December 23 – “Cirque Joyeux”

Chris went to rehab again yesterday, so I used the opportunity to finish my Dad gift shopping.  I thought I had already done that, but found that I forgot one.  No excuse for it.  I knew what I wanted.  Just didn’t pick it up last visit.  While I was out, I remembered one other item I wanted to get for Chris. Couldn’t find it at the usual places (aka Walmart), so on a whim I thought I would try Randall’s.  As I pulled into the parking lot I saw our worship pastor Jim and his lovely bride Charlette leaving.  They didn’t see me.  Didn’t recognize the truck.  Or maybe they were so enamored with each other that they only had eyes for … well, you get the picture.  Anyway, I got parked and went into the store, only to find that the lights had just blown out.  Happened just minutes after Jim and Charlette left.  Hmm.  What did you guys do in there?  They didn’t have to close the store, but they were operating on emergency power.  I still checked for the item I was searching for.  No luck.  On my way out I noticed one of those huge inflatable Santa decorations had deflated.  Guess he was not essential personnel.  I commented out loud as I headed to the exit, “Oops.  Santa crashed.”  It brought a chuckle … no, more like a guffaw from one of the workers.  Guess it was a needed stress reliever.

 

We had a date in the afternoon.  Chris’ Christmas present was a trip to Moody Gardens for the matinee showing of the Cirque Joyeux.  Kind of like a tiny baby Cirque de Soleil.  It only lasted an hour.  Negative reaction first?  It started no less than 45 minutes later than the time recorded on the tickets.  We decided they must be allowing time for people to buy snacks at the concession stand.  By “we” I mean us and the other couple sharing our table.  They were a retired Air Force couple visiting from New Mexico.  We started out sharing simple info like where we were from and what our families were like.  Then the husband asked whether I was retired or still working.  Once he found out I was a pastor, the fun began.  He regaled us for the entire time we waited for the show to begin with one pastor joke after another.  By far my favorite part of the show (other than being there with my gorgeous wife, of course).  We were impressed with the strong men and the twin sister trapeze act.  The clown character was pretty good, too.  He pretty much held the show together.  The whole show only lasted an hour, which kind of surprised us.  Guess we were expecting more.  But then, I can’t remember the last time I went to a circus …

 

Matthew 2:10 says, “When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.”

 

Father, thank you for the fun we had at the circus yesterday.  Please be with our new friends from New Mexico.  Give them a safe trip back.  Amen.