Greetings fellow blogites. We just returned from my big Fathers' Day trip to Round Rock, and we had a great time! I'll start at the almost beginning because I know you won't want to miss a single detial. But first, I'd like to make a comment about what my 25 Fathers' Days have meant to me. I have two of the most wonderful daughters any father could ever ask for. They have been my pride and joy since the day they were born. Over the years they have made a few mistakes and have demonstated a few minor imperfections, but for 99.9% of the time they have been just about perfect (in my eyes anyway). I am extremely proud to say that they can both best be described as beautiful (inside and out), compassionate, kind, funny and greatful for everthing Vicki and I have given them or done for them over the years. And, they are both committed to following Jesus Chist as their Lord and Saviour. I never imagined that as a father I (with the assistance of Vicki) would have turned out such a great product.
Back to the trip. We left Greatwood at 9:42 on Saturday morning and had a pleasant and uneventful drive up to Round Rock, which is a suburb of Austin for those not familiar with the geography of central Texas. After having lunch and chilling for a few hours at the casa of Bethany and Cody we loaded up the Toyota and headed for Dell Diamond stadium, home of the Round Rock Express for their big game with the New Orleans Zephyrs. Before the game we stopped for dinner at a place called the Salt Lick, which is coincidentally right next door to "the Dell". This place may be the greatest BBQ place in the galaxy. It's a little pricey - $8.50 for a sandwich - but for your money you get what amounts to a pound of meet stuck in the middle of a loaf of bread. We all gobbled down the meat and bread and then finished things off with some blueberry cobbler and ice cream. Before heading across the parking lot for the game we tarried a few minutes to listen to the band that was playing under a giant oak tree. Their lead singer was doing a great job of looking like Willie Nelson's brother, and they were pretty good. It was generally a carnival atmosphere.
A triple-A baseball game is much different than a major league game. It's more laid back and it seems like it's just more fun. Besides the game there is some type of diversion between almost every inning. There were the two little girls dressed in crab suits vying for a free dinner at Joe's Crab Shack, two guys who raced around the infield seeing who could roll their tire the fastest for a year's worth of free oil changes, a birthday jog around the outfield for all of the kids who were having a birthday, and so much more. In addition, because there were only 4,000 fans instead of 40,000 fans it was much easier to get the free stuff that was being tossed to the fans. Cody out-wrestled a middle-aged woman for an Express tee shirt (the paramedics assured us she'll recover), and Kayla caught one of the balls that the broadcasting crew through from the press box. In addition, it was Roy Owsalt bobble-head night, in honor of the year Roy spent at Round Rock on his way to the big show, and to where Roy is in danger of returning if he doesn't get things going his way soon for the Astros. Oh yeah, and then there was the game, which of course went into extra innings. If you've ever been to the Dell you know that it has all kinds of attractions in addition to the game. Beyond the right field fence it has a rock climbing wall, a bungee jumping thing, and even a swimming pool. But, what the Dell doesn't have is a roof and air conditioning, which caused a dilemma for us. You see, some of our number were a little less heat tolerant that others, and sitting in the stifling heat for three hours eventually became a humanitarian issue. So, we all agree that we would leave after the tenth inning, which we did, with the score tied at zero. Some people are thrilled to call this a pitchers' duel, others are as equally moved to call it boring. At any rate, our leaving after the tenth inning guaranteed that the eleventh inning would be exciting, which it was. Our Express boys won 5-4.
This morning we went to Cody and Bethany's church - the Austin Stone. Kind of a weird name, but a really great church! I of course was skeptical as is my wont over what I anticipated would be what I refer to as "concert church" with annoyingly loud music that was impossible to understand and even more impossible to sing with. Well, believe it or not - hold on to your hats - I was wrong. Sooooo wrong. The music was definitely loud, but the praise and worship at "the Stone" was fantastic. And, the message from 1 Corinthians 15 was in the top 1% of all of the sermons I've ever heard. The preacher, who was actually the number two guy and whose name I never did hear, spoke at length about the "24 words" in 15:3-4 that define the true essence of the Gospel
". . . that Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day . . ."
If you're ever in Austin on a Sunday morning and you're up for some great loud music and a dose of God's truth, head for the Stone. They meet at Austin High School. If you're really worried about the volume they actually have a table on the way into the auditorium that has - this is not a joke - free ear plugs! If you go, my prayer for you is that the air conditioning has been by the time you get there.
Happy Fathers' Day!
Tomorrow: Kayla starts her externship assignment. I start planning our Costa Rica vacation, which subject to availability will happen the week after Christmas. I should probably really focus on finding a job from which to take a vacation.
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