October 27 – “The Batmobile”

We woke up to 50 degrees with a wind chill of 42.  Ouch.  Not a typical day in Paradise, that’s for sure.  But at least the tropical storm went ashore somewhere east of here with nothing but a lot of rain to show for it.  I had a struggle to figure out what jacket to wear.  Couldn’t decide between my heavy Astros hoodie or my Alaska light jacket.  The sun came out, though, so Alaska won.

We decided against a freeze walk, so instead we went into Texas.  The goal was to pick up some study books for the ladies’ Bible study group. The books were on hold at Mardel’s, so we also wanted to see what church supplies they had on hand.  And since we were going to be there anyway, I asked what information they needed for Seaside to have at least our tax exempt information on hand.  Something about a letter from the comptroller’s office with their seal stamped on it.  They said “all you have to do” (never a good start) is go onto the comptroller’s website and follow the instructions.  We’ll see.  We did find some novels that were drastically reduced.  Now if we can just not read them until our Panama cruise we’ll be all set.

Imagine our surprise to see a Luby’s in the parking lot of Mardel’s.  We haven’t been to a Luby’s in years.  So early lunch, here we come.  Chris had her favorite there – liver and onions.  I had some fish, but my favorite is their chocolate icebox pie.  Good stuff.

We also made a swing by Lifeway.  That has always been our go-to for church supplies, but they are closing down the store and going to an all-internet approach.  They were selling everything – even the bookshelves.  We picked up some candles for the Christmas Eve service.  Not much else to choose from, though.  Everything was pretty picked over.

On our way home we saw the absolute highlight of the entire trip into Texas.  A Dodge Charger painted to look like the Batmobile.  It was even autographed by Batman himself. He got stuck behind us at the freeway on-ramp.  Needless to say he passed us up quite easily on the freeway.  Hey, I’m sure he was on his way to fight a horrible super-villain …

Last night we had a special treat.  Cailyn and Alexis spent the night here.  Their moms and dads were all at a fire department party, so they became our very own Astros watch party.  Seemed to work out well for the Astros.  Well, at least for Alex Bregman.  He came through with a massive grand slam home run.  Oh, and Chirinos hit a home run as well.  And Brantley got three hits.  And the rookie Urquidy did a masterful job pitching.  Series is tied now.  Ball goes to Cole again tonight.

Matthew 10:16 says, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.  Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

Father, thanks for watching out for us on our long journey into Texas yesterday.  It’s always good to remember that you are there, too.  Amen.