Mr. Flynn's Quarantine 80th Birthday Parade

Mr. Flynn is in the Alabama Boxing Hall of Fame, he is boxer, a trainer, can throw his voice, deer charmer, squirrel raising character.  He was one of the first ones I ever spoke with at the Chelsea church of Christ, and told me about them being more like a family than a church.  Mr. Flynn doesn't sugar coat anything, and when he starts "ciphering" on a bible subject, you better watch out, because he will hit you will some hard truths, and say it in a way everyone can understand. 

 

But I must ask again...Who is Flynn Gerald?  Who is this man that instantly makes people feel that he is in charge?  Who is this man that makes others laugh just by him cracking a grin?  He will tell you right away that he loves the Lord.  His children are faithful, and his wife is as sweet as can be, but who is this former Far-East Welterweight Champion boxer, voice throwing extraordinaire, fisherman of any lake or sea, story telling comedian?  He is just Flynn and the stories he tells have kept me laughing for several days.  His tales are told by others with the same hysterical response.  Flynn Gerald is just a man, but his stories are legendary. 

I can't remember all of the Flynn Stories...but I did write down the tagline that was supposed to help me remember the story...Flynn goes to a High School Dance...Flynn closes down Desoto Caverns (I am sure this was probably him throwing his voice)...Flynn scares a recently widowed woman into thinking her husband is alive...Flynn tells me about my best defense....Flynn watches me jump rope (Yeah, I think Flynn just told me to stop, he said it looked like I was having a fit)...Flynn fights the karate champ...Flynn punches the strongest man...Flynn messes with a drunken black man by throwing his voice...Flynn takes Chris fishing during a tornado...Terry throws Flynn through the wall of his garage...Flynn and Brian take turns breaking each other’s ribs...Flynn and the ladies workout sessions...Flynn breaks Chris’s ribs...

 

And today he turned 80!  Wow, after this parade Mrs. Wanda thought up and Magan facilitating, Mr. Flynn went into his boxing gym and hammered that bag in a way I still would never be able to do.  I would want no part of the ring with him.  I may be able to make it a round in another 10 years.  He is my brother in Christ...and a man I have grown to respect in many ways.  The Junkin van went around the loop for a second time, playing "Eye of the Tiger" in our van...I hope to do this again in another 10 years.  We all stayed within 6 feet for the quarantine, but it was nice to see all of our friends come out and celebrate our good church friend during this difficult time. 



 

 

 

 

Home Bible Class

We have decided to let the kids lead us in our Wednesday Night Bible Class, and give them opportunities to find lessons on their own to teach us.  We have had some good lessons...

Davis taught us about the Pigeon Driving the Bus (the Pigeon being like Satan tempting us to drive the bus, and you do not want a pigeon driving the bus).  He also taught us about a story about Jonah and to trust God when being told to do something.  He then taught us about 3D printing and how you have to be patient as each level is printed...just like God is patient with us.

Sam taught us about Jesus being the Promise (Genesis), the Prophesy (Isaiah), then the Fulfillment in John 1.  He also found a comparison of the Armor of God being needed to the skills needed for Call of Duty.  And another was around us being the clay being molded by God.

The girls teamed up to first have the barbie dolls show us a youtube movie telling the story of Esther.  They next used a picture drawn by Belle of a stream to illustrate that we evaporate into heaven, and we are full of God's water.  And last they shared some animal pictures they drew, and each animal reminded them of a bible story (lion, Daniel; bird, Noah's ark; Forest animals, Creation).

Ivey Raine

Somewhat of a weird situation having a new niece during the quarantine...we did not get to visit the hospital, but got to share a few moments on facetime.  I guess we did get some extra time since Magan is the photographer.  I am sure those pictures will come later, but we did also get to visit with Ivey at our home a few days later.  I guess we will get pics of everyone holding her at her 1st birthday party.  Weird days during this quarantine.  Congrats to baby sis and their newest family member!

 

Frisbee Golfing (Quarantine Social Distance Activity)

And we have found our favorite activity during the quarantine.  Sam, Davis and I just got back from another round of frisbee golfing on this night as I write this blog.  We are getting better, and now we have two little girls that like to join in the fun.  And we have a picture below that happened directly after the best shot we have seen in all of the trips...Anabelle hit one over the creek on the 18th hole and rung the basket...It was still the most amazing shot I have seen.  Amazingly if you could see how bad we throw these things, that we have not lost a frisbee yet (altho many in the creek, and one in the pond).  We began with the cheap set of three frisbees each from Amazon, and slowly we are building up our Inova championship discs...but we are still throwing them in the woods most times.  I was also excited that one of these trips no one was going with me, so I figured I would just go practice, and both girls said "we want to go"...so I got to go visit the course with just my girls and we did great...getting a 3 on every hole...playing best frisbee, but that is still some of the best we have ever done.  Belle keeps improving each time, and Ruby just needs a lot of practice, those disks are just too heavy.  And I guess the only other notable thing I remember and probably the girls remember was the naked little boy in the stream playing on the 18th hole...it was kind of weird that the dad decided that was the best place to introduce naked creek play to his little boy.  I have really loved this new sport, and more importantly, love getting my crew out in the woods with me.  

Hike to King's Chair

Davis and I completed this hike in December, and I have been wanting to bring the family since then.  And now that we were in a quarantine and missed our planned trip to the USS Alabama, we decided instead to hike 1.8 miles up double oak mountain to "King's Chair".  I took up the caboose position to make sure we did not go to fast for anyone, and our fearless leader up the hill was Ruby.  We did not think anything about this until a snake crawled within inches of her foot slithering across the path right in front of her.  Sam saw it, and Ruby did pretty good, she stopped walking, screamed "snake", then slowly took a few steps back.  We did not get a picture of that one, but it was pretty large.  At the top on King's Chair, we took a few pictures (haha, you should have felt Ruby's hands as she got close to the edge for the pictures...they were soaking wet), then headed back to a shaded spot along the ridge where we had our bible study and rest.  I also found out that 6 bottles of water was not enough for 6 people hiking almost 4 miles...especially when bottle #6 was Magan's frozen bottle she uses to rub on her aching foot.  Davis and I tried the "foot water" and it was fine, but I am thinking again that we should have had more non foot water.  After the bible study, we tossed the frisbee around a little, rested a little (Magan and Belle played a travel game she had brought up in her backpack...and I wish I could have captured the giggles from that little Belle as mom rolled a 1 and 2 every time), then made our way back down.  Ruby has become really attached to big brother Sam, and reminds me often that he will leave for college soon.  She is right, it will be here before you know it, and it's why I try to help them recognize how great each day is, especially right now isolated together.  We are making new memories every day, and this one was another nice one that I am glad we captured.  Oh, and Sam found another snake (pictured below) on out trip back down the mountain.