March 19 – “Satisfying to exhilarating to priceless”

Working for hours in the backyard clearing out flowerbeds with my wife and my dogs at my side … exhausting and painful, but satisfying.

Yep.  Three more flowerbeds done.  Just one to go.  Well, I guess you could say four more done, if you count the batch of sunflowers that have sprung up right in the middle of the lawn that Chris won’t let me mow over.  They’re there for the grandkids, right?  That’s where I spent a good amount of time, pulling weeds out by hand so as not to disturb the fledgling flowers.  And while I was down there I managed to discover that we have a wide selection of weed choices, including one in particular that stings.  Chris experienced the joy of the stingweed through her gardening gloves on a small patch on her hand.  I had a similar problem, but over a larger section of my anatomy.  See, I was wearing shorts.  Not only did my hand burn, but so did both legs and one foot.  I thought sure I had been sitting in an ant bed.  And the burning didn’t go away easily. Not a fun experience.

Watching the University of Texas basketball game until the wee hours of the morning and seeing the impossible half-court shot that sent them to defeat .. exciting and exhilarating.

I’m not particularly a Texas fan, but I was hoping for another Texas team to advance.  A&M and even Stephen F. Austin had done their part earlier.  It was a game of streaks and runs.  Texas tied the game with two seconds left and it sure looked like overtime was in the books.  Northern Iowa threw the ball inbounds up to near half court, and the guy launched a prayer shot from about five feet behind the half court line.  It seemed to stay in the air forever, as those types of shots are inclined to do.  And finally it smashed hard into the backboard … and into the net.  Amazing shot.  Sorry about that, Texas. 

Walking down the block hand in hand with my granddaughter, looking at the Easter decorations in the only yard in the neighborhood that is decorated and discovering a nickel, a penny, an old metal emery board, and a Pizza Hut coupon designed like a credit card … Absolutely priceless.

Revelation 5:13 says, “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!’”

Father, thank you for special times that Cailyn will probably never remember.  But they sure will be embedded in my memory.  Amen.

March 18 – “Madness”

And … the NCAA basketball Road to the Final Four has officially begun.  I filled out a bracket this year.  And I did pretty well on the first night.  Perfect, in fact.  The two teams I picked in the new First Four round both won.  Notice I said “two.”  There were actually four games.  I totally missed the other two games.  So I started out at 50%. 

I also never expected Baylor to be blindsided by Yale.  Wow.  The Yale kid from Hawaii was nothing short of amazing.  Thirty-one points.  And the Baylor boys had some attitude problems on the sidelines that need to be addressed.  At least for national television audiences.  That wasn’t the only upset, though.  Wichita State, one of those play-in teams, beat Arizona.  That knocked out a few of my predictions.  And Little Rock beat Purdue.  There went another run I anticipated.  I was proud of Gonzaga, though.  They have always been one of my favorite teams, primarily because I like to say their name.  Apparently they do, too.  Their mascot is the Zags, whatever that means.  Anyway, they took down Seton Hall to advance to the next round. 

I’m still waiting to see how the other Texas schools do.  Texas Tech is out.  Texas and Texas A&M both play today, and both have a pretty good chance at advancing, if they don’t fall victim to the sleeper upset like Baylor did.  Texas plays Northern Iowa.  I know nothing about them.  Not sure anyone does.  Do people really live in Northern Iowa?  A&M plays Green Bay, so I may have to awaken a little rivalry with my buddy who lives up there in those northern reaches of nowhere.  Are you reading this, Gary?  Here come the Aggies.  Stephen F. Austin plays today as well.  They are the representatives of my alma mater’s (Houston Baptist University) conference bracket.  They face West Virginia, though.  A number three seed.  Uphill battle there, for sure. 

Oh, my picks for the final four?  So far all of them are still alive.  I know.  Easy to say in the middle of the first round.  I picked Kansas, North Carolina, Michigan State and A&M.  Then Kansas and Michigan State in the finals, with Kansas winning it all.  So there you have it.  Bracketology by the worst of us.  But you gotta love that March Madness.

Revelation 5:12 says, “In a loud voice they sang: ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!’”

Father, help us all remember that the hope we have in you is a lot stronger than what we have in our final four picks.  No chance at all of an upset.  Amen.

March 17 – “In the marketplace”

Well, I suppose we officially have a new best friend at WalMart.  We were walking through the breakfast foods section – where they have the cinnamon rolls and apple turnovers and chocolate chip cookies.  Hmm.  I guess it’s not just a breakfast section.  Out of the corner of my eye I notice some movement from over near the in-store McDonald’s and the place where they make lunch things like fried chicken.  There was the checker we have been building a relationship with over the last few months.  The last time we had her in line she ended up throwing her hands in the air and saying she was praisin’ Jesus.  Meant it, too.  This time she ran up to us and immediately gave us both a hug, saying, “My church people.  These are my church people.”  That would be us, I suppose.  I reminded her again that we are having an Easter sunrise service on the beach.  She wanted to know when Easter was.  Lost track of the days.  I can understand that.  Happens to me all the time.  She assured us that if her church wasn’t doing anything, she wanted to come.  We’ll see … or not.  Either way, it is really fun to connect with another believer “in the marketplace” and not have to draw a picture of half a fish in the dirt and wait to see if she completes it before we start talking. 

Revelation 5:9-10 says, “And they sang a new song: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.’”

Father, walk with our new-found friend and sister in Christ.  May she have a spiritual impact on her WalMart world.  Amen.

March 16 – “Discovering Pasadena”

We made our trip into Texas yesterday to check on Jennifer of the Broken Legs.  She has finally been transferred to a rehab facility in Pasadena near east Beltway 8 and I45 – much closer to home than the last one way up north of I10 by Ikea.  She is still settling in, so no complaints about how hard physical therapy is yet.  She does seem ready to take it on, though.  She scored a really nice room this time.  It is much bigger than the last one, and even has a little table and a few chairs to add to its homey feel.  Sounds like the facility is having a difficult time with staffing, though.  Hopefully that won’t affect her ability to get the therapy she needs from here forward. 

After we left Jennifer we stopped at Carl’s Jr., a fast food place across the street for a burger.  I think we might have been to one before sometime in our history, but I sure don’t remember it.  I had a Western burger.  Not too bad.  After lunch we stopped in to a Craft and Antique Mall in the same parking lot.  Really big inside with row after row of vendor booths.  I would have to say, however, that the vast majority of them were crafts rather than antiques.  And some of the crafts were just things you can buy at Hobby Lobby (which, by the way was also in the same parking lot).  There were a few instances of baseball cards and comic books, and even some fire department paraphernalia, but nothing really old.  Don’t think I would hasten to make a return trip any time soon. 

Then it was off to the true second part of our Texas journey.  We had to stop at Lifeway Christian Store to get three things.  First was a New American Standard Version Bible I could use for teaching.  It has a word by word translation rather than thought by thought, so when I do that kind of teaching it will be much easier to follow.  It was not an easy one to find, though.  I think they might have had a total of five in the whole store.  I settled on one that will work well, though.  The other two items were both church related as well.  We are getting low on communion cups and baptism certificates, so I picked up refills of both.  Looks like we could have as many as five baptisms on Easter this year.  And I have been asked to do a baby dedication for a two-year-old the day before.  Easter is looking to be quite a busy weekend once again.  Exciting stuff.

Psalms 5:7 says, “But as for me, by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house, at Your holy temple I will bow in reverence for You.”

Father, thank you for getting Jennifer set up in her new digs.  Help her to really focus on PT and OT now.  And be with Bryan as he “walks” with her.  Amen.

March 15 – “The Web … no, really”

I just walked outside to get the morning newspaper.  Yes, we are still among those dinosaurs who have the paper delivered and enjoy perusing the printed page with a morning cup of coffee before starting our day.  Although Chris generally double checks what she reads with an online news source … often before she even gets out of bed.  She just can’t bring herself to fully trust what she affectionately calls The Daily Gossip.  I, on the other hand, can’t wait to get the paper.  First I have to check and see whether I am listed in the obituaries.  Failing that (thankfully), I continue on with a look at every page in there.  So, it was important that I was retrieving my morning jolt of news. 

At least it was until I walked right into one of those hidden spider webs that had been surreptitiously constructed during the night, stretching between our front yard tree and the front door of car parked in the driveway.  That’s not so unusual in itself, mind you.  And I respect the hard work our spider neighbors do at maintaining some semblance of control over the bug population.  But the strand that I ran into was exactly at eye level.  Strange feeling to suddenly have a strand of sticky spider web draped across both eyes.  Temporary blindness.  Frantic flailing of my arms and wiping of my face.  Those situations have to be some of the funniest ever for an outside observer, don’t you think?  From afar there is no discernible intruder.  Just a strange human being waving his arms and slapping himself in the face.  Perhaps sometimes, though not in this particular case, also adding a particularly girlish scream into the mix.  Go on.  Imagine it right now.  It has to bring forth at least a chuckle. 

Yeah.  So … not exactly excited about having that happen again.  Ever.  Gotta love the spiritual applications, though.  Sometimes circumstances can rise up literally overnight and catch you totally unawares, temporarily blinding you to what you know to be the guidelines of God.  Others watching you wallow in your worries don’t necessarily see the real cause of your distress.  To them you appear to be struggling with thin air, with nothing.  And they may even say things like, “Get over it” or “What’s your problem?” or “How hard can it be?”  you want to lash out at them, but to be honest, they are well down on your list of priorities at the moment.  All you can think about are the circumstances you are drowning in.  Whew.  Ever been there?  It’s not fun.  But it doesn’t have to be a permanent state of affairs either.  Usually isn’t.  Best approach is always to stop being frantic for a second.  Look up in prayer first.  Then, with the wisdom (and peace) of a divine set of eyes, begin to deal with your circumstances.  The answer might be as easily forthcoming as an “Oh, of course” moment.  It may require actually asking for help with that one particularly sticky part of the web that just keeps hanging on to your ear, annoying you over and over again.  But once it is removed, the feeling is oh-so wonderful.  May God be with you today in your web cleaning.

Psalms 5:3 says “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch.”

Father, be with all of us as we clean off the annoying webs of circumstance that keep us from really connecting with you.  Amen.

March 14 – “Anderson Addendum and Awesome Accounting”

I wanted to add just two more quick anecdotes to the Anderson wedding account of a few days ago.  I will try to make the changes on that page, but just in case I can’t figure out how, here they are:

Next up was the request of the bride that I appeal to the crowd not to use their cell phones to take pictures during the ceremony.  I figured I had to do something to get their attention first, so I regally approached the stage.  Once there I pulled out my own cell phone and with great rigor and exaggerated motions, I took a selfie with the crowd in the background.  Then I turned to the group and said, Sara has asked that you not do anything like that with your cell phones during the ceremony.  And remember, she is a cop, so if you do she will probably arrest you.”

Oh, and speaking of Ethan, that showman disguised as a ring bearer.  When I asked, “Who presents this woman to be married to this man?” the bride’s Dad dutifully and respectfully answered, “I do,” at which point an echo was heard bouncing through the building.  It was Ethan crying out, “I do, too.” 

As I said before, there were many, many others.  Cory and Sara … write all this stuff down.  You’ll want to remember it in days to come.

Now to the Awesome Accounting … We had a great time of worship Sunday morning.  More than fifty folks were there to hear Kelly Boyer, Missionary Accountant (hence the article title) and to worship Jesus.  Kelly did a masterful job, by the way.  In fact check out this post from the Seaside web page by one of our visitors, Lori Wilson:

Worshiping with folks at Seaside Church in Jamaica Beach church, in Galveston, and today a girl who grew up in that church came back from Ethiopia, where she had been for six months setting up a refuge center for girls under age 17 who are in the sex industry.  She just graduated from Baylor, felt God calling her to Ethiopia, then God lead her to manage the finances for the non-profit, Arise Global. It’s refreshing to see how strongly God is moving, even at a tiny church on the beach. Praise the Lord!

After worship a group of us just couldn’t bring ourselves to leave.  We were rehashing old Glorieta youth camp stories.  Someone even had the bright idea that we try to arrange a reunion of any Seasider who has ever been to a Centrifuge camp with us.  Maybe even have the reunion at Glorieta.  I heard Marcus might be willing to drive a van if we could cram fifteen people in it for the entire 13 hour drive.  After all, it wouldn’t be any fun otherwise, would it?  We’ll see how serious you guys are.  So who’s gonna do all the legwork?  Call Glorieta.  Get the word out to Seasiders.  You guys are adults now, remember?  Ouch.

Revelation 7:11-12 says, “All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: ‘Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!’”

Father, thank you again for every one of those youngsters who attended camp with us over the years.  Guide them in their adult journey, and draw them to yourself.  Amen.

March 13 – “Sowing machine”

I am sore today.  The kind of sore that has wormed its way unto the nether reaches of the realm of body parts I didn’t even know I had.  And why would this be so?  What possible reason could exist for inflicting such displeasure upon my person?

It was the flower bed.  We worked yesterday to clear out one whole flower bed in the front yard.  That task usually takes four or five days if Chris does it alone.  But together we hammered it out.  We were a sowing machine, so to speak.  Well, not exactly sowing.  We weren’t planting anything.  More pulling weeds and bagging up the sycamore leaves that have provided ground cover for the winter.  And tugging on dollar grass.  You never really get rid of dollar grass.  It’s roots are endless.  It has a peaceful coexistence treaty with the other plants that allows it to wrap its roots around and through the most difficult of spaces.

Speaking of other plants, we uncovered what looks to be a tomato plant returning on its own from last year’s crop.  Maybe a bell pepper as well.  We also uncovered some more Easter lilies.  Well, Mother’s Day lilies, to be more accurate.  We have yet to have one bloom on Easter. 

Actually, Chris had an ulterior motive for doing that particular task yesterday.  It was so Cailyn and she could plant some flower seeds that Mrs. Betty gave her.  Cailyn is quite the little farmer.  She made several rows in the dirt with a spade and carefully placed each seed in its proper spot.  And all without getting even a little bit dirty.  Well, maybe a little bit, but she did wash her hands right away.  Gotta avoid that extra bath at all costs, you know.  So I guess in the end we did do some planting of a crop.  That’s sowing.  So with Cailyn in the mix we did indeed become the sowing machine.

Revelation 7:10 says, “And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”

Father, grow those seeds so Cailyn can see again your miracle of new live from buried seeds.  Amen.