josiah arrived. 

After breakfast we had a pow-wow with Cary and KayLynn. She and Chris have both been researching places to go to see the northern lights. We left it with me emailing our faithful travel agent Belinda to see what insights she had. 

As I mentioned, we had to be at the venue by 2:45.  The reason? No. Not because I was the officiant. This time it was so Chris could get her cookies there on time. There were a few last minute things to be done, but for the most part, all was ready. 

The pictures had already been taken of the wedding party. Zak and Lindsay did one of those “first look” photo things. That just left family photos for after the ceremony.

Finally the time came to begin. The grandparents lined themselves up in proper order, and the wedding coordinator fell into step and followed their lead. Unfortunately, about the time Josh and Christi headed down the aisle, I realized I didn’t have my wedding book in my hands. Uh oh. 

Knowing I had mere moments before Zak and I were supposed to head down the aisle, I hurried up the side aisle to the front row to check the seat next to Chris. Nope. I hurried back to the back and outside where the wedding party waited. There it was. No problem. I grabbed it, Zak grabbed me, and we were back on track. 

Lindsay’s dad, Lance, had asked if, in answer to the “Who presents this woman to be married to this man? question, he could say to Zak, “As long as you understand there are no takie-backies here, then her mother and I do.” I assured him he most certainly could. He didn’t. Left out the takie-backie” part altogether. Smart man, Lance. 

The ceremony went off without a hitch. The room was packed. The mic was, well …. Very loud. But we made it work. In an interesting move (at the request of the photographer), after I pronounced them husband and wife, I had to duck behind a canopy post so I wouldn’t be in the kissing picture. Then I had to pop back out to present them to the crowd. Oh, and in a thrilling moment during their walk down the aisle as man and wife, Lindsey twirled into Zak’s arms and he dipped her for another flamboyant kisseroo. The celebration had begun. 

The reception included a meal of some slow-cooked barbecue brisket and chicken. Good stuff. 

Zak and Lindsay started things off with their first dance, then her dad danced with her, and Christi danced with Zak. Caleb continued things with a great best man speech. He took his duties seriously and carried them out admirably. Once the other formalities were completed (read here, cutting the cheesecake), and the food line was diminished, the dancing began. 

This segment included quite a few different dance styles, from slow dances to upbeat free style to country two step to every line dance you can think of. There may or may not have been one of Zak’s grandparents gracing the dance floor on occasion. Rumor has it that he (or she) was rocking the joint away. 

The cold, wet weather (and the semi-outdoor venue) led to a shortening of the festivities. The happy couple left around 7:30 to the cheers - and bubbles - of the crowd. 

Lots of people stuck around to help reset the chairs and tables for the next event. Surprisingly, we were back at the hotel around 8:30. And what should await us there but …

The elevator was on the fritz. We were directed to the stairs at the ends of the building. Fortunately, we weren’t carrying anything heavy. As it turned out, they got it fixed before we ever settled into our room for the night (we had to make the rounds of Nathan’s and Kel’s suites). 

Full day. A few twists. God was ever in control. Love you, Zak and Lindsay. 

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭6‬ says, Seek the Lord while He may be found; call to Him while He is near.

Father, be with Zak and Lindsay as they get started together. There’s lots of learning and growing left to do.  Amen. 

April 18 - “Wedding: T-1

No walk yesterday. Too much to do. Chris was packing, and I had to zip out to the church. We were borrowing a wireless mic to use at the wedding. I got everything that Gregg set out. Not that I knew how to use any of it. But I figured there would be somebody there who could set everything b up. And besides, there was a chance that the venue or the DJ would have something, so I wouldn’t need any of it. 

Back to the actual trip … we left the house right around ten. There were only two places where traffic was an issue, so we made pretty good time. Good enough that we just happened to pulling into Buc-ees around 12:30. Lunch time. Chopped beef sandwiches, a fried apple pie, and some cantaloupe. How’s that for a balanced meal?

We arrived at the hotel a little before two. We hurriedly unloaded the car and headed right out to the venue. Once there we jumped in and did what we could to help Christi get everything set up for the rehearsal dinner. She had done some serious work preparing for that thing. She and Josh picked up all the food in Waco and lugged it to Fairfield. We just helped get it out from their car to the kitchen to the eating area. 

The rehearsal itself went pretty smoothly. There was a wedding coordinator, so she took over the details of before and after. 

When the eating began, KayLynn and Christina (and their hubbies) took over the serving and replenishing of all the dishes. And there were a lot. Fajitas (chicken and beef) with all the fixin’s. That was some good eating. Thanks, Christi and your gang for all that help. And thanks to Cary in particular for pitching in and even washing dishes. And to

those who volunteered to help in any way, much thanks. 

After the meal  we joined Carry and KayLynn for a quick drink at Sonic. I haven’t had a cherry limeade slush in quite a long time. It really hit the spot. And as always, it was great hanging out with good friends. 

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭8‬ says, Be serious! Be alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

Father, take over the service today. Be with all the ones in the wedding and connected to it in any capacity. Amen. 

April 17 - “Scrap Tester”

We grabbed our two mile walk again yesterday. Gotta say, we are definitely back in Galveston. It was hot. Well, hot with a side of cool breeze. Perfect Galveston weather. 

Meanwhile, when we got back, Chris dove right in and attacked her assigned task for the wedding. Chocolate chip cookies.  Lots of chocolate chip cookies. The house smelled fabulous. And sadly, there were a few that just didn’t make the cut. And we couldn’t let those fragments just go to waste, could we?  Here’s the official assessment of the official scrap tester: Yum. 

Last night we went to Cailyn’s end of the season soccer banquet. They held it at a venue in the middle of nowhere outside of Alvin called Still Waters. They took the name from the 23rd Psalm: “He leads me beside still waters.” I was impressed with that creativity. 

The building was really nice. Really big, too. The acoustics were terrible, though. Felt like a big barn. Actually … that’s what it was. 

Cailyn was recognized in two areas. Academic all-district and all-district honorable mention. That’s my girl. 

‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭5‬:‭21‬ says, He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Father, be with all those young athletes. Draw them close to yourself. Amen. 

April 16 - “Bananas and friends”

Up and at ‘em again yesterday. Started the day with a good two mile stroll around the neighborhood. And of course that just got Chris all warmed up for yardwork. The lady loves Spring. 

This time my task was spreading that Weed and Feed. The back yard was easy. I finished before Chris got done raking the front. Then we swapped. She went in back to start watering. I pulled some weeds, even used our nifty sticker bur tool. But it soon became apparent that it would be a losing battle. So I did the next best thing. Chemical warfare. 

But that brought to light another issue. A good portion of the yard is playing host to one particular weed that has a pretty yellow flower. In fact, people pay good money to add this particular weed to their garden. So … that meant I couldn’t just spread the Weed and Feed. Oh, no. I had to carefully avoid the yellow flowers. Not sure how well my attempt went off. Guess we’ll see if (pretty) yellow weeds start dying. 

After a shower and some lunch we had a few errands to run. Bank (our account type is no longer offered as of May 31. Yay.). Randall’s (Chris had two prescriptions). Walmart (Well … stuff. You know? Bananas and friends).

‭‭Mark‬ ‭13‬:‭33‬ says, Watch! Be alert! For you don’t know when the time is coming.

Father, thanks for those pretty yellow weeds. Amen. 

April 15 - “Weeds and Dead Grass”

Well, talk about back to the old drudgery. We walked for two miles to start our day. And it was hot. Welcome home, right?  But hey. I’ll take the hot over that freezing cold wind on the ship any day. 

Speaking of hot, then we worked out in the back yard. Chris was raking up dead grass. I got down and dirty and pulled up weeds. All that was in preparation for tossing out some Weed and Feed Back there. Maybe today. Or tomorrow. 

Since we were already sweaty,  Chris used this opportunity to give Freddy a bath. The two of them were a sight to behold during the drying off process. Looked like a Mama with her newborn baby cuddling in the rocking chair. Freddy was in no hurry to get down, either. Guess she enjoyed being clean and warm. 

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭6‬ says, We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquity of us all.

Father, help Lindsay and Zak get everything wedding done. Amen. 

April 14 - “Thumb shot day”

Ah. Thumb shot day. We got started really early yesterday - appointment at 8:40 for the next round of steroid shots in my thumbs. I really like the nurse practitioner who does the procedure. The excitement this time came when she sat down to begin the procedure. She picked up one of the syringes, explaining to the student what asked was doing. Suddenly she stopped. Seems the nurse had drawn up the wrong amount. There was too much steroid in the shot. She apologized and said she would be right back with the correct dose. Hmm. Wonder what would have happened …

After the snafu was corrected, she wanted to see our vacation pictures. We limited what we showed to the Sagrada Família. She was awestruck. She told us that they do one international trip every year. This year’s was already spoken for by Asia, but Spain was definitely now on her hot list.  

On the way home we had a few stops to make. First one was Home Depot. There we picked up some Weed and Feed for our yards. Chris also got a few small plants to put in the back yard pots. 

Next we went to Kroger. Just one item on the agenda there. Freddy’s hard to find dog food. They did have one very small bag. Well, Freddy, it might be about time to switch food. 

Randall’s was right on the way, so that was the next stop. From there we picked up a prescription for Chris. We also checked out the Blue Bell ice cream to see if it was on sale. No luck this time. So we settled for the Monday fried chicken deal with original-style potato salad.

‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ says, For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

Father, thank you for another chance to deal with thumb pain. Amen. 

April 13 - “A LOUD Altercation”

Well, that was an interesting thing to wake up to. I was sitting at my desk reading and enjoying a cup of coffee. Suddenly there came a loud honking from the house next door. That was followed by another ten minutes of a very loud altercation. 

To be honest, “very loud” is not all that uncommon for the residents next door. That’s why I let it go for that long. I did finally go outside to see what exactly was happening. There were at least three females screaming at each other. The one guy seemed to be trying to play peacemaker, but his efforts weren’t all that successful. 

At one point one of the girls squatted down near a tire (Not sure why. Any guess would be my speculation. After it was all over there were some dents in the car, but they may have been there before). She didn’t really have time to do anything before she returned to the shouting match at hand. 

When the fighting appeared to be escalating to the point of physical contact, I finally called 9-1-1. And just before the police arrived, two of the girls squared off, face to face, yelling and daring the other to take the first punch. The guy bravely forced his way between them. And as the police exited their vehicles, one girl walked away down the street. Another sat on the curb, huddled over a blanket. The third stood her ground. I never could tell who was yelling or what they were saying, but they were obviously intensely angry about something. 

The lady who actually lives in the house finally came outside in her bathrobe. She appeared to know at least some of the combatants, but best I could tell, she was not involved in the altercation. When all was said and done, one of the girls was in handcuffs. An ambulance arrived and checked out another of the girls. It started to leave, but the police asked them to come back and check out someone else. 

A third police vehicle eventually pulled up to join the fray. He must have been CSI. He had a camera with him. I guess he was there to verify injuries or damages to the vehicle or something. 

Meanwhile, another guy walked up who had not been around at all, but he obviously knew at least one of the girls. Police took him aside for a brief chat. Oh, and the ambulance left, this time for real. 

All in all, the police officers and paramedics handled the situation calmly and professionally. They stayed a long time. I guess that was to make sure everything had calmed down. They finally left after about an hour. Phew!

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬ says, In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Father, please watch over the officers and paramedics, especially when they have a call like this one. Amen.