Gulf Coast Getaway, Day 8

Sun Day
Sunday May 30, 2010
Copyright(c) 2010, Jim Beachy

Since Kevin is the lead pastor at Gulf Coast Worship Center, he goes to work early on Sunday mornings (http://www.yourfamilyplace.com). This is a very casual church, and Kevin actually preaches in blue jeans as often as not, but we have actually packed some casual clothes into the Escapade trailer's garment bag. Kitty brings in the garment bag from the trailer that's still parked in the garage and we dig out some clothes for the day. We pile into the minivan and arrive about a half hour before the service starts.

We don't know a lot of people here but have made friends with some and it's nice to see them again. I talk to my Harley Davidson riding friend James about riding experiences and motorcycles we've had. "I may not be able to ride a thousand miles," he says, "but I do love the rumble!"

Later, talking to him and the worship pastor, Eddie, I show them a picture of me and a four-and-a-half pound lobster. It was taken last year at Cook's Lobster House on Bailey Island, Maine, while returning from our ride to the Gaspe Peninsula and other parts of Canada. "I want to do what you do. I want to ride to Virginia, pick you up, and we'll ride to Maine for some lobster."

You're on, my friend. I'll do it in a heartbeat! I keep a permanent GPS waypoint for Cook's Lobster House, because you just never know when an emergency lobster run will present itself. I'm ready at all times! And I'll buy!

There's a large US Navy SeaBee base here in Gulfport. "SeaBee" actually comes from "CB", for Construction Battalion. Their motto is "We fight, we build." If you absolutely, positively need a runway in a faraway hostile jungle halfway around the world by tomorrow morning, these are the people you call. Their exploits and capabilities are legendary. Kevin's neighbor, Steve, is one of them. He's in his forties and as fit a man as I've seen, all muscle and bone and lean as a swamp reed. He's offered to build some giant flower boxes for Kevin and Kristal along with several for himself. Later in the afternoon I wonder over to Steve's house where he and Kevin have assembled the lumber and materials for the flower boxes. Steve is attacking this project with the same fervor and precision his SeaBees are known for. These will be the best-constructed flower boxes ever created! Kevin and I offer to help when we can but mostly it's his show, working until darkness stops the project.

Meanwhile, when we return home for the evening, there's excitement because one of Danica's five chrysalises (or, more properly, chrysalides) has hatched into a butterfly. Some time ago, Kitty had given her a little butterfly habitat kit where she could watch the caterpillars spin their cocoon and eventually metamorphose into butterflies. We admire the transformation that has taken place from a drab, lifeless-appearing shell into a gorgeous butterfly that periodically tests his delicate orange and brown wings in a slow folding-unfolding rhythm.

It reminds me that our lives can be transformed through faith and the injection of God's love into our lives.