August 23 – “The Surprise”

We took a bit of a different route out of Arlington this time.  Can’t get too set in our ways, you know.  I was looking forward to seeing the guts of some tiny towns or something.  The route seemed a lot quicker, but sadly, it was actually kind of boring.  We did get to see the sign pointing to Maypearl, Texas, though.  That was a highlight.  Maybe next time we can actually go to Maypearl.  We’ll have to put it on the list.

By the way, the temperature in Waco when we arrived?  106 degrees.  That would be … hot.

The kids were playing in the back yard when we arrived.  In the mud.  Not just water play, mind you.  Zak was being the drill sergeant and when we peeked around the corner he had Caleb flat on his back in a mud pit.  Now they didn’t know we were coming, so we stayed very quiet, just watching.  Luke was the first to spot us.  He grinned really big, but didn’t say a word.  Caleb was next.  Zak had moved to the tree swing and was preparing to push off with his back to us.  Caleb made eye contact and cried, “Look, it’s Nani and DadDad.”  Zak didn’t believe him.  “You’re just trying to get me to turn around so you can throw mud at my head.”  Sound reasoning, if you ask me.  Zak did finally see us, on the backswing after his takeoff, and screamed in utter terror.  Well, maybe it was more like pleasant surprise.  By that time Christi had grown a little more curious.  So we moved into her line of sight, and she exclaimed in surprise as well.  AnnaGrace just smiled prettily and waved.  Great surprise.  And then Josh surprised the family by coming home for lunch.  Great day all around.

We hung out with the kids for the afternoon, then joined them at church supper.  It was a classic rendition of that timeless favorite we all used to dread at the school cafeteria: beef tips and gravy over a bed of rice.  As beef tips go, these weren’t bad.  The servers couldn’t get Josh to eat any of the accompanying vegetables, though.  Then they were emboldened when they found out that his mother was behind him in the line.  Pastor Josh will no doubt be further “encouraged” to “EAT YOUR VEGETABLES” from this point on. 

After all the meetings were concluded, I took Caleb and Luke back to the house while the girls went to pick up Zak at the youth event at the park.  Caleb read yet another book about the Alamo to fine-tune his vast array of Texas history knowledge.  Luke, meanwhile, waxed creative in his approach to daredevil-dom.  He morphed into a veritable Evel Ke-Luke-el.  He leapt from one of those plastic playground slides onto a pile of pillows.  When that failed to satisfy his danger-lust, I pushed him in his little riding train.  Fast.  And he crashed into furniture and fell dramatically in a heap.  And then he had the idea of the day.  Why not take the train to the top of the slide and ride it down into the pillows?  Why not, indeed?  He struggled to get everything into place.  He carefully climbed onto the peak with his vehicle, and worked his leg around so he was sitting.   For several long moments, (merely for dramatic effect, mind you, for Luke fears nothing) he stared at the bottom, so far, far away.  Finally, his feet engaged.  He leaned forward.  And the train car pummeled to the depths.  The crash threw him from his comfortable perch.  He flailed about for a few brief moments.  And then all was quiet.  Until he rose to his feet triumphantly, arms above his head in a victorious celebration.  And then?  He did it again.  And again.  And again.  And then? 

Well, that feat became too tame for the master.  He decided to ride the train off the peak in the other direction.  Away from the safety net of pillows.  All sorts of Mommy warning screams were going off in my head, but I managed to fight them back, giving full reign to my Daddy/Uncle/DadDad genes.  “Go for it, Luke.  You can do it.”  Not that I said those words out loud (At least I don’t think I did.  Well, maybe I did mutter them.  OK, so I did do a bit of encouraging).  So did he take the plunge?  Did he back out at the last instant?  Was his body mangled beyond all hope of repair?  Well … of course he took the plunge.  His name is Vaughan.  He crashed onto the carpet, bounced a few times, stayed very still to make sure he was still breathing, then celebrated his latest achievement.  So did his adoring fan (Caleb was still reading.  Once he gets to the Alamo he is concentration personified).  All was well on the daredevil front.  But for some reason he never repeated that particular stunt.  I guess when you’ve accomplished the impossible there is no need to do it again …

Psalms 95:1-2 says, “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.”

Father, thank you for the chance to surprise our Waco bunch.  Amen.