August 16 – “Plywood and a mailbox”

Today was the third Sunday of the month, and that means … Dinner on the grounds.  Somebody let the cat out of the bag about my birthday.  There was a birthday cake for Chris and me.  Strangely enough, there was also another birthday cake - for Harry Potter.  I share a birthday month with someone famous.  The youth group made me some cards with some of my favorite sayings incorporated in them … beep-boop … Native South African … swicked … bee toe mumgai … Waffles.  It was great.   We went to Home Depot this afternoon and got a mailbox, some house numbers, and thirteen sheets of plywood.  The mailbox was the last remaining thing that I know of that showed the official unofficial water level of Ike here at our house.  Chris asked if I wanted to save it as a souvenir.  It is in the garbage can.  The house numbers are still sitting on my desk.  Our old numbers are nailed to a piece of wood and the piece of wood is leaning against our brick wall in the front of the house.  I need to ask Chris where she wants those new ones.  I should be able to get that done while she is in Bay City all next week.  As far as the plywood goes, that is for our new windows.  Now that we have them all installed and operational and almost all stained, there is a tropical storm in the Gulf and two in the Atlantic.  Our new windows came with the requirement that they be covered in a storm or our windstorm policy is somehow void.  We plan to cover them.  Besides, it gives me another excuse to play with the power saw.  Ah, life on a barrier island … a sand bar … a hurricane magnet … Galveston.   Tonight we cut the slats for our old bed that we salvaged.  Actually I guess it remains to be seen if it really is salvaged.  If it collapses tonight we'll know it needed more work.  As it is, I have to say it definitely has the character of something that went through a major flood.    Tomorrow is Chris' birthday.  And tomorrow she leaves for Bay City to take her Mom to the doctor.  She is not really expecting good news, so she is leaving her return home day kind of open.  I'll try to get as much house stuff done as I can while she is gone, but we still haven't hired a new headmaster, and school starts September 8th.  We still have to hire at least one more teacher and offer a stipend to another teacher to take on PE for the high schoolers.  At least I got the curriculum order off.    2 Chronicles 7:13-14 says, "When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."   Father, I just wanted to read that verse again tonight.  I want it to happen.  Amen.