October 15 – “Jachin’s Team Won”

The new newspaper ad for teachers and a headmaster at Seaside Christian Academy came out today.  I really had high hopes for it.  Well, we have only had two responses so far.  One was interested in a junior high position.  But the other was a man interested in the "principal" position.  They made us call it principal rather than headmaster because head MASTER is sexist.  I don't know anything about him yet, because he just requested an application.  But I can hope..   The PE teacher couldn't be there again today.  Her husband let me know when he got there to teach his Art class right before hers.  I told him I would take care of it.  When the time came I had them all dress out and meet me on the porch outside.  I told them they had a choice of activities today.  First choice was the list I had in my pocket.  I read it to them.  Run the perimeter of the property.  Run sprints in the parking lot.  Jog the perimeter of the property.  I don't remember what all else I had on there.  By the time I finished their mouths were hanging open and they were formulating their excuses.  Then I quickly added, "Or we can all walk down to the beach."  Guess what won?  The beach is a nice place when it's not too hot.   When I got home Chris was babysitting with Cailyn.  Nathan and April were moving into a little larger apartment.  It was sure good to see her.  Then Chris snuck off to take a shower.  It took Cailyn about three minutes to realize she was gone.  She puckered up, grabbed her Elmo doll, and started on a toddler's trek to find Nani.  She only got as far as the kitchen before she finally gave up and turned back.  Elmo kept sabotaging her attempts to walk.  But when she turned back, good old DadDad was right there.  Since Mom or Dad or Nani weren't anywhere to be found, she decided to settle for the old man.  She crawled into my arms – with Elmo, of course – and snuggled in for the count (that would be the countdown until one of the Big Three showed up again).  We walked around the house a few times.  She finally decided that she liked two of my old carvings – the elephant and one of the dogs.  They even beat out Elmo.  They weren't a powerful enough attraction for us to sit on the floor and play with, though.  Nope.  "We must stand, DadDad.  We might miss the Arrival of one of Them if we're way down there on the floor."  Hey, DadDad happily took all the hugs he could get.  And it was a good thing.  As soon as Nani walked in, it was all over.  Girls.    I went to Jachin's soccer game this afternoon.  The other team didn't have quite enough players when the game began, so Jachin flipped his shirt around and played for them.  He loved it, because he never had to sit out.  He is quite the little athlete, too.  I saw him score a goal (would that be for or against his team?).  I also saw him knock a kid down with a slide tackle from behind.  Not something to laugh about.  It's a highly illegal maneuver.  But I couldn't help laughing when Coach Daddy, who was the king of illegal slide tackles from behind when he played, had to tell him that what he did was wrong.  He said something like, "That was a really good move, Jachin.  But it was really illegal.  But it was a good move.  Just don't do it again."  Talk about conflicted.  I also laughed when the other team's last player finally arrived.  Jachin didn't want to rejoin his team.  So the two coaches said, "Why not?" and kept playing.  They don't keep very close track of the score at these games (also tough for Kel - Mr. Competitive), so I don't know who had the most points.  But what did it matter, anyway.  If the team Jachin played for scored more, then Jachin's team won.  But if his real team scored more, then Jachin's team won.  So … Jachin's team won.  That's my grandson.   John 1:1 says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."   Father, I wanted to read something simple tonight.  There it is.  Simple. But very complex at the same time.  That's my God.  Amen.