January 21 - “Motown Music”

Breakfast was a bit different. Instead of going through the buffet, we decided to try the omelet station. Always fun to see the different techniques this guys display. And the omelets aren’t half bad, either. 

We finally found some land! Our first clue came when the weather app said we were in the United States instead of the Gulf of America. Then Chris said she could see land aport (we’re on the port side of the ship). Finally our phones clocks caught up with where we were. 

Our first stop of the journey was at Key West. Again … still in America. However …

High winds and waves at Key West caused the cancellation of that stop. So, another “Fun Day at Sea.” So much for getting off the ship for a while. 

After lunch we went to meeting about the different islands that were excursion sites. Then we stumbled across a young lady giving away free artwork. All we had to do was guess how much painting was worth. She did give us a clue: “It’s under $10,000.” I guessed $7,999.99. She was impressed. Didn’t tell us how much it really was though. We have to go to some future event to find that out. 

We also played an art scavenger hunt game. We had to match actual art with a list of clues. We got 17 out of 20. Not bad. 

From there we went to the comedy club for a performance that was added. They assured us it was rated PG. I would say it was true to its promise. And the guy really was funny. Good storyteller. 

Then we raced over to an art seminar. Yep. You read that right. I’m pretty fascinated by the whole art scene (Read here Salvadore Dali). And bless Chris’ heart - she sat through the whole thing with me. Thanks, Babe. 

Last night’s dinner was the one where all the waiters spread out across the room and sing and dance. Our waiter may or may not have enlisted the assistance of someone from our table to join him in the dancing part of the evening’s revelry. And that someone may or may not have been all too happy to rock out. Of course all this is strictly hypothetical …

After dinner we took in part of the Motown Music show. Then we stuck around for the after party with lots of singing and dancing. It was fun, but kind of exhausting. And Chris’ hip has been bothering her, so we ambled back to the room for the rest of the evening. 

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭15‬ says, See to it that no one repays evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all.

Father, please ease up the hip pain Chris has been having. Amen. 

January 20 - “Some hard core Elvis”

Did time change on the ship instead of staying on Galveston time. That was different from every other cruise we have been on. Usually they stay on whatever time it was when the ship left its home port. 

Heading down to join the 50’s dance class when we ran into Joe and Cindy, some friends from their  Seaside days. Stood in the hallway and chatted with them for 15 or 20 minutes. Just long enough to miss the dance class. But reuniting with old friends? Way better. 

We spent the bulk of the afternoon sleeping. Yep. Whiling away our day doing absolutely nothing. It was kinda nice. 

At dinner we met another of the couples assigned to our table. Jay and Brenda are from Burleson, near Mansfield. We had something in common right away - the Metroplex. 

Next we headed over to the show of the night, Consuela Ivy, a singer. She did a lot of talking as well. She did her dead-level best to connect with the audience. And her message (I think she said it 50 or 100 times), was “Love, Love, Love.” Pretty good voice, but she was fond of adding her own twiddly-diddly extra flare to everything. Not my favorite approach to music. 

Now the next place we went was much better. At least they played old rock and roll songs that we oldies knew. Even hit us with some hard core Elvis. That group? I liked. 

We stopped off for an ice cream cone on the way back to the room. That was near the huge outdoor movie screen. And the national championship college football game was being shown. I went out to check the score while Chris waited inside. ESPN showed a commercial for every sport known to man. They even had one for cricket. Whew! Indiana was beating Miami at the half. I was hooked. Not on sitting outside in the cold, though. I watched the rest of the game on my phone back in the room. Indians won in a squeaker. 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭133‬:‭1‬ says, How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!

Father, thanks for our serendipitous meeting with Joe and Cindy. Bless their time on the cruise. Amen. 

January 19 - “The Day”

Well, The Day finally arrived. Time to get on a big ol’ boat and sail off into the Eastern Caribbean wilds for destinations island-ish (but allegedly different from the island we already live on). It’s been a long time coming. 

To complicate matters, I woke up to a temperature of 38 degrees, with a windchill of 26. Yep. Disturbingly cold for our tropical island paradise. We braved the harsh elements, though. Many thanks to April and Nathan for the ride. 

We made our way through the maze of roped-off lines fairly easily. That is until we went through the metal detector. Chris sailed through with no problem. But when I walked through, the burglar alarm sounded. The lady asked if I had any metal in my body. I replied, “Oh, yeah. All Over. Neck. Back. Knee.” She laughed and called out their secret code. Sounded something like, “Cleanup on aisle 2!” I had to be patted down like a criminal because I had metal in my body. But hey. There was laughter all around. 

Next task … the elevators were all jam-packed, so I had to carry our very heavy carryon bag from the 4th deck all the way to our room on Deck 9.  Well, why not start the cruise with a sore back?

We stayed in port a very long time. Seems there was some difficulty loading the provisions. Gotta have those provisions. 

Meanwhile, we stood on our balcony (for short periods at a time - did I mention that it was cold? Very cold). And why would we torture ourselves like that? Well, I was taking pictures of the Battleship Texas (moored right across the channel from us) and the frolicking dolphins. 

Finally, our appointed time for dinner arrived. The crowd was large waiting for the doors to open, but things went really fast when they did. Our servers were from Indonesia.: Ibrahim, Nisi (or something like that) and Atma. Great guys. Our table mates were 

Tony & Maria from San Antonio, but they left before they ever ordered, and Bill and Pam from Garland. They seemed to be a fun couple. I’m looking forward to seeing them every night. 

Back to the delayed departure. Our scheduled departure time of 4:30 soon became 7:00. No one really noticed except those of us who enjoyed watching the island fade into by the distance. We got to see it by the lights, though. Very pretty. 

We strolled around some more after dinner. I tried to get Chris to dance with me during the three violin gig happening at the dance floor. Maybe I shouldn’t have shown her my moves. But the violinists liked ‘em. Maybe later?

And there they were. The moves busted out again. We went to a show that was the crew singing funky music stuff. Not there. The best part of that show was when they had two audience members play that shake the ping pong balls out of the box tied to their backsides game. Funny stuff. 

But the moves. That came at the after party. Even got Chris to loosen up a little on some of the dances. But I didn’t know there were line dances. Macarena (I never have gotten that one). Electric slide (is that the right name?).  And whatever that one is called that John Travolta danced to. Let’s just say they finally found some songs that us old folks remembered. We’ll leave it at that. 

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭10‬ ‭says, Now I urge you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree in what you say, that there be no divisions among you, and that you be united with the same understanding and the same conviction.

Father, please sail with us these next 14 days. Amen. 

January 18 - “Packed”

Well, Chris is officially in packing mode. She even got me to start pulling the clothes I want to take. Not sure why. We had until about 12:30 or so today to get it all done. How hard could it be?

We did take a break or two. I was determined to finish our binge of Stranger Things. That proved somewhat difficult. All we had left was two one-hour episodes and the two-hour series finale. We did it. Great sense of accomplishment there. 

Of course while that was going on, so was the washing machine and dryer. And we also got pretty much all of the suitcase-type packing (ie clothes) done. 

I think we are just about ready to board a ship. See ya when we get back. 

Hebrews‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬ says, No creature is hidden from Him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.

Father, come ride this boat with us, work you? Amen. 

January 17 - “Triple Connection”

Chris was hard at work right off the bat. Mainly getting things ready to pack for the cruise. I got to help fold and laminate the luggage tags. Always a fun task. 

We had two highlights in the morning. Josh called. It’s always fun to talk to him and get the rundown on Waco basketball. Later we had a visit from Jachin. Actually he was just dropping off their dog Leia. She’s hanging out with Freddy for a few days while they make a trip into Houston for Christina’s side of the family’s Christmas. Freddy and Leia usually get along just fine. 

We thought we were going to attend one of Cailyn’s soccer games. We missed it, though. We had the time wrong. Fortunately, we found out before we left the house. So instead, we went to Walmart. Quick trip. Clock and camera card. Then Randall’s. Prescription. Then Kroger. Dog food.  Whew. Why can’t they all be at the same place?

We did get to see Cailyn after all. Not playing soccer, though. We were invited to her family birthday dinner last night. Tacos was the menu. Nice job, April. 

Zephaniah‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬ says, Yahweh your God is among you, a warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness. He will bring you quietness with His love. He will delight in you with shouts of joy.

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Father, thank you for turned chance to connect with at least one member of each of our kids’ families. Always a win. Amen. 

January 16 - “Oldest is special”

We started off the day wishing Cailyn a Hepp Pea Burp Deeee (AKA Happy Birthday). At least that’s was my salutation. I’m pretty sure Chris’ was a bit more … traditional. Love ya, Cailyn. 

We spent a lot of the morning in home group cleaning mode. Well, that has a “fuller” meaning for Chris. I handled the vacuuming. She did everything else. We did do a search for some old pictures. I got to be involved there. They are stored on the computer. As little as I know about it, the computer is my “realm” around here. 

In the afternoon we did some calendar syncing. Chris has all the key dates on her phone. I’m more old school. I keep a good ol’ paper and pencil daytimer calendar book. That way when we say we’re on the same page … we actually are. 

Last night was our last home group meeting for a good while. We are almost finished with the life of David, but didn’t quite get there. Oh, well. Gives ‘em something to look forward to. 

Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭21‬ says, For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Father, thanks for Cailyn. Oldest granddaughter is pretty special. Amen. 

January 15 - “Cool in the Caribbean”

I checked on my friend Ed this morning. He’s the one who had open heart surgery last week. He’s at home now and doing well. Lauren told me he said some pretty funny stuff at the hospital. He probably won’t remember a lot of it, though, because of the pain meds. But then, Ed always says funny stuff. Glad you’re home, my friend. Be nice to your nurse - er - wife and that four-legged live-in nurse’s aide you have over there. 

I had a special treat in the afternoon. A haircut. I told Suzann I needed a summer cut so I could be cool in the Caribbean. Hey, when you get down there by the equator, it’s supposed to be hot, right?

As I was leaving, there was a lady in the waiting area in some sort of stage of the process, I suppose. She had a towel around her neck and her hair was tied up in an array of small batches with some kind of aluminum foil looking stuff. Reminded me of the old school way of protecting your mind from evil aliens invading. It was … downright frightening. 

As I passed by, she smiled a kind of crooked smile and spoke. “You look really nice.” Well, that was quite unexpected, and I admit I was taken aback for a brief second. But in that second, a reply leapt into my consciousness. A way to be honest, yet not cruel (in case there were other potential aliens lurking about). I gently touched her shoulder and quipped, “And you WILL look nice soon.”  I guess it worked. Her smile grew and became a chuckle. As I walked through the door hurriedly, she added, “Come back in a few hours, and I’ll look much better.” Thanks. I passed on that invitation. 

I came home to Chris cleaning the four chairs Christina found and picked up for us. Chris did an amazing cleaning job, of course. I think they even fit in pretty well with our oldies but goodies. Maybe now we can officially get rid of the marginally safe ones. 

We finally finished our Christmas letter. You know. That compilation of anecdotes that summarizes our life and the life of our families over the last year. And of course it is all scrunched onto just one sheet of paper (front and back), including a family photo. Now to get them mailed …

Proverbs‬ ‭22‬:‭4‬ says, The result of humility is fear of the Lord, along with wealth, honor, and life.

Father, thank for you for Ed’s progress. Keep him on your healing track, whatever that might look like. Amen. 

January 14 - “From long-haired hippie days…”

Well, it appears we are well on our way to preparing for this cruise journey. Credit cards have been notified. The bed in our spare bedroom is beginning to fill up with all those little things we don’t want to forget. 

The most recent jigsaw puzzle is complete. It’s fitting, too. It’s of a shepherd rescuing a lamb. Kinda like we want the Good Shepherd to watch over us on the trip (But we would appreciate not needing the physical rescue part).

Chris had her regular check-in appointment with her cardiologist. He wants her to do another stress test on the treadmill. However … Chris told him we are leaving on a cruise Sunday. He didn’t see much possibility of the test happening in the next three days, so that’ll give us something “wonderful” to look forward to. 

On the way home we made a few stops. First was the post office. Had to mail a gift to some friends in Pennsylvania. Then we filled up the car with gas. And then we stopped by the bank to get some cash for tips on the trip. 

We thought that would do it, but we ended up having to go out again. We made a quick trip over to b the pharmacy. The doc called in a refill for one of Chris’ meds. She needs it refilled before we leave, or she’ll run out about a week in. As it turned out the meds won’t be in until after three this afternoon. We hope. 

Speaking of this afternoon, I have a haircut appointment at two. That’ll be a nice step for me toward convenience on the trip. Just dry it with a towel and call it a night. My, how far we have come from the long-haired hippie days. 

Luke‬ ‭12‬:‭40‬ says, You also be ready, because the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.

Father, please be our Good Shepherd throughout this journey. Amen. 

January 13 - “Female Arnold Schwarzenegger’s”

Chris had her weights class yesterday. Those three ladies are gonna be regular female Arnold Schwarzenegger’s if they keep this up. I’m really proud of them. 

After some lunch (Chris made potato soup. Yum) we went over to Walmart (surprise, surprise). We had to pick up the last bits of what we figure we’ll need for our first of two 50th anniversary cruises. 

That led to a trip to Randall’s as well when good ol’ Walmart didn’t have everything we needed. As luck would have it, Chris, who wasn’t at all hungry when we arrived, got a whiff of the freshly fried chicken and couldn’t resist. We eased on over and picked up the manager’s special for supper. That’s some good stuff. Oh, and to offset the illegally ingested fried foods (right before her cardiology appointment today), she made a salad as well. All bases covered there, right?

Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭35‬ says, For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me and the gospel will save it.

Father, thank you for the food you provide us. That seemed to be a theme yesterday. Amen. 

January 12 - “Beyond his years”

Another good day at church. Three adults joined, and two others told us after church that they intended to do the same, they just keep forgetting to touch base with Pastor Kel. Way to go, God. 

Ezra came home with us after church. His dad had a big meeting  to attend. He was totally content to watch NFL football. And boy! Is that kid knowledgeable beyond his years about the game. And by “beyond his years” I mean, he knows about what his much older brothers know. He started talking as soon as he sat down, and the only time he was quiet was when he was chewing some pizza. 

After Ezra left with his Dad, we switched over to women’s college basketball. Undefeated Texas was playing LSU. Sadly, Texas last their first of the year. Maybe we jinxed them. That was the first game we have watched this year. Hope you do better next time, Lady Longhorns. 

‭‭1 Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭12‬ says, Let no one despise your youth; instead, you should be an example to the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

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Father, thanks again for the chance to hang out with Ezra. I like that kid. Amen. 

January 11 - “Libbidy, Libbidy, Lib-bi-dy”

Here’s to a hectic morning. We had several errands to run, but we had to be at Kel’s house by 11:30. Ezra was having his birthday celebration, but not like you might think. He wanted the family to join him at a college basketball game. Specifically, Liberty University vs. Sam Houston State. 

So … errands. While Chris was getting ready, I went out and filled the car up with gas. Check. Then we stopped at Chipotle to get a gift card. No check. 

Seems I was there eight minutes before opening. Now, the door was open, and someone greeted me when I entered. However, when I asked to buy a gift card, they had to got check with the manager. I didn’t want food. Just a card. The register was open, so that wasn’t an issue. But the manager said “No. Not until 3:45.” Hard and fast rule, eh? Apparently so, even though no food was involved. I chuckled and made my way back to the car to let Chris know. 

That’s where things got creative. I walked over to Whataburger to get a gift card from there. They had a hard time getting the credit card machine to work, but it finally cooperated. Then I walked back to the car where Chris was waiting. We sat there for a few more minutes, just to make sure. Then at precisely 10:45, I returned. They were hard at work, chopping steak and  stocking chips. It took a long time for someone to come wait on me. Fortunately, it was the same girl as before. She rang it up, put it in a cute little holder shaped like a briefcase, and sent us on our way. 

Well, “on our way” wasn’t very far. We drove all the way … next door  - back to Whataburger. This time we got some food to go. The computer had no issues with my card this time.  And we were on our way. 

We stopped by Kel’s house first, then picked up Josiah from the karate school. Ezra transferred to our car, and we were off from Huntsville and a day of college basketball. 

After a bit of a tough fight in the first half, Liberty finally pulled away enough in the second to hold off San Houston’s frantic attempts at a comeback. The good guys won 82-74. The best part of the night? Well, other than the fact that Liberty played actual basketball instead of running madly down the court and hoping to slam dunk. That was Sam’s game plan, but Liberty also played defense, apparently a new concept that Sam hadn’t seen much. But the best by far of the night was watching Ezra watch the game. He was in veritable Hog’s Heaven. He loved every part of it, especially when he conned the Sam Houston mascot into taking a picture with him. Unbeknownst to the bearcat, Ezra was flashing the Liberty University hand sign at the time. Classic move. 

Psalms‬ ‭103‬:‭2‬, My soul, praise the Lord, and do not forget all His benefits.

Father, thank you for Ezra and his passion for life. Amen.