February 13 – “Through the door …”

Now here’s an “interesting” day for you.  It started at around 4:30 a.m.  That’s when I woke up to head over to the hospital.  Tom from Seaside was having his open heart surgery.  I got there around 5:30 and had a few minutes to chat with him until Jean and their boys arrived closer to six.  We had prayer together, and not long after they came and wheeled him away to surgery.  To make a long story short, the surgery went well.  Tom had three bypasses.  Now it’s on to recovery …

 

Oh, and did I mention that the temperature was 41 degrees.  Wind chill of 30.  And it was raining.

 

After I left the hospital I came back to the house and did some work on the computer.  After a while Nathan and April brought over their two boxers to visit.  They are selling their house (Nathan and April’s house, not just Abby and Tillie’s), and they had a showing scheduled, so the monsters had to depart.  As it turned out they ended up with three showings before all was said and done, so the granddogs spent the whole day with us.  They are a couple of big (really big – Freddy is scared to death of them), goofy sweethearts.  But they did put the finishing touches on our little Freddy-sized doggie door.  Yep.  They figured out right away how it works, but their bodies were just … huge.  They also chewed up Freddy’s bed.  Strange how they could even make the discovery that there was something interesting enough to warrant removal from its covering.  But sure enough, we had a laundry room full of dog bed stuffing.  It actually wasn’t all that much.  Kind of funny, too.  But Mommy and Daddy were not so amused.  Nathan and Cailyn came back a while later with a new door and bed.  He even installed the door for us while I was on the phone with Josh.  All set for the nasty cold weather that is coming our way …

 

I did have a sort of medical appointment in the afternoon.  It was called a Medicare Wellness Visit.  Something the insurance requires once a year to make sure I’m taking the right meds and not planning to kill myself.  Mostly a lot of talk.  Meds, medical history, and the like.  I filled out a form online and she basically read it back to me, I guess to make sure I meant what I said.  She did take my blood pressure, though.  Apparently, I’m doing fine as far as Medicare is concerned.  Yay for me.  Check.

 

Philippians 2:5 says, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus.”

 

Father, be with Tom as he now enters the recovery and rehabilitation phase of his heart escapade.  Amen.

February 12 – “Did I mention it was heavy?”

I took a two mile hike in the cold yesterday just before the rain started back up.  I know.  Makes me sound like I’m awesomely inspired and totally dedicated to the whole walking experience.  I guess I kind of am.  Except today the high is 46 and the low is 41.  And it’s raining.  And the wind chill is 32.  I don’t know about this.  Chris stayed home and cleaned house for home group.  I think she might have had the better idea on this one.

 

I bit the bullet and bought a new battery for the truck.  Seems they only have either a one year or three year warranty nowadays.  Not much of a trade-in value beyond the core charge being waived.  The actual change-out was easy.  I did have to use some extra oomph to get one bolt loosened, but not too bad.  The problem came when I got to the store.  I hauled the core inside (did I mention that it was heavy?).  I sought out a clerk to assist me, and then realized that I didn’t have a mask on.  I apologized, but he went right over to the counter and handed me a brand new one.  Awesome. 

 

Next we went over to the rack of batteries to look for one that would work in the truck.  Only had two choices.  One year warranty or three year warranty.  No mention of cranking amps or anything.  I selected the one with higher cranking amps and, as it turned out, a three year warranty to boot.  Good for me.  The clerk said, “Bring it over to the counter.”  Great.  It was heavy, too.  I reached over to pick it up, and he added, “The new ones don’t have a handle any more.”  Great.  Thanks.  I managed to bully it to the counter next to the old one and reached for my wallet.  And I didn’t have that, either.  Once again I apologized and assured him I would be right back.  He assumed it was in the car.  Nope.  It was on the shelf next to my desk at home … right where I left it.  I dashed back to the house (fortunately we live just a few blocks away), grabbed the offending piece of equipment, and made the return trip.  As I suspected, both batteries were right where I left them.  I didn’t really expect this particular clerk to move hem anywhere.  I finally got the purchase done, though.  Carried it out to the car (no carts in the automotive section.  Did I mention it was heavy?).  Battery is installed and working.  Just in time, too.  Did I mention that it’s cold around here?

 

Isaiah 40:31 says, “but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

 

Father, once again, will you watch over the docs working on Tom this morning.  Thank you for the peace you gifted him and Jean with.  Amen.

February 11 – “Hands”

I went to the hospital the other day to try out my new minister’s badge for the first time.  Actually, we sent another Seasider to the cath lab.  No, NOT CHRIS this time.  This time it was Tom, one of our regular winter Texans from Missouri.  I don’t think Chris or Tom, either one, intended to start a trend around here, though.  Two Seasiders in one year is well beyond our quota. 

 

Tom and Jean were the couple wearing all the Kansas City Chiefs football gear at church on Sunday morning.  I told Tom when I saw him in the hospital that he need not get so invested in the football game that a loss gives him a heart attack.  Jean assured me it happened before the game, though.  Probably his exertion setting up for their company that night. 

 

Tom and Jean were both in great spirits when I saw him before the heart cath on Tuesday.  Jean was all over the medical info.  One would think she was a retired nurse or something.  I turned them over to our Seasider nurse who works in the cath lab.  I knew they would be in excellent hands with Teri.  Especially when I texted her and asked that she take care of them.  She replied, “Challenge accepted.” 

 

As it turned out, the cath showed a bit more than they had hoped for.  Tom now has to have open heart surgery on Friday.  He is in good hands, though.  Oh … sure.  He has good doctors, too.  That’s not the hands I meant, though.  I was talking about steadier hands.  Calmer hands.  Wiser hands.  Powerful hands.  Loving hands.  HIS hands.

 

Proverbs 17:22 says, “A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.”

 

Father, please watch over Tom and Jean as they walk through their next few days and weeks.  Watch over their boys as they travel to be here with Mom and Dad.  And direct the hands and minds of the doctors and nurses.  Amen.

February 10 – “Hair trauma??”

I had a chance to try out my new hospital “Visiting Minister’s” badge yesterday.  One of our Seasiders was in for a heart cath of all things.  Been there lately, that’s for sure.  Fortunately, our very own Nurse Teri was on duty, so she took care of them for us.  I didn’t have any trouble getting in, either.  Guess the whole badge thing did work.

 

When I got home, we had some lunch and started our afternoon plan.  Chris had a haircut appointment.  She got yelled at a little bit.  Apparently she has experienced some kind of trauma or psychological worry lately.  It is causing her hair to thin out.  Can’t imagine what could have been so disconcerting in her life recently, can you?  You would think she had a heart attack.  Or maybe she had a stint put in.  Or maybe two stints.  In two separate procedures.  Or maybe her husband had back surgery or something.  Worry?  Nah.  Not Chris.  My theory is that she’s just shedding a little for the summer.  It does get hot around here.  The haircut looks nice, though.

 

I did manage to get in my two miles of walking.  Chris did most of a mile but had to cut hers short so she could get to the haircut.  She got a text about 45 minutes before her appointment time that said she could come any time.  She veered off shortly after that.  Speaking of walks, Chris is at her cardiac rehab, so I guess I better get going on my walk for today.  Can’t let her get too far ahead of me …

 

Matthew 18:20 says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

 

Father, please be with Tom and Jean as they walk through this heart issue.  Grant them your peace that passes all understanding.  Amen.

February 9 – “It’s … the Foodmobile”

My plan was to head out to the church early to be there in plenty of time to greet the Food Bank’s Foodmobile.  They were setting up in Seaside’s parking lot to give away food boxes to anyone who needed one.  I was all ready to go.  Walked out to the truck.  Chris had her cardiac rehab appointment, so she had the car reserved.  Aaannd … the truck wouldn’t start.  Crank a few times, but the battery soon died.  Just won’t hold a charge from one jump start to the next.  What to do now?  I called Nathan.  Fortunately, he and April were both off work.  I was able to borrow one of their vehicles and be on my way.

 

I still beat the Foodmobile.  I wasn’t the first one in the parking lot, though.  Several families were already there waiting.  They expected a line and wanted to be first.  No problem there.  Kelly, the Food Bank rep/Seasider who called to set this up, arrived and found out the truck was still ten minutes out, so they started registering the folks who were there.  And at this point I will add that it was cold.  The wind was out of the east, and it had that bitter remnant of a north nastiness to it.  I was glad I had a jacket at least. 

 

The truck finally arrived.  It was one of those refrigerated box trucks with the refrigeration unit un top, so it was pretty tall.  Why is that important?  Well, there’s a bit of a story to that.  See, the driver missed the entrance from the main street, so he turned down the side street toward our back parking area.  No problem there.  However, he continued moving the truck closer and closer to the building, we suddenly realized that he had come into contact with the overhead cables and wires attaching us to things like … oh … electricity.  Several guys ran over and yelled for him to stop before he pulled something loose.  Sadly, they were too late to rescue our wifi cable.  It was unceremoniously snapped in two.  And the electrical wires were next.  Fortunately the guys stopped him before any of those became casualties as well.  He managed to back away carefully, freeing himself from the entanglements.  Looks like we have to exist without wifi in our worship center until we can get reconnected.  But it could have been so much worse. 

 

The event went really well, though.  Kelly said they didn’t expect more than two or three families at best.  I couldn’t at least five that I thought might come.  As it turned out, there were ten or fifteen families represented.  Several of the people I didn’t know, but I enjoyed meeting and chatting with them as we waited for the truck.  I think it was considered a rousing success from the Food Bank’s perspective.  They may even make it a monthly event.  Happy to host something like this … as long as our wires stay out of the way …

 

Luke 16:10 says, “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.”

 

Father, thank you for the folks at the Food Bank.  They do a great work for the community and for you.  I think you can trust them with much.  Amen.

February 8 – “Your bill is available online …”

Well, it’s a good thing we had a pretty great day in church yesterday.  I sure needed it.  Especially after what I endured Saturday night. 

 

Oh, it started out nicely enough.  Chris and I were going to relax and maybe watch an episode of Stargate or something.  But then I happened to check my emails.  There was a notice that my AT&T bill was available online.  Curious, since we have had some issues with them since we got Chris’ new phone for Christmas, I went online to check it out.  And the issues remained.  Needless to say, I was concerned.  About $250 concerned.  Plus charges that appeared would keep on going and going and going.

 

So I clicked on the live chat option and settled in.  Little did I know it would be “one of those” experiences.  I have somewhere to be at 7:30 this morning, so I won’t go into all the gory details.  Suffice it to say that I went through no less than five different customer service specialists, was hung up on twice, had to repeat-type my story five different times, was told that certain things had been done and I would receive an email in fifteen minutes to confirm (still haven’t received that email), was promised credits to make up for incorrect charges (but those won’t show up on my account for 24 to 48 hours), was told that solving the original issue that we though was resolved two months ago would take creating a case and doing the communicating through emails which I would receive later in the week.  And all of that took over three and a half hours.  So much for a quiet evening at home …

 

James 1:2 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

 

Father, please be with all of those computer people I chatted with the other night.  Theirs can’t be an easy job.  Amen.

February 7 – “Apple Lady”

We awoke to a chilly 54 degrees.  It was also supposed to rain.  I guess it did a little while we slept.  At least enough to get the plastic cover of the newspaper wet. 

 

Chris joined me for my walk yesterday.  she went a mile and a half.  I continued on for two.   I pondered aloud while we were together as to the psychological ramifications of my waving at people driving by us in cars.  I have spent some time doing research on the topic, you know.  I wave at just about every car that comes by, whether we know them as neighbors or not.  I figure it has to be good for the soul to know that at least that one old guy who was getting his steps in cared enough about me to acknowledge my existence.  But that’s not the subject of my experiment.  No way to quantify that.  My interest this time was in exactly how they respond to the wave, especially when they are talking on the phone. 

 

We are on an island off the coast of Texas, and a lot of Texans have transplanted here.  Therefore, a common response to any wave is the casual lifting of a finger or two from the steering wheel.  Or maybe even all five fingers while keeping the palm of the hand on the steering wheel.  That is the most common response, and the one I have come to expect.  Some, of course, don’t acknowledge my wave at all.  They are probably transplants from somewhere other than Texas.  Or they have something on their minds.  Or they didn’t see me.  All completely understandable reactions.  But my favorite responses come from those who are holding their phone to their ear while driving. 

 

See, these folks suddenly face a challenge.  They want to wave, and they may even get the finger acknowledgment done.  But there is just something about getting caught with your phone in your ear that causes people to do strange things.  One funny response comes when they try the one finger acknowledgment … with a finger on the phone.  Some even abandon their conversation momentarily and wave back at me, phone in hand.  It’s a lot of fun to see someone try to release the phone at their ear so they can give me a full-on return wave.  The phone inevitably dislodges from the shoulder perch and the head desperately bounces to the side trying to catch it.  Quite entertaining.

 

But yesterday I had a bit of a different response.  A lady was driving by.  I didn’t know her, but she appeared pleasant enough.  So I smiled and waved.  She returned my smile with a big one of her own, and then returned the wave.  Not with her phone, however.  She waved her half-eaten apple at me.  That was certainly a first.  Tasty. 

 

2 Corinthians 5:7 says, “For we live by faith, not by sight.”

 

Father, please give Apple Lady a great day today.  She sure made mine a bit more joyful yesterday.  Amen.