April 30 – “A Real Unicorn”

Great news.  I received some key dance instructions at church yesterday.  Seems I was not exactly nailing it in my rendition of whatever that new dance craze is where you swing your arms one way and your hips the other and switch from front to back.  My teacher – a teenage visitor – did her best, but I don’t know.  It was all too confusing to me.  When she dropped her head into her hands and shook it back and forth I knew I was officially deemed a failure.

The day wasn’t all bad, though.  My teacher’s young cousin, about a year or so old, reached out for me to give me a hug as soon as they entered the building.  Really made me feel special.  At least until I found out she does that to everyone she meets.  Sigh.

I did get some complements on my shirt.  I was wearing the original George.  I thought I had worn him a time or two before, but apparently it stood out like never before yesterday.  I must have had six or seven positive comments on good ol’ George.  Guess I’ll break out his brother, George, for next week.  Or maybe his other brother, George.  We’ll see.

As Chris and I walked up to the church yesterday we noticed one of those decorated shells that people are leaving around town.  It’s a new encouragement thing whereby someone decorates a rock or a shell and then leaves it in a conspicuous place to be found by someone who might need encouragement.  This one was particularly interesting, however.  It was indeed a seashell.  The shell was decorated.  It had two little crosses and the word “Rejoice” glued to it.  But on the step next to it was an old watch.  And together they formed one of the best Visual Verse-esque combinations I have seen in a long time.  I took a picture and posted it on FaceBook to see what people would make of its meaning.  Got some great responses. 

“Now is the time to worship.”

“Rejoice and be glad in it.”

“Time to get out of your shell and rejoice in the cross.”

“Rejoice in the Lord always.”

“Time to rejoice.”

Great fun.  Thanks to whoever shared with us.  Helped to make my day.

After church and a quick lunch with friends, we made our way into Texas for Noa’s fifth birthday party.  And boy, did she ever do it up big.  Well, “boy” had nothing to do with this one.  It was clearly a girly girl party from the get-go.  The theme was unicorns, and there were little girls with all sorts of unicorn shirts and dresses on.  Noa even had a headband with two ears and a horn on it.  They were set up in the back yard, playing and having a great time when what should enter through the gate?  It was a unicorn.  An actual, live unicorn.  Well, it was a Shetland pony with a horn strapped to that thing they wrap around his head (No, I don’t know any horse-ish or horse paraphernalia words).  A friend of theirs from church offered the use of their resident unicorn when they heard about the party. 

As you might imagine, Noa and the rest of the little girls were agog with excitement.  First they were allowed to put make-up on the horse.  It became a polka-dot creation.  And while that went on, others braided the horse’s mane and tail.  Wow.  Finally, the coup de grace – a saddle appeared and everyone of appropriate size got a pony ride (No … I wasn’t allowed.  Hence the “Appropriate size” comment). 

It was tough, but finally the kiddos tore away from the unicorn and Noa opened presents.  Oh, and somewhere in there we had a cake as well.  All decorated with a replica unicorn on top and some kind of rainbow looking candy strips around the side.  Apparently unicorns and rainbows together are a thing?  And don’t forget the bags of Skittles, er, I mean “Rainbow Seeds” for the girls (The boys that were there called them by their more appropriate name, “Unicorn Poop”).  I think this will be a birthday Noa remembers for a long time.

Psalms 57:5 says, “Be exalted, O God, above the heavens; let your glory be over all the earth.”

Father, bless all those little girls and boys.  Draw them to yourself as they grow older.  But help them to maintain their spirit of awe and excitement.  Amen.

April 29 – “Is it … where?”

Ah, Saturday a day of carnivals and birthdays and lucrative discoveries.  That’s right.  Yesterday we went to the annual Lassie League carnival and closing ceremonies.  It was the first since April joined the board of the league, and to tell you the truth, her hand was all over this event.  It was amazing.  Way better than the one we went to last year.  This year it looked like, from the time you walked up, that "someone" actually cared enough to spend some serious time in preparation and setup.  Huge letters posted in the grass announced “Galveston Lassie League 2018” and “Her-icanes” (The name of the all-star teams from Galveston).  That "someone," of course, would be April.  From an array of games to a bounce house to freshly made hamburgers and hot dogs (And nachos.  Cailyn had to have some nachos) to free popcorn and sno-cones (Thanks to a masterful marketing move by Nathan).  There was already talk of “Bigger and Better” for next year.  

Chris and I even stuck around to help with cleanup.  Great decision.  I was rewarded under the “What you find on the ground when cleaning up is yours to keep” clause of our non-contract.  I found an errant dollar bill flutter by.  Stuffed it into our Alaska cruise savings box when we got home.  

Oh … and I failed to mention that April did all of this … on her birthday.  Yep.  That’s how she celebrated.  What a Mom, huh?  We went by their house later on in the afternoon and took her the present we got.  It was a bush of some kind for their back yard.  What kind?  I don’t know.  I can’t tell a Geranium from a Geronimo.  It’s supposed to be pretty. 

I do have the Question of the Week to share as well.  I talked to the insurance company that handles the Medicare Advantage (Part C and D) policies for our region.  Got my questions answered, but in the process the guy asked me some questions as well.  His won the award, for sure.  I gave him our address, and he queried, “Is Galveston in Dallas County?” (Seems many years ago he lived in Dallas.  Guess he assumed everything was in Dallas County).  My reply: “Um … nope, that would be Galveston County.  Dallas is far, far away.  Galveston is an Island off the coast of Texas 50 miles from Houston.”  He replied: “Oh, an Island.  I knew it had something to do with water.”  Wait.  Water?  Where did that come from?  It got better, though.  He asked about the medications I take so he could give me an idea of how much my out of pocket expenses would be.  One is pretty expensive, so he started recommending others I could ask my doctor about.  Then he made this comment: “When I started selling drugs …”  I didn’t even hear the rest of his thought.  It was all I could do to keep the laughter as muted as possible.  Marketing recommendation; don’t admit to being a drug pusher.  Ever.

Psalms 56:10-11 says, “In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise —  in God I trust; I will not be afraid.”

Father, be with that fellow who spends his days talking to people like me.  He’s earned a good one.  And take care of our sweet, hard-working April.  She’s definitely proven to be a keeper.  Amen.

April 28 – “WooWoo”

I really like our bank.  It’s not a national chain that treats everyone as a series of numbers (We’ve had an account at one of those before).  Local operation that cares about the area because they live here.  They have always been very helpful in setting up accounts and answering questions that have otherwise stumped us for one reason or another.  They are the same bank Seaside uses, too.

Our particular branch office is very much into decorations as well.  Every season they see as an excuse to gussy up the place (Ever heard that expression?  My Nannie - that would translate into grandmother, not aux pair – said it all the time.  We’d get “all gussied up for church,” so I assume it means decorated.  At least that’s how I’d feel after getting all my “church clothes” on).  Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day – all chances for decorating the workplace.  But my favorite of all came when the Astros were in the World Series.  They were all about all things Astro. 

Now apparently yesterday was the day to celebrate, well, nothing.  No banners.  No poster.  No face painting.  But … the lady who helped me out was wearing some buttons.  One was just her nametag.  I didn’t really pay attention to the second one.  I think it was advertising loans or something.  It was the third one that caught my attention.  The top half was innocuous enough.  Just the name of the bank, basically.  But a piece of white tape had been attached across the bottom, and printed on that tape were the words, “WooWoo” (or would that be just one word?).  Intrigued, I said nothing at first.  She asked me how I was doing and I said, “Just fine.”  Typical small talk.  But then she apparently forgot that she had already asked me, and this conversation followed.

Her: “So how are you doing?”

Me (After a pause to actually garner her attention): “I was just pondering something.”

Her (Abruptly stopping work on my transaction): “What are you pondering?”

Me: “I was just wondering, are you a particular fan of Josh Reddick, or are you just really happy to be working at this bank?”

Her (Obviously totally lost at my comment): “Um.  What do you mean?”

Me: “I noticed you have “WooWoo” on your nametag there.  That’s kind of the catch phrase for a guy on the Astros named Josh Reddick.  I thought maybe you were a fan club member or something.”

Her (Now beet red embarrassed): “Oh my co-worker did that.  See, I always just say “WooWoo,” and he put that on my pin.”

Me (Knowing immediately which guy she was referring to): “Ah, that guy.  Now I understand.  He’s a big Astros fan.  And he’s apparently a fan of yours a swell.”

Her: “Um.  Well, thank you, Mr. Vaughan.  Here’s your receipt.”

Me (Tossed over my shoulder as I walk away): “Thank you, WooWoo.”

Her (With a very loud sigh): “I’m taking this off of here right now.”

I love my bank.

Psalms 56:3-4 says, “When I am afraid, I will trust in you.  In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I will not be afraid.  What can mortal man do to me?”

Father, give WooWoo a great day today.  She has earned it.  Amen.

April 27 – “Survival”

We survived a three mile walk yesterday morning.  Well, I guess I should reserve such “survival” talk for myself.  Chris did fine, as usual.  She is really focused when we get out on our walks.  I’m certainly impressed.  My knee did some barking during that last mile or so (we have been going two miles, so this was a milestone in our training regimen), but between the three of us (me and two knees) we made it through.

Talk about a survivor … we were overjoyed to see Mrs. Betty back at home group last night after a bout with illness for the last two weeks.  She is our almost-ninety year old who still works one day a week at a lab at UTMB.  She was Mom’s best friend for many, many years, and has become a good friend of Chris’ as well.  We really appreciate her insight and wisdom and especially the stories she brings to the group.

Chris has hit the Harry Potter series again in her travels through Book Reading Land.  She rotates between three or four series.  Eragon.  The Chronicles of Narnia.  The Lord of the Rings.  Divergent.  The Looking Glass Wars.  The Hunger Games.  And of course she might throw a Ted Dekker book in there for good measure.  Oh, and her favorite book of all time, Redeeming Love.  Reads them all, then swoops back through for another pass.  I decided to try to keep up with her on the Harry Potter series this time, but I’m already a book or two behind.  It doesn’t look good for me surviving the race.  I think I may just pull out the movies and catch up that way.  Not as good as the books, but they sure go faster. 

Psalms 55:22 says, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”

Father, thank you for Mrs. Betty.  She is sure an inspiration to our home group and to lots of others a swell.  Amen.

April 26 – “The Barrier”

Thank you to everyone for your concern about my knee after my run-in with the miraculous collapsible chair now available at your local Sugar Bean Coffee Shop.  It is still sore, but I think I just might make it.  I still haven’t heard from the store owner as promised.  That would have been a nice touch on their part.

Yesterday was haircut day for me.  Much, much nicer than the day Chris started out with.  For her it was dentist day.  Just a cleaning, but she had to deal with their crazy policy of ten percent off if you pay in cash.  Since we don’t have insurance, that is always our go-to option at the dentist (also another reason I do my best to avoid going at all).  Just a cleaning would fall under the $100 barrier, but they do their best to bully us into having x-rays done as well.  Nope.  Maybe once a year I’ll go for that, but … nope.  Last time I went in and they tried it on me, I told them, “Sure.  Are they going to be free?”  Of course not.  “Well, then.  I guess I’ll just have to pass since I only brought enough cash for a cleaning.”  Chris refused them this time, too.  And then the dentist has to make an appearance, and we have to pay dearly for her to stick her fingers in our mouth, take a quick look, ask for the x-rays, reprimand us for not letting them take x-rays, and ominously add, “Next visit we WILL take x-rays.”  So when Chris went to check out she handed the clerk two one hundred dollar bills (We raided our savings account).  And the response?  “Do you have anything less than a hundred?”  Nope.  So she disappeared into the bowels of the office in search of change.  When she returned she asked if Chris happened to have 65 cents.  Luckily she did and all was well.  The clerk might not have been so lucky with me.  I generally have a difficult time parting with my 65 cents-es (So much so that I rarely carry them around with me).

Oh, and my morning?  I love getting my haircut.  Very relaxing.  My hair-cutter is a Seasider, too, so we generally have something to talk about.  And to top it off when I walked into the shop, who should be sitting there but our old neighbors, Mario and Carolyn.  Last time I saw them, believe it or not, was the last time I got my hair cut.  It was great fun reminiscing about stinky plants and changes to the neighborhood. 

Oh, and speaking of the neighborhood, last night at Cailyn’s last softball game of the season (her team won handily), we saw the couple who originally bought Mom and Dad’s house after Hurricane Ike.  I had no idea who they were other than that they mentioned the neighborhood.  Chris stepped up, though, and dropped enough clues for me to figure it out.  You never know who you’re going to recognize here on the Island.

Psalms 55:16-17 says, “But I call to God, and the Lord saves me.  Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and he hears my voice.”

Father, thank you for surprise contacts.  They sure make life an adventure.  Amen.

April 25 – “The chair episode”

Yesterday Chris had an appointment with a financial advisor.  He’s the guy who is handling the stocks that she received as her inheritance when her Mom died.  Chris got a nasty letter last week telling her that if she didn’t make contact with the financial advisor company, then the account would be turned over to the state as inactive.  Scary stuff, huh?  So she called and made an appointment to touch base with him.  He suggested they meet at Sugar Bean, a coffee shop in a local planned community.  I went along for moral support, primarily.  And to help her remember what questions she thought up when we were on our walk. 

The advisor bought me a cup of coffee and we went to the coffee shop’s outdoor seating where we hoped it would be a little quieter.  There wasn’t any talking to compete with, but there was construction going on that made it necessary to raise our voices every now and then.  I’m such a quiet guy by nature that I kind of sat back in my chair and watched the proceedings, only occasionally adding or requesting some words of clarification.  All’s right with the world. 

Until … I noticed a date that the guy had written down on a piece of paper that didn’t look like the date Chris had given him for something.  So I shifted in my chair just a little bit forward to double-check what I was seeing before saying anything.  And then it happened.  Perfect place for a cliff-hanger here, isn’t it?  I’ll be kind …

The chair underneath me began to sway, and it wasn’t a rocker.  And in slow motion one side completely gave way.  And on the way down, the other side gave way.  And just before I hit the ground the armrest collapsed.  And as I fell backward when the chair back collapsed, the other armrest crumbled with me.  Every single place there was a connection, a bolt or a screw of any kind, that place severed and flattened.  By the time my little adventure was complete, you could have picked up the pieces and repackaged them.  It was like I had been sitting in a joke chair and someone pulled the string.  The advisor guy was standing over me.  Construction workers began picking up the pieces of the dead chair.  Someone said they would go get the manager, and soon she was in the mix, asking for my contact information and giving me the owner’s name and contact info and assuring me that the manager would give me a call.  With some help I made my way to my feet.  I was at first most worried about my back, but it was my knee that barked at me as I rose.  It had twisted beneath me under the chair.  I guess that’s why it took so long to completely flatten out.  The manager kept asking if I was all right and if I needed anything.  Several people offered to get me a chair, but I opted to spend the rest of our time together sitting on a concrete barricade.  The construction workers were impressed, and more than a little amused by my choice.  We were able to finish our meeting without any more slapstick interruptions. 

I wondered how the knee would feel this morning. It is certainly sore, but I don’t think I am any worse for wear.  I suppose if the owner calls or if it starts really bothering me, I could go get it checked out.  I do have a full day today, though.  We’ll see …

Psalms 54:4 says, “Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.”

Father, thank you for the concern expressed by the advisor and manager and especially the construction workers.  Give them all a peaceful day today.  Amen.

April 24 – “The Card”

I passed another huge milestone yesterday.  Guess what I received in the mail?  I am now a card-carrying member of none other than … Medicare.  Well, Medicare Parts A and B.  Actually, it’s not really good yet.  The start date is listed as August, my birth month.  Now that I have The Card I am supposed to look into hooking up with a Part C and D plan.  Not sure yet where to go for that.  Probably somewhere that identifies itself with random letters.  You know … like AARP.  Guess there will be some internet searching in my immediate future.

Last night we forayed into Texas for Jachin’s baseball game.  He was the starting pitcher.  I have to say I was impressed.  It was almost like watching the Astros with Dallas Keuchel pitching.  He struck out a few guys, but primarily induced a lot of ground balls.  The three balls hit into the outfield were soft popups.  He gave up three runs, but only one of them was earned.  Now for the bad news.  His defense was pretty bad.   The second baseman couldn’t field the ground balls hit to him.  And one the one he did manage to corral, the first baseman was nowhere near the bag, so he had no one to throw it to.  And I mentioned the popups?  Not a single one was caught.  They dropped within an arm’s reach of the fielder each time.  Now the infield did turn two double plays, so kudos to them on that.  And one of them ended the game.  After Jachin’s reliever took over, he moved to play first base.  And the very next inning he came up to bat second.  The first batter got a hit and quickly stole second and third.  Jachin then hit a resounding double over the left fielder’s head.  His teammates came through behind him, and they tied the score.  Later in the game they scratched across one other run, and after that double play came home with the win.  See?  Sounds a lot like the Astros when Keuchel is pitching.  Not so much like the Astros last night, though.  They lost 2-0.  Never could get a hit with runners in scoring position.  So … nice job Jachin.  Your old DadDad is proud of you.

Psalms 52:9 says, “I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good.  I will praise you in the presence of your saints.”

Father, thank you for the chance the kiddos have to play baseball.  Help them to learn the right things from the sport.  Amen.

April 23 – “What’s a Servolution?”

Once again we had better than fifty folks worshipping at Seaside Sunday morning.  Good mix of old-timers, new residents, and first time visitors.  They were treated to the debut of Corey’s new electric violin.  Great sound.  The praise team as usual did a super job of leading us.  Thanks to those guys (and gal) for their hard work. 

Servolution is rapidly approaching.  What’s a Servolution?  That’s a time when, over a two day period (May 5-6), churches all over Galveston are doing ministry projects that somehow connect them to their community.  Seaside’s project centers around the fact that we are a voting center for the city elections on the 5^th.  We will be providing snacks and drinks for the voters and election officials that day.  So … anybody who wants to be a part of this particular ministry can show up any time after 8 a.m. on Saturday, May 5^th, snacks in hand.  Vote if you haven’t.  Then stick around and greet people as they arrive.  Great opportunity for us to connect with the community and be good hosts at the same time. 

We enjoyed a good meal after church.  Not dinner on the grounds this time, though.  A small group of us met over at Salsa’s.  And what made it a good meal?  Not so much the food as the company, of course.  Well, that and the fact that the Astros game was playing on the TV in the restaurant.  Robert and I appreciated that foresight.  In case you missed it, Astros won 6-1, and Dallas Keuchel finally got his first win of the season after three hard luck losses.  Next they play the Angels.  I think that’s the team with the Babe Ruth-ish guy from Japan who pitches and bats at a high level.  Should be some fun. 

Psalms 52:8 says, “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.”

Father, thank you for ministry minded believers and lunch-just-for-fun friends.  Amen.

April 22 – “A Tale of Awakenings”

What’s that sound?  We have all been awakened at one time or another with the query in our minds if not on our lips.  And this week already we have heard the expression flow from our lips not once, but twice, and in very different circumstances.

The first one happened yesterday morning.  We were enjoying our morning coffee.  Chris was reading the newspaper.  I had already been working on the computer for quite some time.  A pleasant morning.  Until we heard it.  Neither of us could place it at first.  It was not an altogether unpleasant sound.  And it was unmistakably coming from out in our front yard.  Chris made the first speculation as to its origin, and a quick reconnaissance mission proved her correct.  From the porch next door a melody was wafting … from a little girl playing an accordion.  Not at all what I expected.

The second strange sound was not nearly so pleasing to the ears.  It happened around 12:30 a.m.  Yep.  About as early on a Sunday morning as is possible.  I had just rolled over in bed and was listening to the rain fall.  Certainly a pleasant sound, and it was doing its part to lull me back to sleep.  But then … a loud boom cracked through the night sky.  It was not thunder.   That I could tell right away.  But what was it?  The disconcerting thing was that it seemed to have come from right outside our bedroom window.  And the only thing out there is … our air conditioner.  I groaned, assuming some power surge had caused the unit to blow out.  Great.  Just what we needed, another big expense.  But then the unit slowly and angrily kicked back on.  Hmm.

I lay awake, pondering this strange explosion.  Suddenly, it happened again … Boom.  This time my eyes were open, and I saw the flare of light that accompanied the sound.  Again, not lightening unless it was hitting right outside our window.  Chris woke up fully this time as well.  I got out of bed to investigate, as if there might actually be something I could do about it.  And as I made my way into the office, another flare, and other explosion.  And this time the electricity went out.  I was up anyway, so I grabbed a flashlight and went to the front door to see how widespread this phenomenon was.  Boom, another one.  And then as I started across the street I saw a transformer on a pole behind our neighbor’s house explode in a shower of sparks.  And with that, the other side of the street went dark as well.  It didn’t take long for our neighbor to poke her head out with a flashlight of her own.  We are all creatures of curiosity at heart.  I told her it appeared that transformers were apparently blowing all over the neighborhood, and we both returned to our respective black holes for the duration of the outage.  At Chris’ urging, I unplugged the computer.  I also pulled the phone number of the power company and dialed in to report the situation.  But before they even answered I heard the telltale signs of life returning.  The printer came on and started its warmup run.  The ovens made their required warning beeps.  The refrigerator groaned back to life.  I hung up the phone and made my way back to bed, listening all the while for the one appliance I was now concerned about.  Nothing.  I returned to bed, now wide awake, of course, and continued to listen.  Nothing.  And I completed two crossword puzzles.  Nothing.  But as I began work on the third, there it was.  The air conditioner unit kicked to life again.  Cool air flowed from the vents once again.  And sleep overtook me.

Psalms 51:17 says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

Father, thank you for safety during the explosions and outage last night.  Amen.

April 21 – “Plevilege”

We attended the University of Texas Medical Branch nursing school graduation yesterday.  One of our Seasiders got her bachelor’s degree and one of the fire fighters’ wives got her master’s degree.  I just had to change an apostrophe in that last sentence.  As I first typed it, one fire fighter had multiple wives.  As far as I know that is not the case for any of our guys.  But then if it was, I guess he wouldn’t go out of his way to tell me about it …

There was some unwanted action way back near the rear of the convention center where we were sitting.  I never saw it, but Chris watched the whole thing with her keenly tuned nurse’s eye.  Apparently a gentleman in a wheelchair was being hurriedly wheeled out of the facility.  Sadly, they didn’t make it.  He vomited several times all over the center aisle during the guest speaker’s recitation of UTMB history.  To their credit, Moody Gardens custodial crews leapt into action with mops and towels and buckets and sanitizer.  They had the entire aisle cleaned and ready to go before the speaker even finished talking.  And by the time the graduates filed out, all was well in their world.   Nice job by one of those under-appreciated groups that make big events like that one go so smoothly.

I picked up a brand new word of the week from one of the bigwigs who had things to say yesterday.  “Plevilege.”  Apparently it is a brand new, scholarly combination of the words “pleasure” and “privilege.”  At least those were the two she referenced when she broke down her word usage.  Always happy to add a new word to my vocabulary, especially one so intellectual.

After the graduation we went cross the street to see what all the racket was about.  Janell told us it was coming from their garage.  Sure enough, when I opened the door, there stood a classic garage band, practicing in all their glory.  Salty Sounds, featuring John on guitar, Jim on guitar, and Corey on his new electric violin, were jamming to prepare for several gigs they have coming up.  One is for the local Meals on Wheels banquet.  For that one they had a special request from the organizer.  Ready for this one?  “This Little Light of Mine.”  I happen to know the guy, so I told Jim to have him join them for that one, only make him sing it in Spanish.  He spent many years as a missionary in South America. 

Psalms 51:15 says, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.”

Father, be with all those graduates as they head out to the next phase of their journey.  Be especially Melissa and Monica because … well, because I know them.  Amen.

April 20 – “Snappy summaries”

How about a quick car update?  We have been home for a few days now, and so far both of the evil warning lights have stayed off.  I am guardedly optimistic that perhaps a miraculous recovery has occurred. 

A new problem has surfaced, however.  This one has nothing to do with the car, though.   My right ear hearing aid has developed a little tiny crack in it.  And hearing aids are little tiny anyway, so in the grand perspective of things, the crack is probably huge.  It doesn’t really affect the hearing amplification properties, so that’s a plus.  It just makes it very difficult to push the thing into my ear when my fingernail gets stuck inside the little crack.  Trip to the audiologist, coming up.

The whole morning was spent toiling over the sermon for Sunday.  It’s what happens when we take off for a day or two.  Still have to do the preparations for Sunday.  I’ll have some more work on that today.  So much for this day off. 

I finally made a trip to fire station five when little Quinn’s Daddy was on duty.  I have had a Baby Bible for the little guy ever since he was born months ago.  Never have been able to connect with his Dad.  In fact I had it all packaged up to mail in the event Daddy wasn’t at the station this time.  But all is good.  Delivery made.  Sorry about the delay, Quinn.

After a quick trip to Randall’s for some fruit and dog food and a prescription pick-up, I flipped on the Astros game.  It seems their bats have finally been awakened.  They did pull off one of the most bonehead plays I have ever seen, though.  Runners on first and second.  Gattis checks his swing and sends a grounder to third.  The defender fields it, steps on third and throws to second to complete the double play.  But Gattis turned toward the infield and started walking right through the infield toward the third base dugout.  The second baseman tossed the ball to the first baseman, who tagged him out for a triple play.  Guess he thought there were already three outs.  That’s gotta be embarrassing.

Home group went well.  Corey got his new electric violin.  Bryan had a job interview.  Lauren is now wearing a Jennifer-boot to see if they can take some pressure off of her bad foot.  Mrs. Betty has just “not been feeling peppy lately.”  Barbara had a pacemaker installed.  Oh, and the bee guy came while we were gone and absconded with the queen.  The hordes should be dissipating now, and just in time.  Our summer crowds will be coming soon to the retreat center.

Psalms 51:12 says, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”

Father, thank you for the concern of a small group for each other and for our extended group of families and friends.  Amen.

April 19 – “I was awake”

And we are back home.  No short cuts this time.  Right from Waco to Galveston.  Shortest regular route available on Google.  Actually it would be more accurate to say the route came from Chris’ head.  She has it memorized.  And I so trust her and her driving and her memorization skills that I must confess I slept much of the way home.  I tried to stay awake, mind you.  Even read a few chapters of a Harry Potter book.  To no avail. 

I was awake for the stop in College Station.  That’s “our place” to eat lunch.  Cracker Barrel.  Chris had the daily special – chicken pot pie.  I had chicken fried chicken, fried okra, green beans and macaroni and cheese.  Way too much food.  But they have take-home containers for that.  Now we have another meal awaiting us.

I was awake for the stop at Buc-ees, too.  At least I think I was.  I looked up as we entered the parking lot to see a huge beaver walking across the parking lot.  He was wearing a shirt, too.  I shook my head to clear out the cobwebs, but I know it was real, because Chris was telling me to get out the camera.  I was too slow on the draw, though.  We did manage to grab a long distance shot of him as we left, however.  Wow.  The real Buc-ee in person.  How lucky was that?

I was awake when we went inside Buc-ees.  One of the girls at the register cried out her obligatory “Welcome to Buc-ees” without even looking at us.  And immediately a plan hatched in my head.  We made our trip to the facilities, and I grabbed some caramel popcorn to purchase.  And as we approached the exit, there were three empty registers.  They all invited us to be checked out.  But I smiled a knowing smile and said, “I think I’ll go to this one, because she greeted us so loudly and so warmly and with such good cheer when we first entered the store.”  Puzzled, she looked at us for the first time and said, “I did?”  I answered, “Of course you did.  And thank you so much for making us feel welcome.”  I’m not sure she’ll greet anybody ever again.

Oh, and I was awake when the Astros game started.  And I was still awake when they scored six runs in one inning.  Now that’s the Astros I came to know and love last year.  I didn’t stay awake long after that, though.  Enough awake for one day.

Psalms 51:10 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Father, thank you for a safe journey home.  It’s good to be here.  Amen.

April 18 – “Hello backwards …”

Well, there was a wonderful way to start a day when you are a few hundred miles away from home.  Yesterday we took the car in for Josh’s mechanic to take a look at it.  The check engine light was staying on, and that pesky brake light came back on as well.  Josh trusts these mechanics, though, so I will too.  It was a real old school place.  Even gave me a ride back to Josh’s house so I wouldn’t have to wait.  To make this long story short, neither warning light was anything we needed to worry about.  The brake thing appeared to be a sensor of some kind, but the brakes looked fine.  So did the alternator and battery.  Possibly an electrical system issue.  The engine light was totally unrelated.  That code pointed to a valve issue, but when they checked it out, that valve was “clean as a whistle.  Somebody either just replaced it or took it out and cleaned it.”  Good call, guys.  Our mechanic Dennis just replaced it not long ago.  Anyway, he said we should be good to get to Galveston with no problems, but if the engine light stays on we should let Dennis check it again.

After the kids finished their schoolwork, we watched them play some video games.  Oh, and I read to AnnaGrace.  Chris took a photo of that action that made its way into the Short Cut Vacation FaceBook documentation.

As of last night the requested babysitting has been completed.  Chris saw Luke play his soccer game.  He scored his team’s only goal.  Zak took his fishing pole and went fishing in the nearby river.  I drew the Caleb baseball game.  He led off the batting order and was two for two … in the first inning.  Josh took Christi and AnnaGrace with him to his senior adult banquet.  Gave him something beautiful to show off.  Nice move, Josh.

I did record one Calebism for posterity.  He announced randomly that he could say the word “Hello” backwards.  Challenged to do so, he complied with, “Low Hell.”  Yes it is, Caleb.  Yes, it is.

Psalms 50:23 says, “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.”

Father, thank you for first goals and two for twos and chances to go fishing and banquets with Mommy and Daddy.  Love in action.  Amen.

April 17 – “The Short Cut – Loose Ends”

The Short Cut has officially accomplished its purpose.  We made it to Waco.  Simple trip, right?  Just up the road a piece, right?  Absolutely.  Just the one short cut.

So what wonders befell us this fine short cutted day?  Well, we decided to tie up some loose ends.  We have been to this area before, but there were some things we didn’t get to do.  We were first considering going on a hike up to some enchanted rock, but the weather was absolutely out of control.  It was 40 degrees when we woke up, but by noon it was over 80.  Just crazy.  Since we didn’t know how to dress for a hike in coldish/sweltering weather, we chose to bypass the hike this time.

Next on the list was the LBJ Ranch.  What was such the appeal there?  Well, it is a national landmark, so that means they have stamps for our national parks book.  Gotta get the stamps.  The thing we missed last time was the tour of the White House of the West.  The place LBJ spent more than a third of his time while he was president.  It was a pretty cool place, too.  Everything has been restored to what it was like when LBJ was in residence.  History.  Always a plus.  Of course Chris took a boatload of pictures.  So many that the card on the camera got filled up and she had to switch to her phone.  Oh, and we met Bart and Bo.  Bartholomew Bison (Bart, the buffalo.  We saw some buffalo right before turning into the park) and Little Bovine Johnson (Bo, the Hereford cow.  We had to stop several times inside the park, either to take a picture of them or to let one cross the road in front of us).  They both enjoyed our company so much that they decided to come on the rest of our trip with us. 

The second half of the tour was in a totally different site.  We had to drive into downtown Johnson City (named after LBJ’s great grandpa or uncle or somebody else, not him) to see the house he was brought up in (different stamp involved for the book).  But, the tours were shut down until after lunch.  Now, there was one other matter of unfinished business.  We never ate at the Bluebonnet Café in Marble Falls.  And Marble Falls was only 22 miles away.  So off we flew.  There was a line out the door when we arrived, but they let us cut because there were just two of us and we didn’t mind sitting at “The Counter” (Whatever that meant).  The Café was like entering into a time warp.  The place was packed with people.  We were indeed seated at an actual counter like you see in old pictures.  The waitress took our order, and we didn’t even have to wait long.  Chris had chicken fried steak.  I had fried chicken livers, fried okra, corn on the cob and a salad.  Had to go healthy, right?  The portions were huge.  And the place is also known for its pies, so we ordered a slice of chocolate cream.  Nice.  We also bought a whole apple pie to take with us to Josh’s.  It is his favorite. 

After lunch we backtracked to Johnson City for the next stamp at the extended campus.  The boyhood home tour was more about LBJ’s Mom than anything else.  Apparently she was quite the strong personality.  Oh, and in the gift shop, who should we find waiting for us but Him.  Well, I guess maybe it was an extension of Him.  Or maybe Her.  Confused yet?  Those were the names of LBJ’s dogs.  He wasn’t very creative in that realm.  Actually, when we decided to adopt our little guy we found out that he already had a name beyond “Him.”  Little Beagle Johnson.  Sensing a pattern here?  LBJ?  Anyway, no one wants to be called Lil Beagle, so we shortened it to Beeg. 

After the make-up tours were completed we were finally ready to reap the benefits of the trip.  We headed on towards Waco.  After a lengthy texting conversation with Nathan in Chris’ name (She was driving, so she told me what to say.  She started the whole thing off by stunning us all.  Something about her thinking about getting a tattoo of a bluebonnet?), and a secondary short cut to track down a possible tour of a winery (Nathan sent us a location not ten miles from where we were.  Ain’t technology grand?  No tours there, though.  Just tasting), we had to stop in a random parking lot because the brake light in the car suddenly came on.  After we restarted the car, it went off again, but lo and behold, what should be the absolute centerpiece of this otherwise empty lot?  None other than the World’s Largest Spur.  I don’t know how to wear a spur, much less use one.  But this one was bigger than a house.  OK.  I’m good now.  Great vacation.

On a different note, we went through such booming metropolises as Pidcoke and Topsey.  Topsey was my favorite, though.  We got behind the school bus.  When it finally stopped, one child got off.  Just one.  Poor Topsey.  But then it must be tough living in a town named for a bunny rabbit.  And not even the main character bunny rabbit.  But I guess Topsey sounds more intriguing than Peter Rabbit-ville. 

We arrived in time to see some of Zakary’s track practice.  Christi had a great Mexican food dinner prepared for us, and by nine o’clock I couldn’t keep my eyes open.  The Astros game didn’t even start until nine (Seattle), so I left them to their own devices and went to sleep.  Kind of glad I missed that game, to tell you the truth.  Lost.  Now Keuchel is 0-3.  He’s not pitching bad, but they only scored one run for him.  The world champion offense is still on vacation.

Psalms 50:1 says, “The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets.”

Father, thank you for our short cut mini-vacation.  Educational.  And a little bit fun.  Amen.