Thursday’s Thirst

All of a sudden, I have four baptisms and one memorial service scheduled over the summer! And when I look more closely at my notes, I realize there are an additional six families discussing baptisms. My wife is supposed to start physical therapy for her back, but the clinic has no idea when they will be able to fit her in. Their COVID-19 related backup has them overwhelmed. I reviewed my personal and professional calendar and found 19 special events listed between now and Labor Day.

If there is anything we have learned through this pandemic, it is the value of science. Look at how quickly the vaccines were developed and produced – and how effective they are! Look at how we are able to identify variants to the infection. Look at how science keeps developing new and more effective treatments. The list goes on and on … the value of God’s gift to us in science is very impressive.

While I, perhaps dangerously, assume that everyone has heard of the 3 R’s of education – which for at least a couple obvious reasons never included spelling – I am not sure everyone has heard me talk about the 4 C’s. I have, though, been sharing them for over a year. And, upon more recent reflection, I believe they will be just as relevant years after the pandemic is history because they speak of ageless values for the people of God in Christ Jesus.

Things actually started on Tuesday. Art, who is serving our country in Kuwait, hooked me up with WhatsApp. We made plans for him to join our men’s FHL group the following morning. Wednesday morning, checking on the Tiger’s late night game as I got up, the first thing I noticed was the score … and then I saw that the Tiger’s pitcher had thrown a no-hitter. At 6:30 a.m. WhatsApp worked like a charm for the entire hour we met.

Tuesday evening I attended the Tiger game with one of my sons. Matt Boyd pitched six strong innings and left the game with a comfortable 7-0 lead. That is how things stayed until KC had two outs in the 8th inning. At that point Jimenez gave up a three-run homer, and then another reliever in the 9th squandered the rest of the lead. With the game tied 7-7 with two outs in the 9th and a runner on second, KC was a base hit away from taking the lead.

Last night was a beautiful evening, and I was SO ready for it. I sat on our deck while barbequing some fish and enjoying a little refreshment. Yes, I would have preferred the air to have been 20-30 degrees warmer. But there was no breeze, along with no bugs, and no rain. Sunny, but cool – and I was loving it.

MONEY. There, the word is out there … the topic that no-one likes to talk about … especially when it comes to talking about their own! It is easier to talk about the government’s money, or that of my rich neighbor (who is my neighbor, anyway?). But I do not want to talk about mine, and, even more so, I do not want you talking about mine.

The average high temperature in Eastpointe for April 22 is 60 degrees, with the average low around 42o. However, our highs the last two days have been at or below the average low – which of course means that the lows are south of 30o. And what did you think of that snow accumulating on those newly mowed lawns? Talk about cold!

How about those Tigers! They bounced right back from getting swept in Cleveland, and immediately made their own impressive “brooming” of Houston. Pitching … hitting … runs galore. It got a little dicey in the ninth inning last night, but Garcia struck out the final hitter on just three or four pitches. These Tigers are a definite “one up” in my book.

On Easter morning I almost opened the announcements by saying, “How about those first place Tigers?!” Then, for a while yesterday I was hoping to be able to say it again today – all we needed was to hang on to our lead over the Twins and for Cleveland to defeat the Royals. First place sounds pretty good – even if it is only April 8.