July 4 – “Indian cuisine”

Our Fourth of July weekend has been pretty eventful so far.  In a good way.  If you don’t count the fire at our dentist’s office.  Or Kel getting notice that he has been laid off from his church.  Or Kel’s house getting broken into.  Or the Astros losing a series to the White Sox.  Good weekend so far.

The Jamaica Beach Volunteer Fire Department Fourth of July weekend barbecue fund raiser and dance was Saturday evening.  We saw lots of folks there.  Some fire fighters.  Some Seasiders.  Some cops.  Some residents.  Here’s hoping they raised some good money for the fire department.

We had 83 people at church yesterday.  That’s a pretty good weekend in itself.  A lot of the group that has been staying in the retreat center decided to join us for worship, and we had quite a few holiday weekenders.  Made for a great tome of worship.  Perfect for Wes’ last Sunday with us as worship leader.  Loud singing and even louder drumming and strumming (and even some whirling around in circles) by the children on their instruments.  It was just incredible on every count, especially seeing as the teaching ended with Saul blind and not eating or drinking for three days.  Could have been depressing.

We took a chance and took Nathan and his family out to eat at Salsa’s for his birthday.  By “taking a chance” I mean with the proliferation of tourists on the Island for the holiday weekend.  As it turned out, most of them were on the beach, because we had no problem getting a table right away.  Happy birthday, Nathan.

Last night we went back up to the church to spend some time with the group in the retreat center.  They invited Chris and me to come sample some of their authentic Indian cuisine.  They are from the southern region of Indian and speak the Telugu language.  They are members of churches all over the Houston area, and they come together every third Saturday for a time of worship together.  One of the men even asked for my card so he could invite me to speak at one of these gatherings.  They also meet in individual home groups on Friday evenings.  Now these are some great folks.  They were so anxious to serve us and have us try every sort of food that they had made for the weekend.  I was worried about how spicy it might be, but it wasn’t bad at all.  Two different kinds of chicken and lots of rice.  Oh, and some sort of chili.  Now, that was spicy.  They wanted to hear all about Seaside and how we got started there.  All this was accomplished as they were cleaning up and packing to return home.  They gifted us with a few dozen eggs and their leftover watermelon.  Oh, and some spicy Indian trail mix.  Supposed to be good with tea or coffee.  Or sprinkled on top of your salad.  I think I want to keep that stuff off of my salad.  It might infringe upon the taste of the Thousand Island dressing.  The folks really want to return, and tried at least three different times with me to reserve a spot.  I think our scheduler will be receiving a call very soon. 

Romans 12:17 says, “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody.”

Father, thank you for the chance to meet and spend time with the folks from India.  Bless them.  Amen.