October 31 – “Halloween is Back”

Halloween is back in Gulf Village.  Now, we weren't here, but it looked like a whole boatload of kids returned this year for the post-Ike return of Halloween.  Chris, Mom and I were at a wedding on the beach that started at 5:00.  But Nathan and April and Cailyn came over and acted as hosts for our house.  After the wedding we drove by on our way to the reception to see how things were going.  There were cars everywhere letting kids out.  Nathan and April said they hadn't seen many yet.  It was still light outside, though, and the little guys were just starting to move.  When we finally got home from the reception the lights were out and all the candy appeared to be gone.  It looked like a successful evening.   The wedding was a nice one.  The guy who plays violin in our praise team got married.  They incorporated several different cultural traditions in their ceremony, so it was fun to put together.  They did the traditional rings and vows.  But they also did the Mexican lazzo, or lasso.  An older relative couple placed a beautiful beaded loop around each of their necks.  It had a cross in the center to show Christ was the center of their relationship.  They also did a sand ceremony, where the moms poured different colored sand into an empty jar to symbolize the two families.  Then the bride and groom poured different colored sand yet into the same jar to show the union of their lives into something different and unique – something that can never be duplicated.  Then I put some sand from the beach into the jar to show the "God Housekeeping Seal of Approval."  Finally, everyone was given a small sand dollar when they arrived.  That sand dollar represented a prayer or good wish for the couple.  Each person was asked to think of one special prayer or wish, then throw the sand dollar into the water as if they were throwing the wish before the awesome and almighty God.  That was a new one to me, and it went over very well.   At the reception they put bowls of candy at each table and the children there were allowed to go from table to table trick or treating.  There was lots of dancing, and I heard they were going to break a piñata, but we had to leave before that happened.  Quite a Halloween comeback after last year's dark October following the storm.   1 Kings 8:22-23 says, "Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said: 'O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below — you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.'"   Father,  there is none like you who would keep on putting up with us even when we don't continue wholeheartedly in your way.  Thank you.  Amen.

October 30 – “Smecca Street”

It's 9:30 and I finally think I can stop and take a breath.  Chris is rocking Cailyn back to sleep and she is doing some serious flirting with her DadDad.  Of course I am ignoring her completely.  Well, maybe not completely.  Well, maybe not at all.  Hey, I haven't been here to play with her.  I have to make up for lost time.  Besides, who ever heard of going to bed on time at Nana and DadDad's house?   We had to hit the ground running to get the church cleaned after school today.  I had a wedding rehearsal this afternoon.  The wedding is to be held on the beach, but since it was cold today, I invited them to have the rehearsal inside.  They jumped at the chance after we walked down to the beach to check out the wedding site.    I went over the ceremony a few times, and asked if anyone had any questions.  Everybody seemed ready to go, so we finished up and started milling around, waiting for someone to be the first one to actually leave.  The ring bearer came up to me (I think he's about six years old) and said, "I took notes."  He held up one of our visitor cards with writing on it.  "I know where to go now."  Sure enough, scrawled in his own handwriting was this message, "Go stand by the guys."  At least one of us will know where to go tomorrow.    I heard the groom ask the best man if he knew where the dinner was.  "Sure," was the reply, "It's at Mario's on Smecca Street.  I snickered.  The restaurant was Mario's, but it was on Seawall Boulevard.  So where did he get Smecca?  That's the name of the guy who owns the place.  The meal was great.  The family was a lot of fun, too.  The wedding should be fun tomorrow.    The ride home was interesting as well.  There were motorcycles everywhere.  This weekend is the big Biker Rally in Galveston.  I got behind one lone guy who decided he was going to drive between 25 and 30 down the seawall.  I couldn't pass him, so I settled in for the duration.  One stop light I noticed the back of his jacket.  It said Cho Unltd.  I have no idea what that means, but I wasn't about to make him mad, lest an unlimited number of Chos jump out and beat me to a pulp.  Not long after he moved over and I continued on, I had to slow down again.  There was a horde of bikers at the Spot watching each other spin around in circles on their machines.  As if that wasn't distracting enough, all of a sudden a guy who appeared to be drunk darted out of the crowd right in front of me.  I saw him in plenty of time to stop, but the car coming in the other direction slammed on his brakes, almost hitting the guy.  I was really happy to get home.   1 Timothy 6:6 says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain."   Father, I want to be content.  Help me to be godly.  Amen.

October 29 – “Waiting”

I checked Weather Bug this morning.  Several times.  It assured me that the rain would be coming down in buckets today.  Fifty percent chance in the morning.  Seventy percent chance by afternoon.  We kept sneaking peaks out the windows expecting to see some precipitation.  It sure sounded like it on numerous occasions.  My bionic ears were tested to the max, especially when I went outside.  It was loud.  I could hear the waves.  For the first time I understood why they call it the "crashing" of the waves.  By four thirty there was still not a drop.  It got really foggy, though.  Doesn't that count as precipitation?  Anyway, we're still waiting.   The high school students gathered in the study circle after lunch today to work on their autobiographies.  I thought they were going to read them out loud.  I told Mick about it and he came to listen in for a peek into the students' lives.  I misunderstood.  They met in the circle all right, but they just exchanged papers and put edit marks on them as they discovered mistakes.  It was pretty interesting to watch the dynamics between them as they defended their papers to each other.   The electricians were working hard at the new building all day.  It seems to me that they pit the outside connection point pretty close to the ground. If we get another hurricane, or even a tropical storm, the water is bound to get up over it.  I hope they know what they are doing.  I sure don't.   Home group is tonight.  I'll be glad when I can work on the Bible study to prepare on the afternoon of the study without worrying about where we need a teacher or how I can fill in at PE time or what's going on in the lives of the kids that is making the behave live they do.   Chris teased Mom a bit today.  Chris was mopping and Mom walked to the door of the room.  Chris told her she better choose whether she wanted to come in and sit on the couch or stay out.  Mom insisted she could walk over the wet floors.  Chris insisted she couldn't.  Chris was afraid Mom might slip and fall.  But Mom didn't take the teasing too well.  She stormed into my study and sat in my chair.  That lasted a few minutes and all was forgotten.   1 Timothy 4:8 says, "Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers."   Father, I'll watch, but I'm easily fooled.  I don't intend to give up..  Amen.

October 28 – “She has plans”

The soon-to-be headmaster Mick came by today.  I went over everything I could think of, including the most recent crises.  First, the math teacher has to decide on which job offer he will take out in the "real world" right away.  He basically gave his two weeks' notice.  Second, I told him about the PE teacher and what I am doing to fill in that blank right now.  His answer was, "Don't worry about it.  We'll figure something out.  God has somebody out there for us.  And I can teach math until we get someone else."  Great answer.  I was a little encouraged.   Jen made a 100 on an algebra quiz.  She hasn't been doing too well, so she was very excited.   The students have a Big English deal tomorrow in the study circle.  They are going to edit each other's autobiography.  Right after lunch in what has become everyone's study period on Tuesday and Thursday, all of the high school students are going to gather around and hear each other present the story of their life.  Then they will critique them so they can be rewritten.  The kids have been using the computers all week to type their papers for English.  I can't wait to hear what they have come up with.   We have two more students starting Monday.  It's a brother-sister combo.  The girl is in sixth and the guy is in seventh.  The guy's name is Kelly.  Great name.  The middle school teacher seems excited to have some more students.   Chris has plans now for her shelf.  It's more than lines on paper.  Now the lines have numbers next to them showing lengths and widths.  It's still not a 3 Dimensional drawing, though.  So it's still not really real.  Maybe I won't have to help build it if it stays just the plans.  On the other hand, it's a really good idea for that space.  We need a place to put toys and crafts and sewing stuff.   1 Timothy 4:7-8 says, "Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. 8 For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come."   Father, help me to see training for godliness as just as much fun as old wives tales.  Amen.

October 27 – “I’m sick of it”

We had a pretty exciting event occur today at Seaside.  The power company came out to hook us up with electricity to the new building.  It was supposed to be about a four hour job.  I noticed them this morning, and they were still there when students started leaving this afternoon, so I went over to see what was happening.  They were going to mount the new transformers on one of the existing poles at the street in front of the school building.  While they were in process, though, the pole broke in half.  They ended up using a brand new one they happened to have dropped off right across the street for use at another project further down the road.  That short job took all day, but it looks done from their front.  Now the electricians can come back and make the final connections they need to make for us to crank it up.    We also are going to be getting a new student.  He is a six-year-old kindergartener from Florida.  His family is going to be here for a few months, then move back.  They were very pleased to hear that we use Abeka curriculum.  So does their school in Florida.  We're just not as "strict" as they are.  No uniforms.   Speaking of kindergarteners, one of ours had everybody in stitches this afternoon.  His grandma came to pick him up and asked how school went today.  Now he had had an especially good day today.  He has had many that weren't so good over the last week or so.  But today he didn't even get his name on the board one time.  But he sure had a response.             "How was school today?"             "I'm sick of it.  Just sick of it."             "Sick of what?  School?"             "No.  I'm just sick and tired of all this.  I'm sick of Ms. Teacher."             "Why are you sick of her?"             "I'm just going to have to put her in time out, right now."             Turning to the teacher, he said, "Look at me.  Turn your head."  And taking her face in his hands, and wagging his index figure at her, he pulled her close and said. "Look at me.  Make your eyes look at me right now.  I'm gonna put you in time out right now."             Watch what you say at home, Mommy and Daddy.    Proverbs 22:6 says, "Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it."   Father, help the Moms and Dads.  They have a huge responsibility.  Amen.

October 26 – “Mick”

Our new headmaster, Mick, came by today to fill out all his paperwork for the secretary.  He won't start until November ninth, but he plans to come by a few times between now and then so I can show him the computer files and give him an idea about how we have done things up to now.   I introduced the "fill-in" curriculum for our PE class today.  I'm going to teach the "How to Watch a Movie with a Christian World View" class that I did a few years ago at Seaside.  The kids were pretty wound up today, so I have no idea how it's going to go.  We will watch Bruce Almighty first..  The idea is to watch some of it, then stop it and discuss how it relates to a world view that assumes there is a God.  Next I will make them watch the old John Denver and George Burns movie, "Oh, God!"  I can't wait to see how they compare the two.   It started pouring down rain this morning and hasn't stopped for very long since.  That ordinarily wouldn't be such a bad thing, but with my new bionic ears, I could hear every drop that hit the roof.  And the window.  And the cars as they drove past.  I could hear the feet of the students as they shuffled past my door.  I could hear the creaking of the chairs as they groaned under the weight of students rocking back in them.  Okay.  I understand that I am supposed to get acclimated to these things before I get access to the volume control, but it's a loud world out there.  There were several times today when I longed for my world of peace and quiet.  But I kept them in.  Except the one time when I let one of the girls hold it up to her ear and listen.  She was astounded.  And the kids actually quieted down after I explained how loud everything sounded to me.   I waded to WalMart to pick up some coffee filters and small cups for church.  I also had a key made for Mick.  Of course I had to walk right past the cheap movie section, too.  I found a collection of old Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton silent movies.  I had to get that because one of the assignments in the speech self-paced class is to watch a silent movie.  The other two I got were not so noble, but I'll think of some reason to explain their purchase before Chris gets back from Bay City.  Mom wants to go back to WalMart again to get some thread, so I guess I'll be wading again soon.   John 8:7 says, "When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, 'If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her..'"   Father, give me your heart when I get frustrated at school and church and …well, when I get frustrated.  Amen.

October 25 – “A Parable”

Today's teaching turned out to be more of a parable.  It was still about Mephibosheth.  I write it all out ahead of time.  That story had some phenomenal parallels to the story of salvation.  And as far as everyone who heard it was concerned, I'm certain they liked the fact that it only lasted about fifteen minutes.  I did get a lot of positive comments..    We had lots of visitors today.  Seems like they all snuck in while we were praying at the beginning of the service.  A new couple who came are new homeowners in Pirate's Cove.  And we had our usual batch of timeshare folks.   We had an official new member today as well.  Charles has been coming for several weeks now, and he has done a lot of stuff to help out around the church already.  Now if the seven others who have said they want baptism will follow through, we'll see some real excitement around here!   I tried to make a copy of our old web site from some files on my computer so I could send it to our new web design guy.  He said if I could get it to him, he could reconstruct it.  But I couldn't figure out how to do it.  I did finally get it to copy to a cd, so I'll give him that when I see him again.   Chris went to Bay City again this afternoon.  Her Mom has another chemo treatment tomorrow morning.  She should be back tomorrow night if everything goes okay.   This whole losing a PE teacher and having to come up with some kind of plan for one whole period of school has me stumped.  I talked to the old teacher today and she said she was getting together some of her stuff and would get it to me as soon as she could..  In the meantime I have to come up with something for nine high school students to do for 45 minutes right at the end of their day.  All ideas will be greatly appreciated!   John 7:46 says, "'No one ever spoke the way this man does,' the guards declared."                       Father, keep on speaking.  Sorry I take so long to start hearing.  Amen.