February 18 - “Kind of a Rule”

We didn’t attend Seaside yesterday.  Instead we were in Texas City at First Baptist Church there for Ezra’s child and family dedication.  I for one really missed being at Seaside, though.  I sent a text of blessing and encouragement to our two leaders of worship, Bob and Jim.  Bob responded with a blessing of his own, and the day began for us both.

The dedication was simple, but nice.  Ezra’s other grandmother was there as well.  The pastor called on the church to welcome him into the fellowship, and then he prayed over him. The church gifted him with a Bible ad a letter to be opened by Ezra on his 12th birthday.  That was an interesting addition.  I am curious what they put in that letter.

The sermon was from none other than Ephesians, the same book I have been teaching through.  His take on chapter two focused on the idea of “Peace.”  Mine leaned more toward “Unity.”  Same Scripture, different slant.  Same power.  In the words of the pastor (which he said numerous times), “I find that very interesting.”

Their worship pastor, John, and I served together at South Oaks Baptist Church in Arlington many ... many ... years ago.  He has made his way into Ezra’s heart.  I was holding Ezra in my lap after the dedication, and he said, “Go stage with John?”  Hmm.  Was it John he wanted to be with, or was it the limelight?

After church the family and a couple friend of theirs met together at their house for lunch.  Chris had made some brownies, so we made a quick trip over to the local WalMart for some Blue Bell.  Kind of a rule.  If you serve brownies in Texas, you have to have Blue Bell ice cream on top.

Oh, and is heard from several Seasiders after church.  They had a really big crowd.  Ten kids in the Kids Class.  Sounded like close to 70 again in worship.  Three tables full of food at dinner on the grounds.  And best news of all?  Bob called and said, “I don’t mean to barge in on your family time, but my head is about to bust wide open if I don’t tell you this.  You have two more precious souls who want to be baptized when you get back.”  That’s some news I don’t mind hearing.  Not at all.

Ephesians 2:19 says, “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citiizens. With the saints and are of God’s household.”

Father, thank you for those fellow citizens who are watching over our little ones up in Texas City.  Amen.

February 17 - “Classy”

Just a quick mention this morning concerning the funeral I briefly mentioned earlier.  The services were to honor what I can only describe as a truly classy lady.  It was fitting then, that the funeral experience was handled by some very classy individuals.

The representative of the church where the service was held was a young man named Ryan.  He was the site youth pastor, and I’m sure this was one of those delegated tasks that fell to him, almost a “short-straw” or “low man on the totem pole” kind of situation.  But Ryan contacted me on the phone several times before we met to iron out details.  And on the day of the service he was a consummate professional, handling preparation details flawlessly.  And the church musicians were excellent.  The vocalist was powerful, and the pianist was one of the best I have ever heard.  Thank you, Second Baptist Church, Katy Campus.

The Schmidt Funeral Home staff was classy as well.  They provided for whatever need came up with the family, and their handling of the funeral details was professional and caring.  And I have to add the cemetery staff in that one as well.  A few of the family stayed until the casket was lowered and the grave covered, so we stayed as well.  The cemetery staff showed grace and poise - and class - with their handling of some difficult tasks.  

I was even impressed with the string of four police officers who escorted us from the church to the cemetery.  In an hour-long drive through back streets and country roads to avoid freeway traffic, they showed a true respect for the funeral caravan.  In fact they demanded respect for the caravan from the vehicles of the opposite side of the road.  Often they would drive right down the center of the oncoming lane and force cars to the side of the road until the hearse had passed.  Of course, many people had already pulled over themselves, a reflection of a classy Southern gesture of respect.  

Sharon’s life was honored by lots of folks on Friday.   I appreciate that all was done to reflect the type of lady we were honoring ... classy.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”

Father, thank you for the privilege of knowing and ultimately being a part of honoring Sharon.  And thanks for welcoming her with open arms.  Amen.

February 16 - “Fifty cents”

We decided to spend the night in Katy.  The visitation for the funeral was from 5-8 p.m., and the funeral itself started at 10 the next morning, so it made sense to get a hotel room.  Kind of a Valentine’s getaway, maybe?  Yeah, not so much.

We have one of those Great Scott moments when we went to Subway for supper.  We ordered our usual - 12 inch Subway melt on wheat, cut in half, make it a meal with chips and a drink.  Should be simple, right?  Cost of the sandwich, and as the sign clearly says, “Make it a meal.  Add $2.75.”  Their computer did fine on the cost of the sandwich.  But the “make it a meal” kind of threw it for a loop.  It added $3.25 instead.  I pointed out the discrepancy once we got our receipt.

Now ... I can understand some of what ensued.  The young girl waiting on us was obviously in her first day of training.  She had to look up ingredients for the sub, and she asked if I wanted it toasted (seems a silly question for a sandwich called a Subway MELT.  How else will you melt the cheese?), so I wasn’t too surprised when she had some trouble with the computer.  But I thought a simple point to the sign and back to the receipt should be plenty of evidence to get the overpricing overturned.  Silly me.  It took almost fifteen minutes for them to wade through the receipt (remember, we ordered one sandwich).  They just couldn’t seem to make sense of the problem.  They finally picked up the phone to call the manager to ask what to do when we made a suggestion.  “How about just giving me a chocolate chip cookie and we’ll call it even?”  They took me up on my compromise suggestion, but they continued poring over the situation.  They even said they were still going to call the manager and next time we come in they could make it better.  Chris rather dryly said, “Oh, we won’t be coming here again.”  But maybe the manager can make things clearer so the next guy won’t have the same struggle.  Ah, the trials of being a pioneer in the world of sign/receipt matching.  What a mind-boggling profession.  Sigh.

Psalms 37:5 says, “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this”

Father, be with that new young lady who was trying so hard.  Grant her peace and success in her new job.  Amen.

February 15 - “Be my chicken ... er ... Valentine”

I got our Valentine’s Day started by presenting Chris with her gift.  Well, once she woke up.  I let her sleep in, of course.  It was an 8-inch tall chicken.  No, not a real one.  But this one was very colorful.  Very.  I told her it was to help remind her of me, since for some reason I always seem to notice those huge, gaudy, chicken monstrositical statues that people have out in their yard.  There was also a bag of Garditos in there.  That’s one of her favorite snacks.  And don’t forget the biggest accomplishment of all.  See, I got all this marvelous stuff at Hobby Lobby, a place I almost never go into without her. Why?  So I could get three skeins of the thread she needed to complete a project she was working on.  That one was kind of overkill.  Apparently she didn’t need three, but this kind of purchase was certainly out of my wheelhouse, so I just got all that they had to be on the safe side.  Oh, and I used the 40% off coupon I found on their website.  The checker and the ladies in line behind me told me my wife would be very proud that I remembered that little detail.  I hope she was.

Chris told me that she had not been able to get to the store because of our incredibly hectic schedule, but that she had planned to get me ... a chicken.  Hey, we’ve been together a long time.  It’s normal that we start thinking alike, right?  Instead she fixed me a chicken enchilada pie for lunch.  I’m good With that.  But wait.  As I was scrolling through Amazon looking for something else, I came across a book that I have been looking for.  It’s the first part of a two-part series.  One of those “what if” fiction books about a guy who finds the actual Noah’s ark.  I used to have it.  Still have the second book, in fact.  I think I must have lent it out to someone.  Anyway, I have checked numerous times for it (Probably why it showed up when I went to Amazon.  They DO keep tabs on you, you know), and it has never been available.  But there it was.  I told Chris the exciting news.  Know what she said?  “Order it.  Happy Valentine’s Day.  I love that woman.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 says, “Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will be joyful in God my Savior.”

Father, thank you for my wife who loves Garditos and silly gifts and ... me.  Amen.

February 14 – “… the oldest one in the building”

We made another quick trip to Academy yesterday.  They are having a most amazing sale right now.  So amazing that Chris actually went clothes shopping twice.  That just never happens.  She hates shopping for clothes.  And now we should not need winter clothes for a very long time.  Oh, and we are set for Alaska. 

Yesterday was also “take Cailyn to school” day.  Mom and Dad were both working.  I offered to skip hand in hand with her up to the front door.  She rather bluntly refused.  Chris reminded her, “But you used to skip to the door with your DadDad.”  Without hesitation she retorted, “Yes, but I’m not a little pre-K kid anymore.  I’m now the oldest one in the building.  I’m in FOURTH GRADE.”  Well, I suppose I was put in my place.  Sigh.  I want to skip merrily hand in hand again.

Our next stop was a hospital up in Texas.  Jennifer was having another surgery.  But this one wasn’t on her foot.  This time it was to repair some damage to her knee.  And just as we were preparing to walk out the door, Nathan called.  Both Cailyn and her teacher had already called him.  Cailyn was in the nurse’s office … sick.  We needed to go pick her up.  Chris headed on over to the school and I went on into Texas to the hospital.

Jennifer came through the surgery with flying colors.  And as a big plus, she was calmer than I have ever seen her before a surgery.  And I have seen her before a myriad of surgeries.  She wondered if that might be a God thing.  You think?  Oh, and Rita came up to see her while I was there.  It was great to see her again. 

On the way home I made a clandestine stop at Hobby Lobby.  Chris is doing a cross stitch thing and ran out of thread.  We were going to try and work out a Hobby Lobby run in the midst of all of our funeral activities, so this way I could get the thread and something else fun for Valentine’s Day.  The “something else fun”?  I found a chicken.  Very colorful.  Hung the thread out of its tail, put it in a Valentine’s bag, and added a bag of Garditos (one of her favorite snacks, and way healthier than chocolates). 

By the time I got home Cailyn seemed to be feeling much better.  Chris said she had been eating well … all day.  Her Mom managed to get off a little early in case she had to take Cailyn to the doc (a lot of kids in her class have tested positive for flu).  Once they left Chris and I decided to do our romantic Valentine’s Day dinner a day early.  We went to Whataburger.  Great way to end the day.

Psalms 139:17 says, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!  How vast is the sum of them!”

Father, thank you that Cailyn bounced back from not feeling well.  Keep her and all of our Littles well.  Amen.

February 13 – “Installation 101?”

Yesterday I spent a lot of time on the phone and at the computer.  The computer work was pretty much funeral-related, as were the phone calls.  We have to coordinate venues, since the funeral is at a church and the visitation is at the funeral home, and the graveside is in another place still, another town, even.  There are still some details to work out, so I’ll probably be chatting on the phone a lot today as well.

We did get the call back from Ideal Lumber Company.  That’s the outfit that we bought our patio door from back in 2009 after Hurricane Ike.  They were checking on the price of replacing the door that was shattered last week.  The first words out of his mouth (after the obligatory pleasantries, of course)?  “Are you sitting down?”  Never a good start to a conversation.  Sur enough, he quoted a pretty hefty price.  I suppose it was comparable to what we paid back in ’09, with inflation and all.  Still pretty hefty.  I assured him we weren’t mad or anything, and we really appreciated the help he had given us.  We would just need some time to think about whether we could handle that much money.  I guess he appreciated our appreciation, because he paused a moment, then said, “Wait a minute.  Can I call you back?  I want to make one more phone call.”  Puzzled, I hung up and waited for his call.

And it came almost immediately.  This time his first words, without pleasantries, were, “Mr. Vaughan, I think you should go out and buy a lottery ticket.  Right now.”  Well, that was a bit more encouraging than “Are you sitting down?”  Excitedly, he proceeded to explain that whoever he talked to had cut the price by 73%.  They have to order it, so he asked if he could come over and verify all the measurements within the hour.  Whew.  That’s some fast work.  As it turns out it will take between three and five weeks to get here from the manufacturer.  Then we have to figure out how to do the installation.  He said it was “Door installation 101.  Easy stuff.”  Right.  Chris immediately suggested a call to Nathan when it gets here.  Sounds like a plan. 

So … lottery ticket?  I think not.  I think maybe it’s more that my Lord might be taking an interest in the little things.  He does that, you know?

Psalms 139:15-16 says, “My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Father, thank you that we can trust you even in the little things that don’t seem to matter all that much in the grand scheme of life.  I appreciate you being a “Little Things” God as well as the “All mighty” one.  Amen.

February 12 – “Surgical precisions”

Our day certainly filled up quickly.  It started pretty early when I got a call that the little girl who I was going to visit in the hospital before her surgery at 11:00 was now going into surgery at 9 instead.  Not a big problem.  I just had to shift into a bit higher gear.  I made it in plenty of time, in spite of the pea soup fog blanketing the Island.  And as it turned out, they didn’t take back into surgery until … ready for this one? … 11:01.  Of course.  Oh, and she came out of the surgery just fine.

My next task was to knock out some glass.  I know.  Sounds … fun.  Well, doesn’t it?  Actually, our back door had the outer pane of a two-pane panel broken by an errant flying rock last time I ran the weedeater.  Full door-size panel.  That’s a lot of glass.  And it was all still intact within the door frame, albeit shattered to a million pieces.  The door guy at the lumber company that installed it said it would be a good idea to remove the glass as soon as possible, especially if we had children around.  Also …. Don’t slam the door.  Often the two come together, and since we were hosting the LaMarque Vaughan kids last night, we deemed it an opportune time to get the glass out.  We taped some of the glass to try to avoid too much scattering.  Yeah, that didn’t work.  This would be a task requiring surgical precision.  We gathered together Nathan’s old fire glove and a knife and a screwdriver and a garden spade and a broom and the wet/dry vac.  And finally we dug in.  It took a lot longer than we anticipated.  Oh, the middle glass came out easy enough, but that panel of glass extended well into the frame of the door itself.  No wonder to replace it, we have to replace the entire door (We are still waiting to hear back from the door guy on a price.  We may just live with one frame for the next ten or fifteen years).  It took forever to chop and cut and scrape enough of the edges to keep sharp remnants from being available to small hands.  I think we’re good, though.  We filled up a good sized garbage bag with diamond-like particles of glass.  And the patio has never been as clean as it is right now. 

Ah, and in the midst of it all, Chris was washing clothes.  And what to our wondering eyes should appear … but a backed up sewer and a plumber with his gear.  Yep.  About once a year we have to have our friend Jimmy, the Plumber come over and, with surgical precision, run his heavy-duty snake through the system to clear it out.  And it has become more and more apparent that the issue is really on the city’s side of things rather than ours.  But we are clear once again, hopefully for another year.  We like seeing Jimmy.  Just wish it was in Home Depot or at church …

Remember the performance of basketball skills Luke gave at Zak’s basketball game when we were in Waco?  Well, last night he and his group of Tremendous Tots reprised the action … at a Baylor University men’s basketball game during their halftime.  We watched the game hoping for a glimpse, but of course the network just knew we would much prefer seeing talking heads than our delightful grandson showing up all the college players with the skill of, well, of a surgeon (Which he, of course actually did.  His Daddy sent us a video).  Baylor did win the game, but we know who won the halftime show, don’t we?

Psalms 139:13-14 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Father, thank you for being with little Haisley and her docs.  Help her as she recovers from the surgery.  Amen.