Sue and I have spent the last month in Texas, splitting our time between Leander (A suburb of Austin that is larger than our largest city back home in Maine) and Houston. We have a daughter in Houston and a daughter and son-in-law in Leander, and we've had the most wonderful time. I have written about the first three weeks already, and as we sit with a two hour lay-over in Charlotte - an airport that has clearly not grown with the tremendous growth of the city itself as demonstrated by its minimal gate seating and men's room stalls - I thought it was a good chance to write about the rest of our time in the Lone Star State.
Although Sue's birthday was yesterday, we celebrated it last weekend in Leander. Rose and her boy friend, Temi, came over from the Golf Coast, and Joey, who was the best man at Jona-Lynn and Sam's wedding, also came by. Our New Yorker daughter and her fiance joined us via facetime. Sue was given an electric picture frame and, between us all, over 1000 pictures have been loaded onto it. They rotate through in random order, changing every 30 seconds or so. We had so much fun downloading pictures and reliving the memories they brought back. The other highlight of the celebration was the briscut that Sam smoked Friday night. He and Joey actually pulled an all nighter to keep the temperature of the coals just right.
The remaining time in Texas saw an opportunity to do four shows. I didn't expect to do that many (a total of six for the trip) but when people find out I'm a juggler and magician, doors open quickly. The first of these last four was on Sunday morning at Jo and Sam's church. It was sweet having Joey, Rose and Temi there as well. Since it was a Sunday service in a church where we were starting to make connections - Sue and I went to their Wednesday night services whether the kids came with us or not - I mixed routines and stories from our years of ministry. I just felt like I wanted the congregation to get to know us better.
The last three shows were varied and a lot of fun. One was for a Teen Challenge house / school for girls. Teen Challenger was started by Dave Wilkerson in the early 1960's and its origins are documented in the classic book "The Cross and the Switchblade". It is now a world-wide ministry helping teens and adults with life controling issues: addiction, eating disorders, self-injury, etc. In spite of the struggles of these 15 teenaged and preteen girls, when the juggling started they were just wide-eyed kids having fun and hearing that they were loved. Another was at a shelter for kids ages 5 to 18 who were waiting for a foster care placement. And finally, a couple who are friends with Jo and Sam are starting a church in their home on Tuesday nights, so they used me as a community outreach at the local park. Between 30 and 40 people were there, and Pastor Adam said only half were connected to their home house. Afterwards, I spoke with a man whose daughter had cancer that was now in remission. He told how their family spent a week at a camp in Maine for termanilly ill kids called Camp Sunshine. I told him that camp is literally within walking distance of our church in the little town of Casco. After each of these four shows, Sue made balloon animals for the kids; even the Teen Challenge girls were eager to be given a balloon.
But this trip was never really supposed to be about shows. During that last week and a half, Jo had finished up her summer grad school work, so we had more time to swim at the neighborhood pool, play card games, go for walks, read aloud ("Wicked" which was originally a novel. Who knew?) and finish watching "Ted Lasso". If you have never seen this show (3 seasons, 12 episodes each) you must. It is the best sports themed TV show or movie I've ever seen: better than Rocky, the Natural, Fields of Dreams, Cool Runnings and Karate Kid. So much of it is set on British soccer pitches and locker rooms that the language is harsh but realistic. But if you're not watching with young kids, it's an outstanding story of redemption and forgiveness, while never ceasing to be laugh-out-loud funny.
Speaking of TV and movies, Sam, Jo, Sue and I also all dressed in pink and went to see the Barbie Movie yesterday. Also well worth seeing.
This was a wonderful month with just the right mix of rest and activity; family time at home and sightseeing. Sue and I are so grateful to have done this, and we are now refreshed and ready to be home.
Meanwhile, our flight has been delayed an hour, so I guess we'll have to wait a little longer before we arrive there.