January 8 – “A Crisis of Technological Proportions”

We had a good day at church yesterday.  Nice crowd both numbers wise and in the way the participated in the teaching.  Even had some folks from Pennsylvania and Illinois there with us, not to mention the ones who drove all the way in from different parts of Texas.    Quite a few folks agreed to stick around after church to help take down the Christmas decorations.  With all that help we were completely finished before one o’clock. 

After church we stopped by to check on the family from the big fire the day before.  Numerous donations had come in, so Chris and I got to make the delivery.  They were very appreciative.  It is tough being in a position where you know you don’t really have anything, yet you don’t have a place to put anything, either.  What do you say when someone asks, “What do you need?”  You need everything, but how do you prioritize?  They seem to be focused on clothes and making sure their transportation is in good order right now so he can get to work.  She is tasked with making the outrageous number of phone calls facing them.  Neighbors have stepped up and are already planning a benefit for them on the 20^th.  Seaside and the Jamaica Beach Volunteer Fire Department are both accepting donations of cash and gift cards.  And of course they need and are grateful for all the prayers they can get.

We finally made it back home and crashed on the couch to watch Return of the Jedi.  And the result was not good.  Apparently the disk we have didn’t do as well as we thought in surviving after Hurricane Ike.  It skipped and jumped like an old scratched record.  Finally it just gave up entirely and shut down.  Now that’s a crisis.  Everyone needs to have a copy of Return if the Jedi on hand.  And you have to watch it in proper sequence before going to see the final episode in theaters now.  What to do?  What to do?  Well, we did what anyone else would have done, I’m sure.  I went to WalMart to get another copy.  It was a long shot, but I had to try.  Besides, we were almost out of fruit, so there was another excuse.  Chris’ last words to me as I left the house?  “If they don’t have this movie, that doesn’t mean you can just buy any other movie instead.”  Wait.  Now why would she say such a thing to me?  I assured her that I would return soon, movie in hand.  “Some movie.”  And she waved a brief, “You better not …” 

Fortunately, though I actually found a copy.  Included both DVD and Blue ray editions.  I popped in the Blue ray and waited.  And waited.  And waited.  Suddenly the machine started its process over.  I feared something was terribly wrong.  Again it attempted to load.  This time, however, an error code appeared with a message.  In a nutshell, it regretted to inform us that our Blue ray player was too old to read the newer versions of disks now out.  This disk could not be read.  Sigh.  There’s another expense.  A new Blue ray player.  Not to be deterred, however, I fumbled through the case and found the DVD version.  Surely there have been no new developments in DVD technology.  I popped it in and voila.  There was good ol’ Luke and his dad and his sister and her boyfriend and his rather large pet.  And finally our afternoon of coughing and Star Wars could begin in earnest.

Psalms 23:1-3 says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.”

Father, thank you for all the folks who came to Seaside for the very first time yesterday.  And please keep walking with Mike and Nancy.  Amen.