December 20 – “They are watching”

I went to bed with three extra females in the room last night, watching.  Just watching.  No, my daughters-in-law weren’t all over to nurse the old man back to health.  It wasn’t even Cailyn and her imaginary friends.  It was much, much worse.  I had to try to get to sleep with three new dolls staring at me.  Frightening.  Terribly, terribly frightening.

The dolls were just a tiny portion of the truckload of sentiment we managed to bring back from our trip to Bay City yesterday.  Chris’ half-brother called to let her know he had sold his Dad’s house and she was welcome to come pick up some of her Mom’s genealogy stuff and a few pictures.  He knew the genealogy was in a file cabinet and stacked on a shelf, so he suggested she bring a few boxes as well.  I’m so glad we took the pickup truck.  Once we got there the two of them started picking up objects and checking behind pictures on the wall.  Most things had been marked with the person who was intended to receive that item.  And that meant Chris was responsible for doing the distributing.  And that meant we had to find a way to fit them into the bed and cab of our truck.  Didn’t sound like such a big deal, but once they got started, out pile grew and grew.  I threw in our emergency evacuation tubs from our attic so we wouldn’t have to search for boxes, and we filled up eight of them.  There were two file cabinets plus several other boxes already packed of books and folders and pictures.  Not really a problem.  Then they came out with a huge cedar chest, also filled with stuff.  And then there were the three large glass doll cases, each about the size of our stand-alone ice-maker.  And speaking of dolls, we brought back those three that joined us in the bedroom, along with five or six others.  Chris’ Mom was quite an accomplished doll-maker.  She had the head and appendages cast in some kind of highly breakable substance, sewed them to a soft body, then made the clothes they wore.  Quite an interesting legacy, unless of course you have to sleep in the same room with them watching you.  One of them looks eerily like Chris.  Another kind of favors Cailyn.  Two of them are clearly eskimos.  One is an American Indian baby strapped into a papoose that was made on site in Alaska.  Another may be that kid’s mother.  Chris knows exactly who in the family each one of them is supposed to be given to.  Meanwhile they have to live with us.  Foster parents for dolls.  OK.   The best part of the whole trip, though, was that Chris and her brother were able to work together without any “negative energy,” so to speak.  That’s what we were praying for the whole way there.

Cailyn and April stayed with Mom while we were gone, so they helped us unload when we got back.  Cailyn was very excited to see all the babies.  I just appreciated the extra hands.  We now have another pile in our garage, not to mention the stuff in my office and in our bedroom.  Today we find places for everyone to live for the holidays.  Then Chris can start the sorting process.  Can’t wait. 

Psalms 48:9 says, “Within your temple, O God, we meditate on your unfailing love.”

Father, thank you for the peaceful interchanges Chris had with her brother yesterday.  Amen.

December 19 – “Ollo Kiara”

I got to spend some quality DadDad time with Cailyn yesterday while Chris actually took a nap.  That in itself is quite amazing (the nap, I mean).  We did have two nights where Mom slept all the way from eleven or so to around eight, but she’s back to her wandering ways again.  So a nap is always a welcome thing, though Chris rarely takes advantage of it. 

During our time together Cailyn and I went outside.  In the back yard we sat around the outdoor furniture table and blew bubbles for a long time.  Great thing about bubbles: they never do the same thing twice, so every breath is a new experience, literally.  Great way to approach life, too.  From bubbles we went up on the deck.  Caily first practiced her ninja skills, jumping into the air and landing in a different ready position while maintaining her balance on some bricks.  Then we sat down on those bricks and had a birthday party – mine.  She lit the imaginary candles while walking around an imaginary table … three times.  I commented that there must be a lot of candles on the cake, and she replied, “Well, how old are you, DadDad?”  I told her I was 59 years old.  “Hmm,” she pondered, “Fifty-nine.  I can do that.”  So she went back to her imaginary storeroom and made three more trips around the table.  Ouch.  I enjoyed it when she sang to me, though.  “Happy birthday to DadDad” resounded about 59 times before she finally hit the “Happy birthday to you” ending.  I asked if I could taste some icing and pretended to take a swipe with my finger.  Not a good idea.  I was soundly reprimanded, and she had to remove all the candles and re-ice the whole thing.  And yes, she put all the candles back and I had to blow them all out again.  I’ll never sample the icing again. 

We moved to the front yard where she decided it was time to sit in the shade of the parked car and take a break.  I’m all about taking breaks these days.  And during this interlude I learned two important things.  First, she agreed to review for me what it was that she wanted for Christmas.  She has been pretty secretive about it.  She has already told Santa, so she feels like it would be redundant to tell us as well.  But there was one thing that has just too great an appeal.   She wants a horse that is real that has pink icing and diamond sparklies and really long hair down her back.  OK, Santa.  Glad you got that one.  The second revelation was much more interesting.  She told me about her imaginary friend.  I was confused at first, because she started talking about Kiara, and there is a little girl she plays with at church by that name.  I asked if that was who she meant, and she explained.  “No, DadDad.  Her name is Ollo (pronounced owe-low) Kiara, but we just call her Kiara.  She’s mean to me all the time so I don’t bring her to my room.  She’s my sister.  She lives at my house and she’s at home now.”  Well, now, that was a mouthful.  I gently pressed for more details, but she had moved on to another subject.  “Why you want to talk about someone who is not even here, DadDad?  I told you she was at my home.”  Ah, so much for delving into the “real world” of a three-year-old. 

Psalms 48:1 says, “Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God, his holy mountain.”

Father, your greatness is clear to see in the mountains, but even more so in the imagination of a three-year-old.  Amen.

December 18 – “Signed in blood”

Last night was one of those allergy-inflicted can’t-breathe kind of nights for me.  I finally switched to the couch so Chris could at least get her few winks between dealing with Mom through the night.  And then Mom got up at around six and insisted she was ready for something to eat.  When we got her set up at the table, Chris went back to bed and I went on duty, so to speak.  Ah, the life of caring for an elderly parent. 

Chris did get out of the house for a few hours yesterday, though.  I hung out with Mom while she did some shopping.  Actually Mom slept on the couch most of the time Chris was gone.  I began researching and preparing for the teaching and the service for next Sunday.  The theme is love, so I figure I can find lots of data on that.  The thing I’m most excited about is that Kelly, one of our college students (she is a junior at Baylor), is going to share some about how her idea of love has changed over the years.   Wish I had known about that before I responded to a request from the religion editor of our local newspaper.  He wanted to know what I planned to preach on this Sunday so he could include a quote in his article.  Maybe I can email him with an update and get her name in the paper.

I also worked on the carving I’m doing for Chris’s Christmas present this year.  I’m down to mostly detail work, but I still managed to inflict at least three cuts on my weary fingers.  Happens every year.  In fact it’s become part of the process.  It’s like my signature.  Transferring some of my DNA to the object so it can always be tracked in the future.  There’s probably some kind of idea in there that will really makes sense for safety control people in the future.  It will probably be quite a lucrative business in fact.  And as usual, I’ll never see any of the fruits of that idea.  But think of it.  Rub a little of your blood on an object that you want to “sign,” maybe just in a tiny little crack or crevice.  Then register your DNA in a database.  If the object ever gets lost or stolen and subsequently recovered, the CSI guys will check for DNA and return it to you.  Kind of sheds new light on the old pirate idea, “signed in blood.”  Go for it, you scientist types.

Psalms 47:8 says, “God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.”

Father, thank you for the ultimate Jesus-blood signature you place on us when we come to you.  Amen.

December 17 – “Joy Day”

I really like Advent.  Great season for anticipation, which is my favorite word for Christmas.  This past Sunday the seasonal emphasis for the day was Joy.  Again, how can you beat a whole day that is dedicated to being joyful?  We started out the service by defining the word.  One of our college girls who was home for the holidays helped me out on that one.  We were discussing what the best way to explain the concept would be to a three year old.  I have a lot in common with three year olds.  We like to see things rather than just talk about them.  So I wanted to demonstrate the Hebrew word for joy.  Lora and I gave our best demonstration of leaping and twirling.  Actually she did much better than I did, since I was hampered by that nagging knee injury.  I have to say, though, that we were both put to shame in the category of frolicking by the little baby goats in the video we saw.  Very cute.  If you want to check it out, see: http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/b4_EdJ-XkUA?rel=0

Another example of joy was in the clip from the movie Elf.  The store manager tells Buddy that Santa will be there the next morning, and Buddy is absolutely overwhelmed with excitement.  He shouts.  He tells everyone.  He stays up all night and decorates the department so that it will be just right when Santa gets there.  He even confronts the guy they hired to play Santa because he is an imposter and not the real thing.  There’s a lot of application to the way Christians are supposed to be living in there as we anticipate Jesus to coming back. 

We have been memorizing one particular Bible verse together for the season.  Romans 15:13.  Great one, because it mentions the emphasis for three of the weeks of Advent.  The first week we read it out loud together.  Last week we did a visual verse.  This week we sang it.  Jimmy, our worship leader, managed to somehow make the verse fit into the tune of Jingle Bells.  He did a much better job than I did, too.  It was a lot of fun.  We’ll have to try that again sometime.  Now I have to come up with a different way to learn it for next Sunday.  Any ideas?

My favorite part of the day came during the last song, a very upbeat version of The Lord’s right Hand.  While we sang everyone blew bubbles.  That’s right.  One of our youth guys gave everyone a bottle of bubble juice, and we all blew bubbles and sang.  How’s that for getting down to childlikeness?  Great fun.  Like I said, I have lots in common with three year olds. 

So next Sunday’s emphasis is love.  Guess I’ll have to start ruminating on that one.  Creative ways to express God’s love.  Hmm …

Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Father, thank you for the whole idea of Joy.  Makes for a much more pleasant approach to life.  Amen.

December 16 – “Christmas Jeopardy"

Last night I went to the Seaside youth Christmas party.  Chris stayed home with Mom.  Looks like that will be a familiar track for us now.  Mom’s mental capacity has deteriorated to the extent that it is more and more difficult to care for her.  Chris finally agreed to call the doctor Monday and see about getting some home health help at least for baths. 

The party went pretty well.  It has been difficult to predict what will happen with our teenagers since our youth pastor resigned.  I have been preparing something each week to lead a Bible study, but no one has come the last few weeks.  It’s time to revisit the whole ministry and see what kind of different approach we can take.  Maybe something that encourages families to rediscover the whole togetherness idea.  Hmm.

The white elephant part of the party was fun as always.  The gift I opened was a pair of Green Lantern jockey underwear.  Nice.  Of course they were stolen.  I also briefly had (get it?  “brief”-ly) the movie The Tooth Fairy starring Rock, the Rock Johnson.  I ended up with a package of Christmas blend coffee from Starbucks.  Not bad.  Now the decision.  Should I post the pictures on FaceBook?

I put together a Christmas Jeopardy game for the party.  Six categories to choose from: Christmas Trivia levels 1-3, Christmas Songs, Christmas Movies, and The Real Christmas.  We played guys against the girls.  Sadly, the girls totally annihilated their opponents.  2600 to 1300.  How would you have done?  Well, here are some of the answers.  Remember, you have to come up with the question.  And put that iPhone down.  No cheating on Wikipedia.

1.  The first president to decorate a White House Christmas Tree.

2.  The Christmas carol being sung outside Scrooge’s office in A Christmas Carol.

3.  The three other alliterative names Charles Dickens considered before settling on Tiny Tim.

4.  How Buddy knows he is a wash-out as a toymaker in Elf.

5.  Figure out the real name of this rejected title for a Christmas song:

Tintinnabulation of Vacillating Pendulums in Inverted Metallic Resonant Cups

6.  He told Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem.

 I’ll put the answers in tomorrow’s blog.  If you want more, let me know on FaceBook.

Psalms 47:7 says, “For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.”

 Father, ease Mom’s difficulties, and give Chris an extra dose of encouragement and energy.  Amen.

December 15 – “Princess in Process”

Well, what a Christmas present we received yesterday.  Not a present, really.  More like an announcement of a present to come.  And I got a kick out of how Kel made it public.  First he posted on FaceBook, “Luke or Leia?”  Then after the ultrasound results came back, he posted a picture of Princess Leia.  Not that they are really going to name their number four child after the Star Wars royalty.  Hers is just one of the names suggested by the current horde of males that reside under their roof.  I have heard Hannah as another possibility.  I understand that name would have a fortunate biblical connection to match the others in the family, not to mention a certain “preferred female friend” that Jachin has fond memories of. 

They did call us before the news went public on FaceBook.  Kel knows his Mom well.  She would have haunted him forever if they hadn’t.  Very sweet FaceTime call it was.  Micah made the actual announcement after some difficulty getting connected.  He seemed pleased enough.  Jachin remained noncommittal.  I think those two are somewhat disappointed, though.  A baby sister means they have a lot of work ahead of them.  After all, who else is there to watch out for the little princess … for the rest of her life?  A life sentence of bodyguard duty.  Talk about job security.  I know cousin Cailyn will be ecstatic that she will finally have another girl around (at least until she learns that this new female could be an interloper of attention).  Josiah was still unconvinced.  He understands that there is a little baby in Mommy’s tummy, but this whole thing about it being a girl just can’t be true, can it? 

I think Josiah’s uncertainty may have affected his choice of music.  He did a lot of singing to himself when they were here last night.  I was able to recognize some his renditions.  Jingle Bells was there.  I managed to piece together Zaccheus was a Wee Little Man.  But his favorite for the evening was one I still don’t get.  Oh, the words were clear enough, I just don’t have a clue what the song was supposed to be.  Have you ever heard, “I the coconut in the coconut tree”?  I even looked it up online.  Best I could do was “The Lime in the Coconut” (definitely a classic), and one song about being in love in Hawaii under the coconut trees.  We had some fun singing along with Google, but got no help on Josiah’s performances.  I guess it was a special creation in honor of Baby Leia (or whatever name ends up sticking on that tiny little princess in process).  And how do Nana and DadDad feel about the whole thing?  Bring her on.  Plenty of hugs and kisses to go around.  All I ask is the chance to dance with her at her wedding. 

Psalms 47:5-6 says, “God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets.  Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.”

Father, thank you for the miracles that babies bring, no matter how old they get.  Amen.

December 14 – “But the knee”

Ah, the things one does for a beautiful granddaughter.  You can’t expect me to let her continue crying, can you?  It’s in my nature to do everything possible to make her happy, even when Mommy is leaving for school (by the way, Mommy did well on her final, and now has only one semester to go.  Way to go, Mommy).  As April began her walk to the car and Cailyn began her wailing, I grabbed her from behind (Cailyn, not April) and tossed her into the air.  She giggled briefly as I caught her on the way down, so I repeated the process, trying to fill in any dead space with talking or laughter of my own.  I twirled around and around.  I bounced and dipped.  We followed April outside to give her one last hug, and the bouncing and twirling continued.  And then … and then … well, I’m not exactly sure what happened then.  All I know is, I lost my balance and was plummeting toward the earth with Cailyn in my arms.  Determined to protect her at all costs, I twisted just a bit to my right, aiming as best as I could for the thick grass that blankets our front yard.  It took some doing, but when we hit, we hit the soft sod instead of the concrete.  That was particularly helpful from my perspective.  See, I had her cradled in my arms, so there were only three points of contact with the ground.  My right elbow, my right knee, and my face.  The face I wasn’t worried about.  Couldn’t look much worse than it already does.  The elbow site resulted in a pretty sore shoulder, if that makes any sense.  But the knee.  Ouch.  I think it may have hit the sidewalk or something.  It swelled up and is still incredibly painful.  Of course I couldn’t let on that I was hurting.  Cailyn was still sniffling, though she did seem to get a thrill out of the fall itself.  We lay on the grass for a few micro-seconds and looked at each other, me reveling in the fact that we were still alive, she wondering where this strange new carnival ride had appeared from.  Then I hopped up to prove we were both fine.  Of course that’s when I realized my knee hurt, so I lost my balance again.  This time, though I managed to crash against my parked truck so I could stay upright.  Yeah, I know.  I should have stayed down for the count.  But we were all good.  Sort of.  Cailyn felt good enough to tune back up for a minute or two, just long enough for her Mom to drive away.  The typical kid’s ploy to make Mom feel terrible for abandoning her.  As soon as her Mom was out of sight, she was fine and we made our way back into the house.  Now to crip my way through the rest of the Christmas season.  Too much to do to be injured right now.

Psalms 47:2 says, “How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!”

Father, please help me with some knee healing today.  Amen.