October 12 – “The Girl Without Shoes”

Cailyn is back.  Not that she ever left or anything.  It’s just that she asked if she could go to church with us yesterday.  Mom was working and Dad was coming off a night shift, so he would be sleeping all day.  And of course she is always a delight to have along.  She helps with setup, and the people at church really love her.  She is even well-known for something.  Out of all the possibilities she could be famous for, most of the folks at Seaside refer to her as “The Girl Without Shoes.”  Not that she doesn’t have shoes.  She always has shoes.  It’s just that she rarely wears them.  I’m pretty sure she slipped them on, though, when we went on the prayer walk around the property after worship.  We were praying for the country and the voters who would be showing up at the church for early voting.  We are a designated voting site.  The worship center is all set up and ready to go.  Social distancing marks are taped on the floor and eight voting machines are carefully distanced on tables.  That’s twice as many as we usually have.  Should be plenty of room to spare.

 

We spent the afternoon at a softball game.  Nope.  It wasn’t Cailyn’s, although she did go with us.  One of our youngsters from church, Sophie, was playing.  She’s in the coach pitch league.  They don’t keep a really close tally on the score, as evidenced by the fact that the kids don’t generally know who won the game.  But the kiddos do seem to all have a good time.  That’s the goal for this age group … fall in live with the game.

 

When we came back to the house to wait for Cailyn’s mom, we had an extra little girl with us.  Sophie had to play another game, so her big sister Emmy joined us for the rest of the day.  She and Cailyn tried out the new Wii location (our office), had a snack, and occasionally joined me on the couch to watch a Halloween Wars cake / pumpkin / sugar decorating competition.  Cailyn’s latest vocational dream is to be a sugar artist.  Why not?

 

After the girls left, we settled in for the Astros game.  They did get some hits, but just couldn’t quite bunch them together enough.  Altuve’s home run was all they could muster in a close one.  Bad guys win 2-1. 

 

Luke 11:13 says, “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

 

Father, thank you for the girls yesterday.  All of them, from Cailyn and Emmy to the softball complex full of little bitty ones.  Help them to grow and discover you.  Amen.