Friday, May 12, 2017

May 12 – “Sneakoff Adventure 2017”

Sneakoff Adventure 2017 has officially begun.  Although I did have someone tell me yesterday that it can’t be much of a sneakoff when I post pictures on FaceBook.  But hey, that’s all part of the misdirection process.  Every good secret agent knows that trick, right?  So this journal will suffice as the official, after the fact record of where we end up from day to day.  Which, for the most part, we have no idea until it actually happens.  It’s kind of our way of carrying living day to day to the extreme. 

So what happened yesterday?  Our original mission was set to begin on Friday, today.  But we got word that our middle son Josh was to be involved in a championship basketball game on Thursday evening.  He has been playing in a church league, and his team was thrust into the championship game by virtue of an unexpected victory in their last game.  That’s the one where tempers flared on the opposition and things didn’t go so well in their relationship with the referees.  Josh’s team maintained their composure, however, and as a result the calm and cool won out in the end.  The championship game was a back and forth affair, but the young legs of the opposition proved too much, and they lost by just a few points.  Both teams had a great attitude, though.  It was a fun game to watch.

But let me back up just a bit and fill in our itinerary.  We made one stop on our way out of town.  Whataburger.  Needed some protein for the journey, right?  And then it was hit the road.  Chris was driving, as usual.  I was determined to watch an in-flight movie without falling asleep.  It was that Harry Potter prequel about incredible magical creatures being let loose on New York City back in the 1920’s.  We had already watched it once, but I’m pretty sure I fell asleep then, too.  Did you catch that clue there?  “Too.”  Yep, I fell asleep yet again.  I did wake up in time to see one of those catchy freeway signs.  This one was on one of those high-dollar electronic sign things.  It said, “Irv’s Clean Restroom.”  That’s all.  It set me to wondering.  Does Irv have just one restroom?  And if he has more, is just one of them clean?  Ah, the disturbing philosophical quandaries one finds oneself pondering in the midst of a Sneakoff Adventure.  There was one other sign that struck me.  I wanted a picture of it for my FaceBook trip archive, but I didn’t move fast enough.  This one read “Pass Carefully When Allowed.”  So does that mean when I’m not allowed, it’s OK to step on it?  And who gets to decide when I’m allowed?  I never saw a sign further ahead that said “You are now allowed to pass, but do it carefully, remember.”  I finally returned to my movie.  Finished it, too.  Awake.

As it turned out, we actually arrived in Waco too early.  By that I mean Christi was out running errands and Josh hadn’t returned from work yet.  The kids were safely ensconced with a baby-sitter, but they hadn’t yet been told that we were coming.  So we decided to wait for Josh to get home so he could be part of the surprise.  We pulled into the parking lot of a school for a while and tried to find some information on the Lake Waco National Park.  We want to buy a National Park entry pass for seniors.  Why?  Well, right now they are only $10 for us oldies.  But they are about to increase that to $60.  Gotta take advantage in case we run across a National Park “out there.”  Parents started arriving to pick up their children, so we left the parking lot and drove by the house.  The baby-sitter’s car was still parked out front, so we took a little drive through the neighborhood and down by the park.  We ended up just parking behind the baby-sitter’s car.  About that time Josh drove up, so we could honestly tell him that we just arrived. 

The surprise was a good one.  Caleb was playing a video game in the living room, and Zak was doing the same on the bedroom computer.  AnnaGrace was hard at work in her little walker thing, spinning and squeezing and slapping at the fun array of options before her.  And Luke?  Well, Luke was hiding behind some pillows in the guest room.  Why?  No idea.  But he emerged from the safety of his lair to give me a hug.  It was a bit more difficult for the older two to tear themselves away from their games, but they did acknowledge our presence.  AnnaGrace smiled sweetly.  Close enough for me.  actually, I’m pretty sure the reason for the grin was that she saw her Daddy over my shoulder.  But I’m claiming the DadDad right of rewriting history.  She smiled at me.  That’s my story and I’m sticking with it.

Hebrews 8:1-2 says, “The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.”


Father, thank you for a day one safe trip.  I’m looking forward to the wonders of day two.  Amen.

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