Pure Church

But already, I've learned a lot about life and family on this vacation.

First, when you're not looking, all your nieces and nephews and great-nieces and nephews grow up really fast and really big! Don't blink! And don't stop praying for them.

Second, your 2.5 year old son experiences culture shock over the most interesting things. Turns out, Titus is afraid of squirrels. Having never seen the cute critters, he's convinced they're out to get him. Apparently, sitting on your haunches and nibbing nuts with large front teeth constitutes an attack position. So for literally 4 hours yesterday, he paced around the house peeping out of my mother's windows and doors wondering every seven minutes where the squirrel had gone and if it was coming back to get him. Poor lad.

Meanwhile, his adult aunts and uncles all confessed their fear of iguanas, something Titus would likely pet but they've never seen and are convinced must be related to flesh-eating dragons! I guess "menacing creature" depends on where you were born and grew up.

Third, amazingly enough, Titus heard his first train today. He has plenty to play with, and loves all kinds of locomotion and automobiles, but we hadn't realized that he had actually never heard one before. He stops mid-stride, ears perked, and asks my wife, "Mommy... is that a train?" Priceless. We're planning a trip to some of the many railroad tracks that criss-cross my hometown. It'll be fun. The most amazing things to children cost nothing but time. A couple months ago while visiting with a friend from Trinidad, he shared with me a wonderful picture/history book on trains in the Caribbean. Will be looking for a copy of that for Tito.

Fourth, hadn't realized this either: but the boy had never seen a bridge. There's no need for them in Cayman. So for as long as he's been old enough to comment on the world from his car seat, he's never observed and noted an overpass. Driving up I-85 from the Charlotte airport, about a dozen times he called from the back seat, "Hey... we went under that thing." About the third time we realized Titus had discovered bridges. Because of the blessing of living in Cayman, he knows far more about airplanes and boats than most 2.5 year olds, but major road improvements leave him a little awestruck.

Fifth, I was really startled to read a couple of newspapers in the area and see the proliferation of word of faith churches in the area. When I left, I could count them on one hand. Now, they either take up the entire section of church announcements or the word-faith "flavor" infuses everything.

Sixth, the only sad spot in the vacation so far... the Lakers won the NBA finals. But there won't be any Laker fans in heaven, so it's all good.

It's vacation. I'm sleeping a lot and visiting with family. Blogging while be light with the exception of a few notes like these and perhaps digging out some old posts for re-thinking and perhaps your comments.

Grace and peace.