It has been some very busy days here at the Chapel! Has anyone noticed that there is a huge chunk of steel lying between our Chapel and the Parsonage? Well, that is where a project that I felt the Lord asked me to do at least nine years ago. “Build Me a 50-foot Cross” was what I believed I heard early one morning in 2014. Having worked with wood most of my life, I immediately thought of a 12” X 12” treated post. After learning from an engineer that I would need a piece of wood 65’ long, I started looking., Everywhere in both the Northeast and the Northwest, I was told the same thing – “we do not have machines that will handle anything that long.” Joe and Vera Wiatt found me a “gun barrel” style post, but I did not want to add a “power pole” to our facilities!

Just before Christmas of 2014, Donnie Haynes came by and asked what project I needed help completing. After a few minutes lost in thought, I mentioned a cross. He told me that a friend had given him some steel, and he was willing to help me accomplish my goal. Then questions arose about the stability of such a structure and how to accomplish it. This led me to a missionary friend who is involved in building, Reverend Norman Knoodle. He introduced me to an engineer who worked out of his basement but could only be assessed by E-Mail. I still have my original plans, which I drew on graphing paper.

I will elaborate on my difficult journey in a later issue, but the point I am attempting to make is that over these past nine years, I have been helped with my goal of pleasing the Lord by many people, benefactors, and the prayers and encouragement of many people. This task has never been about me accomplishing anything, but is a combination of those who have seen the opportunity to make a statement for our Lord, Who has given us all so much! The steel you have been driving by to see is much more than just steel to me! It is what the Lord can do through the many to help a project be accomplished in a dramatic fashion! I can hardly wait to see it lifted in place, lighted, and ready for its formal dedication! Stay tuned!

February was filled with preaching engagements for both Pastor Joane and me. The most unique one for me was preaching for a Men’s Conference in Sweeny, Texas. It had been organized by Patrick Overton. It was well attended, well organized, and truly an opportunity I will long remember. It was so good to see Patrick shine as we know he could and would eventually. He and his bride made a great team and blessings flowed from them to those in attendance. I will look forward to another opportunity!

March is shaping up to be a month of preparation for coming events. We are looking forward to Easter, especially the 7:00 a.m. Sunrise Service on the front beach! This year, the First Baptist Church will be providing the minister and their choir will sing. There will be hot coffee available, but unless someone comes forward and volunteers, no cinnamon rolls, since Cathy’s Restaurant is no more! Come by car, golf cart, bicycle, or on foot, but be sure to be there and join with many others to sing, “He Lives”.

At the Chapel, Pastor Joane is leading us in a study of God’s Word that she is calling “Route 66”. Since there are sixty-six books in the Bible, we are attempting to give one a great introduction to the Bible stories in each Book and allow it to serve as a type of “Bible Survey Course”. We are presently in the Book of Judges and are looking at the individuals who were instrumental in seeing the nation of Israel develop from a nation of slaves to a nation of warriors for the Lord’s plans. Come and join us on this journey through Scripture!

Fisherman’s Chapel in an interdenominational congregation whose goal is to make each of our eternal destinations secure with our Lord. Sunday services are: Bible Study – 10:00 a.m.; Morning Service – 11:00 a.m. and Evening Service – 6:00 p.m. On Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m., we begin with a fellowship meal and then a study of God’s Word. One will always find a warm welcome at the Chapel and are urged to, “Come, Grow With Us”!

It’s spring already and it seems like it was just Christmas!! I guess it’s not really spring yet on the calendar, but school kids are on spring break right now, so we’ll call it spring. Anyway, lots of things are going on all over town and POC is full of visitors. Here at FBC, we are keeping busy, too. Our pastor search committee is working very hard to find a full time pastor. In the mean time, we have been blessed with so many excellent visiting preachers each week. If you are looking for a church home or just visiting, come join us any Sunday for Sunday school at 10:00 or church at 11:00. We’re waiting to welcome you.

Easter will be here before you know it on April 9. Don’t forget about the Sunrise Service at the front beach at 7:00 a.m. What a special time that always is. If you have never been, don’t miss it this year. Join with several hundred others to watch the sun come up over the bay and participate in a special worship service. The day before Easter, FBC will host our annual EGG HUNT at 2:00. Children from toddlers through 6th grade are welcome to come and hunt for the golden eggs to win special prizes. Afterwards stay for punch and cookies with us.

It’s not too soon to be thinking about Vacation Bible School. This year it is set for June 12-15. Mark your calendars and reserve your grandchildren! Every year, we are filled to overflowing with so many happy smiling little faces. The time will be from 9:00 until 12:00, Monday through Thursday. Check on the FBC Facebook page to register or call the church at 361-983-2727. You can also contact Candice Stryker for details. Registration will start in May.

We have ongoing activities at FBC for almost all ages. TEAM KIDS meets each Wednesday at 5:30. This is for second through sixth graders. They have dinner and then divide into groups for Bible Study, crafts and recreation. Our church van is available to pickup and return your child each evening. Call the church for details. The middle and high school students also meet on that night. They are welcome to join the younger one for dinner at 5:30 and start their activities at 6:00.

We have ladies Bible study in Tuesdays at 4:00 in our Fellowship Hall. We will be starting a new study in about 3 weeks. Walk-ins welcome. Come join anytime. Hope to see you soon for any or all of our events.

Cash Shirhall – Life Scout

“I like scouting because you get to learn about different kinds of stuff, like fire safety, fishing, welding, and history.” Cash Shirhall

Cash Shirhall is currently a Life Scout. It won’t be long until he gets to be an Eagle Scout, and that will happen this fall. Cash has been in the local scouting program for eight years and has earned fifty-eight badges in three and one-half years. Way to go, Cash!

Cash is fourteen years old, in the eight grade, and is a fourth generation resident of Seadrift. His family came to live in Seadrift in 1920! Cash’s grandfather, former County Commissioner Kenny Finster, was involved in Scouting until he was twenty-five years old. His dad, Greg Shirhall, lives in Evant, Texas and works for the U.S. Postal Service. Cash’s mom, Leslie Shirhall, has been teaching for twenty years and is one of the Seadrift School’s kindergarten teachers. His grandmother, Dwana Finster, has been in education for forty-five years. Cash stated, “What means a lot to me is family and friends. Family is important to me because they can help you through life. Friends can, too.”

Cash’s aspiration is to either be a rancher or a fishing guide. His hobbies are outdoor sports and watching documentaries about military history, civil war history, and Texas history.

He is a member of the Tivoli First Lutheran Church and likes to participate in the youth programs at Seadrift’s Methodist and Baptist churches. A favorite Bible verse of Cash’s is found in Psalms 38:17,22. It reads, “For I am about to fall” (verse 17) and “Come quickly to help me.” (verse 22)

He is the proud owner of a dog named “Smokey” and two sugar gliders named “Remington” and “Kye.” Sugar gliders are like flying squirrels.

The plants of Texas are dying.

In Texas, the number of invasive plants is slowly rising. These species can spread like wildfire and overpopulate, resulting in our native plants to rapidly decrease in numbers, which hurts the native ecosystem. Our community doesn’t even realize that the pretty flowers all around may actually be hurting the environment. A good example of one of the non-native plants that have invaded Texas is the Lantana Camara. A lot of places, including my front yard, are filled with these beautiful blush pink and yellow like sunshine flowers. What a pretty scene, when it rains through the night and you go outside in the morning to see the sunrise making the water on the leaves shimmer like diamonds. But a secret hides behind the pretty soft petals of the flower. It’s not supposed to be here. Ever since it came to our state, the native Texas Lantana Urticoides, with its fiery red and oranges, has been getting less and less.

Invasive species of plants can seriously damage the wildlife in Texas. Let’s say that there’s a wild rabbit that eats a certain type of plant that is native to Texas. If an invasive species comes and the number of the plants the rabbit eats drops, the population of the rabbit will also decrease, therefore endangering the species or even causing extinction. It’s also sad to see the beautiful lush plants of Texas die off at the hands, or well, roots of the non-native ones.

While some people might think that invasive plants are helpful because they can provide food for the animals or because they look pretty, I disagree strongly. I believe nothing good can come from these invasive plants, or animals for that matter, because they decrease biodiversity, which just means the variety of life in an ecosystem. They can harm that biodiversity by overpopulating until there’s not very many other plants.

I think that we need to save our native species, and you can help. One way you can help is by planting one of our native flowers in your yard; you can support Texas’ biodiversity and help keep some of them from going endangered or extinct. You, with your actions, can help save Texas.

When I was a child in Catholic school, Easter was taught to be a time of renewal, a time of resurrection; the light survives to fight the dark another day and hope is breathed back into the lungs of life.

However, with all due respect to both the holiday and my personal fate, what I really need to be blessed with the miracle of resurrection is my mobile phone.

I’m not sure how long it’s suffered. It’s only three years old and was never mishandled, mistreated, or abused, though it seems to have left this mortal world in quite a hurry, refusing to take a charge and throwing the entire process of my life up in the air.

‘Planned obsolescence’ is a cool sounding phrase the kids throw around, and my friends, that is how I feel about modern cell phones and their lifespans. Whether I paid forty dollars or four-hundred dollars on the device, and even if I treat it with delicate care like a priceless Faberge egg; it will inevitably fail sooner rather than later.

I mean I get it, this is how it goes now, hardly any of us venture to a ‘repair shop’ anymore unless it’s just to have a broken screen repaired. This is usually because we prefer the fastest and most convenient option of removing and replacing the broken device, and we tend to do it over, and over again.

I remember the early eighties VHS players. They were heavy and bulky, constructed of metal and thick plastic, and usually if something inside it broke I could get in there and fix it with a few pointers from the video rental store manager or being mechanically inclined. This is certainly not the way of today’s DVD and Blu-ray players which feel so light and flimsy out of the box I might as well have a frisbee match with them.

That doesn’t mean I want my mobile phone to be ten-thousand pounds in weight, or for it to have rust damage if there is a light sprinkle of rain, nor do I want to sound like a man steadily on his way to old age and befuddling children while talking about how landline phones were built to last. Good old ‘Ma Bell’ must be rolling in her grave.

It would be bad enough if it was just a phone but it’s everything today, from a Lyft dispatcher to a camera to a way to make appointments online…this is why they don’t care if the phone does not last long no matter how well you care for it, you WILL buy another one, you don’t just want one but you NEED one; a mobile phone is almost a prerequisite for modern life.

Which is fine, I’m all for a all in one handy dandy tool that is everything from an atlas to a flashlight, but can’t we get value for money spent over time or some loyalty for years of staying with our cell phone service provider?

So I’ll have to scrape a scratched barrel to replace it. I should get some more help from the Judas’ at my cell phone provider, but they know not what they do to their customer base.