Daily Grit by Wes Thorp

My wife and I just packed our toothbrushes and jammies and took off to wherever the car stopped

Have you ever grabbed your significant others, your toothbrushes and pajamas on a trip with no destination in mind?  We did that yesterday.  Typically, here in Michigan, a short vacation means going up north.

Our inner GPS took us north towards the town where we met and where I had plenty of relatives--Bay City.

My wife and I have a common tie to Bay City which is at the base of the Saginaw Bay.  It's where I grew up and it's where she taught third grade at Immanuel Lutheran School.  The school is a ministry of the church where I grew up.  

We both have fond memories of the area and made our first stop there and then moved on to go farther north.

When we got to Tawas City, we stopped and looked around, soaked up some serious sunshine and tuned-up our ears for the waves.  Then we headed back to Lansing.  We didn't stay overnight this time, but maybe the next.

It's not really romantic dining, but it's healthy eating. We had an early supper at the Subway in Tawas which was filled with vacationers. A pretty good meal for ten bucks, including a bag of baked chips for each of us and a super-sized diet Coke.

It was just about six-clock when we checked out this lighthouse at the Tawas State Park. Weather was nice and was perfect gazing at the scenery.

 

 

Even though we got near the water, we didn't get to stick our toes in it. I assume the water was warm.

 

 

If you're a T-Mobile customer, you can call Canada and Mexico from the United States and vice versa without extra cost

I remember when my son made some cellphone calls to friends while traveling through Canada on the way back to school in the state of New York.  He quickly learned the practice of phone companies levying big roaming charges on calls made from Canada.  It was a learning experience.

Now, T-Mobile announces that they will not charge anything extra on any calls made within North America, including Canada and Mexico.  

I'm curious.  Are there any catches?  Does T-Mobile have good services in both countries?  This sounds like a good deal.  Agree?  I'd be anxious to hear experience with it.

My five-year-old grandson shows how he gets his perspective on the world around him

 

My grandson demonstrates that life is just a matter of how you look at it.

 

 

A year-ago my grandson and I were talking about the world and how we should look at it.  We talked about the constant tension between healthy and unhealthy snacks.  We threw around the best iPad apps for kids.  And then we talked about what we'd like to make with a big set of Legos.

Then he showed me how he looks at weighty items that he was to deal with in his day-to-day life. It requires a big couch with a big seat and the ability to get on your back and throw your feet in the air.

It's been a year since this picture was taken.  I'm anxious to see how he looks at the world as a growing five-year-old.

Have you ever live-tweeted a sermon at your church?

I wonder how many people live-tweet a sermon on any given weekend.  I did it yesterday as Aaron Buer, pastor of senior high students, gave an outstanding teaching on "kindness."  

Our church--Ada Bible Church, a couple of miles east of Grand Rapids, is going through the fruits of the spirit as listed in Galatians 5.  These are character traits given to believers and developed by the Holy Spirit.  

On the screens in the auditorium where announcements are given before the service, there was the invitation to join the conversation about the sermon using the hashtag #superpowers.  So, I did.  Here's the results.  It's my first effort, but I think I got the main ideas.

It was a great sermon, by the way.

Looking Back: Seven years ago today we were at Mount Vernon, George Washington's home

I'd like to visit Mount Vernon again. We visited there with our son seven years ago.

I love looking through old pictures like these taken seven years ago today when we visited Mount Vernon in Virginia with our son, Justin.  Really hot day and lots of people, but great place to visit.

 

Visiting your kids can take you all over the world. It has done that for us.

Listening to Petula Clark sing Downtown on a warm Saturday evening

We are sitting on our living room couch with our computers in our laps listening to singer Petula Clark from the 1960s sing Downtown and other classic hits that she sang.  It's all on our Apple Music where we have a free three month subscription.

While listening to these great sounds from my high school days, I'm poring over pictures taken with my iPhone from our past week.

 

My grandson knows how big he is as he demonstrates here. His dad, our son, was a big guy at the same age. This is one of a steady stream of digital photographs we get from our kids.

 

 

 

Our granddaughter who's nearing three years old joins her brother in school. She was excited about her first day. They live in eastern Europe

 

 

 

Before the July Fourth parade downtown today, we split a piece of apple pie at Grand Traverse Pie Company. My wife had saved a card for a free piece. Only thing we had to purchase was Traverse City cherry flavored coffee.

 

 

 

While at the parade, my wife had a chance to visit with a former student who had to emigrated to this country from Myanmar, the old Burma. Gladys tutored her when she first arrived seven years ago.

 

 

 

Standing in front of the State Capitol while watching the parade, we took a selfie today. It was warm, but not hot.

 

 

 

We had a great, but healthy Fourth of July supper. It abounded in great tastes and filled me up.