October 7 - “Field Trip!”

Field Trip! Mom and Dad are away, so what can I say? We did a field trip to the Waco Zoo. We were there first thing after opening, so we could count the number of cars in the parking lot on one hand. Well, maybe two hands. Three at the most. It was  fairly cool, too, so the animals were really active. Even the snakes and those massive tortoises were moving around. 

Now don’t get me wrong. There were some critters otherwise occupied. Like the local favorite - an orangutan chilling on his back. Certain members of our entourage - everyone but me - were convinced the dude was me. Last time I lag behind the group. 

The last stop was a call AnnaGrace made. Gift shop. And of course each of the kids just had to have a souvenir. Luke got a coyote wrapped around a vial of candy. AnnaGrace selected a stuffed penguin (yes, we did see the fifty or so waddlers they had on site). And to my surprise, when we got into the car, who should be there - right on the dashboard - but Rockerfeller Rhinoceros. Sigh. Happens to me all the time. 

We decided as we pulled away that we were all pretty hungry. Luke and AnnaGrace suggested I take a shortcut home. I understood that code right away. Of course we ended up - by some strange quirk of fate - at Whataburger. Good stuff. AnnaGrace even downed her whole meat patty. She must have been really hungry. 

Speaking of food … I got to make a banana run last night. And I was mystified when I got back to the house to find a few things other than those monkeyesque delicacies. A bag of cheese. A bag of chips. A carton of French onion dip. A carton of Blue Bell Homemade in the Shade ice cream. And a measly few cartons of frozen lemonade. I have no idea how that all got in here. Must have just fallen into the cart accidentally. And since it was there, we had to have a taste of that ice cream for dessert. Good stuff. 

And after ice cream? What better way to round off the night than a reprisal of that same movie we watched the night before - Mufasa. Yep. That would be the infamous “ByeBye” song movie. Incredibly annoying. Almost worth watching the whole thing again just to hear that song. 

Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭11‬ says, And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through His Spirit who lives in you.

Father, thank you for our zoo trip with AnnaGrace and Luke. Bless them in a special way. Amen. 

October 6 - “slightly DadDad-ish antics?”

We were lucky enough to catch Josh’s opening Bible teaching on Columbus Avenue Baptist Church’s big fund-raising campaign. I say lucky because Josh did the best teaching for one of these things I have ever heard. Even had a young couple join the church at the end.  Among other things, he included this idea for how to pray. Fill in the sentences with words from your heart.

God, you are …

I am …

Help …

Thank you for …

Yep. That would just about cover it. 

After church we all went to lunch with Lindsay and a friend of hers - Nicole. Very sweet girl. She may or may not have had to put up with a few slightly DadDad-ish antics.  She handled it all with a smile and even a chuckle or two.  Oh, and where did we go? Freddy’s, of course. It’s the happening place. Just ask AnnaGrace. Glad you got to meet me, Nicole. 

Josh and Christi left for their little romantic getaway around four. We smiled and waved meekly as they drove away. Then someone may or may not have walked quietly into the house and perhaps a bit loudly proclaimed, “They’re gone! Let’s party!”  Other than the involuntary jumps in their seats, however, there were no takers. At least not yet. I’ll try again later. 

Zak and Lindsay, and later Nicole,  popped in shortly after the parental departure. I think there might have been more response to the party call had Zak been there at the time. But again … maybe later. 

They left again to go to their community group meeting. Caleb and Luke were at a youth group meeting called Sunday Night Out Together (Yep. SNOT. Gotta love youth ministry). So it was just us and AnnaGrace. So what else were we to do? We watched a movie. Some kind of musical backstory about a lion called Mufasa. I stayed awake through most of it. Cute story. 

Psalms‬ ‭4‬:‭8‬ I will both lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, Lord, make me live in safety.

Father, thanks for our movie time with AnnaGrace. She’s a good 

October 5 - “My brother is dating Big Bird”

Chris took off in the morning. Not to walk, though. She joined the rest of the girls around here on an excursion to Hobby Lobby. They were looking for material and maybe a pattern for that Sacagawea outfit AnnaGrace wants. 

Meanwhile, I joined the guys in “talking off” in a different way. We took the day off to watch college football. And being in Waco, that meant starting the day with Baylor vs. Kansas State. And the B game didn’t disappoint. Baylor kicked a go-ahead field goal with about a minute and a half left in the game. K-State had a chance to kick one of their own with just five seconds left. But Baylor blocked the attempt to win the game, 35-34. Phew!

To celebrate the victory we took a walk. Well, some of us walked. Luke ran. Four miles. The kid is a machine. Speaking of machines, AnnaGrace rode her scooter. Josh ran a bit, then walked, then sat on a bench and chatted with Christi on the phone. She was off taking pictures of Caleb and his homecoming date. Very cute girl. She’s the one who dons the Skyhawk mascot costume at football games. Yep. It’s official. As Luke so eloquently observed, “My brother is dating Big Bird.”

Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭8‬ says, For everyone who asks receives, and the one who searches finds, and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

‭‭

Father, watch over those young men and women who joined Caleb and his date last night. Amen. 

October 4 - “Costume disclaimer … disclaimer”

We left the house headed for Waco at 10. Our goal was 9:30, so not bad. Well, not exactly Waco yet. First we had a pretty important stop to make. 

We needed to go by Randall’s pharmacy to see if they would at least partially fill one of Chris’ meds that will run out this week while we are gone. They were already supposed to contact the doc’s office to approve a refill. But nope. Not in yet. Fortunately they have a system where they can issue a week’s worth as a prefill order. That’s all we needed. Just enough to get us through this week. 

Back on the road again by 10:30. Next stop … not Waco yet. Next we stopped in at Hobby Lobby. Chris is checking out patterns to try to make AnnaGrace a costume for their Trunk or Treat night at church. 

She wants to be Sacagawea, the Indian guide for Lewis and Clark (AnnaGrace, not Chris). Great historical nod there. We looked online, and the websites have a costume or pattern, but they come with a disclaimer that the costume might “offend a Native American.” Well, guess what, AnnaGrace? Your great, great , great grandmother was a full-blooded Cherokee. It’s in your blood. So, as long as you are OK with it … you are good. 

Now once we left there (patternless, by the way. Guess they have succumbed to the non-offensive crowd), we were noticeably hungry. Fortunately, there was a a Whataburger in the parking lot. Easy enough grab and go so we could get right back on the freeway … right into a major traffic jam caused by a wreck. Took us 20 or 30 minutes to navigate that one. 

We finally waded our way through Houston. Next came our usual break stop at Buc-ees. I grabbed a few of their massive cinnamon rolls. I’ll be set for breakfast for at least four days. 

We finally arrived in Waco a little before four. Not bad time, considering all that traffic madness through Houston. The football game was awesome. Caleb’s team won 53-8. They are apparently number 12 in the state in their division of 6 man football. Yep. We are proud. 

‭‭1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬ says, This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers.

Father, thank you for watching over the boys on the field. And thanks that the lady who got hurt before the game was OK. Amen. 

October 3 - “Go Seahawks”

We scaled back our walk yesterday. Chris wasn’t feeling just right, so after a recovery pause in the middle, we only went a little over two miles. But we’ll take that. 

Being Thursday, it was also clean house day. Chris did her regular routine. I did the vacuuming. Chris also watered all her plants. That’s part of her pre-travel routine, along with one final load of wash. We’ll get packed up this morning and head out for our Waco run. 

Several purposes for this one, but first and foremost on the docket is tonight. Caleb is playing in his football homecoming game. His six-man team has been doing really well. We’ve seen him play once before this year. I’m looking forward to seeing how he’s improved. Go Seahawks!

‭‭1 Chronicles‬ ‭16‬:‭34‬ says, Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever.

Father, please ride with us today. Keep us safe. Amen. 

October 2 - “Old age inspection”

My early morning activity was a little different yesterday. I took the car in for an oil change and tire rotation. Got there a little before opening time (7 a.m.). I was third in line. Fortunately, there were two mechanics on duty. Of course it still took over an hour to get the requested maintenance completed so they could move on to the proverbial “old age inspection.” Except for small bit of preventive maintenance, all was well. We were set once again for a trip. Let’s go. 

Since it was still pretty early when I got home (8:30), Chris was ready and waiting to get going on a walk. I changed into my walking clothes, and we were off. 3.2 miles later we pulled into our driveway. Success. 

After a lunch of some leftover Mexican food, Chris nabbed Freddy (After a search. Freddy has amazing instincts about such things). Yep. Time for a bath. I placed a few more pieces into the current jigsaw puzzle. Oh, and we did watch a little of the Tigers vs. Guardians playoff game. Go Tigers. 

We did have to make a Walmart run. Can’t go more than a week or so, you know. We mainly needed two items. Some more bug spray. Didn’t have enough to finish spraying the house perimeter. And some more Capstar flea killer for Freddy. Of course we may or may not have walked out with a dozen or so other things. Thanks, Walmart. 

Isaiah‬ ‭40‬:‭11‬ says, He protects His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them in the fold of His garment. He gently leads those that are nursing.

Father, thank you that we are in a place where we can run over to a nearby store when we need something. Amen. 

October 1 - “The LAST Order”

We did a pretty intensive workout yesterday. We walked two miles as a “warmup.”  Then we hit the yardwork. I did the mowing and edging. Chris dug through a few of the flowerbeds in the front yard. Not a bad morning’s work. 

I had another court date in the early afternoon. About two hours before, the estate lawyer called to see if the church trustee who signed one of the documents could also come to verify the church’s position in person. Fortunately, Glenn was able to get some time off work to make that appearance. Thanks for that, my friend. 

The judge was really kind and assured us we would be out in just a few minutes. She was pretty much correct. The lawyer asked each of us a serious of questions. Then the judge said she thought everything looked fair to her. She signed the order … I think the LAST order … and released us. We made a quick stop at the clerk’s office to get a copy of the now-signed order, and we were good to go.

On the way home we went by Academy to spend a $10 gift certificate. Chris looked for some shoes, but decided she didn’t need any after all. So I nabbed a pair of retro Astros socks. 

Since we were right next door, we then went over to Salsa’s. It was a little early for dinner (even for us codgers), so we made a to-go order. Again, we had a gift card, so two full meals cost us just $3.50. Score!

After dinner we went over to the Grand opening of the Galveston Urban Ministries retreat and conference center. It is actually just around the corner from our house, so it was easy to find. There were quite a few court and even state dignitaries there. One of the fire engine crews was there, so as always, I enjoyed chatting with them. The building is amazing, by the way. Kel was there getting some ideas for renovating Seaside’s retreat center. Can’t wait to see that progress. 

Isaiah‬ ‭60‬:‭3‬ says, Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your radiance.

Father, later you for the positive court experience. It will be good to have all this behind us. Amen.