September 17 - “Two to go”

Chris had interior duty yesterday. Washing clothes and the like. I dug some more dirt. Had to redo several pavers that settled a little too much. That meant I was only able to knock out one more row. Two to go. 

All that outside heat made it necessary to pull back in the afternoon … a lot. Chris disappeared into the bedroom for a while to try to snooze. I crashed in front of the TV with a Hallmark movie going. No idea what it was about, beyond the usual Hallmark plot twists. Not that I dozed off or anything …

Last night we stayed up as late as we could for the Astros game, but it didn’t start until after 8:00. Those West Coast games are tough to stay awake for. But we did get a scoop of Blue Bell to help us stay alert for a while. 

‭‭Luke‬ ‭16‬:‭10‬ says, Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and whoever is unrighteous in very little is also unrighteous in much.

Father, please be with Sam in a special way. Touch her where she needs you most. And give Chris an extra portion of strength as she cares for her. Amen. 

September 16 - “A Couple of Cousins”

After church yesterday we were inundated with a mass of guests. Kel and his family came over to hang out until time for the Experiencing God Bible study at six. 

But it wasn’t just them. Micah bright Kaylie. Zak and Lindsay were here, kind of on their way back to Waco. And Cailyn and Gavin even came down from Santa Fe as well. The three young couples had had lunch together at Salsa’s, then chose to come over to continue the cousin extravaganza. It was great to see them all and watch their interactions. Ain’t young love grand? 

Nahum‬ ‭1‬:‭7‬ ‭ says, The Lord is good, a stronghold in a day of distress; He cares for those who take refuge in Him.

Father, thanks for the chance to hang out with all those kiddos. Bless them as they grow and learn. Amen. 

September 15 - “Back in the dirt”

I was back playing in the dirt again yesterday, first thing. The pavers are coming along, slow but sure. I have three or four more rows to go. Saving those for another day. 

I did have to stop for a while at one point. I had a phone call from a good friend from days past. Ken lived in Galveston when we moved here. In fact, he was leading singing at Seaside the first Sunday we visited - in his bathing suit! He had just come from fishing and hadn’t had time to change. That was an early clue that Seaside was gonna be a great fit for me. 

Chris grabbed the weedeater and finished up the lawn work. Looks really good. She also used to opportunity to water all her outside plants. They look good, too. I’m so glad she has the green thumb in the family. 

Now on to the latest in the refrigerator saga. We went back to Home Depot to get the paperwork detailing the canceled order. That went swimmingly. Then we steeled our inner “Are we really doing this again,” and headed back to the appliance department. It took a while, but we finally found one we liked that was a different brand (GE, NOT Whirlpool!). They found one in black … somewhere. And by “somewhere” I mean whatever black hole it takes three more weeks to get out of. Yep. New delivery date: October 5. This is some sort of record, isn’t it?  Meanwhile, as I have requested before, pray for that small fridge that is doing double duty!

Last night we made a quick trip over to a nearby establishment to help honor our friend, Chuck Willett. He was a groomsman in our wedding, and before that he became my friend when he was the counselor at my high school. There were quite a few others there celebrating him. He made quite the impact on a lot of lives. Love ya, Chuck!

Psalms‬ ‭18‬:‭2‬ ‭ says, The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my mountain where I seek refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Father, thank you for the really helpful sales person at Home Depot. She did go out of her way for us. Bless her for that. Amen. 

September 14 - “Not again …”

Kroger for the win on Freddy Food! And that was good. We needed a win. 

See … yesterday was delivery day number two for our refrigerator. And guess what? It was noticeably damaged. The dent/scrape was so obvious that the delivery guy pointed it out to us. Great. Here we go again. We bought that thing on July 29th. What’s the date now?  Totally unacceptable. We refused delivery again and this time cancelled the order. We are headed to Home Depot soon to make sure they process a full refund. 

In the meantime … sure hope that small fridge we have been using holds up while we start this process all over again. 

We did get a delivery from AT&T. Apparently, our internet/cable box was woefully out of date. They sent a new one, but the only instructions included were how to send the old one back. But meanwhile … I received an email from them saying, “Don’t return your old box. Just recycle it somewhere.”  Well, OK. I chose to go with the email. Less work for me. Oh, and I did figure out the box on my own. Yay, me. 

Sam had a date yesterday. She went to lunch with two good friends. Sounded like they all had a pretty good time. Lots of gabbing and eating and laughing. Perfect afternoon for her. 

Last night we had some visitors of our own. Zakary and his girlfriend Lindsay came over for some pizza. Her family is vacationing over in Crystal Beach, so a quick ferry ride to Nani and DadDad’s house was a must. Great to see those youngsters. 

Psalms‬ ‭27‬:‭14‬ says, Wait for the Lord; be strong and courageous. Wait for the Lord.

Father, please help us locate a fridge and get it here quickly. Amen. 

September 13 - “Re-lay begins”

Two miles … check. 

Once we got home, we each had different jobs to tear into. Chris went right to cleaning house. That’s her Thursday go-to to get everything ready for home group. I went out to the back yard. I started the process of leveling and re-laying pavers on the side of the house where we removed the tree. That’s gonna be one long, dirty project. 

At one point in the process, I took a phone call from a number I didn’t recognize. Don’t usually do that, but I was feeling adventurous. It was an inspector from Texas Windstorm Insurance. Well, not exactly. It was an inspector of the inspectors from Texas Windstorm. He was following up on the guy who actually did the inspection. Whew! That’s confusing. He was just wanting to know who did the best job so they can make sure to send them out next time. Oh, and so they can cull out the ones who weren’t so good. I assured him that our guy was amazing. 

James‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬ says, Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises.

Father, thank you for the dry weather. Help us use it effectively to get done what we need to out in the yard. Amen. 

September 12 - “The GRM”

We returned to walking yesterday. Two more miles in the books. We are back in the saddle again. 

Speaking of back in the saddle, we also spent an hour or so in the back yard putting together our new swing. The one we had for years officially gave up the ghost to the Galveston Rust Monster. It was getting really scary to sit in. The new one is almost identical to the old one, save of course, for the GRM. 

Chris had an appointment up in Texas. It was with her dermatologist. I like the way Chris determines how to get there. This is the office by Hobby Lobby. Yep. Can’t forget that one. 

Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭4‬ says, Those who mourn are blessed, for they will be comforted.

Father, thanks for one more thing checked off our list. And thanks for the cool morning so we could swing and enjoy it for a while. Amen. 

September 11 - “The Visitors”

Ouch. Tough night. All that fence building did a number on me. I woke up several times with my legs cramping. At least they were equal opportunity cramps. Alternated legs and muscles within said appendages. Guess that’s evidence that I actually did some work. Or so least that my body thought I did some work. 

It was really cool when we got up. I don’t think it was the cold front, though. It looked like the outer bands of Tropical Storm Francine may be rapidly approaching. 

Yesterday afternoon we had a great surprise visit from a friend who moved to Ohio. Dan still has a house in the West End of the island, though. He was down here doing some repairs on that house. And as part of his visit, he gave us a gift that he and his wife got for us back when I retired. It was a set of dishes with a really pretty lighthouse highlighted on each piece. Thanks so much, Dan and Wendy! 

Speaking of visits, we also had an appearance by Robert. He came by on his way home from eating chicken somewhere. Just wanted to check on Sam. Thanks for coming, Rob. 

‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭12‬-‭13‬ says, Now we ask you, brothers, to give recognition to those who labor among you and lead you in the Lord and admonish you, and to regard them very highly in love because of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

Father, thanks for Adam and Robert and their visits. Special times. Amen.