Pardon the cat blog entry, but I turned 50 today. The way I measure it, that’s halfway to Heaven. So my kids insisted we all converge on the DFW Metroplex for the weekend to celebrate.
I don’t think I could have possibly conjured up a better celebration and memory maker – provided by my family, my awesome team at TPCC back home, and some help from people with names like Harrell, Crabtree, and Edwards.
It all started with the confidence that I could leave home and work for the weekend, knowing that the church was in very capable hands. I am so grateful for the staff and leadership at Turning Point. So when Chad, our youth pastor, calls me on Friday to ask it if was OK to title his message on forgiveness, “The F-Word,” I didn’t think twice about it.
We went to Cassie’s house in Euless and had the official family celebration Friday night. (If you know Carrie, you’ll have to ask her what kind of birthday cake they served up. I couldn’t mention it unless you paid me lots of money.) It was there that they presented me the surprise they’d been teasing and hinting about for weeks – two tickets to the Dickies 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. As big a NASCAR nut as I am, I’d never been to a race in person. Needless to say, I was very excited.
Saturday we drove to Canton, Texas – home of the (literally) world’s largest flea market. I’ve never seen anything like it. There had to be more than 150,000 people there, and this is a monthly occurrence. One entire section – about the size of most flea markets – is devoted almost exclusively to pets and livestock. Hundreds of puppies, along with miniature goats, long-haired rabbits, half-sized calves, llamas, donkeys, exotic birds, and even baby pigs. We came home with Gracie – a seven-week-old Maltese.
Saturday night I shouted myself hoarse watching Texas Tech shock Texas. From the Longhorns first play from scrimmage (a safety) to Tech’s last (an incredible touchdown), I was blown away.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaN_ce47MOY
Who would have ever thought that, nine games into the season, the top 5 BCS teams would look like this?
Alabama is #1 for the first time in the regular season since 1980 (Roll Tide!). And my wife’s alma mater is close behind. Incredible.
The race was a true spectacle. TV does a good job of presenting it, but there is no way to compare the 3D effect of actually being there, along with 171,000 other people. And it was pretty cool that we pick up a couple of Carl Edwards #99 caps, and he proceeds to win the race. The view was incredible, the weather perfect. And for all uncultured folks that think NASCAR fans are a bunch of beer-throwing rednecks, let me just say these were some of the friendliest, most gracious and sportsmanlike fans possible. Even, the Earnhardt fans.
Of course, through it all, the most fun part was sharing it with family. It was the first time to see all seven of them together in a long time, and we totally enjoyed that. We also hadn’t seen Laura Kate in a good while, so we were glad to have some time with her.
My eardrums have returned to normal, and my voice is nearly back. The kids have all gone back to home and work. Carrie, Cassie and Joel did such a wonderful job of helping me celebrate. Robin and I are back home – ready to start the third quarter.
I do so want to finish strong.
