January 16 – “The Beam”

Yes, we got to see Cailyn again today.  And yes, I held her again.  And yes, these girls are pretty special little things.  I also got some new pictures of Caleb as well.  He's doing great.  He's got his own share of "special" right now in my heart, too.   Today we got some really good news about the house.  Well, actually it would be more accurate to say we saw some good news.  We were scheduled to meet with our contractor this morning, so we drove in to Galveston.  He wasn't there, but a crew was.  We went on inside to see what was going on.  Wow.  They had already finished redoing the anchor bolts around the outside of the house, including replacing one entire two by four along one wall.  They also had the two temporary support walls built on each side of the kitchen wall we were taking out – the one that used to be the back wall of the house before the family room was added.  It was a major load bearing wall.  At the top of that wall were two huge two by twelves nailed together – The Beam - the new system of support.  And they were just beginning to tear out the old wall itself.  They still needed to build the small support wall and add the steel support pipe, but the house looks completely different already.  I think the main thing for me is the anchor bolts.  At least now we know the house won't slide off the foundation next time it rains.    We ended up having lunch at Luby's with Mom and Kel and Christina and Jachin and Micah.  Another great Vaughan family affair.  After we ate we rushed back over to the house and waited for John.  He finally got there.  I don't think he was all that late, but we were really anxious to talk to him.  He went over some more of the specifics with us.  Well, with Chris.  I had to struggle quite a bit to come up with an opinion on some stuff.  Between the three of us, though, I think we have some more jobs that can be started.  We are supposed to meet again to put together a specific budget.  How much for windows.  How much for doors.  How much for electrical.  How much for plumbing (He recommended redoing all our plumbing as well).  How much for air conditioning/heating.  How much for sheetrock (we probably have a team coming down from Arlington to nail up the sheetrock, but we still have to buy it).  How much for insulation.  How much for the roof (We may have a team coming to do the roof.  They were to meet this week to decide and let us know).  I just want to have a ballbark figure for the whole thing.  See, we still don't know for sure how much money we'll have to work with.  We are waiting for a letter from our mortgage company about the insurance.  If we can get a handle on how much it's going to cost, we'll know how close we are on the money.  Then we can start deciding what to cut out or what to include or what to wait for awhile on or what to pray for outside help on.  I guess to a certain extent we are operating on faith that we'll get at least enough to move in.  Some of you builder types are probably laughing at me right now, but this old preacher-dude just has no frame of reference whatsoever for this stuff.  And because of that ignorance we really have to trust God that it'll all work out in the end.    John 16:33 says, "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."   Father, I know everything will be all right in the end.  And I know if it's not all right, then it's not the end.  I know I'm ready for the "all right."  Help me be ready for the end.  Amen.

January 15 – “Cailyn”

OK.  It's after midnight, so it's technically the 16th, but the "official" day is the 15th.  I took notes today on what I could write about.  Everything from our good friends, Terry and Rhonda, who we haven't seen in years and who we ran into in the hall at the hospital, to running up and down the stairs so we could get to the one place in the hospital where we could get reception for our phones, to the text from Nathan that said only, "7 cm!"

 

But I'm really tired, and we have to meet our contractor in the morning and pick up Mom and get ready for the friends coming in from Arlington (we just found out about that one – come on down, Mona and Dave!) and still save some time to go back up to Houston.  Why?

 

To hold my little baby grand – DAUGHTER.  She was born – finally – at 8:38 p.m.  She was 19 ½ inches long and weighed 6 pounds 14 ounces.  And she is absolutely gorgeous.  Cailyn Sevela Vaughan.  Wow.

 

John 16:21 says, "A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world." 

 

Father, April's very tired eyes and Nathan's huge grin said it all tonight.  Thank you.  Amen.

January 14 – “Over-prepared”

Today was "spend-the-day-at-the-hospital-waiting-for-Caliyn-to-be-born" Day.  I know that's a mouthful, but it was how we spent the day.  All of it.  And we're not done yet.  We heard Nathan and April get up at 3:30, but that was definitely not our cue.  She was to be at the hospital to be induced at 6 a.m.  That would be a little closer.  As it turned out, we got there around 7:30 because of traffic and construction.  Not a problem.  She was definitely not in imminent danger of birthing.  So we settled in.   I was ready for this one.  My phone was all charged up for some fast and furious texting between the birthing room and waiting room, not to mention the obligatory check-in calls from family and friends all over the place.  Nathan told me they had wireless internet, so I had my laptop all ready to work on the sermon for Sunday.  I also took a little portable DVD player in case we needed an hour or two of release.  We could go to the movies.  And of course I had the usual novel/study book/crossword puzzles ensemble as well.  I had enough money for a meal or maybe two.  I was way over-prepared, right?    The first thing I discovered was that there was no wireless internet signal in this particular waiting room.  Well, I guess there was.  I saw it flash across the screen for about twenty seconds one time before it disappeared forever into internet oblivion.  I did get some work done, but there were several things I intended to look up on line.  So much for that idea.  The movie idea actually went over great.  I watched Godzilla first.  Well, I watched it until I started falling asleep and it began to slip off my lap and I jerked awake and Chris laughed at me.  That's about the time I felt the need for a bathroom and stretch-my-legs break.  I did a little better with Heaven Can Wait.  The study book went well, too.  I am reading a book Josh recommended about studying the Bible.  Got two full chapters read in that one.  I never got to the novel.  And for the first time in all the years I've been waiting in hospital waiting rooms, I didn't work a single crossword puzzle.  The phone thing was a terrible disappointment.  This particular waiting room was the black hole of telephone reception.  At least for my phone.  I got nothing.  No text messages or calls, in or out.  It was more like the Twilight Zone for Chris, though.  Her phone would ring, but when she answered, no one would be there.  She could receive texts, but not send them.  Talk about an odd day – little to no connection with the outside world.  How did we ever used to manage?   After a long day of contractions and pitocin, the doctor decided to give April a rest and start up again at 6 in the morning.  She just wasn't progressing beyond two centimeters.  We said our goodbyes and headed for home.  Nathan asked Chris when she wanted him to call if things sped up.  His thoughts?  "When we see the head?"  Chris had a quick answer for that one.   We made a quick stop at Omega Bay and then headed into Galveston.  I forgot to mail our quarterly income tax payment and it is due tomorrow.  We needed gas as well, and while we were there we decided to pick up our mail.  While we were picking up our mail, I grabbed a flashlight and walked through the house.  Guess what?  The framers had been there.  We actually have had some positive work done on our house beyond getting electricity.  Looks like they rebraced our outside walls that had bowed from the weight of the flood.  I guess our house won't fall down anytime soon.  Needless to say, we danced back to the car.   1 Peter 3:15 says, "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect."   Father, help me to be as prepared to engage people every day as I thought I was for waiting around today.  Amen

January 13 – “Stubborn Stump”

Today was the day we tuned up the chain saw and attacked the remains of the big old tree in our front yard.  In was Tuesday, though, so we took Mom out to Luby's first.  That's been our routine for several years, so we wanted to get back to it since Mom is with us again.  Nathan and April joined us, since Nathan was going to help with the tree.  We even went by Starbucks and saw Kel after we ate.  And at the end of the day we saw the rest of Kel's family.  Micah had a doctor's appointment and Chris kept Jachin.  After spending a few days in Mansfield, that pretty much rounded out our family time. The tree event went pretty well at first.  Nathan cut manageable slices and I carried them – or dragged them - to the street.  April sat on a piece of the stump and Mom sat in the car.  Chris took pictures (of course).  The pile was pretty high when we got to the stump itself – the part that was still in the ground.  April made a quick WalMart run for us to get some sharp chains and a tow rope.  That's when it got interesting – and kind of fun.  It's also when the girls left.  We cut strips into the stump like we were slicing a piece of pie.  In fact, part of it was so rotten that it cut like a piece of chocolate cream pie at Luby's.  When we got some cuts made, we then strapped it to the back of the Explorer and pulled it down.  Well, sometimes it didn't come down so easy and we had to cut some more.  And some more.  And some more.  And some more.  But when it took, it sure felt good to see that big ol' hunk of tree crash to the ground.  And then we moved on to the next hunk.  Chris called at 4:00 to tell us it was quitting time, but we were almost done.  All we had was one more pillar of tree standing.  We could do this.    Well, we started all right, but for some reason the blade kept veering to the left – all on its own.  We tried several different approaches, including Nathan holding his tongue a different way.  We cut smaller and smaller chunks out, but we couldn't get it to stay straight.  Finally we changed the chain again, filled up with gas and oil, and cranked it up.  And it didn't start.  We cranked it again and again, but I guess it heard Chris' call about quitting time.  It refused to start again.   So we left that one tower of wood standing and headed for home.   Now we have shifted into baby gear again.  Nathan and April found out they have to be at the hospital at 5:15 in the morning.  She is to be induced and Baby Cailyn will make her appearance sometime tomorrow.  I'm not sure when we'll get back to that tower of wood, but some things are just more important than others.   Psalm 90:12 says, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."   Father, help me keep my priorities straight.  Amen.

January 12 – “Neal”

The family came by today.  We were at the house trying to finish scraping the floor.  Nathan called and said MeeMaw wanted to take a ride.  They decided to come to Galveston and grab some food from Sonic.  He offered to pick up some lunch for us as well.  Hard to pass up a cherry limeade slush.  While we waited for them get there, Christina showed up with Jachin and Micah.  Micah especially wanted to see his Nana.  Seems that while we were in Mansfield, Christina told him that Nana was holding Baby Caleb.  He answered, "Nana hold me."  I guess he just wanted to follow up on that.  Nathan and April and Mom soon arrived, and we all sat outside in the front yard and ate our burgers and tater tots.  Quite the family picnic.  And for some reason it didn't feel anything like it did back when we first came back.    Our delivery of lumber arrived this morning.  That was a pretty exciting event.  He dumped it in the driveway.  Jachin and Micah and Nathan helped me move it into the garage.  Now all we need are some framers who know what to do with it.   Our neighbor Neal came by again to check on how we were doing.  Chris told him we were trying to finish scraping the floor because April might have her baby any time.  Neal threw up his hands and said, "Oh!  We have to get this done, then.  That baby is much more important than anything else right now."  Now Neal is well up in years – at least in his seventies.  But he took the scraper from Chris and started in.  We wondered how we could keep him from hurting himself.  Didn't take him long to get a bit discouraged, though.  The glue was pretty tough in places.  Then all of a sudden, he said, "I'll be back.  I'm going to get my sledge hammer."  Now we wondered how we could keep him from hurting our foundation.  We both pictured one of those big old rock-busting, ax-like instruments best left in the hands of firefighters and shackled prisoners.  Instead he returned with a hammer only slightly larger than the one we used to pull our nails.  And he wielded it well for the short time he spent with us.  Neal has a great heart of service.   2 Corinthians 9:12-13 says, "This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God's people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God."       Father, thank you for Neal.  Please give him your protection.  Amen.

January 11 – “Electricity”

This morning at church I got to read a letter.  Seaside has had some rocky times this year, especially since the storm.  We have had four or five families decide not to return.  Several families of Seaside Christian Academy students lost homes and businesses, so they are behind on tuition.  We planned to build the SCA building without borrowing any money.  That commitment may mean we have to postpone opening the building until we can raise enough funds or arrange for enough volunteer labor and donated supplies.  The international economic crash hasn't helped much, either.  Things look pretty bleak from our perspective.  This last week I received from our treasurer a year-end report of giving receipts and expenditures.  Best I could tell, it showed that we were about $9,000 under budget for the year.  I was actually pretty pleased.  It sure could have been worse.  And then we got a letter.   The letter was addressed to the pastor, so I got to open it.  The first thing I noticed was that it was postmarked December 26.  The day after Christmas.  Wonder why it took so long to get here?  I'm not going to say the name of the person it was from.  I'm not sure how "In cognito" they want to be.  But in a nutshell, they heard about the hurricane and felt led by God to help.  And included with the letter was a check for $25,000.  Yesterday it had appeared that we were $9,000 under budget.  Today – suddenly – God was $16,000 over budget! Once again he showed us just how AWEsome he really is.   We went to the house after lunch.  We walked inside and there stood our contractor.  He was measuring windows.  He said, "How about plugging something in and trying out the electricity?"  I grabbed a fan, plugged it in and turned it on.  Nothing.  It hit me, though … I had to flip the breaker on.  Sure enough, the fan began to whir and stir and blow.  We had electricity.  Chris said, "This ranks right up there with having a grandbaby."  I'm not sure I would agree with that.  At least not this week.  But I sure do catch the sentiment.  We have waited a long time to get hooked back into the electric system.  It was always the "out there" goal that would finally show we were really going to rebuild, really going to get back into our house.  And now we had it.  And not only that, our contractor reminded us that we had a materials delivery scheduled for first thing tomorrow morning, and his framing crew could begin soon after that.  Sure made scraping tile a little easier with something like that to look forward to.        Habbakkuk 3:2 says, "Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.  Renew them in our day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy."   Father, I stand in awe of you, as well … again.  Amen.

January 10 – “Mouse in the House”

Today was coming home day.  Caleb came home from the hospital and we came home from Mansfield.  We were once again in charge of Big Brother, so we got Zak up to the hospital for the multitudinous photo opps that faced the little man.  He was a trooper as always, wearing his "Big Brother" shirt, holding Caleb in his lap, and saying everything from "cheese" to "hootenanny" to please the crazy photographers (that would be another word for grandparents).  Everything went smoothly.  Caleb weighed 4 pounds, 14 ounces (yes, he dropped a few ounces, but that is normal).  He is just a little bit bigger than his Daddy's outstretched hand.  Christi looks great, and said she felt really good as well.  DadDad was still a bit tired, but then, nobody asked about him.   We went back to the house for lunch from Spring Creek Barbeque.  Very good.  And to top it all off, we even had some entertainment.  As we sat around the table talking, all of a sudden Josh jumped to his feet and turned toward the kitchen.  He didn't say anything.  I think all his energy was going into looking calm as he sat back down.  Christi asked him what he saw, and his answer was, "Nothing that you have to be concerned about."  Well, his sudden movement concerned Zak, so Josh put him in his lap and we continued on with our conversation.  Until Josh jumped up again.  And Zak was still in his lap.  Now by this time we all knew that Josh had seen a little field mouse.  So his second explosive leap sent all of us into peals of laughter.  Josh laughed so hard he was crying.  Chris had both her feet in my lap.  Christi's Mom was trying to decide if Josh was being serious.  And Zak … well, poor Zak didn't think it was quite so funny.  Something had scared his all-powerful Daddy, and he didn't like it one little bit.  Josh and Christi were great as they said everything they could think of to reassure him.  Finally, though, Josh took him into the other room, changed both of their clothes, and effectively calmed down the little man.  Later on "we" (read here DadDad) set out three mouse traps to catch the little bugger.   We did get an update on our drive home.  One of the traps was sprung, sending the house into another dither.  Didn't catch him, though.  So Josh went to WalMart to get a few more types of traps to make sure they didn't miss next time.   Psalms 68:28 says, "Summon your power, O God; show us your strength, O God, as you have done before."   Father, thank you that we can trust you to be our all-powerful Daddy.  Amen.