October 31 – “Sleep deprivation funk syndrome”

Ah, Monday.  Or should that be Yawn, Monday?  Oh, I attacked my Monday morning list with a vengeance, as always.  Managed to wade through a good number of the items, too.  But I have to admit I was stricken by the malady that affected a million or so of the good baseball fans in America … Game Five-itis.  The Wild and Wacky World Series game didn’t end officially until 12:38 A.M.  Of course we were right there to the bitter end, too.  Not just because we had a houseful of company, either.  I would have been up for this game even if it was just me and Chris and Freddy (Our usual season tickets box seats occupants.  And by season tickets I mean couch-comfy, right in front of the TV screen, replay available, snacks and bathroom nearby season tickets).  But I didn’t wake up until right at 7 a.m.  That’s about an hour past my usual.  And then there was the inevitable sleep deprivation funk syndrome that half of the Houston area was experiencing, or at least writing about on FaceBook.  It was a good funk, though.  I’d welcome another, oh say … tomorrow … after another victory tonight to win the whole series. 

We had Cailyn duty yesterday, so we picked her up after school.  On the way home we ran by the fire station to say hi to Daddy and slide down the whirly-gig slide they have at station four.  From there we stopped by their house to get her suitcase for the night.  By the time we got back to our house it was time to start supper.  Cailyn’s choice?  Breakfast for supper – bacon and eggs and toast.  All because that is something “Mommy and Daddy never let me do at home.”  Come on, Mommy and Daddy. 

Oh, and speaking of Daddy, he texted while we were eating.  Wanted to know if we had made it to softball practice.  Oops.  I never got that memo.  I asked what time it started.  He replied, “…Like … now.”  We gobbled down that last piece of bacon, raced back over to her house to pick up her softball gear, and made our way to the field.  She arrived in plenty of time to take her swings in batting practice and turn in some pretty spectacular fielding gems as well.  That’s my girl. 

So on to preparations for tonight.  Halloween Bible give-away to the hundreds of kiddos who come through our neighborhood, followed by, and probably intruded upon by our Astros watch party.  Come on over around 5:30.  We’ll order pizza.  Bring whatever you want to add to that and a bag of candy to hand out to the kids. 

1 John 5:3 says, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”

Father, use the New Testaments we hand out tonight to speak to the hearts of some families.  Amen.

October 30 – “Gut-wrenching … Heart-stopping”

Well, I have already been verbally accosted this morning because my blog is late being posted.  The loving, caring individual wanted to know what I could possibly have been doing last night to cause such a disruption in my - and her – morning routine.  What was I doing … indeed.  I was, along with, oh, a few million other interested parties (including said afore-mentioned jokester), watching the Astros beat the Dodgers in World Series game five.  All 10 gut-wrenching innings of it.  All five-plus heart-stopping hours of it.  And the best part of it all?  Well, aside from having some great friends over to enjoy the spectacle with us.  With all the talking and eating and laughing and screaming in the house, I could barely hear Joe Buck.  Speaking of Joe Buck, I heard that his usual haunt over at the football games was thanking his replacement for a job well done.  Well, please don’t get too used to whoever it was.  You are more than welcome to have good ol’ Joe back, say … starting Tuesday night? 

I do have to add a few details about our little watch party.  The food, of course was magnificent.  Chris made her signature taco soup.  Someone brought those little swirly things full of stuff.  No idea what they are called, but they tasted good.  Sam treated me to her signature crab dip.  I was set for the evening.  Yes, I shared.  Lauren and Ed brought several armfuls of apple pies … and some Blue Bell to go with it.  Let’s see … Bryan and Jennifer came, and so did Cathy.  Oh, and Corey and Brennan were there for the first inning, but it took Keuchel so long to get them out, it was almost Brennan’s bedtime (or was it Corey’s?), so they had to leave.  And of course there was the spirit of Sarah.  She couldn’t be here in person, but her superstitious-dom was reverenced … and referenced … throughout the night. 

Now, as exciting as the game was, there is no doubt the true enthusiasm of the evening occurred at my house.  And it wasn’t limited to a single expression.  Nay.  For you see, after every Astros home run (and they set a record for home runs), more than one of the watch party attendees broke into wild and ferocious home run dances.  I’m not saying whose was the best, for all were … unique.  I don’t think any were caught on video, either, so you’ll just have take my word for it – they were just … special.  It took some doing to top the expressions of glee each time, until Ed and, umm, someone else, were outside in the street dancing and joyfully singing.  Best I could tell we, er, I mean “they” didn’t wake up any neighbors. 

And now the series goes to Los Angeles.  The Astros have two games to win one.  Their ace number one-A, Verlander, is set to pitch.  But here’s the rub … the game is on Tuesday night.  That would be Halloween.  We already have a big party planned to give away Bibles and candy to the children who come by (and we usually have several hundred).  Now that party has officially been expanded.  Wonder how many kids will be wearing Astros garb?  Wonder how many kids we will have after 7 p.m. (game time)?  Well, you are all welcome to join us at the house Tuesday, starting around 5:30.  We need as many people as possible to sit in the front yard.  And I’ll be out to check on y’all … between innings.

1 John 4:20-21 says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

Father, thank you for friends and fun and lots of laughter.  Makes for a healthy combination.  Amen.

October 29 – “Being frank”

Well, ouch.  Tough loss at home for the Astros.  Nice home run for Springer, but when that’s one of only two hits the team gets all night, and someone named Keuchel or Verlander is not pitching, it’s going to be difficult to win.  But … perspective.  Now it’s a best two of three series.  How about winning one here and one there?  Sounds doable.

We went to Jachin’s baseball game yesterday morning.  My thoughts?  It was cold.  Really cold.  Things just get colder up in Texas than they do on the Island.  I think it was well into the 50’s.  Wind chill in the mid-40’s.  Just not at all baseball weather.  His team did fine, though.  They won something like 16 to 6.  Jachin walked every time he batted and scored every time as well.  He even slid into home head first.  And his slide stopped about an inch and a half from the plate.  He managed to scrap out the extra distance before the tag was applied, though.  Great game, but did I mention that it was cold?

Christina told us a story about the openness of a child.  Seems Noa was playing with the little friend of hers who was involved in the near-drowning several weeks ago.  The one where Jachin rescued her, and she was revived by CPR.  The interchange went something like this:

Noa: “Were your eyes open when you were drowning?”

Friend: “Mommy says I passed out and passing out is kind of like going to sleep so my eyes weren’t open.”

Children can often deal with traumatic events because they are willing to talk about it in simple and unpretentious terms.  Being frank.  There’s a lot of wisdom there.  Wonder when we start losing that …

1 John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us.”

Father, give us the wisdom of a child more often.  Amen.

October 28 – “A cold day in October”

“It’ll be a cold October day on a tropical island paradise before the Astros win a World Series game.”  What a sad appellation to be hung on a major league baseball team.  Hung on them it was, however, and they lived up to it for some 54 years.  Until this year, that is.  For some reason both spells were broken in 2017.  The temperature on Galveston Island right now is a blustery 51 degrees.  The wind chill makes it feel like it’s 45.  And the Astros have just won, not one, but two World Series games.  What a great experience for an elderly ten-year-old Houston Colt .45’s fan.  That would be me, of course.

The experience was made even more special last night as Chris and I were invited to a game-watching party at Ed and Lauren’s house.  A few of us were die-hard Astros fans (Sarah and Cory).  At least one of us purported to know absolutely nothing about baseball (Jennifer).  One got so excited she spent the evening racing back and forth between the kitchen cabinets above the refrigerator and a hiding place under a chair (I can’t remember the cat’s name).  Pepper, the Wonder Dog adjusted her evening to staring at whoever happened to have a plate of food on his lap.  And Maddie waited patiently for Ed to burst into his homerun dance (which we only saw once, by the way, and at that I missed most of it.  Couldn’t have been because I was doing a homerun dance of my own, could it?).  Cathy traded seats with both dogs three or four times throughout the evening.  The lasagna was excellent, Lauren.  Sam’s cupcakes that looked like baseballs were a hit.  Bryan did his best to keep the cat enthralled by … his belly button?  And Chris’ brownies did their best to keep Sarah occupied so she couldn’t adversely affect the outcome of the game by her actions.  Oh, and the two chickens … well, the two chickens stayed in their pen and tried to keep warm.  All the forces of our evening together combined to assure an Astros victory.  Looks like we’ll have to pass the baton to some other aspiring game-watching group for the game tonight.  We will expect nothing less than another Astros victory from you … whoever you may be.

1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”

Father, thank you for the fun time with great friends last night.  And for the Astros win, of course.  Amen.

October 27 – “Entering my MRI world”

Physical therapy appointment number two is in the books.  Now instead of just posture checks and adjustments every waking hour (literally), I have to do a series of five neck stretches every three to four hours.  They are not difficult.  Oh, I can feel the stretch, to be sure, but the moves are not impossible to do.  Well, guess what?  That is a dangerous way to talk in the world of physical therapy. 

First of all, I was very sore after the session itself.  She poked and prodded my neck again.  This time I escaped into my MRI world.  What’s that?  I do my best to go to sleep in spite of what is happening around me.  It’s hard in an MRI chamber because it is so noisy, but sometimes I am successful.  Apparently I did well yesterday as well.  She was convinced that I dozed through most of the first half of the session.  Of course I had a little help.  I had stayed up past midnight the night before.  Hey … go Astros, OK?

I was absolutely consistent in following the home exercise instructions.  Posture checks every time I thought about them (not saying I thought about them every single hour, but I did quite a few throughout the day).  And then those five neck stretches every three or four hours.  Talk about sore.  Every time I finished the series, the electrical zinging would sneak back into play.  That’s the part that wears me out more than anything.  It makes me tired just thinking about it.

When I got home, while I was “in the mood,” I spent about an hour entering all the itemized bills onto the Samaritan Ministries website.  You have to do them one at a time, and I had seven or eight to enter.  That meant scanning them into a .pdf file and uploading them after filling out a separate page on each one.  It was a tedious process.  I sure hope they are a forgiving lot.  And discerning.  Who am I kidding?  I just hope they can make some sense of the stuff I sent.  I had no idea what I was doing, so they may have received several copies of the same thing. 

On a brighter note, we are looking forward to attending a “Watch the Astros” party tonight.  Lasagna, brownies and baseball.  Oh, and friends, too.  Doesn’t get much better than that.

1 John 4:17 says, “In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.”

Father, help me to be consistent in these exercises.  At least until the PT schedule is complete.  Amen.

October 26 – “Good … Great … Mind-boggling”

Well, OK then.  Let me start out by referencing my statements from yesterday.  The Astros got to the World Series.  Good.  As of last night, they have officially won a World Series game (something that has never happened before).  Great.  And for me, the culmination of my goals for this year.  But, hey.  I like gravy as much as the next guy.  Any more wins would be just that.  And a World Series victory?  Mind-boggling.  All they have to do is win three more games. 

And speaking of dancing … I’m fairly certain there were more than a few home run dances happening in front of some late-night TV’s last night.  The one in particular that I saw on FaceBook was the stuff of legend (You are my dance-off hero, Ed Dawson).  What an exciting extra-inning game that was.  Pitcher’s duel to start with, then a home run fest to conclude.  And not just one home run … a flurry of them, eight to be exact.  Talk about something for everyone.  Oh, and Cameron Maybin even stole a base.  Why is that so significant?  Because now the entire country can go get a free taco at Taco Bell on November first.  How’s that for marketing? 

So back to my meager life … Chris and I met the bug guy at church yesterday.  He came to do his regular sweep, and while he was here he put out some stuff to get rid of those tiny little black ants that live to find ways into anything sugar.  I have a different sort of bug guy to meet on Friday.  The bee guy is making a return engagement.  Those pesky buggers have returned to the same place they were last year. 

We also helped the Alvin hurricane relief ministry team to load up for their last weekly trip to provide hot meals and supplies.  It was kind of a bittersweet moment for them, as they have made some really good connections with those folks.  They have plans to return on Thanksgiving and around Christmas.  After they left we did some rearranging of the remaining supplies to make more room for worship and for the upcoming Bethlehem Street Market.  The Seaside building, at least, is slowly returning to normal.  Just in time for the craziness of the holidays to come. 

1 John 4:16 says, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”

Father, thank you for that Alvin ministry team.  Bless them for their efforts at ministry.  Amen.

October 25 – “Lucy Too Two”

Well, my baseball year is almost complete now.  The Astros made it to the World Series.  I received a surprise t-shirt commemorating that event from Nathan and April and Cailyn (which I wore, by the way, while watching the first game of the Series last night).  That’s two out of the three goals I set for the Astros back when the season started.  Now my final goal for the team?  I would consider this a great season if they could win at least one World Series game.  That’s something that has never happened before in franchise history (They were swept by the White Sox the only other time they made it.  I got to go to one of those games thanks to the generosity of my younger brother.  Well, I decided the generosity was actually that of his wife.  It was her ticket he gave me).  As you can see, I am in this fan thing for the long haul.  Already a good year.  One win makes it a great one.  Taking the series would be a mind-boggling bonus.

Chris did some doggie-Cupid trolling yesterday.  She saw online a notice about a lab that needed a new family to love.  Housebroken, kennel-trained and gets along well with children.  Kel and Christina have been considering getting a dog for their kids since their old dog Lucy wandered away and has not been seen since.  Christina wanted a bigger one for protection.  So Chris brought the two together in what could turn out to be an epic masterpiece of matchmaking.  The new dog’s name?  Lucy.  The kids will be going over to meet Lucy Too Two on Thursday to see if there might be a good match.  We’ll see.

1 John 4:14-16 says, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.  If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.”

Father, help Kel and Christina make the right decision for them on the new dog front.  Amen.

October 24 – “Fall Festival Fabulousness”

I guess I’m only three days behind on mentioning our Fall Festival.  That happened last Saturday.  Lauren, our Seaside Events Coordinator, and her team had the front lawn and parking lot set up and even decorated in grand fashion.  Bales of hay and straw people and splashes of orange covered the entire area.  All that orange … must have been in support of the Astros, right?  Tables under pop-up tents spread across the parking lot for seating and eating (No, not eating the tables; that would be eating AT the tables).  Even the cornucopia Bryan made waited patiently to hold the canned goods that would be the entry cost. 

The bounce house was by far the most attractive station for the kiddos.  Our new playground equipment came in a very close second, though.  The littler ones enjoyed the fishing pond, while the older hands spent time challenging one another to a game of cornhole.  Everyone had to try his hand at pumpkin painting.  And of course the homemade chili made for some great frito pie or chili dogs.  Jim and Corey provided some excellent musical entertainment throughout the evening. 

We collected lots of canned goods for ministry from the two hundred or so folks who came through.  And we even had several folks just drop by to see what was happening.  They had no children with them, but who can resist all that activity?  We met several new neighbors who just moved to the area.  Several folks told us they were interested in trying out the church in the near future.  All in all, the entire Seaside Team did yet another magnificent job of working together and welcoming the community.  I was certainly proud of them. 

And then on Sunday morning the winds came.  A strong norther blew through just before church, and the decorations we had left up from the festival began to provide unwanted adornment to the surrounding homes.  Janell and Brennan spent a good fifteen or twenty minutes chasing down straw men and Fall flowers and even an errant pumpkin or two.  Nice job, you two.  I guess when it’s time to clean up … it’s time to clean up. 

Now on to the next event … Bethlehem Street Market.  December 9^th, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

1 John 4:13 says, “We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.”

Father, thank you again for the great spirit of the Seasiders who pitch in and get things done.  Bless them for that.  Amen.

October 23 – “One of ‘those’”

I got hit with a challenge at church yesterday.  Something along the lines of “How come you didn’t mention the Astros on your blog?”  My response … “The Astros?  Did they win?”  Oh, yeah.

Here’s a little nugget from the mouth of one of our little babes.  Noa and Luke were deeply involved in some kind of creative play which brought them into my office.  With great difficulty and a serious look on her face, Noa managed to position herself directly between my desk and me.  She was determined to make an announcement.

Noa: “DadDad, Satan was following us.”

Me (stifling the urge to look over my shoulder for the crafty demon): “He was?  Well, did you tell him to go away?  You can do that, you know.” (So what do you think of my meager efforts at teachable moments in theology?).

Noa (again, in a matter-of-fact, everyone knows this voice): “Nope.  We hit him over the head with a pumpkin.  A really, really heavy pumpkin.”

Umm.  I guess that works, too.

We had one of “those” kinds of fishing trips on Saturday with the youngsters.  We got up fairly early after the cousins’ sleepover and headed out to Jamaica Beach.  I got everyone situated with a rod and reel.  Cailyn got the boys all baited up (The boys won’t touch live shrimp.  Cailyn is a master at grabbing them and baiting hooks).  And once the first cast was made and hooks were in the water, the action began.  Just about every cast they were catching something.  I finally gave up trying to fish myself.  I found me a seat on a post and waited for whoever was next to come ask me if their catch was a keeper.  Since they mostly caught sand trout and croakers, we kept almost everything, except for the piggies and the one undersized spec that Zak caught.  Sure they were difficult to clean, but they made some nice fish McNuggets.  Lunch that day was a big fish fry of their own fresh fish.  And there was not much left over.  There’s just something about frying up and eating the fish you just caught …

1 John 4:12 says, “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

Father, thank you that those kiddos had a good experience fishing.  I think they have something to talk about for a long time now.  Amen.

October 22 – “Nope. Pongo”

We found out this weekend what role now-four-year-old Luke wants to play for Halloween.  Pongo.  Yep.  The dog from 101 Dalmatians.  And he wants his baby sister to go as Pongo’s wife (I don’t remember her name).  And he has a “real dog collar” to wear.  And his candy bag will instead be a doggie food bowl.  And he and his Mom have printed out and cut out and colored (I know.  Dalmatians are black and white.  But he colored their collars) 99 paper Dalmatians to be their puppies.  This from the kid who just had a Batman themed birthday party.  Now, Mom’s original idea was for Luke to be Peter Pan and AnnaGrace to be Tinkerbell and for the older two to be lost boys.  The response of Luke?  “No.  I’m going to be Pongo.”  The response of the older two?  “Uh … no, Mom.”  Seems Zak and Caleb want to be characters out of the Halo video game.  Poor Christi.  But, hey, you gotta love an already-creative Mom with a Pinterest account.

So Josh and his family arrived Thursday evening, and he was up at 5 a.m.  He was joining a group from his Waco church over in Port Arthur.  They were doing some hurricane relief mucking out of a house.  To let Christi have their car in case we needed to go anywhere, Josh took our truck.  He rolled onto the ferry, rolled the power windows down, and sat back to enjoy the ride.  And then it got noticeably colder.  And then it started to rain.  He tried to roll up the windows … and discovered one of the little quirks of our 25 year old GMC classic.  You can’t roll the driver’s side window all the way down.  Takes too much effort for it to return to its closed position, so it simply sits there.  The only way I have found to deal with it (other than not rolling that window down) is to start the engine and at that very moment hit the roll up button.  The result jolt wakens the sleeping gears and the sudden burst of adrenaline is just enough to force the window back up.  We forgot to share that little detail.  He texted Christi a little before 7 a.m. to see if I was awake yet and could I send him the key for the cranky window.  The fix worked for him, and he was finally on his way.  Their team worked most of the day, but Josh still made it back here a little before seven that night.  Long day.

1 John 4:11 says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

Father, thank you for taking care of Josh’s team as the worked on mucking this weekend.  Be with the folks to our East who are still dealing with those early stages of hurricane trauma.  Amen.

October 21 – “Mystery solved”

A crash.  Well that was a rather calamitous wake up call.  4:30 a.m.  No question about it … a crash.  Oh, I don’t mean the very loud crack of thunder.  That sound is familiar, even comforting.  But it was followed almost immediately by a nasty, scraping, explosive, quite unfamiliar sound. 

Chris and I both sat up with a start.  I got out of bed and did a bit of recognizance, but I figured it was either the door of the shed clattering or maybe a tree branch falling on its roof.  The shed is located just outside our bedroom.  I went back to bed, but alas, sleep eluded me.  I got up again, grabbed a flashlight, and this time went out into the back yard to more closely investigate.  Absolutely nothing looked out of the ordinary.  No downed tree branches.  Shed door secure.  I even went up on the deck and checked out the roof.  All seemed well.  I continued on with my morning routine. 

Sometime later, when Chris got up for the day, she began with the same curiosity I had.  She peered out the bathroom window.  Nothing.  On a whim she walked into our bedroom and glanced out that window.  And what to her wondering eyes should appear?  Not a sleigh full of toys.  A little too early for that.  Not an errant opossum or a stray kitten.  Not unusual enough for our lifestyle.  But there in living color was the source of our consternation, the purveyor of early morning sound waves, the culprit that destroyed our pleasant slumber.  There was … (drumroll here) … the big umbrella that usually lives in the back yard providing shade to our patio furniture.  In the midst of the storm, no doubt assisted in its journey by the flashes of light from the thunderous lightning previously mentioned, the opened umbrella had made its way over the shed, over the fence, and into the neighbor’s front yard.  Fortunately, that’s as far as the tricky winds of the morning saw fit to carry it, for naught but one palm tree and empty spaces stood in its path. 

But for us … mystery solved.

1 John 4:10 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Father, thank you for protection from storms … of all kinds.  Amen.

October 20 – “Playing neck guitar”

I had my first physical therapy appointment related to my neck issues yesterday.  It was kind of frustrating knowing that the therapy wasn’t really going to do any good as far as the core problem behind the pain was concerned.  But maybe it would ease up some muscles enough to take some of the pressure off the nerves.

I started them off by totally confusing the young man working the front desk.  How?  I just started explaining Samaritan Ministries protocol.  No, it’s not insurance.  It’s a medical share plan (That’s the “official designation”).  I asked for the specific documentation I needed, but by then he was so mixed up he had forgotten that he had already offered to give them to me once, then pulled them back.  It wasn’t until the therapist came up there with me after the appointment and referred to it as a “co-op” that the kid finally handed me off to a more experienced clerk who had just arrived for work.  Realizing what I was asking for, she called her supervisor, who told her not to give me the document.  Instead I would have to call the billing department.  I actually did that when I got home, by the way, and it sounded like they knew right away exactly what I would need.  I’m to expect it in three to five business days.  We’ll see.  I did get a pretty substantial discount for self-pay, though.

So the appointment … 

I liked the therapist.  She seemed to really know her stuff.  Something about a bundle of nerves all coming together at the same spot and then branching back out again.  I don’t know.  I chose to forego the Anatomy and Physiology class in college in favor of one called Coaching Athletics.  That said, I felt like what I have always imagined it would be like in a chiropractor’s office (Although I have never been to a chiropractor).  After all the preliminary paperwork, she moved around behind me and said that the distance from my spine to my left shoulder blade was around two inches.  The distance to the right shoulder blade, however, was closer to six inches.  That seemed a little extreme, even to a skeptic like me.  She said the goal for the day was to get that a little closer to even.  That led to some poking and prodding and squeezing and deep breathing.  I found out I breathe from my diaphragm, but she needed me to breathe from my lungs.  I finally did it right, and she proceeded to pump all the perfectly good air out of the lung I had just filled up.  Strange.  She apparently knew some acupressure points as well.  Every now and then she would just push down in a specific spot with her finger and hold it.  Nothing really hurt.  And it didn’t feel like a massage, either.  Did it do any good?  I couldn’t tell you.  I can’t see my back in a mirror to measure the shoulder blade distances.  I have some homework assignments before next week.  I have to raise my computer keyboard (I lowered my chair instead).  And I have to stop what I’m doing every hour and do some shrugging exercises she showed me.  She closed out the session by saying, “Those muscles on the right side of your neck really tight.  I mean, really tight.  I could play guitar on them puppies.”  Well, there you go.

1 John 4:9 says, “This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.”

Father, thank you for the chance to ease my neck-guitar muscles.  That sounds better than having the therapist play a tune on them.  Amen.

October 19 – “of a different sort”

Chris and I joined the Alvin ministry team for a while yesterday.  They were once again hard at work handing out supplies and a hot meal to the residents of the community we have adopted.  Even a little four-year-old joined the team this week.  It was fun to watch her stack clothes and carry one end of a box in tandem with her patient mom.  It was also inspiring to hear our team call residents by name and to see the smiles spread over the faces of the people receiving help.  One lady even stepped into the street and stopped a truck driving by.  She called the guy by name and said, “Aren’t you gonna stop and see me?”  He grinned broadly and replied, “Well get over here and I will.”  They hugged through the window, and she took him a bag with his hot meal and some snacks for later. 

We also took some specific supplies for the Everlasting Life Christian Ministry Church.  That’s the one we have been working with in the neighborhood up there.  We also gave Pastor Domingo a gift card for $500 from Seaside, no strings attached, of course.  He immediately had ideas about where it could do the most good in the church.  They are at the point of decision now to prioritize repairs.  What has to happen that will make the building safe for use and what can they accomplish over time?  They need a structural beam at the building center to help support the roof and the building needs to be leveled out.  Those are the two really big-ticket items.  There are a myriad of smaller things that they can worry about much later.  Meanwhile they are still working on their smaller fellowship building where they are now meeting.  After volunteers tore out sheetrock and removed damaged appliances, someone volunteered to hang the sheetrock and get it taped and bedded.  Someone else came in and sprayed texture.  Then the first guy came back and painted the walls.  All the church had to do was come up with money for supplies.  Pastor Domingo counted it all a miracle.  In fact, he sees even the little that we are doing every week up there as nothing short of amazing.  We see it as a chance to get in on some work that God was already doing. 

From there we went by Lifeway Book Store to get some Bibles to hand out at our Halloween Outreach event.  We have three or four hundred kids come by our house every year, so we host a party so we can get some help handing out Bibles and candy.  Problem was, the store didn’t have any of the small New Testaments we have been using.  They offered to order some, but couldn’t guarantee they would be in by Halloween.  I decided to try online at some of the Bible publisher sites. 

Next we stopped in Dickinson to check in on the Boyer family.  The neighborhood looks a lot better without much of the mounds of garbage and debris that littered the streets when people were doing demo on their homes.  Speaking of demo, the house next door to them was just now getting gutted out.  Many different stages.  Kelly and Rita were home.  The Boyer’s are just starting to hang sheetrock, but still have a few places that have not sufficiently dried out.  While we were there a guy came to buy the last of their flooded out vehicles.  We prayed with them and gave them a gift card to help with a few pieces of sheetrock.  Or maybe with a family dinner at a restaurant.  No strings attached. 

Finally, we stopped at Sam’s.  We had to pick up the food and supplies for the Fall Festival which is coming up fast.  This Saturday from 4 to 8, in fact.  Shawn picked up the block party trailer, so we will have a bounce house for the kids.  Lauren has the hay and pumpkins we got in Branson.  Several ladies are lined up to bring chili for the chili dogs and frito pies.  We can use all the help we can get to man the different games and especially to spread the word ahead of time.  Ministry of a different sort.

1 John 4:7-8 says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”

Father, thank you for the many different ways there are to touch people for you.  Amen.

October 18 – “So … neck news”

So … neck news.  Yesterday was the follow up visit to the neurosurgeon to find out what he saw in the x-rays and MRI that might give him an idea of what course of action to follow.  Read here, “Surgery or no?”  I guess the good news comes first.  There is nothing in the MRI to indicate that there is anything threatening to life or limb.  In other words, there is no need for emergency surgery.  That’s a positive. 

So what’s next, then?  What steps are there to take to relieve some of the pain and annoying tingling?  Well … here is what he said in a nutshell:

1.  “It might eventually go away.”

2.  “We might get it to feeling better by doing some physical therapy and traction.” 

Wait.  “Might”? 

3.  “If you back me up against the wall and insist, I could go ahead with all the testing and procedures leading up to surgery, and the surgery might do you some good.  But you should have 25 or so more years of life.  Will a surgery on your neck at your age do more good than no surgery?  Probably not.  When you are 80 or so and dealing with Dr. Notme, chances are your neck will be in better shape if we don’t do the surgery now.”

Are you detecting the same pattern I am?    

4.  “Be patient.  This is not a wait-til-tomorrow kind of patience.  This will be a long wait.  Like in terms of months.”

There you have it.  It’s official.  No surgery (Unless I want to back him up against the wall).  Physical therapy (Don’t mind that one) and traction (Not something I’m looking forward to).  And the ever-present … wait.  Sigh.

And as he got up to leave Chris dove into the fray with just one further question for him.  “Are there any restrictions as to lifting?” 

He didn’t really hesitate.  “He should be fine to carry a gallon of milk in each hand.”

Then he remembered that I was right there in the room.  He turned to me and said, “If you’re not sure whether you should lift it or not, you probably shouldn’t.” 

Wait.  That sounds an awful lot like the youth camp “Don’t be stupid” command: “If you’re not sure whether or not it’s stupid, it probably is stupid.”  Sigh.

Very conflicted emotions on the drive home and since.  Is it possible to be relieved and depressed at the same time?  Again I say … sigh.

1 John 4:4 says, “You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”

Father, thank you for the neck news.  I suppose it’s better knowing than wondering.  So here we go on another medical adventure trip.  Come with me, please?  Amen.

October 17 – “Greasing the wheels …”

Chris took a huge step forward today toward completing the numerous projects she has started around the house.  The main one concerns the coffee table Nathan made for her.  She finally picked out the stain she wants, and worked most of the day on getting a first coat applied.  That necessitated a trip to WalMart to get a few more brushes and some polyurethane to seal the whole thing once she is finished with the staining.  It already looks really nice.  Can’t wait to see the finished product.

Speaking of WalMart, I found the primary piece of the costume I have planned for this year’s Halloween outreach party.  Can’t tell you yet what the final product will look like, but I will be the personification of Hurricane Harvey.  Oh, and here’s another hint … there is also a literary allusion involved.  Unveiling to come …

After grabbing the staining supplies, some dog food, and some groceries we needed, we headed over to Randall’s to pick up the produce and some stamps.  Much better quality produce than WalMart’s.  We also grabbed some bacon.  WalMart was pretty low on the brand Chris prefers.  As it turned out that was a good choice.  As we checked out we discovered that the bacon was worth “4X gas points.”  Not sure what that meant at the time, but we did need some gas, so we headed over to the Randall’s pump.  And to our surprise we were treated to 20 cents per gallon off the regular price.  We may have to shop at Randall’s more often. 

Not much else to tell about yesterday.  I worked on the sermon for a few hours.  I also went up to the bank to get some Visa gift cards for hurricane relief use.  We were given a lower fee rate because the cards were for hurricane relief ministry by the church. 

Speaking of gift cards, we got some WalMart gift cards while we were there.  Since I needed to get ten of them, I went to the customer service desk to take care of it.  Good thing.  There were not one, but two customer service managers standing around just waiting for me to walk up.  And no other customers in line, either.  How does that ever happen at WalMart?  Between the two of them, they figured out how to do what needed to be done, and the whole process didn’t take more than five or ten minutes.  Amazing what happens when ministry is involved. 

1 John 4:1-3 says, “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”

Father, thank you for greasing the wheels over at the bank and at WalMart so we could get those gift cards.  Use them to draw some folks closer to you.  Amen.

October 16 – “Appreciation”

We had a substitute preacher at Seaside yesterday.  Some kid named Kel.  The regular guy wasn’t there.  More about that in a second.  From the online and over-the-phone feedback available, it sounds like the substitute did a pretty good job.  Something about the book of Job and knowing God is good and God is all-powerful.  And our resident emcee Bob got good reviews as well, not to mention the music selections put together by Bryan.  Thanks to those guys things seemed to have gone pretty well.  I know the regular guy appreciates knowing that.

Speaking of that regular guy, where was he?  Well, he was at First Baptist Church, Port Bolivar.  He was invited to be the guest speaker at a surprise “October Pastor Appreciation plus Tenth Anniversary Celebration” for long-time Seasider, now pastor there, Dennis Allen.  Interesting morning.  When we arrived we were ushered clandestinely into a back room to wait for our cue.  When they had Dennis firmly sequestered in a different room (he had tried to cut his own hair the day before, so someone offered to “fix it” for him), we were released to go into the church.  Chris sat on the front row … in someone else’s seat.  Yep, she was asked to move over a few seats.  Oops.  I had to sit on the podium in Dennis’ seat.  See, the idea was that he wouldn’t have to do anything in the service but sit there and enjoy worship.  I wasn’t sure how he would take that, since I’m sure he spent plenty of time preparing a sermon for the day.  Oh, and I was also told the night before that I would also be leading their communion part of the service.  Seems Dennis had set that all up as part of his plan for worship for the day. 

I’m pretty sure he was surprised to see us.  He walked into the worship center and saw Chris first.  After racing over to give her a hug, he turned and saw me sitting in his seat.  Another hug.  I ushered him to a seat on the front row next to Chris and I sat on the other side of her.  Never have liked sitting in those Bishop’s chairs on the stage.  The service went pretty well.  A guy who had been their music leader for a long time had also returned for the day, so he led in three songs.  Their current worship leader and three other ladies sang some songs as a quartet.  Another lady read a touching tribute to Dennis.  They helped me through “their way” of doing communion.  It took a while but they even started answering my questions after I gave them permission to speak out in church (one little boy in particular did especially well).  My favorite moment came when I asked, “What delights you?”  The first really loud answer I could hear?  “When Altuve came sliding into home last night.”  That’s what I like to hear.  Another baseball fan. 

After the service we adjourned into their fellowship hall for a baked potato lunch.  Except for Dennis.  He is on a diabetic diet, so he doesn’t eat potatoes.  Instead they placed a huge steak in front of him.  With a side of boiled shrimp.  And some kind of pea salad that is apparently his favorite.  Some individuals gave him thoughtful gifts, and the church presented him with a card and a check.  Then they went around the room and gave everyone a chance to say some words of thanks and encouragement to Dennis for his ministry there.  He responded in kind, and even said he appreciated me for being his father in the ministry.  All in all it was a very nice experience for him. 

And then we got in the ferry line to come back home.  And we waited.  And we waited.  It took us two hours to get back, and the line in Galveston waiting to go that way was even worse.  So much for being in the off season. 

1 John 3:24 says, “Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

Father, thank you for Dennis and for his ministry and the lives he has touched.  Make him happy.  Amen.