Thursday, February 20, 2020

February 20 – “Attack of the Invisible Ogre”


Wednesday the work day.  Chris dug in with her quilt.  I started work on the Easter sunrise service that we have on the beach every year.  I got the gifts ordered that we give the attenders.  Did some preliminary work on the sermon for the service.  Even printed out a few advertising fliers. 

On the truck front …
More of the parts we ordered came in.  Two of them were wrong.  Two others should work.  Apparently we ordered for a Chevrolet truck.  Ours is a GMC.  Made by Chevy, but not the same thing back in 1992 when the truck was manufactured.  The biggest oops involves the grille that we have to send back.  The thing is not so heavy, but it is big.  And bulky.  And has to be re-boxed and resent.  Not a fun project at all.  I’m hoping that the packaging store just around the corner handles FedEx shipping as well as UPS.  They do their own repackaging as well.  That will be helpful.  

Last night we had “Get Cailyn to her softball game” duty.  She had a late game.  Started at 7:20.  I’ll tell you up front, the good guys won again.  Fairly handily, too.  Cailyn was a speed demon on the basepaths.  Her first at bat she hit a soft liner to the first baseman.  The fielder couldn’t handle it and the ball skirted away.  Cailyn took off for second and slid under the tag.  On the next pitch she stole third with no problem, once again easing under the tag.  And when the very next pitch went wild, she scrambled home.  1-0 good guys, and they never looked back.  Her next time at bat she walked.  Another successful steal put her at second, but the ball trickled into the outfield, so she took off for third.  The ball was recovered.  The throw was in the air.  Now at this point time seemed to stop.  Well, at least for Cailyn it did.  One of those invisible infield ogres that live underground chose that exact moment to make an appearance.  I guess all the pounding of feet above his lair was keeping him awake.  He reached up for the first thing he could grasp.  And it was Cailyn’s foot.  Like a football running back tripped up by the last possible defender on his way to a touchdown, she flew through the air in what could, in other circumstances (read here, “closer to the base”) have been considered a daring, head-first slide.  She toppled face-first into the dirt and lay stunned for what seemed a much too-long few seconds.  The ball skirted past the waiting fielder.  Parents and coaches and teammates were all screaming for her to get up and make her way to third base.  Was she hurt?  Would they tag her out?  Oh, the suspense of it all.  Finally she managed to awaken from her groggy state and locate the base, just a few scant yards ahead of her.  She struggled to her hands and knees, shook her ankle from the grasp of the offending ogre, and bravely crawled to the bag, arriving just ahead of the now-alerted defenders.  And when she scored her second run of the game, she danced a rather unique victory dance back to the dugout, laughing in the face of the scowling ogre, who slinked back into the ground, never to return for the rest of the game.  But beware … the good guys play again tonight …

Romans 8:39 says, “Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Father, keep those little girls safe and warm tonight in their next game.  It’s gonna be cold out there.  Amen.

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