January 7 – “On Being Discombobulated”

Pretty good day at church yesterday.  Well, except that I had an unusual sense of disconcertedness come over me during the sermon.  Discombobulated, even.  Very strange feeling.  It was a fairly difficult passage from Ephesians about Jesus bringing Jewish and Gentile believers into one as a new creation called the Church.  I had done my research, so the difficulty of the passage wasn’t the issue.  But about halfway through something was just nagging at me.  It wasn’t one of those “Is my fly open?” moments.  Something just seemed to be … off.  It got to be so strong that I wound up the teaching and moved on to the praise segment of the service.  After the service I had several different folks approach me to say something specific from the teaching had really touched them.  And the “specific”?  It came from that finally summary part of the teaching.  Had to be God.  Sigh.  A pastor’s life is just … weird.

After church we did the Un-hanging of the greens.  That means taking down the Christmas decorations and storing them away.  Lots of folks stayed, so it really didn’t take all that long.  We joined a few Seasiders at the restaurant in Jamaica Beach for lunch.  I had a patty melt.  Pretty good stuff.  Don’t think I would order it next time, though.  I don’t particularly like the taste of rye bread.  I do recommend the restaurant – Way Out West (I think).  Nice folks.

The rest of the day was spent dozing while some more teams tried to advance in the football playoffs.  I did take a walk with Chris in the evening.  Made it all the way around the block.  Guess all those WalMart trips are paying off.  Here we go …

Psalms 123:1 says, “I lift up my eyes to you, to you whose throne is in heaven.”

Father, thank you for discombobulated moments when you take over.  Disconcerting for me.  Good for your kingdom.  And thank you for the folks who stayed to help on Sunday.  Sure made the task at hand easier.  Amen.

January 6 – “To loop or not to loop …”

I had a dream the other night.  Now, this was an actual sleep dream.  I haven’t taken pain meds in several days.  The scenario was that someone was giving our son Josh a really hard time.  Enough that he was getting really stressed about it.  What was the majorly stressful issue that was so rudely affecting this young man?  Seems he was mal-forming the number “two” when he wrote it.  That’s right.  It was a big one.  These folks were insisting that the number ‘two” should have a little loop at the bottom.  His did not.  So they asked me my opinion.  I had to go with Josh on this one.  I generally make my number two’s with no loops.  Here’s to no-looped 2’s.

We went to the hospital in the morning to check on Seasider Sharon.  She was in better spirits generally, but is now in ICU as they work to break up a blood clot in her lungs.  We enjoyed meeting and talking to her daughter.  Very vivacious lady. 

We expected a visit from Kel’s kids.  They were going to come by after their library trip.  We had a few little chores lined up for them.  Mainly putting the Christmas boxes back in the attic.  I have also been eyeing all the sycamore leaves that need to be raked and bagged up.  They are blocking access to the fence that we will be replacing, so they gotta go.  But … they called and canceled.  Mom wasn’t feeling well.  So Chris and I moved the Christmas boxes to the garage.  They’ll make it to the attic eventually.  Always hesitant to leave them in the garage, though.  Last time we did that Hurricane Ike swept it all away. 

Watched most of the Texans game.  So sad.  Watched part of the Cowboys game.  They were losing 14-10 when I decided to go to bed.  Before I could get the TV turned off I decided to watch one more set of downs.  The Cowboys scored.  I read this morning where they eventually won the game, too.  My Dad would have been very happy.  He was quite the Cowboys fan.

Psalms 121:8 says, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ;Let us go to the house of the Lord.’”

Father, be with Sharon and Christina.  Two sweet ladies.  Each needs a different level of your touch.  Amen.

January 5 - “Dakota”

Because of another tough night I kind of had to take it easy most of the day yesterday.  Just the aching from overdoing things.  I’m ready for this rehab stuff to be over and done – with all the benefits from actually having done it all, of course.  I go back to the surgeon on Tuesday for the six-week check-up.  Maybe the restrictions will be lifted. 

We met Josiah’s new dog, Dakota.  Well, at least he FaceTimed us to let us meet him.  And I guess it’s not official yet.  They have him on a temporary basis to see how he does with the kiddos.  Cute little bugger.  Somewhere between Freddy and Fritz size-wise.  Seems to have an OK temperament so far, but he does love his food.  Don’t mess with his food.  Not sure how they would handle it if they have to return him.  Josiah for one is already in love. 

Chris did have some chores for me to do around the house.  We rolled up a rug and rolled out a different one.  Jury is still out on the new one.  It’s really not big enough for the room.  And apparently she would have to re-accessorize the entire room to match it.  I had no idea she had already done that with the other one.  We’ll see how that plays out.

She also took me on a walk to WalMart.  Just made the loop and glanced at a few of the Christmas sales.  Then we hit Randall’s.  We needed some fruit, and while we were there I went ahead and bought some more forever stamps.  Read in the paper that they were going up in price as of January 31^st, so trying to stock up a bit.  We weren’t the only ones, either.  A lady in front of us bought two hundred of them.  Ah, well.  Gotta support those mailmen …

Psalms 121:7-8 says, “The Lord will keep you from all harm — he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.”

Father, thank you for canine friends for little hearts.  Amen.

January 4 – “TDCD Mode”

Early morning phone call yesterday.  Not family or ministry related, though.  That was a surprise.  It was actually a notice that my physical therapist had called in sick.  I was being moved to a different one, but they didn’t have an opening until 10:30.  That gave us an extra hour or so to fill in before we left.  Chris lamented the fact that she could have slept in a little longer. 

The session itself was a really tough one.  The therapist was the hamstring guru magician who “unlocked” my muscle a week or so ago.  She actually had me almost working up a sweat.  Oh, and she gave me a new stretching exercise for … yep.  My hamstring. 

From the physical therapy building we drove over to the hospital.  Oh, and did I mention yet that it was raining?  And cold?  48 degrees and wet.  I had on a t-shirt and a windbreaker.  Not enough for Galveston’s winter.  But I digress.  We went to the hospital to visit a Sharon.  A few other Seasiders were already there when we arrived, and more came after we left.  They assured me that they would be checking in on her over the course of her stay.  Taking care of each other.  That is especially encouraging to me since I haven’t been cleared to drive yet. 

Yesterday afternoon Chris finally hit TDCD (Take Down the Christmas Decorations) Mode.  That’s a frightening season of life when her focus turns solely to that task, and nothing deters her from her objective.  Truly a “Yes ma’am,” “What can I do to help?” time.  Bringing in the mostly empty boxes from the garage wasn’t all that difficult.  I even managed to disassemble the tree and get it boxed up.  Chris did all the meticulous repacking of treasured ornaments and artifacts.  We still have outside lights that need to come down and then we will be ready to get the boxes back up into the attic.  And that is a job for … not me.  Maybe some grandkids …

Psalms 121:5-6 says, “The Lord watches over you — the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.”

Father, would you be with Sharon?  Give her doctors wisdom and her caregivers and nurses compassion.  Amen.

January 3 – “Philadelphia Yankee world”

I remember the days when on January 3^rd we already knew what college football team was national champion (well, at least who was ranked number one).  Basketball was well under way.  And of course we were one month closer to the Holy Grail of all sporting events … Baseball Spring Training.  Now we have four more days to wait and another “prime time” national event football game to watch.  Much (Although certainly not all) of college basketball is looking suspiciously like whatever that game is the professionals play (It is NOT basketball).  The clock IS still ticking toward Spring Training though.  There is that …

It is rainy and cold here.  Around 50 degrees.  Galveston’s dead of winter.  Miserable. 

I had a surgeon appointment yesterday.  It was an extra one so she could re-check the incision again.  Making sure there is no infection.  All looked good, but I still have to go back next week as well.  Something about six weeks post surgery being a magical number …

We did do something on the way home that I have never done before.  Do I need a drumroll here?  We stopped at one of the newer places on the Seawall to get a bit of lunch.  Not so unusual in itself, but what we ordered was.  The name of the place is Texadelphia.  Kind of a weird hybrid Yankee-ism trying to appeal to Texans, it sounded like to me.  But our purpose was one thing only … to try a Philly cheese steak.  I have never done that in my storied career.  Apparently neither has Chris.  She googled it during my appointment to see what to expect, so she had a head start on stomach preparations.  Hers was some kind of flatbread chicken thing.  I went for the traditional, store owner’s favorite (Well, except I canceled the jalepenos).  Whatever was left on there turned out to be pretty good, though.  I think I would even go back again … on purpose.  Guess I am now a man of the world … the Philadelphia Yankee world.

Psalms 121:4 says, “He will not let your foot slip — he who watches over you will not slumber”

Father, thank you for new experiences.  They can be really exciting.  Bring them on.  Amen.

January 2 – “Inspiration?”

I had a rough knee night the other night.  Kind of an incessant throbbing that wouldn’t allow me to get comfortable.  Not above a two on the weirdo hospital pain scale by any means.  It just wouldn’t go away.  Then I got cold.  Ah, the curse of getting used to the daily aspirin dosage.  I finally moved to my recliner so Chris could get some sleep.  I began to doze off around 4:30, though, so that gave me a good two hours of rest.  I guess I overdid it …. Again.  But last night was considerably better.  Made the whole night in our bed.  Success.

After watching a little bit of the Rose Bowl Parade (We had to watch some of it to see if we could spy our friends the Wilson’s.  They texted us that morning to say they were in place and waiting about two hours before the scheduled start time.  We never did locate them.  Hope you guys had fun, Mike and Olivia and Sarah), and doing some much needed work on the sermon for Sunday and one the website article and a visual verse and a welcome montage and … (Whew.  Makes me tired just thinking about it).  Anyway, somewhere in there I managed a little bit of a nap during the LSU/USF football game. 

And of course we had our traditional New Year’s Day lunch of ham and black eyed peas (Thanks, Ed and Pat Jackson for sharing their fresh grown stash) and cabbage (Well, that would be raw cabbage with Thousand Island salad dressing on it for me.  None of that cooked mess.  Chris just eats the raw stuff with no embellishments at all).

And last night we made it through the first half of the Texas/Georgia game.  Gotta say that one surprised me.  Way to go Longhorns.  Maybe they were inspired by their mascot.  Before the game Old Bevo the Longhorn broke through his pen, lowered his wide hornspan, and attacked when he saw the Georgia Bulldog mascot.  They hustled the little dog away post haste.  Sound inspirational enough to motivate a win?

Psalms 121:1-2 says, “I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

Father, thank you for a good night’s sleep.  We could use a few more …  Amen.

January 1 – “Goin’ ‘round the Corner”

Well, Christmas with the family is finally done.  I’m left with a very cool Whataburger shirt with a logo that looks suspiciously like Wonder Woman’s, some amazing indoor-outdoor houseshoes (didn’t know they existed), funnel cake flour, an 80^th anniversary Superman comic book, a box of magic tricks, a Ned’s Head game, a puzzle book, and another book with a great title – Happy, Happy, Happy.  There might have been something else as well, but I am enamored with the random. 

We did do an impromptu cousins sleepover.  How could we not?  They watched the movie Home Alone.  Lots of laughter to that one, and every one of them had already seen it at least once.  Throw in some pizza and popcorn and Dr Pepper floats and you pretty much have the essence of a Vaughan Cousins Sleepover.  They were all finally headed to their respective homes by around 1:30 the next day (New Year’s Eve).  Well, except for Cailyn.  We took her home because her Daddy was sick in bed running a fever. 

Chris immediately set to cleaning house.  I immediately set to … the couch … to recover.  I dozed for a while and watched some football games and a few episodes of the Twilight Zone marathon.  We finally left to have some supper with our Arlington friends staying in the retreat center.  Gumbo.  Yumbo.

We rounded out the night by exiting to the other building where a group of Seasiders was gathered for a New Year’s Eve game night.  The Pictionary game was certainly a hit.  The ladies summarily decimated the guys in the first round … the “easy” clues round.  But the guys made a miraculous comeback in the “really, really hard, no one even knows what these words are” clues, and showed their true mettle by snatching a well-earned victory.  The most interesting game of the evening was one I had never played before.  They called it Farkle 5000.  Gotta say, if nothing else, I like the name.  Kind of rolls off the tongue.  Like drinkle or gomnifertitious.  It involved five dice and someone who knew how to make up the rules for scoring as we went along.  I still have no idea how to keep score.  I just rolled until they told me I was done.  By far the most exciting part of the game was when someone was allowed to have an extra roll of the dice.  When that happens, everyone sings a country-western rendition of that old folk-favorite, “Goin’ ‘roun’ the Corner.”  It can get quite emotional at those times.  Word has it that Jim is planning to sing it on Sunday morning.  You might want to bring along some extra Kleenex …

Psalms 119:175 says, “Let me live that I may praise you”

Father, thank you for the expressions of love in gifts and gumbo and “Goin’ ‘round the Corner.”  Help me do that “Praise Living” in 2019.  Amen.