December 14 – “some good, old-fashioned fun”

How often can you say that you had some good, old-fashioned fun at church?  I think maybe yesterday can fall into that category.  It was the Third Sunday in Advent, so the emphasis was on joy.  We heard from eth Word all the way from Nehemiah to Philippians about joy.  There was a clip from the movie Elf where Buddy expresses his incredible joy when he hears Santa is coming.  We heard and watched a music video of eth song “Don’t Worry.  Be Happy.”  We even ended with a room full of bubbles as 20 or 30 bottles were passed around while we sang Joy to the World. 

 

And the best part of it all?  Along with our amazing Seasiders, we had a retired professor of nursing there who said she was back in church for the first time in a very long time.  She loved the experience.  And then after worship I had the privilege of talking with a young man about salvation and subsequently baptism.  He was excited about the baptism, but – in his words – “Not in December.”  Looks like we have another candidate for our Easter sunrise service on the beach. 

 

Psalms 8:3-4 says, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?”

 

Father, thank you for the joy you give us in your nature, your people and especially in you.  Amen.

December 13 – “something so rare and dangerous”

We did something yesterday that I honestly can’t remember the last time we did it.  What could be something so rare and dangerous that we have avoided it for so long?  We went Christmas shopping.  No, that’s not the rare part.  We love Christmas shopping.  This time, however, we went on a Saturday … within two weeks of Christmas.  Crazy.  I for one enjoy shopping on Christmas Eve.

 

Now I know it seems counter-intuitive to go shopping when Chris is supposed to be staying away from people until after her heart cath on Tuesday.  They discouraged her from being in tight spaces with lots of people.  Her Covid test was negative, and they want to keep it that way for the test.  But honestly, there weren’t that many folks out shopping, and we were easily able to avoid contact, and Chris faithfully wore her mask.  She was determined to get the rest of our list completed before her procedure on Tuesday.  Didn’t.  We went to Target, WalMart, and a place called Five Below that we had never been to before.  It’s kind of like a Dollar Store, only their alleged “top price” is five dollars.  Let’s just say we still have some more to attack on Monday. 

 

We also went to Randall’s for a prescription for Chris.  Oh, and to Village Hardware and Home Depot.  We were looking for the correct flapper for one of our toilets.  Nothing exactly matched, though.  I saw one that I think will suffice, but I just wasn’t sure.  That means we get to add Coburn’s Plumbing Supply to our Monday list.  Yay.

 

We spent the next couple of hours wrapping gifts.  Well, Chris wrapped them.  I wrote names on the tags and handed them over.  She has a pretty meticulous system, and I wasn’t about to invade it.  Meanwhile, Baylor’s football team was not doing so well.  How about a Hallmark movie …

 

Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”

 

Father, please grant us your peace over the next two days as we just wait.  Amen.

December 12 – “Mining report”

Well, the dreaded day finally came.  No, it wasn’t the heart cath.  That’s not until next week.  And now that she knows a bit about what to expect, Chris is not quite as worried about it.  But yesterday was the day for her “Brain Biopsy,” the “Mining Excursion” – a.k.a. The COVID TEST.  That’s the one where they cram the eight-inch-long Q-tip up your nose and dig around in there for ten seconds.  Quite the mining operation according to her.  And from the sounds of things, Josh had one just as invasive.  He called from the waiting room in Waco where he was in great anticipation for his first of the Brain Biopsy type test.  He’s had a spit test here and a cheek swab there, but never one of these simple nasal scrubs.  I assured him, as I do Chris each time, that the one I took was nothing but a little tickle.  She has yet to believe me.  And now I guess Josh has joined her camp.  The subsequent texts we received from him indicated he was less than supportive of the procedure.  Bottom line, however … both of them came up negative for the virus, so there’s that.  Oh, and Chris had to have some blood work drawn as well, so I suppose she wins the pity party battle with Josh this time. 

 

On the way home we stopped in at Target for a little Christmas shopping.  Chris is on a mission to get a present for everyone on our list before her procedure on Tuesday.  I think it was a pretty productive excursion, too.  There were still a few holes here and there, but she reached her limit and we headed home to get some lunch and rest a while.

 

Last night I went to the fire department administration Christmas party.  Mexican food dinner at The Original, probably Galveston’s finest.  And Chris, the Mexican food lover, had to stay home, away from people.  I had my usual order at a Mexican food joint – beef quesadillas.  Good stuff.  Lots of vegetables mixed in there with the meat and cheese.  Healthy meal, for sure.  We also did a white elephant gift exchange.  This time everyone chose a gift by the numbers drawn, as you might expect.  But no one was allowed to open the gift.  You could steal one of the unopened gifts if you wanted to, up to two changes of hands.  And at the very end, a few numbers were assigned to switch with each other.  Then, if both spouses had a gift, they had to switch with each other.  Finally, you could open your gift.  I think it was all a ruse designed to get the chief the gag gift he ended up with.  Pretty funny stuff.  I ended up with a bag of scratch-off lottery tickets.  I think I won $4.00, but I’m not sure how that works.  We have never spent our money on a lottery ticket – not enough disposable income, I suppose.  Where do I go to collect my massive winnings, anyway? 

 

Luke 12:40 says, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

 

Father, please be with the admin staff of the fire department.  Help them in the decisions they have to make, especially in learning to deal with a new city council.  Amen.

December 11 – “Strange, right …”

I’ve been having some difficulties with my laptop lately.  Yesterday was “one of those days.”  Microsoft Word decided it didn’t want to load.  It just flickered for the slightest instant a blue rectangle that may or may not have had the Word logo in it.  It didn’t stay on the screen long enough for me to tell.  I was finally forced to do what any self-respecting computer owner has done hundreds of time over the course of a love-hate relationship with technology.  I restarted the computer.  This time it succumbed to my pleadings and allowed me in.  I don’t know.  Maybe I need to ask Santa for a new computer …

 

Yesterday was also home group day.  That meant it was also clean house day.  Chris was diving in like she always has to get the house ready for company.  She did let me help some.  I did the vacuuming.  I also tried to straighten up our bedroom a little bit.  That’s not on the regular Thursday list, because we can usually just close that door.  But the laundry stacked on our dresser did belong to me, so …

 

We had a pre-home group quick visit from Kel and his family.  He has started back to work at the post office following several weeks off for foot surgery.  He seems to be getting around pretty well.  Just has a barely noticeable slight limp.  They didn’t stay very long.  In fact when Christina announced departure time, Noa was flabbergasted.  She couldn’t believe they were actually in our house and couldn’t stay longer.  Love you, too, Noa …

 

It has been strange for me as a pastor to have folks in the hospital and not be able to visit them and pray with them.  The hospital has been pretty picky about who they let on the floor nowadays.  But on top of that I realized something.  I have been reluctant to be away from Chris for any length of time.  There’s this little voice in the back of my head that just keeps telling me to stick close by.  Strange, right?  But then, when have I ever been less than strange?

 

John 8:12 says, “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

 

Father, I’ve been thinking about the folks we know who have been in the hospital or who just need some relief.  Jim.  Baby Elle.  Sam.  Stephanie.  Chris.  Pat.  Watch over them, please?  Amen.

December 10 - “Free Bee”

Big day yesterday. We went to Walmart. Oh, come on now. Don’t you ever get to where just going anywhere is a treat to be looked forward to?  Especially over the last few months.  Well, we needed some bananas. Oh, and I guess some other things as well. Chris is preparing for her Christmas baking binge. We even did a little Christmas shopping. Not much, though. Chris began to get really tired.  I almost had to find her a box or something to sit down on. But apparently she was just getting too hot. The problem passed when we started moving around again. Guess I’m just a little jumpy.

 

When we got home and unloaded the groceries, both of us noticed an unusual buzzing sound in the kitchen. Yep. The open door had been too inviting to pass up for a single tiny honey bee. He was buzzing all over the kitchen and family room looking for a way out (or perhaps for a special treat).  He managed to locate a back window, but he just couldn’t pull himself away from the feeling that he was so close yet so far away. We were determined not to harm the critter, so we reverted back to our childhood days. I grabbed a piece of cardboard and Chris got a cup. Didn’t take long and he was buzzing noisily inside his hastily arranged Uber. A quick trip through the back door and over to a flowering bush, and the bed was free. Victory.

 

After that exertion we both needed a break. I went into the garage to do some carving while Chris took a nap.

 

After waiting four days for the promised phone call from the cardiologist’s office, Chris ended up having to call the cath lab herself. Here’s the tale of the testing.

1.       COVID test Friday. She’s SO excited about that “brain biopsy.” 

2.       Heart Cath on Tuesday. No time assigned yet, though. We will get a call Monday with that information. 

 

Galatians 6:2 says, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”

 

Father, thank you for honey bees and bananas and assigned times for testing.  I guess we need them all in one way or another.  Amen.

December 9 – “Patient patience”

I got my usual early morning work at the computer in yesterday.  Old news.  I do that pretty much every day.  I did get word from our church website administrator that there have been some issues with our domain name.  It caused the site to go offline for a time, but she got everything all straightened out.  Thanks, Jennifer. 

 

Later in the day I spent some time out in the garage.  It is time to start work on my yearly carving for Chris’ Christmas present.  I knew right away what my idea was.  Now it will just take some doing to finish out the details and connect all the dots before Christmas Day.  Meanwhile she was inside working on her latest quilt creation.  I have lost track of who this one is for.  She has a list going of quilts she wants to make.  Of course no one has seen her list (not even me – it’s in her head), so no one needs to be particularly patient.  If you’re on it, you’ll eventually get it …

 

Last night we took another evening walk around the block.  Chris got winded.  My hip hurt.  Freddy for some reason walked extra slow.  It was a tough fifteen or twenty minutes for the Vaughan Family.  We still haven’t heard when Chris’ next appointment is with the cath lab.  They were supposed to call Monday.  She called yesterday and got pretty much nowhere.  We’ll see what happens today.

 

Speaking of Freddy … as I type this she is in her usual spot, one of the rocking chairs in the study – the one with all the padding, of course.  I guess she must have fallen asleep and started dreaming or something, because all of a sudden she started howling like a wolf at the moon.  It was quite odd … even eerie.  I turned around to see what was going on, and I think she woke herself up.  She was shaking her head and her eyes were kind of glazed over.  I asked her what her problem was, and she came out of it and stared at me with her big ol’ puppy dog eyes, like, “What?  It wasn’t me.”  Goofy dog.

 

Psalms 126:5 says, “Those who sow with tears will reap with songs of joy.”

 

Father, please grant this patient patience with the cath lab folks.  Sounds like their scheduler could use a little grease in the wheels.  Amen.

December 8 – “Some thanks-stuff”

Chris and I got to do something really special yesterday.  We delivered the toys that Seasiders donated to the Galveston Urban Ministries office.  Our entire trunk was full, and we even had a bicycle crammed into the back seat.  The workers told us that it was just the third bike they have received this year.  Sounded like donations for their toy store ministry were down considerably.  They were especially excited with the cash donation.  Now they get to go do some shopping on their own for some specific items they have found out about.  All in all, they were very grateful.  Thanks, Seasiders.

 

While we were out running around, we also went by Walgreens.  Why a drug store?  Well, we had to pick up a special delivery for Seaside.  The Humphries Family up in Alaska sent us a photo poster thank you note.  Great pictures of their family and a very sweet, Lauren-esque message of thanks to the church.  Thanks, Seasiders.  By the way, Lauren is still in California with their little baby.  The young one had major open-heart surgery yesterday.  Last we heard was last night.  The surgery was past nine hours and still going on.  Keep praying.

 

We stopped by Academy to do a little Christmas shopping.  Actually, we knew of one particular thing there.  Found a few others.  We haven’t really had time to develop our usual Christmas list yet, with all the hospital stuff going on around here, so we are thankful for these kind of minutes that we do have.  Chris likes to have list in hand and ideas in her head for everyone on that list before we ever hit a single store.  May have to change things up a little this season. 

 

We grabbed some lunch to bring home from Shrimp n Stuff, thanks to a gift card.  Always a great bite.  Problem is, the location we went to didn’t do grilled shrimp.  Chris ended up getting boiled shrimp tacos.  She said they were fine, but just not the same.  Guess we need to hit up their food truck in Jamaica Beach.  They do grilled stuff out there. 

 

We also managed to squeeze in a little walk around the block.  Both of us.  Well, all three of us.  Freddy got to go, too.  She behaved admirably, I might add (Freddy, not Chris.  Well, Chris behaved pretty well, too, I guess).  We passed one lady out with her pooch.  And the rival went absolutely nuts barking at us.  But Freddy very calmly stayed at my side, looking over her shoulder a time or seven to make sure we weren’t followed by the noisy beast.  Chris did well, too.  Around the block is as far as she has gone since her procedure.  Me, too, actually.  My back felt OK.  My hip did get sore, though.  Arthritis, I guess.  But we are thankful to be going that far.

 

 

 

Father, please be with that little baby and Lauren in California.  Watch over them.  Give them strength.  Help them and the doctors and nurses to really sense your presence.  Amen.