October 31 - “Festival-izing”

Our house guest Josiah bailed on us early yesterday. He went across the street to scarf down on donuts and ride to church with the boys. I’m pretty sure his early departure was more about the donuts and less about the glorious singing rendition he received to “encourage” him to rise and shine.  I did get a hug before he left. Before Nana got her hug. 

 

We had a really big crowd in church for Kel’s teaching on marriage.  Obviously, the Lord drew quite a few there who needed to hear it.  After church we went right to work, getting everything set up after church for our Fall Festival. We did take a brief break to enjoy some pizza from Way West Grill, though.  I was excited to see so many stick around to help with the set-up. It made the really tough parts (like setting up the two bounce houses) much easier. The festival itself went really well.  Kids were given Halloween bags to color with gospel tracts inside. Jim and Doug and Corey played live music as Cat Herder, Mad Scientist, and Gold-Face.  The chili dog I had was really good.  A new idea burst onto the scene with the Halloween pinata.  All the games were attacked by the kiddos of all ages who came. And best of all, there were lots and lots of blue shirts – Seasiders wearing their brand-new shirts to identify them as someone with answers – in more ways than one. 

 

When the community folks left, we still faced the massive chore of tear-down and clean-up.  The youth kids took care of hauling chairs back upstairs.  The blue-shirts pitched in and packed up the games for another year.  Leftovers (candy and soft drinks) were sent home with us for the Halloween outreach party tonight.  With great effort by Pastor Kel, Christina, Mr. Bob, and Mr. Bill, both bounce houses were deflated and shoved back into the party trailer, also to be used another day. 

 

After swinging back by the house to let Josiah pick up his sleeping bag, we took Cailyn back home. It was great to have a chance to sit around with Nathan and April and just chat. It has been a long time.  The trip into Texas made for a long day, but it was all well worth it.

 

Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

 

Father, thank you for the great response of Seasiders as well as community folks.  Amen.

October 30 - “Fred George Rudolph Von Snickelwammer”

Chris did her walk yesterday. ever the faithful one.  I stayed home nursing a bit of a queasy stomach and a bit more of a sore body. I did do my back exercises, though. 

 

When she got back (Two and a half miles this time), we settled in for an entire day of relaxing around the house. Well, except when we had to run to Walmart to get stuff to make chili for the Fall Festival at church this afternoon. 4-7 pm. Bring the kids and come on out and eat some chili or hot dogs and enjoy some games.

 

So, what did “relaxing around the house” consist of?  I know the television was on.  Hallmark Channel for a while.  I remember some college football.  Then there was the new jigsaw puzzle on the table.  Josiah and Brennan and the “Boy who chose to remain nameless so I named him Fred George Rudolph Von Snickelwammer” came over for a brief visit. Soup for lunch, then leftover Mexican food for supper (Not exactly the best choice with a queasy stomach, but all went well).  And of course all that was one big lead-in for watching the Astros World Series Game Two victory. Woohoo.

 

Josiah returned to watch the very end of the Astros game with us.  Chris was torn in the ninth inning.  She felt like she should leave the room, but the tension was so high, she kept returning.  We all rooted Pressley on to get that final out. Josiah spent the night with us.  Hmm.  Guess it all accumulates into a full day after all. 

 

Romans 1:17 says, “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’”

 

Father, thank you for Josiah. Help him grow to love and follow you and to be …  happy.  Amen.

October 29 - “Forked … and an impromptu watch party”

We’ve been forked. Yep.  That hideous tradition we discovered some month ago in Waco, and saw it reborn in Arlington, has made its way to Galveston.  By a strange coincidence, the forks that mysteriously appeared in our front yard, tines to the sky, showed up the very same week that our friends the Sprays, who were involved in the aforementioned debacle in Arlington, are here in Galveston on vacation. I’m not saying it was them by any means.  But it was somebody who was up to mischief in our front yard while we were engaged in Bible Study within …

 

I have officially started back on my back exercises. I guess I was never supposed to stop, but life happens. Not sure how long I’ll be able to keep them up this time. Why? Well, other than the fact that I have been really sore and not sleeping much, going forward I’ll have to factor in whatever physical therapy is to come for my hip. Wait.  I’m getting a little ahead of myself.

 

I went to the sports orthopedic doc yesterday. She told me to come back in two weeks, and if the insurance approves, she will shoot me in the hip with one of those really long needles. After the shot she arranged for me to go to physical therapy for as long as it takes.  We walked on over to the physical therapy department to nab an appointment slot for sometime after the shot takes place.  They actually had an opening at the very time I would be available (read here in town).  We took it.  So … two more weeks of hip pain and not much sleep.  Woohoo.

 

Last night we hosted an impromptu watch party for the opening game of the World Series. I got a text from Sam asking what I planned to do last night.  Sam is almost as big an Astros fan as I am, by the way, so her question was kind of a silly one.  I replied, “I was thinking about watching a Hallmark movie or two. Wanna come join us?”  The evening kind of morphed from there.  Sam came, as did Lauren and Ed.  Janell and Brennan even braved the rain to stop in for a while.  And the game?

 

We danced.  We cried.  We ate.  We sighed.  Let’s do it again tonight.

 

1 Corinthians 13:6 says, “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.”

 

Father, thank you for friends to share a baseball game with (and for guys like Ed who don’t mind joining me in a homer dance).  Amen.

October 28 - “BLMT and some wigglin’ bones”

We had an out-of-state visitor yesterday. Our friend Dana from Seaside days gone by returned to the Island from South Carolina for a visit. Actually, she was visiting another friend up in Kingwood, and we just happened to be close enough for her to stop by for lunch. So glad she did.

 

We went to the Sunflower Bakery. It has been a long time since we have been there.  In fact, I didn’t remember going there at all.  It is in a part of town that is really low on places to park, so we had to circle the block to find a spot.  Once inside, we grabbed a menu and made our selections.  Dana had a salad.  Chris had a chicken salad sandwich.  I ordered a BLMT sandwich. I got confused when I told the waiter what I wanted, so I just listed all the letters I could think of at the time.  He returned with a Bacon, Lettuce, Mozzarella, and Tomato sandwich. BLMT. Good stuff.

 

After lunch we drove around a little bit to see some of the changes around Galveston.  We even managed to connect with another old friend who lives in the East End now.  Dana and Traci made plans to touch base later in the day.  As always, it was great to catch up. Wish we could have seen Alex as well.

 

Last night was home group once again.  We did have an unexpected highlight this week.  I pushed the button to play Sam’s favorite song of all time, Dese Bones Gonna Rise Again.  It always encourages me to do a little bit of a jig, and last night was no exception.  But, as exciting as that was in itself, my performance paled in comparison to what was happening on the other side of the room. Sam had joined in the dance mania and was absolutely rocking out with the music, swing her arms around and wiggling her hips just like the skeletons on the video.  Made me proud. 

 

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, please be with Dana while she continues her Texas trip.  Keep her safe.  And thank you for giving Sam the energy to do a little dancing last night.  Please give her – and us - many more of that kind of moment.  Amen.

October 27 - “Sycamore”

I managed to keep up with Chris on her two-miler yesterday. It took a while, but I was finally able to separate the back pain from the hip pain. Weird. Thinking back, it was the hip aching that woke me up at around midnight. But it’s the back pain (that kicks in when I try to change positions) that forces me out of bed and into the recliner. Sure hope the doc I see on Friday has some relief for one of them, at least.

 

Speaking of docs, Chris had a doc appointment in the afternoon to check in with her PCP.  While she was gone, I went to Randall’s to pick up a prescription. While standing in the inevitable line, I struck up a conversation with the guy behind me. Actually, he conversed. I pretty much just listened.

I sure found out more about him than I ever imagined.  He works at the airport for Shell Oil.  Earlier in the day he to do his early voting duty. The election official there asked for his ID, as usual.  But then she demanded (quite rudely) that he say his address out loud to verify it before she allowed him to vote. He quietly replied that his address was the one on the driver’s license.  She pressed the issue, loudly demanding that he was required by law to say the address out loud.  Just as loudly he asked what law that was. He finally didn’t see any reason to continue the argument further, though.  “I finally gave in and told them I live over on Sycamore.”  Wait a minute.  Sycamore.  I waited until he took a breath and jumped in to ask where on Sycamore.  He lives just down the street from us. I told him we lived on Sycamore as well.  He proudly remarked that he was “one of the originals.” He had lived on the street since the seventies.  Cute.  I let him know that I grew up on the street as well.  We moved there when I was five – 1958.  Got you beat by a decade or two. He knew our house as “The Cagnola’s.”  He even recognized “The Vaughan’s” name.  Great to meet you, Neighbor Marco.

 

Psalms 34:19 says, “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all;”

Father, please be with Marco as he continues to adjust to life without his Mom.  Amen.

October 26 - “Freezer Day”

Freezer day. That’s what it said on my calendar when I checked it yesterday. The day our new freezer will be delivered. The day our Blue Bell ice cream reclaims its rightful place in our world. 

 

But first, we had to do all the preparations to make ready its space (the freezer, not the Blue Bell).  It was to live in the laundry room area, so that entire space had to be cleared out.  Chris had been wanting to at least rearrange in there for some time, so here was her chance.  Meanwhile, I used the opportunity to straighten up the garage.  Several things did make it to the trash can, but it was mainly a rearrange out there as well.  One of our long-time projects that has been on hold was to switch out some shelves.  We moved the sturdy metal one that we had initially purchased to hold all the boxes of my books.  That one went into the laundry room in place of one of the plastic ones holding the games.  That plastic one went to the garage.  The other, smaller plastic one shifted over to hold some of Chris’ sewing stuff as well as the extra soft drinks.  It was quite the ordeal. 

 

Finally, the freezer arrived.   It always amazes me how two guys can madhandle an appliance like that to get it into place.  They didn’t have any trouble at all getting it through the door and plugged up into its proper space.  They also hauled the old one away. Now we just have to wait until later this morning to check it out temperature-wise, and it will be ready to load back up.  Thanks here to Lauren for baby-sitting some of the stuff we had in the old freezer that we couldn’t fit in our fridge. 

 

So … Got the freezer. Reloaded the room with less stuff. Still need more room. Sigh …

 

Psalms 28:7 says, “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him.”

 

Father, thanks for working out all the details on this whole freezer thing.  Getting it here, sure.  But also giving us the stamina to pull off the preparations.  Amen.

 

October 24 - “The great escape”

We had a bit of a scare yesterday.  I woke up at 5:30 or so (actually a little earlier).  I got my fruit together and made me a cup of coffee. All seemed to be going pretty much as usual.  As I sat down to work on my blog, it hit me that Freddy wasn’t sitting in her rocking chair - her usual spot in the mornings. I remembered opening the door to “her room,” and the fact that she didn’t come out right then was not that unusual.  Sometimes she is outside.  But it had been a while, and still no appearance.  So I started looking.

 

I walked through every room in the house.  I went outside into the back yard and walked all around out there.  I went up on the deck to see if she was asleep in one of the chairs there.  All I succeeded in doing was waking up the neighbor’s big dog, which started barking.  Finally I went back inside and opened the door to our bedroom.  Chris was just waking up, so I informed her of the dilemma.  She was out of bed in a flash to join me in the search. 

 

We combined forces to revisit all the places I had already been. The only possibility left was that she had somehow gotten out of the backyard and into the vast, wide-open spaces of freedom.  We decided to at least walk around the block and see if she showed up.  Chris started one way.  I went the other. Almost immediately I met one of our neighbors who walks in the dark, very early every morning.  She assured me she would keep her eyes open. As she ran into Chris further down the block, she encouraged her with, “You know, I didn’t want to tell your husband, but we have seen several coyotes on our walks.  But not this morning, though.”  Thanks.  I’m sure that calmed Chris’ fears. Coyotes have been seen all too often in our neighborhood.

 

But back to my part of the story.  As we finished our brief chat, I heard a do whining.  Could it be?  It took me a few seconds to home in on the sound’s origin.  Our next door neighbor’s porch.  Another few seconds for my eyes to focus in the darkness.  Yes!  There she was, wiggling back and forth in recognition as if to say, “Come get me.” 

 

I called out to her, but quietly, since it was not yet 7 a.m.  She wiggled even more, but still didn’t come.  Now, our neighbor has a handicap ramp leading to that porch.  And of course, to meet ADA requirements, it spreads clear into their backyard to get the slope right.  I made my way around to the beginning of the ramp.  Yep.  There was Freddy at the top, just a-wiggling.  But she wouldn’t take more than a few steps toward me before returning to the porch.  Strange.

 

I finally decided that she must be afraid to come down the ramp.  As quietly as I could, I went up and got her and brought her home in my arms. I also told her that she needed to be careful. I reminded her that the last time she was out running around before she came to live with us, “somebody” hit her with a car. Best we can tell, the kids must not have pulled the gate completely shut and she managed to squeeze through the small crack. And once through, she couldn’t get back in.

 

I know there is an abundance of spiritual applications there.  The dangers of leaving the protection God offers.  Once you have succumbed to evil, returning to God is sometimes not that easy a thing to do.  True freedom is living life within the confines of God’s provision.  The list goes on and on.  Good thing I’m retired now.  Seaside would have had an earful come Sunday.

 

Last night we had supper with our Arlington friends, the Sprays, at Shrimp n Stuff. Really enjoyed catching up with them. We were going to see if the Cordray’s Ice Cream Shop was open, but we ran out of time.  Great folks. 

 

Isaiah 54:10 says, “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”

 

Father, thank you for the spiritual lessons Freddy reminded me of through her little escape act. Thanks for keeping her safe from the coyotes. Amen.

October 24 - “Sweeeeeep!”

Kel’s family came over after church yesterday for some lunch. He joined us after a meeting. We enjoyed some great roast and rice ala Chris. In was actually a quiet afternoon. We watched some baseball (Phillies vs. Padres) and football (a bit of the Texans), and Kel took a nap. After a Sno-come break, the kids played pretty hard outside and in the office. They even invited Brennan from across the street to join them. 

Then came last night … Sweeeeeep! The Astros swept the New York Yankees in four straight games to advance to the World Series. It took an extra hour or two postponement for the threat of rain, but they finally got the game played. Great fun to watch. 

John‬ ‭7‬:‭37‬-‭38‬ says, “On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.””

Father, thank you for days when we can kick back and just be. Amen. 

October 23 - “Baseball and a wedding”

We spent the morning yesterday watching baseball. I know the Astros didn’t play until the afternoon.  Wasn’t them.  Josiah is in an instructional league here in Galveston. You can tell it’s instructional. Lots and lots of walks. And they don’t keep score.  The boys seem to be having fun, though. Josiah was clearly the best defensive catcher on the field in either game of his double-header. And he got on base every time as the lead-off hitter.  Proud DadDad moment …

 

Back to the Astros game … we only got to see the last half-inning. Why?  I was officiating a wedding at the Tremont Hotel in downtown Galveston.  I was trying to remember if I have ever been inside that hotel before.  I know that’s where Kel and Christina spent their wedding night, but in all my years here in Galveston, both before and after my exile to the mainland, I don’t remember being inside.  The place is pretty ornate.  It has been renovated extensively.  And pretty much the whole lobby is a bar of sorts, so there were lots of people coming and going.  Pretty upscale bar, I might add.  Almost everyone was dressed to the hilt, except for the few fans in Astros gear watching the game on the bar TV (not that I noticed the game at all, or that the Astros were winning). 

 

The wedding went well.  The groom was a semi-retired pastor, and the bride was from Columbia.  Just a few friends and family were in attendance.  One unusual thing about the service, itself – they had no fewer than five songs.  The lady who performed them was really good, too.  Very passionate about her singing, for sure.  After the ceremony we all sat down to a meal provided by the hotel.  Fancy stuff, and really good, too.  Filet mignon.  Potatoes.  Asparagus.  Some kind of crab cake that was really good.  Carrot cake for dessert.  And everyone got a gift from the bride and groom – a small bag of coffee from Columbia.  Can’t wait to try it.

 

Go Astros … sweep the Yanks!

 

Psalms 23:3 says, “he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.”

 

Father, please be with Jim and Martha as they start a new life together.  Amen.

October 22 - “Turnabout is fair play”

I tried to get back into the flow of things a little bit yesterday. I did take my day off walking. Instead, I stayed at my desk and made lists. The proverbial to-do list is back in my life. Not that I particularly want to “to-do” anything on there, but at least the list is complete. That’s a finished task, right? 

 

In the early afternoon we met up with Kel and Christina and all their crew (Jachin was home for the weekend) at the Rosenberg Library. The library was doing a presentation about the 1900 storm. There is a new exhibit up on the library’s fourth floor about the storm. It’s always good to check up on what people are saying about our tropical island paradise.

 

From the library we stopped off at the funeral home. I know.  Not your usual Friday afternoon jaunt.  But this time we went by to pick up some New Testaments. The proprietors of the establishment are some Gideon friends of ours, and they gave us a few hundred New Testaments to give away on Halloween.  Thanks, Rusty and Mike.

 

On the way home we stopped at Randall’s to get some stamps and a roast for Sunday lunch. Being me, I had to go to the bathroom first, so we stopped off there.  It took Chris a long time to come out, and I was about to go in after her when she finally appeared.  Seems she had one of her spells and cut her arm when she leaned into a door for support.  She looked a bit peaked (is that really a word, and how do you pronounce it?), but insisted she was fine. I drove home.  The funny thing was, apparently someone saw us there and called Nathan to ask why his Mom looked so pale at Randall’s.  Hey.  We used to tell them all the time when they were kids that we had eyes everywhere. Guess turnabout is fair play …

 

Last night we journeyed up to Texas to watch the LaMarque Vaughan kids in their MMA sparring night.  That’s where they spend 45 seconds wailing on an opponent and get scores for their team.  They all did a great job. I even saw Micah do some kind of reverse, spinning, jump-kick to the head king of move.  Not sure what it was called, but it got him three points.

 

1 John 4:11 says, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”

 

Father, thank you that there are eyes and ears that care enough to follow us around wherever we go.  Amen.

October 21 - “Wake -up call?”

Well, my old back woke me up at about 2:30. I got up and moved to my recliner so I wouldn’t keep Chris up. Also took a Tylenol to try to take the edge off. It worked enough for me to doze off a little bit. Well, at least until the neighbor’s dog discovered something that desperately needed barking at. And bark he did …

Later in the morning we walked a few miles. The back eased up some, but the hip kicked in. Never ending story. I do have an appointment coming up with the orthopedic doc who does the shots into the joint. After yesterday … bring it on.

 

The rest of the day we did our weekly (or in this case first time after three weeks) house cleaning. Home group folks were due to be here for the first time in three weeks, and Chris can’t have them showing up to a dusty house.

 

Speaking of home group, we had a full house for our return engagement. We are studying through the Bible, and we just got to the third chapter of 1 Samuel, where the boy Samuel first hears from God. The folks assured me that they really did miss getting together on Thursdays. I think what they really missed was wondering just what the next cliff-hanger was going to be …

 

Romans 15:5 says, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had,”

 

Father, thanks for the folks in our home group. Bless them with your joy. Amen.

October 20 - “Goldilocks”

Chris had her turn in the barber chair. It was after her sleep study, so before she left the house, she washed her hair twice, trying to get the sticky stuff off. It was the remnants of the tape and electrodes they had strapped to her head. She still planned to warn the stylist of what might come out.

 

We did some research on freezers and garbage disposals. Yep. Both have gone out at our house. We’re afraid that things do not bode well for any of our other major appliances, since they were all purchased at the same time, after Hurricane Ike in 2008. In fact the fridge has been refusing to dispense water or ice lately. It’s probably on the chopping block as well. Sigh. Guess our traveling days are on hold for a while until we can get some things paid for here.

 

We made the trip to Home Depot to pull the trigger on the two most immediate casualties. The garbage disposal was an easy find. It was the freezer that took a while. For that much money, we wanted to make sure. They had one that was quite a bit bigger than what we had. Overkill. Another was a little smaller than what we had. I was beginning to feel like Goldilocks and the three freezers. We finally decided on the third option. Just a little bigger than what we had, but it had to be ordered and delivered to the house. It should arrive on Tuesday. That gives us a few days to clear a path through the garage and establish a new format for the room where the new one will reside. Oh … and two years to pay it off without interest.

 

Hebrews 12:11 says, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

 

Father, thank you for the sales guy who helped us get the freezer today.  Please bless him. Amen.

October 19 - “The drama continues”

After that midnight wake-up call I thought the drama was over for the day. But no. I had a chance to be neighborly before breakfast. Seems our neighbor locked herself out of her car at work and needed me to go over and wake up her husband so he could come rescue her. Hey. Never a problem to be a good neighbor. And I was awake anyway.

 

Later in that long morning I added a much-needed haircut and beard trim to my day. Chris had the rotten end of the deal this time. She was on the phone for an hour or two with the hospital and insurance company trying to resolve a billing issue that she has had to call about for the last three months in a row. They have someone listed as her PCP who she has never seen. After I was gone for an hour, I came home to her still sitting at the desk, on the phone, trying to sort things out. 8:30 a.m. to just before 1 p.m.  That’s a long time on the phone. And gist of it all? She had to file a grievance to get it kicked up to the next level and hope someone there knows what to do with it.

 

Last night we took Josiah to baseball practice. They kind of combined with another team, because neither had enough to scrimmage. I heard the coaches say something about it being too cold for some of them. Hmm. 65 degrees. Plenty cold enough for me. Josiah is actually one of the best players on his team. In fact, he was one of maybe three guys on the whole field who were good. He was especially good as catcher. And at bat?  He hit a line drive that rolled all the way to the fence. Proud DadDad moment here.

 

John 5:24 says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

 

Father, please help them figure out that insurance mess. Chris doesn’t need that stress. Amen

October 18 - “The Great Toe Blood Pressure Taking”

No rest for the travel-weary. We had to be at a doctor’s appointment at 7:45.  That’s A.M., but we’re used to getting up early now. Hey. We don’t even know what time zone we’re in yet.

 

I got right in for the test. It was a vascular imaging thing to see if I have correct blood flow to my feet. Apparently a blood clot in the hip could cause the pain I’m having there, but it would also restrict blood flow to the feet. The test was kind of odd, to be honest.  They had me lie down so they could take my blood pressure in both arms and at both ankles.  OK so far.  That was what I expected.  Then they pulled a fast one that almost had me laughing out loud.  They wrapped tiny little blood pressure cuffs around each of my big toes.  How about that?  Great Toe Blood Pressure Taking.  That was a new one on me.

 

Results were all good. I have some calcification in the veins, but all in all, it all looks good. So now we move on to the next possibility. Next week I go to the doc who does the shots into the joints. Ouch.

 

Last night around 12:30 a.m. we were awakened by the horrendous noise being generated by the air conditioner.  It was like the power was being turned on and off very quickly.  And the clock by the bedside was flashing on and off in time with the surging.  I expected the whole house to take off into outer space any minute.  We got up and turned off the air conditioner.  It didn’t matter.  It kept surging on and almost off, on and almost off. That weirded us out.  Chris poked her head outside, and sure enough one of the transformers down the street was glowing in an electrical frenzy.  And when that fire finally went out, so did the power in our house.  I called in the outage.  We went on back to bed, this time with a window open to take advantage of the cool breeze.  About an hour and a half later, the power was restored, and all was well.  Took me a long time to get back to sleep, though.  And I was up and at ‘em by 5:30 this morning. Hey.  Can’t waste those precious morning hours.

 

Proverbs 1:7 says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

 

Father, thank you for the power workers who came out last night and fixed whatever issue we were having.  Bless them with a good sleep when they get a chance.  Amen.

 

October 17 - “Waco Weekend”

We continued our full Waco weekend by heading to church to worship and hear Josh preach. He did a great job, of course. Key point: your perspective matters.

 

After the service we went up some stairs to one of the Sunday School rooms. Caleb sang there with an ensemble of other teenagers (3 girls and 2 guys).  It was their first time singing “in public.”  They were really good. I think they’ll get other gigs real soon.

 

After saying our goodbyes, we hustled out of there and to the car.  A cold front was just reaching the area, so we wanted to get in front of it. We did get wet hurrying to the car, but for the most part we stayed on the front edge of the storm. Like most places we have been over the last three weeks, Waco needs the rain, so we were happy for them.

 

On the way home, we listened to the service at Seaside through the miracle of modern Facebook Live. We were kind of sad to be missing out on dinner on the grounds, so we decided to splurge one last time and stop at Cracker Barrel for lunch.

 

We were met at the house by our neighbors Corey and Janell and Brennan. They helped us unload the car. Freddy was home already, so we had her excited greetings as well. Great to be home.

 

2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

 

Father, please grant Caleb and those kids who sang with him all the encouragement they need to keep singing for you. Amen. 

 

October 16 - “One full day”

First stop yesterday was a celebration. It came in the form of a birthday party for Luke at Urban Air. That’s one of those places where the floor is basically made of trampolines. It also has somewhat of a ropes course for the older kids. The kids played for almost two hours, then met around a table for cake and gift-opening. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

 

From there we made our way around the corner to a place called Slim Chickens for lunch. Strangely enough, the course of the day was … chicken. It reminded me of Chick-fil-a … a lot. The food was pretty good. Definitely something Josh and his kids enjoyed.

 

Next on the docket was a soccer game for Caleb. Caleb and his squad really seemed to dominate the game early on. In fact, it looked like one of their strikers might end up with an early hat trick when he scored the first two goals.  But the other team settled in and made a game of it.  Final score was 2-1. 

 

Next we went to Zak’s football game. American football this time.  Well, sort of.  He plays six-man football, which has a lot of different rules from eleven man.  There is a boatload of scoring in this brand.  And Zak’s team certainly did its share.  The final score was 72-24, and they stopped the game midway into the third quarter.  Another rule of the game.  If one team is 45 points ahead after halftime, they game is called due to the mercy rule.

 

Did I mention that I also attended a tea party here in Waco?  AnnaGrace was our hostess.  She poured our tiny cups full of water from a tiny tea pitcher. Even had some gingerbread cookies.  Then Luke arrived.  He sneakily drank everyone’s “tea” and ate all the cookies. Hey. He’s a growing boy. Great fun.

 

John 1:5 says, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

 

Father, thank you for soccer games and football games and tea parties and nine-year-old birthday parties.  Great times, for sure.  Amen.

October 15 - “Responsible”

I finally had a chance to try my loaf of cinnamon raisin bread we bought at the Amish store. No idea what state the store was in. The bread, however, exceeded all expectations. It was really good. I can see what will be a part of breakfast for a while.

 

Josh and Christi had a lunch meeting, and the kids were all at their homeschool co-op, so I went over to none other than Whataburger to get us some lunch. Whataburger. It’s been a while. Welcome back to Texas.

 

We were designated picker-uppers of AnnaGrace and Luke. Christi had to work the pickup line and Josh was still in his meeting. We didn’t have car seats, so we all just hung out by the window of Dad’s office.

 

While we were at the church waiting for Josh and Christi to finish up their duties there, Chris was most definitely playing the role of Nani.  AnnaGrace and Luke climbed up on a column.  Chris warned them to be careful.  You know.  That sort of thing.  At one point, AnnaGrace came over to me and, with her palm covering half of her mouth to hide her comment from Chris, she whispered, “Is she always so … responsible? You’re not responsible. You’re fun.”  Yup. Good ol’ Responsible Nani. Gotta love her.

 

Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

 

Father, thank you for Good ol’ Responsible Nani. Sure do love her. Amen.

 

October 14 - “One last meander”

It took us about five miles to get out of Shreveport and back into Texas. And the first thing we ran into? Construction, of course. But Chris was ever the trooper. She drove right in and didn’t stop until we realized we needed gas. Forgot to check that before we left Shreveport. We found a station in plenty of time somewhere near Tyler.

 

Siri discovered a route got us that shunned the interstates once again, so plenty of small towns were on the docket. Some were on the paper map. Others were hidden in the spirals of the map book spine. Still others didn’t exist at all on paper. Like … did you know there was a Silver City in Texas? It lies between Oak Valley and Dawson. But don’t blink. You’ll miss it. We did.

 

We arrived in Waco around 12:40, so we went straight to Jason’s Deli for some lunch. Then we strolled around Target just to get a few steps in. When we pulled up to Josh’s house, Zak was the only one there. Everybody else was in the midst of a typical, crazy-busy day. Soccer, basketball, and the like.

 

I managed to snag a ride with Zak and Luke when they left for Zak’s basketball tryouts.  It was interesting to watch a coach’s tryout session when he has a completely different basketball philosophy from me.  They had a lot of boys trying out, though, so they should have a pretty good pool to draw from.

 

I have to confess that I snuck in my phone so I could watch the Astros game during the tryouts. Go Astros.  How about that Yordan? Speaking of my phone, we put it into use later back at the house. Baylor’s football team was playing, but they couldn’t get the feed on their TV.  So we called it up on my phone, did a little screen sharing, and voila!  The joys of modern technology.  Of course, Josh had to show me how to do it …

 

James 5:16 says, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

 

Father, it is good to be back in Texas. Thanks for your protection on this journey.  Amen.

October 13 - “Meandering”

As bad as the hotel was that we walked out on, the one we ended up in after the extra hour on the road was good. The room was clean and organized. It was quiet. Even the breakfast had all our favorites, well, except bananas. But I can forgive them for that. Stay in Forrest City, Arkansas, if you get a chance.

 

Our next goal was the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock. That one promised a Presidential library stamp. From there we intended to go to the last park in Arkansas that we need a stamp from. But we found out it was closed on Wednesdays. Of course it was.

 

The Clinton Library was … a bit strange. For one thing there seemed to be too much going on at once, so the exhibits were competing with each other. There also seemed to be an inordinate amount of space given to Mrs. Clinton. Not that there was a big room dedicated to her. That would have made sense. It just seemed like she kept popping up all over the areas that were supposed to be political/historical moments. We did, as usual, enjoy the displays of elaborate gifts the president received during his term in office.

 

After sharing a quick lunch of crackers, an apple, and a Swiss cake roll, we decided to journey out anyway to the National Park that was closed.  That way we could say we have actually been there, and perhaps get a stamp sometime in the future. So, we were off - an hour and a half to the southeast.

 

After lots of back roads and twists and turns (meandering which we are getting quite used to), we final pulled into the Arkansas Post National Memorial. To our surprise, there was another car there already, and no less than eight people crawled out of it. They went off to explore in one direction. We walked in another (after confirming that the center was indeed closed and there were no little papers with the stamps on them left for closed-day travelers such as us).  But on a whim, Chris walked over to a guy wearing some kind of uniform.  He just happened to be on the maintenance crew for the park. She very, very, very sweetly asked the young man if there was any way he had access to the National Park stamp within the bowels of the building. Lo and behold … miracle of miracles … he agreed to go inside and rummage around and bring them out. Chris was giddy with excitement. This sticker marked the last one in the state of Arkansas that she needed for her book. Woohoo.

 

From there we decided to seek out a little different route. It meandered through southern Arkansas, dangerously close to Louisiana. But it was ever westward, ever southward. We landed for the night at a place in Louisiana, literally right across the street from Louisiana Baptist University and Theological Seminary.  May as well get a bit closer to home, right?

 

Luke 12:40 says, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

 

Father, it feels strange to be so close to Texas. Please keep us safe as we wind things down. Amen.

October 12 - “Even Underground”

It was a lot warmer today than the past few days. 41 degrees. Warmed up even more pretty quickly, though.

 

But then we crawled down into a hole that stays at 54 degrees all year. It was a bit chilly down there. It was an interesting excursion, though. We were able to amble around in the semi-darkness while Chris attempted to take pictures. I think we got a few good ones, though. Mammoth Cave. Check.

 

On the way back south and west, Chris noticed a sign for an Amish country store. Why not?  One of the best stops of the trip. We ordered a sandwich for lunch. Huge thing on homemade bread. Yum. And we had to get some banana bread. Oh, some raisin cinnamon bread. All homemade, of course. I would definitely frequent that place … if we lived in the middle of nowhere, Kentucky, just north of Tennessee. Hmm. That sounds like a good ol’ Country-western song …

 

Since we were in an off-the-beaten-track mood anyway, we stumbled across a brand-new area that just got affiliated with the National Park Service. It is a random battlefield called Parker’s Crossroads, somehow associated with the Civil War battle of Shiloh. It came up as right off the road we were on, anyway, so … here we go. The site itself was just the visitor center. Well, they did have maps that you could follow out to areas of the battle located in nearby towns. And they did have for sale a 60-minute tape tour of the whole thing. We didn’t go on the whole thing. We didn’t go on anything. We did walk through the museum and check out the artifacts, though.

 

Next came the final leg of what had been a really long drive. All the way from Mammoth Cave in Kentucky to Memphis, Tennessee. We were tired.

 

Now, we did make it to Memphis and checked into the hotel. But the room had no hot water coming out of the faucet in the sink. So they moved us to another room, but it had not been cleaned. Dirty towels on the bathroom floor, bed unmade. So they upgraded us to a suite. But it had food between the sheet and mattress pad, there was a bug with pinchers in the bed, and the shower was actually moldy. Strike three. And the worst thing about it all? I spent the last three innings of the Astros incredible comeback walkoff game dealing with a bad hotel. This time I told the desk clerk to just give us a refund. He obliged with no further comment. We drove another hour to get another hotel. This one was pretty nice. Glad we moved.

 

Romans 10:10 says, “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

 

Father, thank you yet again for the chance to see something so awesome as that cave. Even underground your world is amazing. Amen.

October 11 - “Kentucky”

After a “good,” “free” hotel breakfast, we headed west. And finally we were going to hit a state that actually felt “south,” or at least somewhat “west.”  Oh. What state? Kentucky. Headed for Abe Lincoln’s birthplace, a site we have visited before, but that was before we had a National Park stamp book. Then it’s on to Mammoth Cave. 

 

We made it to Abe’s birthplace after a quick stop at what was apparently the site of some land where he once lived as a kid. After our obligatory stop at the visitor center, we climbed the steps to the shrine building with an old log cabin inside. Not actually Abe’s, mind you. But a log cabin, nevertheless.

 

One of the park volunteers saw us roaming around, looking all young and in love (Us, not her). She couldn’t help herself. She approached us and pointed to a patch of dark green growth way up in a tree where many leaves had already fallen off. “That,” she explained, “is wild mistletoe.”  Awesome discovery. Yes, we kissed (Each other, not the Ranger).  And yes, the kiss has been recorded for posterity in a photo.

 

Leaving that park, we crossed back into the central time zone at 4:31, which made it 3:31. I think.  I’m so confused. Must have been that kiss …

 

Psalms 107:1 says, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”

 

Father, thank you for my mistletoe-kissin’ wife. Amen.

October 10 - “Photo-bomb”

Welcome to the “first real cold snap of the season,” according to the local news anchor. 35 degrees with a frost warning. Ouch. 

 

Our first stop was the summer home of a guy named Gallatin. He was the secretary of the treasury for 17 years or so. He actually balanced the federal budget while at the same time buying Louisiana. No small feat. And while we were in the parking lot, we had a close encounter of the wildlife kind. A mama deer and her baby were munching on grass nearby. We slowly started taking pictures, expecting them to bolt at any moment. But they never did. On the contrary, they began to approach us. We got some amazing close-ups. They even photo-bombed us when we were doing a selfie. 

 

We finally got on the road toward West Virginia. Of course, it was only five miles away. But the National Park we were heading to was another two and a half hours beyond that. We had a fabulous lunch of crackers and chips as we drove. 

 

I didn’t know what I expected out of this particular stop. Something about a bridge. Well, it was pretty spectacular. The bridge spanned a river, but it was hundreds of feet high. The cool part, though, was the drive down to the river and back up again. Really beautiful. Not in the fall foliage sense, though. It was just the sheer magnitude of the bridge and the drive through the deep woods, which entailed a lot of switchbacks and multiple ess curves. Worth the drive to get that national park stamp. 

 

From there we drove toward Kentucky. Didn’t make it, though. Stopped for the night in Charleston, West Virginia. 

 

Our waitress at dinner was quite chatty. When she found out we live on an island off the coast of Texas she had two questions:

1.      Do you have cars there? I have to admit it took every ounce of restraint for me not to answer with something like, “Oh, no. We all ride horses.”  In fact I had to let Chris take that one. I just couldn’t. 

2.    Isn’t there a lot of weird stuff that happens down there?

I jumped all over that one. I told her that we were perfectly normally weird in Texas. It was up here that we were finding all the really strange stuff. 

 

Philippians 1:3 says, “I thank my God every time I remember you.”

 

Father, once again, you amazed us with the enormity of your creation.  And with your fun people.  Thank you. Amen.