December 28 – “Grinches”

Nathan brought Cailyn over to ride with us to Seaside.  Sounds kind of odd to say that and it not be a Sunday and he not be working.  But he was not feeling well and we had a birthday party for Ezra to get to.  And strangely enough, that party was to be held at the Seaside Retreat Center.  Christina’s family rented it out for a family reunion of sorts so they would have a place large enough for their Christmas gathering.  The party was cute.  Grinch theme, so everything was green – including the drink.  Not sure what the drink was, but Josiah warned me that it was made from the puke of something or other.  I chose to pass.  They also played pin the heart on the Grinch.  Cute.  We also were invited to stick around for lunch with them.  They had been smoking brisket outside since around 4 a.m.  The cooks even made the acquaintance of a neighbor who smelled the aroma and came over around 5 a.m. to see what was happening.  That was some good meat and a fun family.  Oh, and Lauren brought over a gift box for Kel and his family to tell him thank you for filling in preaching for me.  He was presented with the classic T-shirt of all time.  It says, “Keep Seaside Weird.”  Perfect keepsake for his whimsical evaluation of our church body.

We dropped Cailyn off at home and thought we were about to settle in for the evening.  I called to see about a doctor’s appointment. (They were supposed to have already called me, but I wasn’t really holding my breath).  At first they told me the doc wasn’t going to be in the office, but since they were the ones who told me she would be, I insisted they double check.  Sure enough, there she was.  They got me an appointment for 9 a.m. today (It’s up in Texas, but I took it anyway) to check out the incision site from surgery.  I have had some questions about it for some time now.  Don’t want it to get infected.  That new appointment meant I had to then call physical therapy and reschedule with them, and as luck would have it, they said to come on I right then.  We packed back up and took off.

Surprisingly, I worked on climbing steps.  I had had to figure that one out at Seaside when we arrived there, so I guess I was a little ahead of the game.  He also worked me on sitting and rising out of a chair.  It didn’t last as long as usual, but it was a tough session.  I was plenty sore and tired by the time we got back home.  Chris then made some divinity and I watched some football.  Good day.  Early bedtime.  Only lasted through half of the Baylor game.  But today will be a big day.  Josh and his family are arriving, so Christmas is about to jump start around here again.  Bring it on.

Psalms 119:142 says, “Your righteousness is everlasting and your law is true.”

Father, keep Josh and his crew safe as they travel.  Amen.