September 16 - “Friday Night Lights”

We got on the road to Waco around 9:12 a.m. yesterday. How’s that for an estimate?Thunderstorms had me good and awake before 5, though. Great to have the rain. Sure can be noisy. 

We started out with a drive through a brief stretch of rain. But of course it had to include the Houston corridor. Chris did a bang-up job driving, as usual. And after our usual stop at Buc-ees, the rain returned and joined us for the rest of the journey. 

Not long after we arrived, it was back in the car again. This time we were heading north of Waco to a little burg very close to where we went to camp at GlenRose, Texas. The town was called Walnut Springs, and it was Small Town Friday Night Lights, Baby! High school football in rural America where the local Baptist Church had their fifth quarter fun and fellowship event announced over the loudspeaker. Oh, and before the game, they played a recording of the national anthem. We were still outside the stadium, so we stopped and faced the flag. And we were not alone. A motorcycle rider pulled off the road when he saw what was happening and stood at attention with the rest of us. Gotta love it. 

I forgot to mention that we ate supper before the game at the Texas Tavern in downtown Walnut Springs. I had a Monte Christo. First time I have even seen one of those on a menu in years. Everybody else had some variation of burger, and everyone said it was the best they ever had. Cleanest bathrooms I have ever seen, too. Cleaner than Buc-ees, even. Go out of your way someday and check it out. Well, you’ll have to go out of your way. This town is in the middle of nowhere. 

So … football game. The visitors’ bleachers weren’t very comfortable, but hey, why should they be? No reason to make the bad guys comfy. We sat next to Chip and Joanna Gaines. Yep. The HGTV stars. Their son plays for Caleb’s team. Caleb made his appearance on the field as a special teams specialist. He is just a freshman this year, and this was a varsity game. Six-man full contact tackle. Tough game. As for the game itself … well, the final score was 62-14, Good Guys. They stopped the game at halftime because of a mercy rule. Very exciting night. 

Psalms‬ ‭31‬:‭24‬ says, Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord.

Father, thanks for watching over the boys on both teams at the game last night. Heal their bumps and bruises quickly. Amen.