October 14 – “Contagious?”

We walked around the neighborhood again this morning. The only real problem I had was a clicking in my hip. That sounds weird. But the neighborhood is looking better. There are still quite a few houses that have been gutted but not completed on the inside. The outsides are looking pretty good, though. Just in time for the big Halloween that usually occurs around here. We’re planning to have our usual party that night. And we have a lot of the books that we gave away at the Easter sunrise service. We’ll put those together with the candy.

I was wondering what would be the first distraction from the prayer walk. I found out at youth group last night. At the same time there is a mission opportunity that some of the kids are probably going to be involved in. Tough situation. Both are good things. Can’t fault someone for doing missions.

Then I got an email today that pointed out something to me that was a totally unintentional slight. Back on Sunday when I was hurting pretty bad, I did my blog page anyway. I mentioned the church we went to on vacation and the fact that not many folks spoke to us. My mind was on how I could communicate to Seaside that we have to be careful to be friendly. Ordinarily I would not have said the name of the church. I didn't mean to put it in a bad light at all. First Baptist Church in Texas City is doing some great things, not the least of which is sending a group to pray for Jamaica Beach on Saturday. They just just raised over a million dollars to carry out some of their mission work. And the Sunday we were there several kids indicated they had become believers at Vacation Bible School there. I apologize to First Baptist Church in Texas City for offending anyone in your midst. That was definitely not my intent.

We got a brief visit from Jachin, Micah, and Josiah this afternoon. They came by to pick up their dog Lucy. She stayed with us while they went to see their cousins in Mansfield (And Daddy and Mommy got to go to a conference, too). Zak and Caleb both had bouts with fever while they were there, and Jachin ended up lying down on our couch. Guess it’s his turn. The Mansfield doc said it was viral, so get out of the way and let it run its course. Cailyn’s coming back over tonight. Her Mom and Dad are going out for a night on the town, so she gets to spend the night with us. Another test of bedtimes. Except we have home group tonight, so she wouldn’t get to bed on time anyway. I hope I can communicate about election and predestination with her wanting to play. Don’t you love a challenge? Chris and I talked about grandchildren overdose, but sounds like that hasn’t hit quite yet.

I’ve been watching Chris today. With home group tonight, she has been cleaning house. She does a whole lot better and more thorough job than I ever did over the summer while she was gone. But she says she is having trouble getting one thing finished before going to something else. I’ve had that problem for years. But how did she get my disease? I didn’t know it was contagious.

Hebrews 10:22-24 says, “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”

Father, give Chris back her gift of focus. Amen.