April 5 – “Anniversary”

We headed out from the funeral to attend a thirtieth anniversary celebration at South Oaks Baptist Church in Arlington.  I used to be the minister of education there just before we moved to Denver.  And up until a few months ago Josh had been the minister to youth there.  Since Seaside has never been very much of an anniversary kind of place (not sure why.  We have tried it a few times and haven't had much response.  Maybe we'll try again in the future), we decided it would be nice to see some of the folks from back in our era.    A couple who have been our friends from back in the day invited us to stay with them.  In fact they invited Josh and Christi and Zak and Caleb to stay as well.  The Winkles actually became surrogate grandparents for the boys while Josh was on staff there.  We appreciated the kindness and support they gave Josh and Christi, but we were also a little bit jealous that they got to see so much of the boys.  We did have at least two other invitations, but the presence of the grandkids sure was a hard one to pass up.  We would have missed being attacked on several occasions by some sort of machine gun-like, bubble-blowing contraption each of the boys were wielding.  And we wouldn't have been blessed with the hilarious picture of Christi covering her eyes while Josh and Cary swung the boys around in circles encased in the cocoon of a blanket.                                                                                             The anniversary celebration was good.  The Bible Study group Chris and I went to was answering the question, "When did you start attending South Oaks?"  I had no idea of the date, but I knew it was about a year and a half after the church started.  I figured if I knew when the church started I could easily figure out the answer.  So, without thinking (I'm pretty good at that), I said, "How long ago did the church start?"  I didn't understand the snickers and smattering of laughter that followed until one of them chuckled and said, "Well, that would be about thirty years ago."  Oh, yeah.  Thirtieth anniversary celebration.  The whole reason we are here.  Duh.   They had a big dinner on the grounds after the service.  Their association's disaster relief team served the meal.  That brought some memories of standing in a relief line to get food after the hurricane.  The pastor announced how to exit the building properly to get in line.  Then he added that a short cut line had been set up so that the senior citizens wouldn't have to make such a long trek or have to stand in line so long.  They still called that group the Toppers, the name they selected for themselves back when we were there.  It meant, in their words, "We have topped the peak and are on the downhill slide."  I never was really sure if that was a positive or negative outlook on life, but they sure took to the name.  When Chris and I reached the point of turning to find the back of the line or attempting to sneak through the short cut, I put on my best "old guy" face, slumped over forward, and began to walk with a distinctive shuffle.  I was about to call the watchman "Sonny" when he pre-empted my strike with, "If I had a dime for the number of people who have tried that with me, I'd be a rich man."  Ouch.  He did laugh and let us through, though.    The Huntley's, the Douty's, the Wyatt's, the Jones's, the Sales's, the Bryant's, along with a boatload of people who knew us as Josh's parents or who were among those who came down to help us after Hurricane Ike.  It was good to see them all.  Hmm.  Maybe a Seaside anniversary could work after all.  There are so many folks I'd love to see again.  The Trapman's, the Freeman's, the Humphries's, the Richey's …   Jeremiah 23:5-6 says, "'The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.  In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety.  This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.'"   Father, thank you for opportunities to remember.  Help me to remember to remember ahead as well, to when we get to come home to you.  Amen.