Still In Texas

This state is huge. We drive and drive and drive some more, and we're still in Texas. Only another week or so, though, and then we're on to other places.

I'm not complaining, though... we've been having a great time here. Definitely getting a healthy dose of "Southern Hospitality."

We had a good week of concerts and some fun time. On Monday, we got to go to the Houston Livestock Show, courtesy of Rice Temple Baptist Church. We had a great time there seeing all the sights, and I even got to back for the rodeo and the Tim McGraw concert that night! The church gave all of the kids cowboy hats before we went, so we had a big group of "Indian Cowboys."

On Wednesday we were in Galveston, Texas and got to spend a few hours at the beach. The church was only about three blocks from the water, so it was very convenient. Also in Galveston, I got to play a little bit of softball. Yeah! The coed team that my host family is on was short a few players and he knew that I liked softball, so he asked if I wanted to help. It was a little chilly, but a lot of fun!

On Thursday, the choir got to do something very unique. Buddy Griffin, an associate pastor and music teacher at Sagemont Church in Houston, Texas spent the day teaching the choir to play Ukuleles. For those of you who don't know, a ukulele is a Hawaiian instrument that looks like a small guitar. The best part of all was that that he gave all of the kids a ukulele for them to keep. They had a great time, and now with the cowboy hats they got on Monday, and the ukulele they got on Friday, make a great picture. Check out http://www.hearthunters.org/ for some pictures.

Friday, a visit to the Blue Bell Creamery, home of Blue Bell Ice Cream, and on Saturday we visited the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in College Station, Texas.

And then yesterday... an awesome day. We broke the records for sponsors at a church, sponsors at a single service, and sponsors for one day. St. John's Lutheran Church in Cypress, Texas... first service, 25 sponsors. Second service... a whopping 48 sponsors! Total for the church, 73! Add another 21 at the evening concert at First Baptist, Bay City, Texas, and we had a total of 94 sponsors in one day! Think of the impact that that could have. Awesome!

Busy week ahead... pray for us!

Michael