November 17 – “Preponderance of Pink”

We made it to our three ultimate destinations yesterday.  We spent the night in a rather dumpy Rodeway Inn in some little town north of Waco.  Not one of the destinations, by the way.  Just a milestone in the attempt.  It was one of the sites of a free stay we have on our records with that family of hotels.  We don’t generally stay in the budget versions, but much of the Waco area was blanketed with visitors from the fair state to our north known as Oklahoma.  Seems a little football game was scheduled against Baylor (which the northern intruders subsequently won in a comeback thriller), and those fans needed places to stay.  The hotel was old and very simple.  The “Continental Breakfast Serving Area” would better be described as a tiny nook, and the breakfast itself was a piece of toast or a packaged honey bun from Sam’s.  We ate at the nearby Cracker Barrel.  But the room was clean and the bed was comfortable.  Oh, and the TV worked.

So stop one after that was at Josh and Christi’s.  Well, actually at AnnaGrace’s Princess birthday party.  We couldn’t stay long because of our next stop, but we were there long enough to experience the preponderance of pink.  The myriad of tiny little three year old girls in princess dresses did things like decorate the back of a hand-held mirror with rhinestones.  That was the warm-up activity to the tea party.  A table was all set up with a large silver teapot in the center (AnnaGrace remarked at one point to her big brother Luke, “I see myself in there”).  After the traditional blowing out of the candles, the little guys were each served a more manageable cupcake, some yogurt, maybe a few veggies and pieces of fruit.  A veritable balanced meal.  Christi’s parents were there.  We also got to see surrogate grandparents Cary and KayLynn.  They informed us officially that they are going to experience the real thing soon.  Their son Corbin and his wife are expecting their first.  I think Cary and KayLynn have had sufficient practice with our youngsters.  They will do just fine as grandparents.

From there we hurried to College Station for the funeral of my cousin’s wife.  We managed a brief encounter with Joe and his brothers before the service started.  We reminisced briefly about Turkey Bowls past.  The service was a finely crafted affair that Evelyn had actually put together herself before she died.  Lots of music that she had actually written or arranged.  The highlight for me was my cousin’s tribute to his wife.  Nice job, Joe. 

We finished off the day by hurrying back to the Island in time to make an appearance at the fund-raiser for Jamaica Beach police officer Kristin Ornelas.  Attendance had been really good, and all indications were that a lot of money was raised to help Officer Kristin and her family.  Thanks to all who were involved in pulling off such an event. 

Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”

Father, thank you for the healing taking place in Officer Kristin already.  Please keep that coming.  Amen.