May 7 - “Walmart … bananas”

Back to the early morning appointment routine. Chris had one with the device clinic. That’s the outfit that tracks what the implanted recorder sends out. We were pretty curious what it might have read when Chris had one of her going pale, gotta sit down spells during church.  

Yeah. Not much there. She basically told us the battery is almost dead. Mentioned a pacemaker, but that’s up to the actual Dr. Electro in two weeks. So … we’ll see. 

Walmart … bananas. Need I say more? Oh, we had a whole cart full of stuff, but … Walmart … bananas. Yep. 

Back at the house, Chris set to work on travel arrangements. That girl can find some pretty obscure historical sites. Looking forward to some summer and fall fun trips. So much so that we picked some excursions for our Eastern Caribbean cruise. 

I did some house scraping. That is sure a tedious, thankless task. Feels like it will never end. I may just go back to power washing and live with whatever results remain. 

‭‭Psalms‬ ‭42‬:‭11‬ ‭says, Why am I so depressed? Why this turmoil within me? Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him, my Savior and my God.

Father, thank you for, well, bananas. Amen. 

May 6 - “Not my department”

Two miles to start the day. That’s becoming a standard. Hope it’s making a difference aerobically. Gotta stay ready for our upcoming trips. 

Helped Chris move some pots around in the backyard. She’s doing some repotting and planting back there. It’s kind of exciting to see the avocado trees in particular growing. And the yard looks great. That’s my green thumb wife. 

Chris went to a ladies lunch with some of the church ladies. I wasn’t invited - not being a lady and all. I grabbed one of the quick microwave meals out of the pantry. 

When the mail came I had to deal with one of the never-ending array of bank notices. I was going to drive over in the truck, but the battery was dead again. So I hooked it up to the charger in the garage and opted for an online bank chat instead. After 15 minutes of waiting, someone finally answered. And guess what? “Not my department. You have to call the number I’m sending you.”  Of course …

To make a much longer story shorter, I called that number and (drum roll here) my question can only be answered in person. Of course …

‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬ ‭says, You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

Father, thank you for that green thumb of Chris’. Makes things beautiful. Amen. 

May 5 - “Approached in a whisper”

I had a bit of an unusual request for a church Sunday morning. One of the dads of a teenage boy approached me in a whisper. He asked me to tease his son and son’s girlfriend who was visiting for the first time. Now come on Dad. Why would you want someone to do that?  And even more … Who in the world would agree to do something like that? Weeeell … OK. I may or may not have been among the several who took him up on the request. Sweet girl. Her mom was pretty comical as well. She seemed to get a kick out of all the attention her daughter was receiving. 

We had a great afternoon. Had some lunch and settled in to watch the Astros game. I placed in a few parts of the jigsaw puzzle. Chris dove into cruise planning again. And our big movie of the day was Voyage of the Dawn Treader. One of the Narnian adventures. Read those books. 

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭43‬:‭1‬ ‭says, Now this is what the Lord says — the One who created you, Jacob, and the One who formed you, Israel — “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.”

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Father, thank you for the creativity that brought Narnia to life in books and in movies. Amen. 

May 4 - “Still leaking”

We got back on track again. Or should I say “Back on THE track”? Two miler to start the day. And there was a nice, cool wind blowing. Chris wore a long-sleeved shirt. Not me. I enjoyed every bit of the breeze. 

Did I mention that the roofers came to fix the leak we’ve had for some time now? Well, their job was severely tested during the night. We had a round of pretty serious thunderstorms come through right around bedtime. Loud enough that Freddy refused to settle down. She wanted to curl up next to our heads. Nope. No idea how many times I moved her back to her spot at Chris’ feet. 

But back to the roof. Yep. Still leaks. In fact it seems like it’s leaking worse than before. Typical, I suppose. Fixing one issue uncovers another. I’m afraid the new issue will involve tearing out boards from the deck though. Not an expense we planned for by any means. Sigh. Guess we’ll wait and see. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭25‬ ‭says, This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?

Father, thank you for those breezes. Love em. Amen. 

May 3 - “Playing in the water”

I got to play in the water yesterday like a kid in the sprinkler. Except I’m not a kid (at least externally). And it was a power washer rather than a sprinkler. But hey. I got drenched from head to toe, so that counts, right. 

I washed down one side of the house. Then I moved on to the garage door. That was my goal for the day. The rubber weather strip was getting pretty moldy.  Not any more. Now it’s just kind of a faint stain. Oh, and on the advice of Nathan, I also cleaned the front porch and part of the driveway concrete. Felt like one of those guys on Facebook who does it for people for free. I always wondered, though. Somebody had to pay for all that water, so it’s not exactly free. Sure looks better, though. And no, I’m not done yet. Just sore. Really sore. Oh, and a word of advice. Don’t use your power washer to rinse off your legs. Yep. I now have a nice little cut. Crazy. 

Once we got cleaned up and had some lunch, we headed out erranding. Chris found out Kroger carries the dog food Freddy likes, so first stop there. Next we went to the Target/Home Depot complex. Had to pick up an order at Target and then grab som potting soil and Weed and Feed from Home Depot. Gee. Wonder what’s in my future?

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬ ‭says, I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Father, thank you for power tools. Especially when they involve playing in the water. Amen. 

May 2 - “Having some reservations”

The roofers were here bright and early. They had a really good day to be working on a roof, too. Beautiful weather. 78 degrees and a little breezy. The boss did tell us that our roof probably has about 5 years of viability left. He said that when we get a whole new roof, we should reframe the deck. Gee. Can’t wait. Oh. Meanwhile, they took care of the leak.

We had a lazy enough afternoon. So lazy in fact that I even caught a little nap. Worked some on the jigsaw puzzle, too. Of course that was after we cleaned house for home group. 

We spent a while trying to make some reservations for our summer trip. It was difficult because the app was not working properly. I even deleted the app and reinstalled it. Still no good, but we muddled through using a back door I found. Once we had the reservations, I called them to see what was going on. Come to find out, I had to sign out of the old app before deleting it and reinstalling. My bad. Now it works just fine. 

I guess next we can start looking at excursions for our Eastern Caribbean cruise next year. Those have to be in place by November. I think our Fall trip up north (Minnesota and North Dakota) may end up being one of those spur of the moment, hotel as we get there kind of trips. Lots of fun that way. Hey … it’s our 50th anniversary celebration year. Anything goes, right?

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭3‬:‭20‬-‭21‬ ‭says, Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us — to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Father, thank you for the technology available to us. Especially when we know how to use it. Amen. 

May 1 - “Gumbo”

We were finally scheduled to have our roof leak fixed yesterday. Well … didn’t happen. Oh, they came. They saw. And they determined that there was water standing right where they had to work. Coming back today to give it another try. 

Meanwhile, we did other outside chores. I got to use the electric hedge trimmer in the front. Chris cleaned out the now-revealed leaves underneath. Then she dumped a bag of mulch into a few of the flower beds she has been working so hard on. Looks great. 

We added a quick trip to Walmart in the afternoon. We were out of … bananas, of course. We also got the stuff we needed to make shrimp gumbo. Yum. Oh, and we got a new hose. The one we were using with the power washer blew a hole in it. Guess I’ll have to get back at actually using the power washer again … 

Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬ ‭says, Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship.

Father, thank you for that gumbo. Thank you more for the lady who made it. Amen.