October 11 – “Scare Tactics Marathon”

 

 

Well, I didn't get to make the family trip to Houston yesterday.  We were going to the Children's Museum for a special homeschoolers day.  I think the museum was going to be closed for Columbus Day, but they saw an opportunity to make some extra money.  We left the house early enough to get gas and go pick up Cailyn.  She was to be our charge for the day.  But on the way to her house the all too familiar rumblings in my gut signaled the start of another attack of my intermittent Irritable Bowel Syndrome – the dreaded IBS.  It meant I would be spending the better part of the morning at least in the bathroom.  We got Cailyn with no problems, but Chris then dropped me off at the house and she and Cailyn made the journey. 

 

There were several warm-up spells before the expected really bad bout.  Lots of cramping pain in the gut.  It finally passed – literally – and I was so exhausted I fell asleep.  When I woke up it 11:20.  Nathan stopped by about then to check on Mom.  I didn't think to call and tell him I wasn't going to Houston, but it's always good to see him.  He was out cleaning pools.

 

I took a chance for lunch and fixed me and Mom some of the chicken and dumplings Chris had made.  I thought about getting her a hamburger, but I just couldn't come up with anything that sounded good to me, except maybe a cherry limeade slush.  It only took me one quick bathroom stop before I got started, but I finished my bowl and made it through the rest of the day.

 

We discovered another thing that is able to keep Mom interested and awake.  We knew she would watch the Astros.  And Saturday we found out she could follow football even better than baseball.  She loved watching the Texas versus Oklahoma game.  That was verified Sunday, too.  She watched the Texans game.  But yesterday I was flipping through channels while we had lunch and stopped on the Sci-fy channel.  Scare Tactics.  They create elaborate practical jokes to play on people that involve scaring them in some way.  I had heard about the show but never watched it, so I left it on.  And Mom was captured.  She made comments about the people's reactions, and even jumped a time or two, herself.  And then I realized that it was a Scare Tactics Marathon Day.  I left the TV on and went back into the office to get some work done.  But every time I returned to check on her, Mom was still awake and intent on the show.  Never expected that. 

 

Proverbs 28:18 says, "He whose walk is blameless is kept safe, but he whose ways are perverse will suddenly fall."

 

Father, be as aggressive as you need to be to keep my walk blameless.  Amen.