August 15 – “LX”

Chris and all the kids made a cake for my birthday, and they unveiled it after dinner.  Marvelous job, of course.  Yellow cake with chocolate icing.  Oh, and every kind of sprinkle on top that you can imagine.  Not to mention the little letters spelling out “Happy Birthday Daddacl” (That’s not a typo, autocorrect.  They ran out of “D’s.”  Pretty ingenious, don’t you think?)  And Christina brought along one of her signature homemade chocolate pies, as well.  Perfect day for clogging the arteries … fried fish and chocolate. 

Now, I didn’t want Chris to think she was getting away with no recognition herself.  In fact Christina even asked if that was Chris’ intent when she noticed the absence of a “Nani” on the cake top.  I assured her that was not going to happen.  I do try to keep something up my sleeve for just such eventualities.  So after the Happy Birthday to You song I got everyone’s attention and made my little presentation.  Here’s the speech I came up with:

“Chris, Nani, Nana … You really seemed to like the letters I carved for you last year.  I know that those letters happened to form the names of each of your grandchildren, but after all, they were just letters, right?  So for your birthday I chose two more random letters for you.  Totally random letters, you understand.”  At that point I held them up for all to see these two new letters before I handed them to her. 

Oh, what letters were they?  A good question, I suppose.  I didn’t think to include that information since they were chose strictly at random.  As I recall they were both capital letters.  Hmm.  An “L” and an “X,” joined together.  That’s it.  And to my utter surprise, Jachin told me that an “L” and an “X” joined together - in Roman numerals - equals the number sixty.  Really?  Imagine that?  Where in the world could that have come from? 

“Sixty Sunday” is coming, Chris.  Two more days.

Proverbs 20:28 says, “Love and faithfulness keep a king safe; through love his throne is made secure.”

Father, I know nothing about the whole king experience, but I do appreciate the loves you have put in my life.  Amen.

August 14 – “A Pre-Birthday Feast”

Aaaand the Family Circus has officially begun.  Josh and Christi and their three boys arrived a little earlier than expected around noon yesterday, and the Vaughan house has not been the same since.  Well, at least not until around ten or so when we all went to bed.  The early arrival gave Luke a bit of a chance to acclimate to the new old people googly-eyeing him.  He went to Nani right away and his grin lit up the room.  He did make an acceptable transfer to my arms as well, but when I dutifully did my grandfatherly part and took him over to play with some of our toys, things changed.  He was OK until I actually put him on the floor beside me.  Then the bottom lip started to quiver.  He started looking over his shoulder, and the tears began.  Of course Mommy was there in a flash.  She told us that what I had done was exactly the same move the nursery workers make when they leave him at church – distract him with toys so Mommy can escape.  He was having a little post-traumatic stress flashback action.  As soon as he realized Mommy wasn’t going anywhere, he was back to his old grinny self. 

It wasn’t that far into the afternoon when Nathan and Cailyn and Kel and his entire crew arrived.  And the noise level increased by at least 500 decibels.  Actually I have no idea how to measure sound levels, so that may not seem too high.  I just remembered “decibel” from a crossword puzzle I worked the other day.  Suffice it to say, the house got noisy.  Fortunately for me, my job for the afternoon was to fry fish … outside.  I was able to escape the chaos for a minute or so at a time.  Gotta admit, though, it was fun to watch the constant motion in literally every direction.  Building Lego masterpieces.  Racing around and around in circles through the house (until Aunt Christina insisted they take it outside).  Climbing to the very top of the palm tree in the back yard.  Collecting snails and treating them to a free day at the beach (read here tossing them into the birdbath).  And speaking of the backyard, one creative event resulted in somewhat of a “problem.” 

It rained for a little while yesterday, really hard.  So hard that when Zak and Caleb and Luke arrived I had to meet them at the car with an umbrella.  So with rain comes mud.  And as everyone knows, mud carries with it a magnetic force that is impossible for little boys to resist.  And like the opposite end of that magnet, that force is just as repellant to little girls.  So what better way to entertain themselves than for the five boy cousins to chase the one girl cousin all over the back yard with mud on their hands demanding that she give them a muddy high-five?  That’s about the time I heard Cailyn insist, “OK, guys.  The rule is: No mud is ever to touch the hair.”  And then later, in a much more “insistent” (as well as somewhat winded) voice, “I took a bath before I came over here, so no mud on me.”  Things seemed to be going fine (at least from the guys’ perspective) when it came time to eat some fish.  The call to wash up came when I was back inside with the last load of fried shrimp.  In came Caleb … Josiah … Micah … Jachin … all dutifully heading toward the bathroom with smirks on their faces.  And finally Zakary entered.  He had mud, well, not just on his hands.  I heard him rather proudly report in to his Mom with something along the lines of, “I think there might be some in my ear.”  And following close behind him was Princess Cailyn.  But she was not so princess-y right then.  Mud was on her hands as well.  And her arms.  And her face.  And emerging from her mouth.  Her Dad took in that sight for a brief instant and began to comment, “Cailyn …”  But before he could finish, she took the offensive.  With a stomp of her feet and a raging in her voice she anticipated his remarks and beat him to the punch, defending herself with, “Well I didn’t throw mud on myself, Daddy.”  Classic. 

Genesis 40:20 says, “Now the third day was Pharaoh's birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials.”  (See there?  Biblical confirmation of birthday feasts)

Father, thank you for the noise and non-stop, mind-blurring activity of eight grandkids in the house.  Amen. 

August 13 – “Anticipation”

I received word yesterday that I have a funeral to perform on Friday for a really sweet lady.  Her son was our contractor after Hurricane Ike and did a tremendous job.  Oh, and her grandkids were both baptized at Seaside.  Along with preparing for that funeral, I also spent much of the day working on a sermon for Sunday.  I think I have both pretty much completed, other than the usual constant changing that takes place every week.  I guess that’s kind of an oxymoron, isn’t it?  Constant change. 

Well, it’s just that I won’t have much time to work on anything that requires a lot of concentration later on in the week.  Josh and Christi and Zak and Caleb and Luke are all coming down for a day or two.  They are due in sometime this afternoon.  That of course means the Kel Tribe will be here at some point as well.  So will Cailyn and Nathan and April.  Gotta have that cousin connection.  It will make for quite the birthday weekend for me and Chris.

I’m sure we will have to find a spot for a beach trip somewhere in our plans.  Maybe even some fishing.  We had to make our usual special WalMart run to get our grandkid shopping done.  I think the meal plan is to have our family fish fry tonight, then tomorrow we will have a hot dog and hamburger bash.  Since it will be Thursday night, and they are used to coming over here anyway, we invited our home group to join the fun, too.  And after the food all settles and the adults disappear into wherever it is that adults disappear at such times … Cousins Sleepover begins.  And are there ever rules about that major Vaughan event.  Sleeping bags on the floor.  Movie playing. Popcorn.  Some degree of giggling.  Who will be the first asleep?  Who will be awake early in the morning to go with DadDad to greet the Donut Man when he mysteriously arrives?  Word from all the parents is that the anticipation level is growing rather intense.  I gotta admit, it just might be slightly elevated on the grandparent front as well.  Bring em on.

Proverbs 17:6 says, “Children's children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.”

Father, it is a lot of fun having all those little crowns running around here at the same time.  Tiring, for sure, but an awful lot of fun.  Keep them safe as they travel.  Amen.

August 12 – “Pressure”

Well, how about this for an unexpected discovery?  Apparently when I went to the emergency clinic after I fell and smashed open my face, my blood pressure was somewhat elevated.  I certainly didn’t think anything of it at the time.  I had six or seven other things to think about.  I do vaguely recall that they almost made me stick around the clinic for a while longer after they finished the stitches, but the doctor decided that his blood pressure would probably be elevated, too, after what I had just gone through.  Ah, but therein lies the joy of being married to a nurse.  Chris never forgets. 

On top of her elephant-like memory, I guess I have been experiencing some other unusual symptoms.  I have had headaches off and on since the fall.  I have felt jittery or restless as well.  Can’t really put my finger on any specifics of that one.  It’s just been hard to stay focused on whatever task I have before me.  Guess I’m understanding … hey, that’s a fly … a bit about … oh, I have to pick up my fire department shirt at the cleaners … what it must be like … so the Astros lost in the ninth inning last night … to have ADD.  I don’t think belching a lot and not feeling hungry has anything to do with it, but I have to add in there that I have not been sleeping very well.  I get to sleep OK, but I end up waking up three or four times during the night.  And most of the time it’s because of the one symptom that most annoys me.  I am hot most of the time.  Of course Chris thinks I’m a pretty hot guy anyway, but that’s a different kind of hot.  And it’s not like the hot flashes caused by that evil spawn of Satan drug prednisone.  I am just hot.  Like I have a fever or I have just mowed the grass at 2:30 in the afternoon.  Thank God for air conditioning. 

So in the midst of all this, the other day Chris randomly started showing up at my desk with her blood pressure cuff in hand, ordering me to stick out my arm.  She has been keeping a log of the results, too.  So, as it turned out, I guess yesterday’s results were a little more significant than usual.  She repeated the process on both arms.  Of course Cailyn was here, too, and she was right in the middle of everything.  She likes to pump up the cuff.  She also has to take her turn with the stethoscope in her ears.  Doesn’t matter if she can’t hear my heart beat, though.  She always asks me to whisper something into it so she can listen to what I say. 

Anyway, the results were higher than they should have been.  Not that I know what they should be.  But for the first time Chris started talking in terms of the Dreaded Diet.  You know, the “no salt and no fried foods” ridiculousness.  Of course we already have a family fish fry scheduled for when Josh and Christi and their boys get here tomorrow.  Maybe she was just trying to scare me into submission.  She didn’t press, though.  Even said that her stethoscope or cuff might be off.  Little did I know she had something else up her sleeve, though.

Later on in the afternoon we took Cailyn to the library.  Typical outing.  And then we stopped by the fire station to “see her Daddy.”  Also a typical part of such an adventure.  Only this time, while I had a conversation with a few of the fire fighters, I noticed that Chris and Nathan had eased over to the fire engine and were in deep discussion.  Suddenly Nathan was approaching me, medical bag from the truck in hand, saying, “Come on.  Let’s take your blood pressure.”  Got me.  What was I going to say?  And sure enough, his fire department approved blood pressure cuff came up with the same reading Chris had gotten earlier in the day. 

So what does that mean for me?  I don’t know.  I think the next thing I expect is for Chris to tell me I have an appointment for a full-blown doctor’s office check-up.  Oh, well.  Couldn’t hurt.  Meanwhile, I hope I don’t keel over during water therapy or whatever it is you do when you have high blood pressure.  Sigh.  What a way to approach my 61^st birthday. 

Psalm 117 says, “Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.  Praise the Lord.”

Father, thank you for the love and concern Chris and Nathan showed me yesterday.  I could do with a little less pressure in my bloodstream, I guess.  Amen.

August 11 – “Jam Camp”

A few weeks ago the Seaside Retreat Center hosted a group called the Galveston Jam Camp.  They were a group of students of all ages who spent a week being taught musical skills by local music professionals.  The camp ended up with two concerts.  The first was an outdoor affair at Sangerfest Park over on the Strand.  The second was a more formal presentation at the Grand Theater downtown.  Chris and I were able to take in most of the outdoor concert before we had to head home to host our home group.  I have to admit that I was amazed at the abilities of the kids involved. 

They started out with a younger group and worked their way up to the older, more experienced ones.  Those are the ones we missed when we had to leave early.  And if the skills of the younger kids were any evidence at all of what the older ones were capable of, then I think we might have missed something really special.  Those youngsters we saw were amazing.  A ten-year-old played a harmonica solo.  One little guy amazed everyone with his percussion skills.  He turned Seaside’s conga drums into something alive with his sense of rhythm.  And that’s just when he wasn’t playing the regular drum set.  Kids played electric and bass guitars.  Others played keyboard or sang.  And the music wasn’t “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” either.  They did a lot of blues numbers, which was appropriate, since several of the boys were outfitted in costumes that would have made the Elwood and Jake proud.  Oh, and I have to make special mention of the crowd favorite.  That honor would easily fall to the little girl who was playing … ready for this? … the washboard.  Yep.  And she was nothing less than amazing.  Oh, and I was really bowled over when I found out her name.  Couldn’t be more appropriate.  Lulu.  Amesome.  Be watching for some of these kids in the years to come.  In fact, be watching next summer.  Jam Camp has already reserved another week at Seaside. 

Psalms 92:1-3 says, “It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night, to the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.”

Father, thank you for music and children, especially when the two of them fit together.  Amen.

August 10 – “CPR”

Well, I am once again American Heart Association “certified” in Cardio-Pulmonary-Resuscitation – CPR.  I honestly can’t remember the last time I took the course.  It has been many years, though.  And even then, I’m not sure that it was the American Heart Association’s version or some off-brand.  I was beginning to feel kind of silly, being associated with the fire department and not even having a recent CPR course under my belt. 

The course was taught by one of the fire department’s battalion chiefs and his wife, Gary and Lana Staudt.  Gotta say up front they did an amazing job.  And not just because they are FD family.  They keep up with the latest advancements in the field, and incorporate those things into their presentation.  Things like it being the 50^th anniversary of the heart association recommending CPR for the rank and file citizen, and the latest research into breaking up blood clots using none other than vampire bat enzymes.  Thank you for that, Count Dracula.  Oh, and another of my favorite fun facts.  At one time the city with the number one best survival rate for cardiac events was (drum roll here) Las Vegas.  Every bank of slot machines has an AED device behind it.  Every employee is trained in CPR and the use of the device.  Security personnel and constantly walking the floor because of all the money involved.  And Las Vegas is probably the single most videoed city anywhere, what with all its security cameras.  So, if you are planning to have a heart attack, make your way to a Las Vegas casino.  That or a doctor’s office, I guess.  Seattle was number two that year, by the way.  The city had a big PR awareness push.  And coming in at number three that same year?  None other than Galveston, Texas.  How’s that for a national ranking?  Not sure how we are doing on that lately, but that’s yet another claim to fame for our Island near Texas.

Another reason I took the course was that I have never even seen one of the new AED machines up close and opened.  AED stands for Automated External Defibrillator, by the way.  It’s one of those shock-the-heart-back-into-proper-function things, like a reset button or control-alt-delete on a computer.  I knew they existed, and that more and more places were requiring them on site, but I just had never seen one.  It was quite encouraging to know that the little boxes are really quite smart.  Once you press the green “Go” button, the box gives verbal commands to tell you exactly what to do.  That makes it downright difficult to use them wrong, as long as you know how to follow instructions.  You just apply the pads to the right area of the victim, and the machine automatically senses when or if to give the shock.  It even reminds you to stand clear before pushing the shock button.  Now all it needs is a sensor to tell it to jump off the wall and come running when someone calls 9-1-1. 

So … I have my CPR card and my official Adult/Child & Infant CPR Resuscitator Mask in hand.  I understand the fire department is going to offer another weekend course on October 11^th from 9 to 12.  Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll get you the sign-up information. 

Psalms 28:7 says, “My heart trusts in him, and I am helped.  My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.”

Father, that’s one smart heart.  Thank you for the training I received yesterday.  I honestly pray I never have to use it, but I am really glad I have it.  Amen.

August 9 – “Origins”

We received an unusual phone call the other day.  Actually it was a FaceTime call from our four year old grandson, Josiah.  Seems he had a pressing question about origins.  That’s right.  The youngster is already philosophizing about where things come from.  And this was no trivial little preschoolish pondering about why cake is puffy and brownies are flat and pancakes are even flatter (Although I have often wondered that myself).  Not, not for Josiah.  He advanced right to the serious questions, perhaps a function of living in a house where only one out of eight residents (that figure, of course, includes Lucy the Indoor Dog and Snowflake the Outdoor Cat) is younger than he is.  Well, OK, maybe the cat is younger, but cats are … well … cats, after all. 

And what, pray tell, is this demanding dilemma, this persistent predicament that inspired young Josiah to seek out the wisdom of the elders, the wise ones, the grandparents?  Here’s a summary of the conversation as I remember it:

Josiah: “Is Darth Vader from a Galaxy far, far away?”
Nana: “Well, …”
Josiah: “Like, is from Texas?”
Nana: “I think it might be farther away than Texas.”
Josiah: “Like maybe the North Pole?”
Nana: “It could be from that far.”
Josiah: “Is it the South Pole?”
Nana: “The South Pole is pretty far away.”
DadDad (from the next couch over): “Tell him he’s from all the way past the moon.”
Nana: “DadDad says he’s from way past the moon.”
Josiah (obviously in awe of such deep-sage wisdom): “Whoa.  All the way past the moon?  That’s a long way.”

Well, there you have it.  Should any other question-of-origin type questions arise, you know where to find us. 

Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Father, that’s the origin that really matters.  From you …  Amen.