January 14 – “Speaking of …”

Panama Canal Cruise countdown … five days …

Speaking of the cruise, I actually did my part in getting something ready yesterday.  I was in charge of seeing that our electronic devices were charged and ready to go.  Well, that would be everything except the camera, which we plan to use Saturday at Cailyn’s birthday party, and the devices we use pretty much every day, like our phones and iPads.  So that left the selfie stick, the portable fan, and the iPad keyboard.  Oh and that most important of all of them, the portable charger for all of those other devices.  I had wires coming out of every possible connection in the laptop.  Looked like a patient in an ICU room.  But that’s all done now.  That is all set aside on the guest room bed waiting to be officially packed. 

Speaking of getting cruise-ready, I also finished up getting checks ready for bills that will come due while we are gone.  There are not really that many, and I’m hoping some of them come in this week before we leave, but I want to be prepared.  April is all set to fill in the checks and mail them off for us. 

Speaking of April, Chris checked with them about giving us a ride to the terminal on Sunday.  They happily agreed.  Know how I could tell it was “happily”?  Nathan sent along a meme of a car whipping in and out of traffic along an early 1900’s street.  WooHoo. 

Speaking of Chris, she spent most of her day back at the sewing table.  She is spunkily doing her best to get that quilt finished.  She is still a ways off, but it definitely looks like something that could fit on a bed now.  I’m pretty sure the future recipient will be satisfied with the finished product.  Lots of hours of hard work have gone into that thing.

Speaking of … nah.  That’s enough.  See you tomorrow for day four.

James 1:22 says, “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”

Father, help us get through all these details.  I know the end result will be a good one.  Amen. 

January 13 – “We are on our way …”

OK.  Now it’s officially less than a week from our cruise sail date.  Chris admitted last night that she is finally getting excited about it.  I’m just focused on getting everything done that has to be done before we leave. 

Yesterday was a great day at church.  I should have known it was going to be a good one when I walked up to read the opening scripture from my iPad.  There was a text message from one of the Seasiders.  It read, “We are on our way.  Don’t start church without us!”  Made my day before we even started. Where else would that happen?

The worship service involved an interactive communion experience.  Lots of sharing of God stories and not a few tears.  The day started out really fun.  We changed the entire configuration of the chairs into a semicircle.  People’s reactions as they entered the room were absolutely priceless.  One guy said he didn’t know where to sit because he always keyed where he sat by who usually sat in front of him.  Just about every regular at least did a noticeable doubletake.  One lady sat down, looked up, and started waving to the people on the other side of the room.  She wondered where all those people over there came from.  I had lots of comments about leaving it that way.  We’ll see …

One of the actions involved pouring the juice into small cups and serving each other in clusters of four or five.  I enjoyed watching the groups maneuver around each other and smile and say their “thank you’s” and “excuse me’s.”  The whole morning was a great picture of a family loving on each other.  Thanks, Holy Spirit …

Psalms 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

Father, thank you for the openness and “real-ness” we saw yesterday.  Felt a lot like … well … church.  Amen.

January 12 – “Revenge of the Creature”

So exactly one week away from our cruise to the Panama Canal.  Chris is rapidly approaching full-on vacation preparation mode …

Meanwhile, yesterday I visited three of the fire stations.  My main purpose at one station was to deliver a baby Bible to one of the new Dads.  Always a fun task.  I also got to meet two of the new hires.  One is a young man originally from France.  Still has a pretty distinct accent.  He said he was trying to lose it, but I encouraged him to own it instead.  Hey, it’s part of who he is.  Our guy from Italy has done that and it has served him well.  The other rookie is a legacy hire.  Don’t get me wrong.  He passed the agility/skills test.  But his Dad is a Galveston fire fighter as well.  He said he felt like he would be fine as a legacy as long as he didn’t grow up to look like his Dad.  Ouch. 

Chris has been playing with our new Christmas toy, Alexa.  Last night Freddy walked out of the room to check out the action in the front yard.  Chris asked, “Alexa.  Where is Freddy?”  Alexa replied, “Freddy is from Angola.”  Well, well.  I always wondered where she came from before she found our car to run into …

We watched an excitingly tragic movie last night.  Black and white.  Totally entranced by it, in fact.  Well, I was.  It was called Revenge of the Creature.  It told the story of the capture of the incredible, horrible Gill Man.  He looks strangely similar to his cousin from further north, the Creature the Black Lagoon.  In this story he is held in a tank at a Sea World type place chained to the bottom.  He falls in love with a female scientist assistant who is also in love with the scientist she works for who is studying the monster.  Ah, love triangles.  They never work.  The Creature manages to escape his tank, though.  He tracks the girl down and kidnaps her, killing her beloved dog, Chris, in the process.  Told you it was a tragedy.  He also killed a couple of kids talking about not going to college.  And how did this thriller end?  Well, I guess I’ll tell you since it is probably impossible to find on DVD or Blue Ray.  The entire police force of the Florida town and a few dozen volunteers track it to one particular lagoon (I told you it was a cousin thing).  They separate the creature from the girl by shining spotlights on them.  Of course the creature can’t stand the light.  Once the girl is safe in the arms of her beloved, the posse starts shooting.  The final scene is of the creature slowly sinking to the bottom.  Is he dead?  Not completely sure.  See the movie began with some guys doing some TNT fishing where they set an explosion and gather up all the stunned fish that float to the surface.  Gill Man was among the floaters, and he was in the same position then.  Could he just be stunned?  Could there be a sequel yet to come?  Hey, maybe that cousin of his could get involved …

James 1:19 says, “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

Father, help the rookies as they acclimate to the fire department culture.  Keep them safe.  Amen

January 11 – “Creative communion”

We made a high-level reconnaissance venture into Texas yesterday.  Well, not so much doing reconnaissance as carrying out specific missions.  The clock is running down on our trip to Panama, so some things have to get done this week.  This week …

First stop was Dick’s Sporting Goods.  My brother and sister-in-law gave us a gift card for Christmas, and it came at the perfect time to get a new pair of Nikes for the journey.  The ones I wear to walk in are wearing noticeably thin.  And as it turned out, the store had the style I can wear in my size.  That hasn’t happened in a while.  But task number one … check.

Next we went to Mardel’s Christian Store.  There we had to pick up some communion bread for church.  Oh, and some birthday and anniversary cards for that ministry as well.  With Lifeway closing we are trying to get established there.  They reminded me that if I bring them a filled out copy of the “form available at the Texas Comptroller’s website,” then we wouldn’t have to fill out a tax exempt form every time we come in.  When we got home I downloaded one of those forms.  It is essentially the exact same one we filled out in the store.  I’m not sure what makes me bringing the same form in with me so different, but I’m willing to try it.  Of course I have no idea when will be the next time we will be on the Mainland at that store.  Hope I remember the all-important form …

By that time it was near noon, and there was a Luby’s just across the parking lot. So we HAD to go there for some lunch.  Kind of a law, isn’t it?  Chris had her perpetual order of liver and onions.  I went for the chicken spaghetti.  Good stuff all around. 

Next we went to the Rehab hospital to visit with Mrs. Betty.  She was not doing too well at her granddaughter’s house.  She has had a few falls.  So she is back in to get her some physical and occupational therapy.  Her daughter and son are trying to get her house fixed up enough for her to go back home – with someone living with her, of course.  Very sweet lady …

Our final stop was back on the Island.  WalMart.  Where else?  We needed some grape juice for church.  And some of that specialty bread.  Stocking up for communion again.  Creative communion.  No other clues.  Just … see you tomorrow. 

John 5:24 says, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.”

Father, be with Mrs. Betty.  Reach down into her confusion and pain and bring her peace.  Amen.

January 10 – “Neighborhood excitement … the sequel”

Well, it’s official.  We are now in single digits.  Less than ten days to our cruise to the Panama Canal.  The clock is ticking …

I performed a wedding ceremony at local venue Garten Verein yesterday.  It’s a beautiful historic structure next to a city park.  The groom Dustin is a young fire fighter from the Fort Worth area.  It was a pretty small affair.  Maybe fifty or sixty people.  Really good food, though.  A salad, some kind of pasta, and some huge meatballs.  Very tasty.

And now to the excitement.  Again.  Yep.  Our neighborhood was once again the scene of some action last night.  This time the fire department wasn’t involved, but we did have no less than four police cruiser pull up with lights flashing and park in the street right in front of our house.  Blocking our driveway, in fact.  Here we go again.

Actually this time they were here to pay a visit to the HUD house next door.  A lady staying in the house (who was not, as we understand it, supposed to be living there according to the rules of that game), was arrested for stealing a package off of a porch just down the street.  The people had her on video as brazen as anything, during broad daylight, just walking up to their porch, picking up the package and hiding it under her coat.  The officers placed her in one of the squad cars, and while they were talking amongst themselves, the car suddenly started bouncing and bobbing back and forth.  One of the officers raced over and yelled at her to cut it out, but not before she had cut open her head banging it against the window.  That meant a call for an ambulance to join them to check her out.  No fire truck came, though.  At least those guys got to sit this one out.  We’re not sure what will happen next door as a result of the police action.  As much as we enjoy the spectacle, we are certainly ready to have our nice, quiet neighborhood back …

Psalms 73:26 says, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Father, be with Dustin and Brittany as they begin their life together.  And be with that woman who was arrested as well.  Draw her to yourself.  Amen.

January 9 – “Neighborhood excitement”

We started off our day with a walk again.  Gotta get these old legs in shape again for the Panama excursion coming up in just about ten days now. 

Speaking of the cruise, I’m trying to double up and get done now on work stuff that has to happen while we are on the cruise.  Lots of work now for a real shot at relaxing later. 

Chris has spent a lot of time lately working on a quilt.  It’ll take her lots longer than ten days to finish, but it sure is looking good.

I had a wedding rehearsal yesterday afternoon.  One of our fire fighters is getting married at Garten Verein.  Really nice venue.  Well, except for the fact that they apparently told the bride and groom that a sound system was available to them.  Then yesterday they were informed that no such system exists.  Well, no such system that works, anyway.  Oops.  But one of the groom’s buddies headed right out to Best Buy to get something to make it work.  He also connected with another fire fighter who has a system of his own.  Now he has a back-up system as well.  That’s one of those unexpected little wedding glitches that he can check off the list.

Last night Chris went up to the church to watch a movie with some of the ladies in the Ladies Bible study.  She missed out on some neighborhood excitement.  Just as I heard some sirens outside – and really close – I saw on my phone app that a fire call was just sent out to the house just three doors down from us.  We don’t know that family, but, hey, neighbors are neighbors, right?  I slipped on my fire department jacket and headed out to check in with the guys on engine four.  Turns out the baby in the house wasn’t breathing right and seemed to be turning blue.  Certainly cause for a bit of parental panic.  But all was well once the fire department and paramedics arrived.  The baby was breathing fine and I even heard him screaming from my perch across the street.  The fire fighters all just wanted to know how Nathan was doing at his new job.  He is missed, for sure.  I’m not sure why this call took no less than three police cars responding hot as well, though …

John 15:12 says, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

Father, watch over that little baby and his parents in the days to come.  Ease his breathing so he can grow to know you.  Amen.

January 8 – “Off to see the wizard … ess?”

Ah … Garbage Day was yesterday.  Both cans were filled to the brim with Christmas wrapping paper and assorted gift packaging.  We even had four or five bags of those leaves resting comfortably to their side.  And now it’s all gone.  Time to fill ‘em up again.  WooHoo.

The big story for me yesterday was my trip to the dentist.  Remember that surgery to remove two teeth back in July just before our cruise to Alaska?  Well, somebody let slip to my mouth that we are going on another cruise.  I have been aching at the surgery site for the last few weeks.  Not like a toothache kind of ache, though.  Not sensitive to hot and cold or anything like that.  It just randomly aches.  So off to see the wizard … Well, actually my dentist is a girl, so she wouldn’t be a wizard, would she?  Maybe a wizard-ess?  She is good though. 

The worst part of the whole ordeal this time didn’t even involve my teeth.  I have another disk issue in my neck.  Recognize those well after four surgeries.  When they laid the chair back that disk flared up and went to work, pinching on the nearby nerve that sends tingling down my arm and into my fingers.  Fortunately she was stationed on my right side, so I could position my head with enough angle to get the pressure relieved.  Whew. 

But as for the ache.  Well, in a nutshell, it is not a tooth issue at all.  The jawbone area where the teeth were extracted simply hasn’t completely healed yet.  Many possible reasons that six months hasn’t been long enough.  Among them medications for other things and the possibility that the surgeon may have taken out more than he really needed to.  Oh, and of course there was that hint of the issue that she struggled terribly hard not to say out loud … “at a certain age …” 

So, what to do?  Chew food with sharp edges (like chips, not razor blades) on the other side.  Keep the area clean.  She also gave me a special mouth rinse and some antibiotics.  Oh, and of course the usual. “Come back and see me in a month.”  Here we go …

Romans 8:18 says, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”

Father, thank you for my dentist.  It’s good to have someone you trust when every time you see them they are digging around inside your mouth.  Amen.