January 14 – “Mountain cedar blues”

Another pretty good day at church.  60 plus people in worship and several new folks who said they would for sure be back next week.  Lots of kiddos as well.  Chris said a few of them told her they had never been in church before.  She had a chance to share the gospel with them in a simple way.  We’ll see how that turns out.

After church we went to lunch with six or eight other Seasiders at the new Jamaica Beach restaurant.  Pretty good burgers.  No prefabbed meat patties.  They form their own.  I like it.

When we got home I officially crashed.  My dealings with mountain cedar up in Waco came to a head and I felt miserable.  Just like I had the flu in fact.  I watched some football and then a movie (Code for slept fitfully off and on in my recliner).  For supper Chris heated up some cans of chicken noodle soup (an indication that I really didn’t feel good.  Chicken noodle soup was created to eat only when you are sick) and made some grilled cheese sandwiches. 

More football and some hot tea from our new Keurig-like coffee maker.  I stayed in the den and continued the pattern of off and on not-so-restful sleep all night.  Chris said she heard me a few times.  I guess it’s hard to silence coughing and nose-blowing.  I guess today will consist of lots of fluids so I can try to wash this junk out of my system.

Psalms 127:2 says, “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

Father, thank you for chicken noodle soup and hot tea and a comfortable couch.  I could sure use some of that sleep you grant today.  Amen. 

January 13 – “Rollicking Randomness”

The basketball games were more than fun yesterday.  If you have never watched a group of kindergarteners play basketball, you have been missing a real treat.  Lots of running around in circles and trying to figure out who is supposed to be guarding whom.  Luke is the youngest one on his team, but that didn’t stop him from dribbling the length of the floor and scoring on a pull up jumper with just seconds left in the game.  Caleb’s team was a lot more advanced.  They ran some screens and were considerably more astute at defense.  Caleb surprised even his Daddy-Coach, though.  He acted as point guard and had an amazing game.  He scored seven points.  That game itself was a real barn burner.  Ended up in a tie when a youngster on the other team made a shot at the buzzer.  Very exciting stuff.  Oh, and another thing that brought back memories of our own basketball days … Christi had to leave midway through Luke’s game to take Zak to practice at another site.  She got back in time to see the first part of Caleb’s game before she had to leave again to go pick up Zak.  Ah, those days of running all over town.

After the games we all went to Freddy’s for a burger.  That’s where Luke regaled us with his Rollicking Randomness.  Here are two examples of his thought processes as we ate:

First, he has surprised to find out that our last name was Vaughan, too.  Amazing.  However, he decided that “Nani Vaughan just doesn’t make sense.  DadDad Vaughan makes sense.  It should be Nani Michael Vaughan.”  For inquiring minds, Michael is his Daddy’s middle name. 

His second musing combined the two worlds of basketball and lunch.  He pondered, “If I was playing basketball two-on-two, and the other two were French fries, and they tried to take a shot, I would just stuff them every time.  I would just win the game.” 

Indeed you would, Luke.  Indeed you would.  And I have to add … yes, I did pick up two of my own French fries and ponder my own chances …

Psalms 127:1 says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain.”

Father, thank you for the inquisitive, creative minds of your children.  Amen.

January 12 – “22 miles from … here”

After home group Thursday night I had a hankering to go to Waco and see Luke and Caleb play basketball.  I knew Zak’s games are during the week, so that was off the table.  I had just breached the subject with Chris when a text came over my phone.  It was from Josh.  There was a video of Luke practicing his hook shot.  It was a sign.  We had to go. 

We made it all the way to our half-way point/lunch stop (Buc-ees) without incident.  At least I think it was without incident.  At least Chris didn’t wake me up screaming uncontrollably.  After our chicken salad wrap (with bacon) lunch, we got back on the road, but the wandering bug hit me.  Why not try a different way?  It took a bit of convincing, but Chris finally relented.  She was looking forward to the impending 75 mile per hour speed limit.  Google Siri wasn’t at all happy with our choice, either.  She kept insisting we get back on her choice of routes, but we held out.

And then …

What can I say?  A short cut within the short cut suddenly presented itself.  Chris saw a sign for Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park.  Now, neither of us had ever been to that one.  She asked me what is there to do at that park?  As the true navigator, I stayed faithful to my calling and replied, “It’s 22 miles from … here.”  “But what can we do there?” she insisted.  “I don’t know.  That’s your department.  I’m just the navigator,” I replied.  And then there was the turn and she said, “Well, what do you want to do?”  And I answered, “21 miles now.”  She turned. 

It was a rather quaint little park.  They had one of those working farms where the people where period clothes like those from the 1850’s.  Even had animals from the 1850’s.  Yep.  Sounded strange to me, too.  Actually he was referring to the same species that would have been around back then.  We didn’t go there.  There was also a museum, but our time crunch limited us from seeing that one as well.  The final structure of interest was a recreation of the old building where the folks met who drafted some of the earliest governmental structures of the Republic of Texas.  And it was right off the banks of the Brazos River.  Now that sounded interesting, so we took off to see that one.  Only it was not accessible by automobile.  We had to … drum roll here … hike.  That’s right, folks.  I hiked in a state park on uneven, gravel ground.  Uphill and down.  The down was kind of weird, actually.  Pretty steep for the new knee guy.  Chris offered to hold onto me.  I told her she was always welcome to hang onto me, but I requested that if she fell, she not take me with her, because I wasn’t sure I could hold both of us up.  We completed the trail with no problems.  I’m kind of sore this morning, but not too bad.  My physical therapist better be impressed.

The building was an interesting reproduction.  The view of the river was great (But then I have always been a water guy).  Oh, and we picked up a new friend.  Little red fox named Farquar.  He went with us on the hike.  Cute, cuddly, ornery little bugger.  Come meet him sometime. 

Even with our unscheduled short cuts, we made it to the Waco cousin’s house before Zak and Caleb got home from their homeschool Co-op day.  After a relaxing afternoon of shooting baskets (actually, around that house the basketball shooting and dribbling is a non-stop, 24-hour-a-day activity.  Brought back lots of memories), we watched some of Star Wars Episode One before bedtime.  Once the kiddos were off to their assigned sleeping areas, the adults talked into the wee hours of the morning.  Chris was in her element.  It was good to have the uninterrupted time to talk with Josh and Christi, though.  And to top off the evening he introduced us to a new Netflix show for our consideration.  The Idiotest.  Pretty fun stuff.  Like Visual Verses on steroids.  I’ll have to watch it a few more times to really appreciate it, though. 

Psalms 126:3 says, “The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy.”

Father, thank you for that most recent short cut.  And of course thank you for the end result – getting to see this part of our family.  Bless them.  Amen.

January 11 – “The Original Moose”

I witnessed quite an expression of love and appreciation last night.  I was asked to officiate a “relatively light-hearted” remembrance service of sorts for the father of one of our fire fighters.  The family has been in Galveston for years, and is well-known around town.  In fact, I was in the local Village Hardware store yesterday afternoon and mentioned what I was doing later on.  Never mentioned a name, but the proprietor smiled and asked, “Is that for Moose’s Dad?”  Yes, indeed. 

The room was filled with people when I arrived at the funeral home.  I acknowledged a few fire fighters, and Moose told me the “Big Chiefs” had already been there to pay their respects.  I thought I would include a few of the things I learned about Moose’s Dad.  I included some props to help liven up the presentation.  I’m not sure many of the people had ever seen anything like that.  They certainly didn’t seem to expect it.  It was all about honoring Moose’s Dad, though.  Here are my notes:

You know, I spent just an hour or so over at Mario’s last night talking to Moose and Marissa and even Gianna a little bit.  They were telling me some amazing things about an amazing man. 

And I brought a few things to help us out.  One of the things that struck me the most about David was … <> he has a die-hard Astros fan.  Once they told me that, I was sold.  I knew we had a connection.  And then I heard that he loved fishing <> Wow.  I was really sold.  This man could be my friend any day.

Now I understand he was the original “Moose.”  That used to be his nickname.  He did some heavy lifting work in his time.  But that gave way to an expertise that might be a little more unexpected.  <> Seems he could use one of these and a plumbline and a level … and his eyeball … and build just about anything.  Pretty impressive stuff. 

And this gruff, hard-nosed welder who rarely complained of being sick unless it was serious SICK, had a special place in his heart for his grandkids.  Gianna told me that he always called her his “Sweetie.”  That’s special.

And this man was an entrepreneur.  <> In the off season, he would take his father’s truck, fill it up with onions, and drive it all the way to Florida, where he would sell them.  Then he’d load up the truck with oranges <>, drive back and sell those.  Made some good money, too. 

Several others shared some memories, and then Moose’s wife Marissa read a tribute from Moose and one from herself.  They were both admirably written, and she did a fabulous job presenting them.  It was evident that Mr. Rojas was a well-loved man.  He will be certainly missed. 

John 14:1-3 says, “Stop letting your hearts be troubled; keep on believing in God, and also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places; if there were not, I would have told you, for I am going away to make ready a place for you.  And if I go and make it ready for you, I will come back and take you to be face to face with me, so that you may always be right where I am.”

Father, would you continue walking with Moose and Marissa and Gianna and the rest of that wonderful family?  Help then to feel those hugs that you alone can give.  Amen.

January 10 – “the wildly popular Farewell Song”

I started the day off (after doing an hour or so of work) by joining Chris on a walk.  I just went a mile, of course.  She continued on for I think three this time.  I just know I had time to complete all of my knee exercises and get started back on computer work before she got home.  It does feel good to be walking purposefully again.  I’m still a little hesitant in unfamiliar or unusual terrain, though.  But I suppose that it a good thing.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we had to take a break in there before the walk to take Cailyn to school.  She was especially excited that I was there with her when we pulled up to the school property and I started singing my wildly popular “Farewell Song” to her.  I could tell she wanted me to continue and even sing louder so all her friends could hear.  She was kind of speechless, though.  All she could say, over and over again, was “DadDad.  DadDad.  DadDad.”  Not sure why she kept shaking her head, though.  Maybe she was shaking away the last vestiges of sleep.  I’m just glad I could be of assistance.

When we picked her up we had the joy of telling her that she had softball practice.  Maybe “joy” isn’t exactly the right word.  It was kind of a chore getting her there.  But after she made phone calls to her Mom and Dad at work, and after Nani did some pretty heavy reassuring, she changed clothes and was all smiles.  Hormones?  Girls?  She wants to play volleyball and dance, but neither is on the docket just yet.  The thing is, she is really good at softball.  And once she gets to practice she is fine.  She enjoys being with her teammates and coaches.  Of course yesterday it was cold.  And she had on shorts.  Chris finally went back to their house and got her some long pants to wear. 

I had a meeting with a fire department family last night about a funeral service.  We met over at Mario’s on 61^st Street (a really good Italian restaurant on the Island).  They invited Chris and Cailyn to come along, too.  Their daughter and Cailyn have known each other forever through department activities.  They want me to lead an upbeat sort of mini-service at the visitation tonight.  It was actually a lot of fun getting to know the family better.  I’m looking forward to being there with them tonight.

Psalms 125:4 says, “Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, to those who are upright in heart.”

Father, be with the Rojas family tonight and tomorrow as they walk through a tough time.  Surround them with family and friends to assure them that they are not walking along.  Amen.

January 9 – “122”

Early morning doctor call yesterday.  No issues or anything.  The appointment just fell at 8:40.  I was kind of surprised when they started out with more X-rays.  They just did some last week.  Something about that “official” six week window, I guess.  They apparently looked good.  I got to see them with the resident.  He was pleased, anyway.  I asked him what kind of metal they used, but I could tell he wasn’t sure.  I forgot to ask the real doc, but it wasn’t important anyway.  I just wanted to research whether I would be setting off airport scanners. 

The doc was more than pleased when she walked in.  She said the X-rays all looked perfect, and she loved the way I was walking.  Guess that was a reference to the fact that I forgot my walking stick.  Well, on to the bottom line.  She said I was cleared to do anything I wanted now.  I asked if that meant I could run a marathon.  She said I sure could, and I could even play the piano.  Pretty impressive since I couldn’t do any of those things before the surgery.  Guess I have a lot to learn …

I went straight from there to physical therapy.  I had the same therapist as last time – the one that put me through some tough paces.  And this time she didn’t disappoint.  After my ten-minute bicycle warmup I did all the same stuff as last time except for one.  She hooked me up on the free weights machine and had me lifting with my legs.  I’m supposed to be able to lift my body weight.  Hope she waits until I lose some weight before cranking it up that high.  I can even feel that strain in my good knee.  She did do her voodoo squeeze and stretch of my sore hamstring.  It seemed to help a lot.  I’ll have to get her to teach that one to Chris.  Oh, and while she had me on my back, she decided to measure my bendability again.  That’s the one where the goal was 120 degrees.  I eased my knee up to a point, then she said, “Can you lift your foot up?”  Ever the good patient, I complied.  Then she grabbed my knee and pushed it together, holding it while she ran the measurement.  “122 degrees,” she announced proudly.  My reply?  “Thanks for the help.  I think.”  Now I need to focus on walking.  Made it a mile last time.  I’ll hold there for a week or so before increasing.

Psalms 125:1 says, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever.”

Father, thank you for the medical pros who have been helping me through this process.  Give them more than a few good days.  Amen.

January 8 – “Snot Shot?”

I accomplished somewhat of a milestone yesterday.  Wait.  I should say I accomplished an actual milestone.  No.  Let’s be clear and specific.  I accomplished a mile.  Yep.  Went walking with Chris in the morning and made it one mile.  She of course continued on to greater heights, but I was pleased.  Now to break the news to my physical therapist and surgeon today …

I spent most of the day in front of the computer working on … well, work stuff.  It really does cause your muscles to tighten up when you just sit there for long periods.  I’m really trying to force myself to walk around more. 

The LaMarque Vaughan’s came over yesterday after their trip to the library.  They arrived in time to join us for lunch.  Chris heated up some pizza that we had in the freezer.  Of course we had pizza.  What else?  The highlight of the afternoon, however, was the rousing table game I played with Micah and Josiah and Noah.  Even Ezra got into the mix.  The name of the game was Pimple Pete.  Some kind of knock-off of the hit reality TV series, Dr. Pimple Popper, I’m sure.  The object of the game is to pull out the massive squishy pimples from Pete’s face.  This continues around the table until someone triggers the mechanism inside the head that causes him to snort snot (water) all over you from his nose.  And who were the two unlucky recipients of the snot shot?  Well, Noa managed to avoid hers, but Ezra took it in his neck.  And the other one got it right in the heart, all over his shirt.  That would be … me.  I gotta say, this game has potential.  If we can just figure out a way to make the spewage more lifelike, more yellowish, more … snotty …

Psalms 124:8 says, “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

Father, thanks for fun times on the spur of the moment.  Amen.