8. Fire Trucks Don't Fly And Another Six Months No Cavities!

That was just this morning! I DID NOT GET LOST THIS TIME getting Sarah and Jeffrey to Dakota Kids Dentistry and while waiting for Dr. Behm and his assistants to look them over and giving them the clean bill of health I got to talk with a charming woman from Michigan named Jenny now living in Minot with her husband and three kids. We got into a good conversation, and the middle one who's eight had an appointment at Dakota Kids and Jenny was sitting there in the lobby with her five-month-old son Alex.

Alex stands out for me with the widest brown eyes because he was staring at me (and I stared back and smiled) the entire time we waited, enough for Jenny his mom to remark that he must really like me! I am so kicking myself that I didn't get her some contact information before I left – when I came back to the lobby she wasn't there, but perhaps she's reading this and knows who I'm talking about. And as the title says, the kids had another six months with no cavities so their next checkup is in January!

OK, call me crazy, but I [retired ELCA pastor Sue Gamelin, printed today in Christ In Our Home] have been known to say that I look forward to God's judgment – and God's punishment. When I was on a bishop's staff, I slipped into a worship unannounced and listened to a sermon that included an account of my yearning for God's judgment. I'm on record.

After that the kids and I walked a bit around Main Street, going into Gideon's Trumpet and Gourmet Chef to play (where the first half of my title comes from) and show off the store's expansion all the way to the alley. I walked up front for a second cup of their sample vanilla black almond tea and … hearing cooking fans talk shop makes me shake my head! Anyway, I got the kids to Grandma and Grandpa's and there were Mary and Donovan clearing branches from the backyard laying over nearly a dozen bicycles!

And I thanked M. and D. for watching the kids last night too; after work I met Martha at church where the hundredth-birthday party for the Bethany Lutheran Church Association (BLCA?) was being held and the guest speaker who sang and gave her testimony was someone who kept the full crowd in the basement … perhaps it's not inappropriate to say this … spellbound. Geraldine Myles Ornek was born in Indonesia, raised in Holland, and has been in the USA since 1961.

I think the worst punishment would be to have the Lord show me how I've sinned against God, my neighbor, and myself in thought, word, and deed, by things done and left undone. What is behind this craziness? I've figured it out. I want to know that God is truly aware of my “yucky-ness” and still loves me. I yearn for God to purify me even more completely than John the Baptist's water for repentance. I want to be rid of the unholy parts of my life's story.

And I recall how remarkably tall she is … anyway, after the program (since Martha and I both had separate vehicles there) my wife went to pick up Sarah and Jeffrey and bring them home for they'd already eaten and I could do that when I arrived as well, after I did some of the grocery shopping. Which I did, stopping for one item at WalMart and one item at Dollar Tree and satisfying a cheese curd craving I had!

Along with getting an order for Martha and the kids, of course, you know I'd do that. I am just SO thankful that I do not have to wake Sarah and Jeffrey early for school or an appointment to keep tomorrow! Well, maybe finding a second or third job with decent hours and remunerative enough to get us above water (again) because I finally responded to a bill collector I was late with (again) … yes, as you see from the devotional I'm quoting between the plain text paragraphs here, I am looking forward to God's judgment, but I want to look forward to it for the right reasons.

[The Old Testament prophet] Malachi's words are beautiful, especially when sung by the bass soloist in Handel's Messiah. Yet, I know that facing the Lord of hosts may be something I can't endure. Judgment could slam me to the ground just as Saul (later called Paul) was thrown into the dust on his way to Damascus.

Not just as a get-out-of-this-world-free card, if that makes sense. And two days prior to this St. Jean Baptiste Day that's celebrated in Quebec today, I'm recalling church on Sunday morning and being able to relax … a little … as a particular project Martha and I engaged in got started and went belly-up the same day, and I only found out about this early enough to prevent a catastrophe because I came home to grab some food for us after we'd played in Oak Park and settled in to listen to an a Arts In The Park music program of five local singers from Minot Chamber Chorale who'd grouped as “The Five Of Us”. I hate seeming like I avoid people.

For it's not me, David