Precipitation

On this day of the trip I experienced a Texan Baptist Church. Our Church is so small and theirs was so big! I think my Church could probably fit in the children’s department alone!

ELB took me for the grand tour so I got to see the Children’s rooms, the Pre-Church, the youth area, the adult Sunday School area and the famous control desk. At the end of the tour, I also got to meet their pastor.

The auditorium is impressive. I wasn’t sure that taking photos was quite kosher, so I refrained - thus you’ll just have to believe me. I sat next to Eric (well, in a sense as he was on the platform operating the camera but not near enough to capture me on it haha - although the other cameras probably did!). ELB was in the control room doing an impressive job I’m sure.

Toni (Eric and ELB’s friend) came and sat next to me. That was very nice of her! Texans are so friendly and down to earth. I think that is the thing that most impressed me about Texas.

The Pastor gave a good message about how it is bad to be in debt. I was glad that I wasn’t in debt or I might have been feeling guilty hehe. He used good illustrations too. I was pleased to note that I knew some of the songs too because I was wanting to praise God for the way He had supported me on this trip and the many blessings He had given me.

Afterwards was Sunday School. I went along with Eric and ELB to their group. The people were so friendly. They took my details and sent me a postcard that arrived a week later just to follow up on my visit (could you please thank them for me Eric?). The teacher was very knowledgeable about her subject which was Hebrews. I wished I could have been there for the rest of the series. It made me want to read Hebrews again!

After Church we met up with Toni and Tommy at a garden place which houses a restaurant. The food was delicious! The waitress kept calling me sweet pea hehe. I liked that because it added to the friendliness of the place. Conversation flowed freely and with good food at the ready - what more could you ask for?




Tommy and Toni’s son is in a band called the Justin Cofield Band. If you haven’t heard of them - check them out because they are good! Toni was very generous and gave me their latest CD - searching for resolution. I’m not just saying that they are good because it was free - This one passed the all important IPOD test (the test of a whether a CD is truly good).

After lunch, we went back to our respective abodes for a while. Eric said I tired him out. I can’t help it if I am such a spring chicken hehe. I re-organised my bags since I would be flying out the next day. I also watched more American TV.

At 3pm they picked me up and we went to Tommy and Toni’s place to visit. They also have a nice home. They have an airfield in their back yard - how cool is that? I also got to meet their incredibly cute dog named skittles. With seeing all these cute dogs, I was starting to miss my Mac!

Thanks Toni for that photo!

They invited us to dinner and since the decision was mine, I accepted without hestitation. This meant that we needed to get groceries and you know what this meant - those self checking machines hehe. Eric and Tommy didn’t want to experience this excitement so they went off and had a coffee at Starbucks.

Toni and ELB must have confused me with a Hick. I stared goggle eyed at the variety and the brands available. Quite frankly, I could have spent hours just looking at all the stuff. We found some super hot sausages and some normal ones for the wimp of the group, hamburger patties and a few other bits and pieces. We also got some snickerdoodles (which I had never tried but loved).

Since Toni discovered that I had not tried twinkies and ding dongs, after picking up the boys, we stopped at a town and country - where I goggled a bit more. Toni very generously brought me a twin pack of both twinkies and Ding dongs!

Dinner was great and I heard some interesting skiing stories! If you are a regular reader of Eric’s blog, you will remember Tommy unfortunately had a skiing accident. You should get Eric to tell you a few more skiing stories - They’ve got some doozies between the 4 of them. Contrary to what Eric alluded in his report - I actually enjoyed hearing the stories!

I think Tommy and Toni are great! Tommy and I share a love of the same books so he was able to recommend some books that I might like and vice versa. I also got to sit up the plane that we would have got to go up in if the weather had been more reliable. They also have discerning taste - They have diet coke in their fridge!

It was with sadness we left (realising that I probably would not get to spend time with them until we all reached Heaven). When I got back to the hotel, I found a text message from my mother saying Steve Irwin had died. While the guy annoyed me, I was shocked that he had died. He did a lot for animal conservation.

The next day would be my last day in Texas…