April 20 – “Eye see …”

It was up and at ‘em early once again yesterday.  This time the reason was that we had been enlisted to take Sam in for her cataract surgery.  Gotta take care of family, you know. 

 

It was cold and blustery outside.  Better than being cold and blustery inside, I guess.  It felt kind of like a typical “Easter sunrise service on the beach weather” kind of day.  Boy, Kel sure doesn’t know how lucky he was for his first one.  It was downright warm for him.  And the water was actually quite pleasant. 

 

But back to yesterday.  Sam arrived at our house a little before 6 a.m.  She handed me a package to be put in the fridge right away.  Could it be?  Yes.  She had made one of her key lime pies for later in the day.  That’ll be worth the wait.  We loaded her right into pour car and made the drive into Texas to the Victory Lakes version of UTMB.  We arrived a little before 7 a.m.   Hey.  If you’re on time you’re late, right?  The surgery didn’t take very long at all.  In fact, we were back in the car right around 10 a.m.  She was wearing her pirate eye patch with pride.  Only this one wasn’t a real pirate patch.  It was a clear plastic deal taped to her head that did cover her eye, but it also allowed her to see the eye.  Well … of course she would have to look at it through a mirror.  Kind of hard to look at your own eyes otherwise. 

 

Sam spent the night with us last night.  She spent most of the afternoon and then last night sleeping off the anesthesia.  She made her way in for lunch and supper, but she didn’t even want to watch the Astros game.  Not a problem for us, though.  She is always welcome here.  She has a follow-up appointment this morning, so Chris will take her in for that one.  If all goes well, she should be released for all activity.  Back to that wild and crazy life of hers, I suppose. 

 

James 1:2-3 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.”

 

Father, please continue the healing on Sam’s eye.  And give her some relief of the other pain she experiences every day.  Amen.

April 19 - “Off with honors”

I spent my morning working on some Thursday Bible study prep. We have two meetings before our next trip. Possibly a study on angels? Or just continue right on into Ruth?  

 

Late morning, we left to go to a funeral for Ed Jackson, a longtime Seasider. The service was at the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Houston. Ed was honored by a live playing of taps (not an easy task), a folding and presentation of an American flag by the Navy, a presentation by a veterans’ group, a presentation of a Texas flag by Pasadena police officers (Ed was a policeman there for many years), and another presentation that came from a lady we had no clue who she represented.  Me and the other pastor chose the same verse from John about Jesus preparing a place in heaven for us and coming back to get us. Good thing, since we were only allowed 20 minutes for the entire service. I just prayed, then closed with what Ed always said to me … Go Astros! 

We went to his daughter’s church for lunch after the ceremony. That was all the way up in Tomball. It made for a long way back south to home. 

 

On the way back, we kept track of Jachin’s baseball game. Bad guys won 7-1, but he got to pitch a few innings.  Then we stopped in Friendswood to watch Cailyn’s junior high team play soccer. Bad guys won there, too - 5-0.   Cailyn played the whole game at center midfielder. No matter the outcome, I am still proud of my Vaughan athletes.

 

John 14:1-3 says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”

 

Father, please watch over Ed’s family as they walk through grief. Welcome Ed into one of those special places you’ve been working on. Amen.

April 18 – “all the bluster I could muster”

As I briefly mentioned yesterday … Happy Resurrection Day!  Well, Day After, anyway.  We had quite the day yesterday, too.

 

Cailyn and Noa had spent the night with us on Saturday.  I went in with all the bluster I could muster, all prepared to flash on the light and sing “I’m a Nut” to assist them in their waking up process.  Wouldn’t want to disappoint them or anything.  Imagine my surprise when I pushed open the door to reach for the light switch … and there sat the girls, already awake.  In fact, Cailyn was busily braiding Noa’s hair for her.  At 4:15 a.m.  Huh.  Rats.  I must be slipping.

 

Around 700 people gathered on the beach for Kel’s first Easter sunrise service as the new pastor.  It was very cloudy, so we didn’t get to see the actual sunrise.  That was a disappointment.  But we did get a visit from quite a few seagulls, only a few pelicans, and two dolphins who peeked their heads up briefly to see what was going on over on their beach.  We had four baptisms.  Kel asked me to join him in the water, which was not all that cold, by the way.  Always an honor.  There was one child, one teenager, and two adults.  Welcome to the family. guys.

 

Around three hundred came over to the church for breakfast.  It was the most we have ever hosted for that meal.  As a result, there was not a lot left over this year.  Oh, and we also had 60 more at the 10:00 service.  Most of them had not been there at 6:30.  Pretty exciting stuff.

 

Cailyn and Josiah came over after church.  They ran across the street and enlisted Brennan's help to play some kind of wacky football/soccer/kick the ball over the neighbor’s fence kind of game.  They were outside most of the afternoon. 

 

We took our two kiddos home around 3.  That gave us a chance to give the families their souvenirs from our trip, but we did just barely miss Nathan.  He had to leave for work.  Kel and the rest of his crew were all home when we got there, though.  We left there when Ezra and Noa disappeared outside to go off chasing the ice cream truck.  Talk about old school.  Yep.  That’s still a thing, though.  At least it is in their neighborhood. 

 

Romans 3:23-24 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.”

 

Father, thank you for drawing all those folks to the services on Sunday.  Always amazing.  Amen.

April 17 - “Resurrection Day!”

I began the day trying to itemize my new critters into the proper file box on the computer. That’s a lot of doing for 18 newbies. I didn’t finish all I need to do with them, but I at least have pictures and names. The last thing I did with them was arrange them on the table as a centerpiece. Gorgeous. 

 

For lunch Nathan and April and Cailyn as well as Kel and Christina and all their kids came over for our family Easter celebration. Chris had a big roast cooking in the crockpot. Corn and green beans and rice on the stove. The girls brought salad stuff, raw vegetables, and even some chips and salsa. Everybody threw something together and we had a great feast. After the meal, the kids dyed some Easter eggs, another family tradition. Then they all filed out to the front yard (after Chris’ photo op, of course), and had a big egg hunt. 

 

The families began heading home soon thereafter. Well, except for Noa and Cailyn. They stick around and spent the night with us. Girls’ night at Nana’s. They couldn’t stay up late, though. We had to get up around 4:30 this morning. Why? Easter sunrise service on the beach. Starts at 6:30 with breakfast at the church to follow. Kel asked me to help him with the four baptisms he has scheduled. Here we go …

 

Matthew 28:6 says, “He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” 

 

Father, thank you for the resurrection. It changed everything. Amen.

April 16 – “5,000 mile checkup”

It took a while, but I finally managed to get all of our retirement vacation critters together in one place for a welcome home photo.  I haven’t posted it yet, but they are all still sitting around on our dining room table.  All 18 of them.  Quite the addition to the family, don’t you think?

 

We took our car in to the shop for its 5,000 mile checkup.  Yep.  Chris figured up that we drove 5,000 plus miles this trip.  Is that even possible in three weeks?  Dennis said that after an oil change and new air filter, we are good to go again.  So we will.  Give us a week or two to recuperate first, though.

 

Back at the house, we decided to wash the car.  Well, Chris decided to vacuum out the inside, and I did have washing it on my “eventually” list.  So, we dove right in.  That thing was pretty filthy.  It was fun, though.  Chris tried to spray me with the hose at one point, but I had my secret weapon all prepared.  I was wearing my hearing aids.  That would be my “can’t get wet” hearing aids.  I offered to go take them off if she really wanted to play that game.  She made a split-second decision.  Nope.  No water fight today.

 

One of our neighbors walked down to check on us.  Seems several others have been asking about our whereabouts.  How about that?  I suppose it’s good to be missed, even by people we don’t know all that well. 

 

Last night we went to the Good Friday prayer service at Seaside.  It was a pretty small crowd, but Kel did a good job putting it together.  He played videos of several songs that were brand new and did a directed prayer time not just for the Easter service, but also for many other concerns from family physical needs to national and international political situations. 

 

We ended the day by watching some of the Astros game against Seattle.  Chris bailed early.  I made it through until the score was 4-0 bad guys.  Glad I went to bed when I did.  Final score was 11-1 bad guys.  At least our boys didn’t get shut out.

 

Isaiah 53:6 says, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

 

Father, please be with the services on Sunday.  Draw those folks there who you want to be there.  And be with the ones getting baptized.  Amen.

 

April 15 – “Feelin’ like a Monday”

Hmm.  April 15.  Isn’t that supposed to be some kind of special holiday or something?  Guess I’ve been out of pocket for too long.  It’ll come to me …

 

Well, yesterday felt a lot like a Monday to me.  Not in a sad, back-to-the-old-grind, bluesy kind of way.  It’s just that we were back at home, so I had to catch up on all the little Monday chores I have missed so desperately for the last three weeks.  I guess paramount among those was paying the bills.  We did have a few in the mail pile that I also had to wade through.  You don’t realize just how much junk mail you get from day to day until you have three weeks’ worth of it to cull through.  We also had to make a trip to WalMart.  Nothing in particular unless you want to include … food.  Our cupboard was pretty bare, so we had to make a full-size grocery run.  Guess that counted as our hike for the day.  We did run into Stephanie from church.  She had her grandson Grayson with her, and he ran over and gave each of us a hug.  That’s a fine way to be welcomed home. 

 

We were also blessed with an opening in our hairdresser’s schedule.  For me, I guess she would be a stylist or even a barber.  For Chris, she is hairdresser.  I don’t know what she likes to be called, other than Suzann.  She is great at what she does.  And she was especially appreciated yesterday when she found openings for both of us in her schedule.  Sure feels great to have short hair again.  It was really driving me crazy.  I guess it was fine for the cold weather we have been experiencing, but back here on the Island, I want it short.  Thanks, Suzann, for making a welcome home spot for us.

 

While we are on thank you’s, here’s a shout-out to our great neighbors, the Gerans’.  They took care of Freddy until Kel came and took her home with him.  But they came over every day and got our mail and newspaper.  And as an unexpected bonus, they mowed our grass.  That was a big task, too.  Not so much because we have a big yard.  It’s just that the weeds were being particularly aggressive.  Thank you , Corey and Janell, for being careful watchmen while we were gone. 

 

John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

 

Father, thank you as well for the great friends and family you have blessed us with.  Amen.

April 14 – “Being Home”

We stuck around Waco for a while yesterday, but we were getting a little anxious to get back home.  We finally got on the road around 10:30 or so.  The trip itself was, for the most part, uneventful.  About the most exciting part was the fact that it actually rained on us some of the time.  Our car sure needed the rinse-off after all that time in the red dirt.  It is filthy.  Oh, and we stopped at Buc-ees for some gas and lunch.  That’s always a treat, I guess.  We had our usual.  Chris had a chicken fajita taco.  I had a BLT.  Well, half of one.  I ate the rest for supper last night.  They put lots of bacon on those things. 

 

We stopped in LaMarque to say hi to Kel and his family.  And to pick up Freddy.  She has been staying with them while we were gone.  They found out that the coyotes were really on the prowl in our neighborhood, so they took her to their house to be safe.  She was waiting at the door for us.  And when we sat down, we couldn’t keep her out of our laps.  It’s good to be missed, I guess. 

 

We finally officially arrived on the Island around 3:30.  We were gone for almost exactly three weeks.  We celebrated by crashing on the couch and watching some of the shows that taped while we were gone.  Missed the Astros game because of their noon start, but I’ll download their schedule today to stay on top of that.  Now to look toward Easter and then our next trip – to Florida – in a week or two. 

 

Matthew 26:38 says, “Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me.’”

 

Father, thank you for a safe trip back home.  Always good to be here.  Amen.