April 20 – “Wavey grass”

We made an early morning trip all the way to Spring yesterday.  We attended the funeral of a cousin.  I saw some people who were just toddlers last I could remember.  Oh, and they had kids there, too.  Nope.  Slow down.  At least I recognized the cousins I grew up with.  Larry was older than me, but he was one of the ones who got me started on collecting baseball cards back in the day.  Big influence there, for sure.  But his sister Julie was the one cousin who was my age, and we have kept in touch over the years. 

There was one rather odd yet beautiful thing we noticed while waiting for the graveside service to begin.  It was the grass.  I’m not sure what kind it was – not St. Augustine, for sure.  But when the wind blew (And it did blow.  One gust even distracted the pastor, but at the time he was reading a scripture about how the trees clapped in the presence of God … and they provided us an example), the grass looked like waves of water flowing across the ocean.  Wavey grass.  Very pretty. 

After the funeral we followed my older brother Jay (or, MUCH older brother, as I generally remind him) to the old Budde Cemetery on our old family homestead.  Much has changed there.  “Progress” has enveloped most of the area.  The cemetery is still intact, though, as is the old homestead house, although it has obviously been upgraded since the old days. 

Jay is our resident family genealogy expert.  However, one of Julie’s kids appears to be following in his footsteps.  The two of them regaled us with old family stories at lunch.  Speaking of following in footsteps … we also met Julie’s granddaughter.  She is playing college volleyball right now and loves it.  Apparently she has Olympic aspirations.  I told her our granddaughter was just learning volleyball.  She got excited and was really hopeful that Cailyn would carry on that family tradition.

After the easy drive up there – it took us just over an hour – we were looking forward to a pleasant drive home.  Well, not so much.  Everyone who had been sleeping in for their Good Friday holiday was now on the road.  And they invited their brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles and everyone else they knew.  Traffic was terrible.  Of course three wrecks and the usual construction delays didn’t help matters any.  And Google Siri’s alternative route to avoid traffic took us almost through Crosby, so Chris just plowed ahead.  It took us two hours to get home.  Needless to say, Chris was exhausted.  She managed to get the roast in the crockpot for our family Easter lunch today, but she didn’t make it to the end of the Astros game.  I assured her I would do the viewing for her so she could rest easy. 

Romans 10:13 says, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Father, walk with Larry and Julie and their family as they mourn their mom.  Amen.

April 19 – “… shake his hand”

The funeral for the young nineteen-year-old went pretty well.  There were eighty or so people in attendance, and quite a few of them had something to share about the young man.  Sounds like he was an especially good friend to his peers and a respectful gentleman to those older than himself.  It was interesting that one comment kept coming up about him.  “He always shook your hand” in one form or another was a favorite theme.  I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet young Robert.  I would have loved to … shake his hand.

After lunch we dodged the remaining few raindrops (the morning was a collection of intermittent massive downpours) and headed out to the church to get things set up for Easter.  Tables set up for the breakfast, floor swept, booklets and gifts packed in bags for people to carry as they hand them out, plates and utensils set out and ready to go.  While we were setting up a gentleman came in and gave a donation to the church to “help defray the costs of Easter.  It sounds like a really big event, so there must be costs involved.”  Not what we expected, by any means.  Jim and Charlotte also stopped by.  They needed an emergency bathroom.  Hey, sometimes you just can’t make it all the way to Sea Isle.  Sounds like everything is set for Easter from the music perspective as well.  They are making some tweaks in the sound system to accommodate some more voices in the praise team.  Always good to hear more folks are getting involved. 

We had a guest at Home Group last night.  Anne was back in town for the weekend, and she was staying with Corey and Janell across the street, so she made the long, arduous journey over to Bible Study.  Sounded like she and her family are doing well living in the Austin area.  Now we are looking forward to seeing the Humphries family who will be here for the Easter services.  Them and five or six hundred of their closest friends …

John 19:30 says, “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’  With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Father, thank you for the expressions of encouragement the family heard yesterday at the funeral.  And once again, will you join us at the Easter services this weekend?  Amen.

April 18 – “On the bright side”

While in the front yard weeding yesterday I received an interesting phone call from the funeral home.  Seems the family I had talked to last Friday had told them I was all set to officiate the funeral of their loved one.  On the bright side, that was a true statement.  On the dimmer side, what they failed to notify me about was … the funeral was to be today at 10 a.m.  Well, OK.  As it turns out, on the bright side, that was not a problem for my schedule.  Oh, and also on the bright side, Chris stained the new back door with the color created magically by the Harry Potter-ish guy at Sherwin-Williams.  It is pretty much a perfect match.  On the dimmer side, she still has to seal it, but she can’t do that until the weather dries out again.

Meanwhile, I was talking to the Lord (and to the female blackbirds that inevitably come to visit when I do yardwork).  I had a revelation, or at least an idea of sorts, for a different approach to the object lesson for the sunrise service.  That idea was circulating in my mind when Chris got home from her haircut.  Oops.  That’s when I realized I was supposed to have already gone to Office Depot to pick up the sunrise service booklets and to Randall’s to get a prescription and some fruit.  My total absorption in the task at hand, mixed with the mental pondering pushed all other considerations out of my wheelhouse.  On the bright side, I was almost finished with the weeding.  On the dimmer side, we still had to go get those booklets.  And the prescription and fruit.  On the bright side, now we could do the errand-running together. 

On the bright side, we did finish the errands, all before we had to pick Cailyn up from school.  And on another bright side, we stopped in to see Nathan at the fire station on our way home.  Always great to see Cailyn run full-speed into his arms.  There’s just something special about that kind of love.

Once we got back home I finished up writing the funeral service and dove into incorporating the new idea into the sunrise service object lesson.  On the bright side, the idea fit really well with what I had already written.  It feels a little more coherent to me now.  On the dimmer side, that meant I had to re-orient my pastor’s copy of the service booklet to include the changes.  Not as fun a task, but one I was up for.  So on the bright side, it only took a few deletions and a paragraph or two of smaller font size to bring it into submission.  I think it’s ready to go now.  

And on the bright side (for you, at least), I’m done for today …

Luke 22:19 says, “And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.’”

Father, thank you for all the “bright sides” you grace us with every day.  Help us become more proficient at recognizing them.  Amen.

April 17 – “Getting focused”

Very slow news day today.  We attacked the front yard weed collection.  Both of us.  Still didn’t finish, but Chris did get one of the flower beds cleaned out.  Looks nice. 

We followed Jachin’s baseball game on the telephone app.  They lost the game, but Jachin got to play the whole game at first base.  He also walked in his time at bat. 

Chris made some great lima beans for supper.  Lima beans and crescent rolls.  She attempted some the day before, but they would never soften up.  She thinks they were too old.  Guess when you - er, “they” - get too old, you/they get all crusty and stubborn.  Hmm.  The ones yesterday were just right, though.  Good stuff. 

I heard back from the children’s pastor at Josh’s church in Waco.  We are hooking up with their group for children’s camp this summer.  Looks like we have three girls going.  Chris and I will go, too, as sponsors.  Shelley asked if I would be interested in teaching the church group Bible studies for the three days we are there.  I haven’t taught at a children’s camp in years.  Sounds like fun.  Now I just gotta remember how to think like a kid …

Today begins the really focused time for Easter preparations.  Picking up the song booklets, making a Sam’s run, getting baptism applications copied and ready to be filled out, gathering needed objects for the sunrise service object lesson, and of course going over the teachings for the weekend.  Not to mention prayer … a lot of prayer. 

John 13:34 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

Father, take charge of all the preparations for Easter this week, teachings, worship, food, egg hunt … be at the center of it all.  Otherwise it just wouldn’t be Easter.  Amen.

April 16 – “The RLC Near-Encounter”

We made our trip to the post office yesterday to pick up that tax packet from our accountant that we missed delivery of because we were working in the back yard.  We were kind of apprehensive about going to the post office on that particular day.  Why?  Well, we anticipated large crowds in “honor” of April 15^th … Tax Day.  Doesn’t everyone celebrate it?  Oh, we didn’t expect fanfare and parades.  And we weren’t disappointed.  There were none of those.  There was a bit of a line, however.  Some disgruntled.  Others patiently waiting.  I tried to bypass the system and go directly to the pickup window.  They have a little doorbell that you ring.  Meanwhile Chris got in line just in case.  “Just in case” won the day.  She reached the front of the line before anybody ever came to answer the doorbell.  Once we got to the counter things went fast and easy.  They handed me the package, I signed for it.  All was well.

Once we were in the car I opened the packet.  And sure enough, what I had dreaded came to life.  We already paid the tax due for last year.  The accountant had emailed us what we needed to get that taken care of.  But the document I was looking for was the one that shows how much we need to pay quarterly so the hit at the end of the year is not so difficult to swallow.  It was there, right on top.  And the due date for the first installment?  Yep.  April 15^th.  We went back to the house, had a quick lunch, wrote a check to cover the payment, slipped it in an envelope, and headed back to the post office.  Twice in one day.  Tax Day. 

The second line was longer than the first.  Of course it was.  All we needed this time was one of those magical cancellation stamps on the envelope to prove we got it there on April 15^th.  The lady behind us was in the same boat.  Just a cancellation stamp.  She noticed the chaplain designation on my cap, and started up a conversation.  She thought it said Carnival at first.  Cruise line or traveling festival guy?  It was a fun conversation.  Something to pass the time.  By the time we finished our transaction the line was almost to the door.  Yikes.  I tried to encourage those toward the back with a “Hang in there” and a “The line is moving.”  Not sure how appreciative they were though.

We even almost got hit by a mailman in his truck on the way out of the parking lot.  He was hurrying to the parking area behind the building, because it was his quitting time and he had somewhere else to be.  How do I know so much about that mailman?  It was our son, Kel.  His son Jachin had a baseball scrimmage, and he was heading over to watch it.  Gotta watch out for those RLC’s (Relative Letter Carriers).

Philippians 2:8 says, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death – even death on a cross!”

Father, Watch over our RLC this week as he makes his deliveries.  Amen.

April 15 – “The Outburst”

Well … Happy Income Tax Day, I suppose. 

We had quite the day at church yesterday.  Two different men approached me asking to be among those getting baptized at the sunrise service on Easter.  One has been coming for some time, and has seen a complete turn-around in his own life.  I’m meeting with him again on Sunday morning before the service.  He plans to be there early to help the crew with the chairs and sound system setup. 

The other was there for the first time Sunday with his wife and little baby.  I met his wife a few weeks ago when I did the funeral of her mother.  She had to help me out with her name when I didn’t recognize her right away.  Anyway, the husband told me he had never really been to church, and had for sure never been baptized, but he definitely wanted to do it.  I walked him through what salvation looks like and how baptism is a picture of that.  He told me he had prayed earlier during the service.  I really think he has responded to God as fully as he knows how.  He does have a lot of learning and growing to do (as do we all), but I’m pretty excited for him.

We had a great lunch with five or six other Seasiders over at the local Jamaica Beach grill.  We did some laughing and talking and eating.  Oh, and speaking of laughing, let me back up for a second.  Right in the middle of the teaching at church, when I was explaining some connection or another within the Palm Sunday story we heard a rather loud outburst from the kids’ room just off the sanctuary where Chris leads the youngsters to hear some of the basic Bible stories.  Now, an outburst is not all that unusual, and generally when it happens one of the parents make his or her way over to calm the child or be of assistance. 

Not that kind of an outburst this time.  Nope.  This time what we heard was laughter.  Not a chuckle or giggle, mind you.  This was an all-out, all-in belly laugh from the heart of a little child.  It was the kind of laugh that you absolutely cannot ignore.  At the very least you have to acknowledge it.  At the very best you have to join in.  It became rapidly evident that among us “older, more mature” creatures, we were experiencing a little of both.  Heads were turning in that direction.  Grins were spreading across a multitude of faces.  Hey, I was enjoying it so much that I stopped trying to ignore it.  I unleashed a bit of a chuckle from deep down inside, left the flow of the teaching for a minute, and said, “There’s nothing quite like the laughter of a little child.  Go ahead and join him.”  Some did.  Others at least smiled.  Some were a bit confused that I would allow such a distraction.  But, hey.  Things like that happen when a family gets together.  Why not enjoy those special moments when they come?  They are truly a gift from God.

John 6:35 says, “Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life.  Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’”

Father, thank you for the two guys who want baptism.  Help them to grow and mature more and more in you.  And thanks again for that belly-laugh sermon interruption.  Welcome anytime.  Amen.

April 14 – “Speaking of …”

We went to Sherwin-Williams yesterday.  It’s a local (or maybe national chain – I don’t really know) paint store.  We were on the hunt for some stain for the new back door.  Yep.  We have never completed that project.  Sorry about that.  The problem is, we can’t find the name of the stain anywhere in our records.  The original staining happened after Hurricane Ike, and Chris kept meticulous records, but nowhere in there does it say the name of the stain.  I peeled off a tiny sliver of the old door before it was hauled away, and we chose one that looked close.  They said we could return it if we just tested a small area and it wasn’t right (as long as the can looked clean).  And … it wasn’t right.  Of course not.  It just wasn’t golden enough.  We’ll head back over there on Monday, I guess.

Speaking of Monday, we also have to go to the Post Office on Monday.  Seems our letter carrier tried to deliver our income tax packet from our accountant that requires a signature.  We were home, but in the back yard, so we missed it.  Put that one on the list.

Speaking of the back yard, we finished weeding the lawn back there.  I also trimmed off some dead branches from the oleander tree.  Yes.  It’s shaped more like a tree than a bush.  At least it used to be.  Later on I pulled some weeds from the front yard as well.  Now that’s gonna take some doing.  Stay tuned.

Speaking of some doing, I stayed up late for the Astros again.  Not as late this time.  Seattle moved back their start time since it was on a Saturday.  Altuve hit another home run.  Astros won again.  Seventh or eighth in a row now.  That’s some doing.  Keep it up …

Luke 19:38 says, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!  Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

Father, draw those folks to the Palm Sunday service today who you want to be there.  Amen.