November 21 – “I know what Freddy is …”

A quick update on the infamous Freddy.  First of all, she was at home and doing fine when we returned from our Waco trip a while back.  Apparently she never escaped at all.  Nathan was just kidding around.  At least we think he was kidding around.  Surely he was kidding around.  Does anyone remember seeing a small brown piece of mobile roadkill running around Gulf Village in the last few weeks?  No.  I’m pretty sure he was just kidding.  Always the kidder, that Nathan.  Now before we go to Waco again I think Chris has plans to work with Freddy in earnest on commands.  Like “Stay.” 

So … Freddy.  She is still taking every opportunity to prance around the house with stuffed animals bigger than she is.  She never chews them up (at least she hasn’t yet).  She just cuddles with them.  Actually, I think she just enjoys dominating.  Now she has carried one or two of the smaller ones outside to play with.  Mainly the tiny versions of teddy bears they now make for dolls to play with.  Like dolls can play with stuffed animals.  That’s just a little too creepy for me.  Oh, wait, speaking of creepy doll toys, she did manage to chew up one of Cailyn’s doll’s pacifiers.  And a few of those giant Lego block things.  And Chris did find another one of those tiny doll things in Freddy’s bed.  Thing is, we have no idea where that one came from.  Maybe she did escape just long enough to kidnap a tiny victim and doom it to forever snuggling. 

One more Freddy story … Josiah was over the other day and he had a theory.  He approached me and with all the seriousness he could muster he made a declaration.  “DadDad, I think I know what Freddy is a mix of.”  Now you have to understand that Freddy is the greatest thing to ever hit the floor of Nana and DadDad’s abode.  He carries her around like a sack of flour, and she lets him.  Of course when she gets done and needs some alone time, she has to plan creative escapes.  Well, his comment certainly intrigued me, so I encouraged him to continue.  “I know one of it is Chihuahua.  But I think the other is …”  Not sure why he paused here, but it certainly had the effect of capturing my full attention.  And then he was ready.  Again, all of this was spoken in the absolute seriousness of a five-year-old mind.  “… I think the other is … Tasmanian Tiger.” 

Of course it is.  Why couldn’t I see that?

James 4:2-3 says, “You do not have, because you do not ask God.  When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.”

Father, thank you for the perceptive mind of a child that dares to say what he’s thinking out loud.  Amen.

November 20 – “Preparations”

Thanksgiving preparations are well under way here at our house.  For the most part that means buying a bunch of turkeys and the condiments to create the secret recipe dry rub that Chris so lovingly applies on them a few days before we crank up the turkey fryers and start dropping them in.  So far it looks like we’ll be doing at least ten this year.  We might get a few more, though.  A lady in our water aerobics class found out she might not have to cook for Thanksgiving this year.  She knew we had a big family and heard that on top of that we liked to send some fried turkey up to the fire stations.  If she can verify her reprieve, then her turkeys will be making their way to our house as well.  Tuesday is the day we have set aside for all that cooking.  Nathan is off, so he’ll be helping out.  Especially if we are still going at 4 p.m.  Chris and I are going to a wedding then, so we will be leaving it in his capable hands. 

Best days to come by and smell Thanksgiving at the Vaughan’s?  Probably Sunday afternoon when Chris is doing the rub.  And then of course there is Tuesday afternoon when you might be able to sneak a tiny sample.  Not that any of us will be sneaking samples throughout the day, of course.  Oh, and of course you are welcome to come share in the actual Thanksgiving festivities themselves.  We’ll start eating Thursday around noon, and the kitchen will remain pretty much open until Saturday afternoon.  We’ll have family and friends in and out that whole time, so how about being one of them? 

We’ll also play a Turkey Bowl game on that Saturday at High Noon.  Back to old school again this year.  Plan is to set up in the street in front of the house.  Gotta watch out for the new talent, though.  Jachin has been quarterbacking a flag football team for the last few weeks.  And we’ll have those other young legs with Micah and Zakary and Caleb to contend with as well.  Pharmacy Guy Josh has said he wants to come, and Cop Man Cory usually makes an appearance as well.  How can you miss out on action like that?

James 3:18 says, “Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”

Father, thank you today for anticipation.  It is an interesting gift that makes the actual receiving even more special.  Amen.

November 19 – “Last dance”

Ah, such sad times.  Sigh.  We attended our final dance class yesterday.  We did pretty well in this last summary of every single move they tried to show us over the course of the semester.  We did fine until they got down to the chachacha.  We sat that one out.  Actually, everyone sat that one out and we watched the instructors dance together.  Might as well end it the same way we began, watching the pros. 

We (read here more accurately, me) were kind of worn out from trying to keep track of all the steps and options for the rumba and the tango and even the waltz.  One new thing we learned - the Texas two-step is actually one of the option steps for swing.  I figure between the waltz (which we do pretty well together) and the swing stuff (where it really doesn’t matter what you do with your body as long as your feet keep the same basic movements) we should be able to hold our own at weddings and funerals or wherever else they might start dancing.  Well, except maybe at weddings like the other night.  Between the obviously Mexican cultural dances mixed with Louisiana Cajun flavored movements, we never even left our table. 

Oh, and we found out that there is going to be a “graduation prom” (the teachers’ words, not mine) this Saturday night at that hotshot dance place at Moody Gardens.  Sadly (well, admittedly, not so sadly.  We really didn’t want to go), we’ll have to miss that one.  We are going to have two little girls hanging out with us.  Cailyn will be here.  We’ll also be playing host to Jordan, a little year and a half or so youngster who attends our home group.  Well, she usually brings her parents and her big brother, too.  Hey, maybe when all the Moms and Dads are gone off to their respective sources of entertainment … maybe, just maybe … I can ask one of those beautiful ladies to dance with me …

James 3:17 says, “But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.”

Father, thank you for dancing and music and special friends to share them with.  Amen.

November 18 – “Division”

Back in the groove at water exercise.  And back in the soreness.  Or rather, soreness in the back back.  Much of it feels muscular, though.  I can handle that.  We were both pretty tired afterwards, too.  This skipping out two sessions for our Waco mini-trip makes it just that much harder.  And today is the last session of our dance classes.  The jury is still out on whether we take it again.  Too many outside distractions during the holidays. 

Cailyn spent the night with us the other night.  She came into the office where I was working and said she had a question.  Of course I dropped everything and turned my full attention to her.  Not that I had any choice.  When she needs center stage, she sees to it that she has center stage.  As I focused on her query she informed me that it was something she had to show me. 

“Here it is, DadDad.  What does it mean when you say this?” She wrote on some paper.  “Eight, and then this.”  She added a dot with a horizontal line under it followed by a second dot under the line - the classic division sign - and the number four.  Now wait a minute.  First graders doing division?  Isn’t that supposed to be a junior high skill?  We played with the concept for a little while, and she essentially had the idea.  Once she learns some multiplication tables she will be great at it.  Oh wait.  Do they still teach multiplication tables?  Or is that part of the grand conspiracy to infiltrate the schools with planned ignorance? 

Well, Freddy has discovered a new trick.  She can leap up onto our bed.  That’s no easy task for a creature as little as she is, either.  In fairness to the Law of Gravity, however, she actually makes it about two-thirds of the way up and then crawls/scrambles the rest of the way.  She discovered that capability when Cailyn was here.  That little girl can be quite the encourager, you know.  Especially when it comes to some feat that has obviously never before been accomplished.  And, I may add, that has been declared banned in the Vaughan bedrooms for many years now.  Sigh.  OK.  I suppose there might have been one or two other infractions over the Grandparenting Era that were overlooked.  Umm … temporarily, of course. 

James 3:14 says, “For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”

Father, thank you for the miracle of mind that you instilled in us.  Help it grow in our little ones.  Amen.

November 17 – “Purported”

I went back to the hearing aid place again yesterday for my regular follow-up.  They kind of hate to see me coming.  Oh, the hearing aids themselves actually work really well (at least they do from my perspective.  And Chris hasn’t been complaining about lout TV noises lately).  The attachment even works really when I watch a college football game on my phone in the car (a benefit I never before took advantage of).  it works well for phone calls and talking to people in my head, which I suppose was its only real purpose anyway. 

The problem came in what it was purported to be able to do.  Yep, I said “purported.”  Cailyn heard me say it yesterday.  Immediately wanted to know what that word meant.  Happy to oblige her with a definition, too.  Anything I can do to inspire a love of words in my little ones.  So what was it that the device claimed to do, but in fact really couldn’t do?  Well, after a few seconds it goes into sleep mode to save battery life.  I can appreciate that.  My phone does that, too.  But when it goes to sleep, it severs the connection with my phone without telling my phone that it will no longer be picking up signals until I manually push the appropriate button on the screen.  That means, as long as my phone’s Bluetooth is on and reads “connected” to the sleeping device, I get no sounds from the phone.  Zero.  They are sent to the black hole of the device’s sleep mode, never to be heard from again. 

So that led to forty-five minutes on the phone with a tech services representative.  He spent the whole time trying to fix something that wasn’t broken, but we couldn’t slow him down enough to communicate it to him.  Needless to say, he didn’t fix anything.  Still have the problem.  The audiologist promised to look further into the problem.  From my perspective … it still doesn’t do all that it was purported that it could do. 

James 3:13 says, “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.”

Father, thanks for little miracles like hearing aids.  They do make life easier.  Amen.

November 16 – “In your court …”

I remembered one other tidbit from that wedding the other night.  Before we got started I duly reported in at the DJ/Wedding coordinator/sound guy table.  He wanted to get my microphone all hooked up and installed in my coat pocket.  Now when I got over there the head guy wasn’t around, but his two assistants were ready to get me taken care of.  As I approached, one of them greeted me with, “Good afternoon, Judge.”  Now that was a new one.  I’ve had “Preacher” and “Rev” and “Pastor” and even “Hey You,” but I can’t say I have ever been nicknamed “Judge” before.  I suppose it could have been much worse.  I nodded politely and greeted him back, waiting for my installation instructions.  And then the interchange began:

Assistant #2: “I’m pretty sure I have been in your court before.”

Me: “I appreciate you opening up to me, but if you were in  my court it was in another universe.  See … I’m not a judge.”

Assistant #1: “But you are civil aren’t you?”

Civil?  Well, I try not to be rude, especially in situations like this. 

Me: I am the chaplain of the Galveston Fire Department, and I am a local pastor.”

Assistant #1 (somewhat incredulously): “Oh, really?  Where?”

Me: “Seaside Church in Jamaica Beach.”

Assistant #2 (the guy who had been in my court): “Oh, I have bee by that place before.  It’s the round one, isn’t it?”

I tried to picture in my mind how Seaside could be interpreted as being in any way round.  Rectangle?  Yes.  Square?  Perhaps.  Round?  Not so much. 

Me: “Maybe you’re thinking of the Catholic church.  Seaside is the building at the light.”

And of course …

Assistant #2: “Oh, yes.  I have been by there, too.” 

Of course you have.

James 3:7-8 says, “All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.”

Father, thank you for chances to meet new people in unexpected ways.  Amen.

November 15 – “Quien entrega …”

I officiated at another wedding last night.  This one was for one of the fire fighters and his fiancée.  I had the chance to do “marriage boot camp” (Their words, not mine) with them, so Chris and I got to know a little about them along the way.  They even visited Seaside.  They seemed really focused on doing things “the right way,” so I feel pretty good about their prospects for the future.

The service itself went really well.  They had two extra things they added that really made the event special.  One was the presence of a fire department honor guard throughout the ceremony.  They presented the colors at the beginning of the service.  Two stood with the flags during the ceremony and two stood at the back in the aisle.  Very different and quite impressive.  Of course the honor guard did a bang-up job, and as I understand it, they were more than helpful in the preparations for the event itself.  Kind of like an extra Best Man.  Nice job, GFD Honor Guard.

The second unusual part of eth ceremony was called the Lazo, or Lasso.  The bride’s family had a strong Mexican heritage, and the lasso is a part of that culture.  After they exchanged vows, the bride’s godparents draped the two of them with a circles of rope, joined in the center with a cross.  Great symbolism of being connected by Jesus and bound together in marriage.  Really pretty as well.  Except when they got kind of hung up on one of the bride’s earrings.  That could have been a bit … not fun.  But they worked through it and all was well.

My favorite part of the whole day, though, came right at the beginning of the service.  As I mentioned the bride’s family has Mexican roots, and her father speaks very little if any English at all.  One of the key parts of the ceremony is when he walked the bride down the aisle and I ask “Who presents this woman to be married to this man?”  They had worked out a system where the bride’s Mom (who did speak English) joined them at the front for that moment so she could answer the questioned.  We worked out all the logistics at the rehearsal.  But I decided to give them a little surprise.  I asked a bilingual friend of mine to translate the phrase into Spanish for me.  Then, at the key moment, I asked the question – in Spanish.  As I was speaking I noticed the Dad’s eyes widening and his whole countenance changing.  He stood a little taller, listened a little more closely.  I quickly glanced down at my notes one more time to make sure I was pronouncing things correctly.  “Quien entrega a esta mujer para que se case con este hombre?”  (I know all the accent marks aren’t there.  Neither is the upside down question mark at the beginning, but I don’t know how to do all those thing on my computer).  After I completed the question, both Mom and Dad answered together, “Nosotros.”  And then she added, “We do,” to make sure I understood what they had just said.  It was one of those sweet moments that no one else really noticed, but I will remember. 

James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

Father, thank you for Tim and Lizz and their commitment to each other.  Now draw them close to you.  Amen.