Wednesday, December 14, 2016

December 14 – “A Light Trip”

We were invited out for supper last night.  Off the Island, too.  Big deal, you know.  And the best part of the whole trip-into-Texas scenario was?  We went to the home of four grandchildren (and their parents, of course).  Kel and Christina invited us over for supper and a night on the town.  Of course the “Town” was Dickinson, so don’t think there was any big-city shenanigans going on. 

Actually it was the famous (well, in this area famous) Dickinson Festival of Lights that we went to after we ate.  The town decorates a city park with lights and opens it up free to the public.  Last time we went to this thing they had an entire parking lot just off the freeway that they had commandeered.  Parking and a free bus shuttle became part of the experience.  I guess last night we were ahead of the season rush.  The parking lot was there and seemed ready for riders, but there were no buses and only a few cars anywhere around.  We decided to chance a drive directly to the site to see if it was even open. 

Sure enough, we managed a parking spot right near the venue.  We gathered up all those little ones (Well, and Jachin.  He’s not so little.  Oh, and Micah got his hair cut off.  Looks like a dapper young gentleman.  Josiah got a haircut, too, but he still looks like a six-year-old ready to take on the world.  And Noa is simply … perfectly … gorgeous) and headed through the maze of lights.  Honestly I was disappointed this year.  A lot of the lights were not lit up.  I don’t mean the displays were not on line.  I mean in random places the lights were suddenly out, like on a Christmas tree after you have worked hard to get it all decorated.  And it was not just in one spot, either.  All over the park there were intermittent glitches in the spectacle.  Hopefully they’ll get that taken care of before the rush begins.  Noa did notice the Baby Jesus display.  She commented, “Oh, so THERE’S the Baby Jesus.” 

We did manage a stop at the cookie making booth, however.  Micah had his done and eaten in minutes.  Josiah took a little more time.  He had to make sure there wasn’t a particle of icing or a stray sprinkle left in his container.  Noa was just as careful with her decorative particles.  Well, unless you count the parts that made it onto her face and hands.  She did do some careful spreading of icing, though.  Took her forever.  I loved watching the concentration on her face, though.  Serious business.  She only ate half of her cookie.  But that icing she had so carefully spread only moments before?  Scraped off and deposited where it needed to go. 

Next came hot chocolate and a stop at the park’s playground.  The kids played some chase and did some climbing while Kel and Jachin and I did some talking about curve balls and change-ups and whether kids should begin pitching before they turn eleven.  And that was pretty much the end of the tour.  Kel and his crew headed home and Chris and I headed to Hobby Lobby to pick up some bells and bobbins.  Why?  I’ll save that for another story …

Ephesians 5:21 says, “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”


Father, thank you for our excursion into Texas to see the lights.  Thanks more for the company we got to keep.  Amen.

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