The last two weeks have been very special. First, Sue and I flew to Dallas to attend the high school graduation of our oldest granddaughter, Lauren Lucas. Lauren is the daughter of our oldest daughter, Jamie and her husband Kendall. We were met at the airport by son Rick, who lives in Dallas. This was on Thursday and after arriving in Dallas, I spent a few hour riding with Rick for some errands he was facing. Friday evening was the big event and Sue, Rick and I ventured to Denton, TX and the home of the Lucas family. There awaiting us were Kendall's mother and step-father. Kendall's father passed away a number of years ago and she married a fine Christian man some time following the death of John Lucas. Later, daughter Holly, son-in-law Guy and their children arrived. It is usually a whirlwind when Holly, Guy, Jacob, Houston, and Violet arrive on the scene. This time was no exception. Always fun to have at least part of the family together. The graduation was held on the campus of North Texas University, where Lauren will attend college next year.
On Saturday, we had a reception for Lauren at the home of Rick and Cindy in Dallas. This time, all of our family was there as Cindy, Rick's wife and their daughter Hudson joined us. This was a great time of fellowship, watching the children play on the trampoline, drive Hudson's little car behind the garage, play ping-pong, play basketball before eating the terrific dinner.
In the evening, we went to the Texas Theater to view Hudson's dance recital. It was terrific. By the way, the Texas Theater was where the authorities found Lee Harvey Oswald following the assassination of President John Kennedy.
Sunday, Sue and I drove back to Denton for the worship services of the Denton Bible Church. Kendall is worship leader there and Tommy Nelson is their great pastor. He is always more than terrific when preaching or leading a Bible Study.
Monday, it was back to St. Louis and facing a busy week. Tuesday evening, my friends Dan Bench, who is the CEO of Windermere Conference Center at the Lake of the Ozarks, and Arthur Mallory, my friend who knows more about education than anyone I know, were to meet at the Stan Musial statue that stands in front of Busch Stadium. We were late because of a truck burning on I-70 and traffic was backed up almost to St. Louis International Airport. We finally arrived and went to the Media entrance where we were to meet up with Lou and Jackie Brock. They were late because of the truck burning. While we waited, we met John Mozailak, the General Mananger of the Cardinals, John Utlett, the PA announcer and finally went into a dining room to eat and wait for Lou and Jackie. Upon their arrival, they suggested that we go into the ballpark and find our seats. WHAT SEATS THEY WERE!!!! Second row next to the Cardinals' dugout. Sue could almost hold hands with Cardinals manager, Tony LaRussa. In the stadium, we met the Cardinals' owners and I met Jack Clark, a former slugger for the Cardinals when Whitey Herzog was the manager. After the game, we met former Cardinals' pitchers Cal Eldred and Alan Benes. Tony LaRussa came through where we were and that was a bit exciting. Sue wanted Lou to sign a ball for a friend of Holly's,but left the ball in our car. Jackie suggested that we come by after the game and have Lou autograph the ball. It was there that the evening concluded with Jackie, who is a great prayer warrior, led us in prayer.
By the way, we are praying about Lou Brock having a baseball camp with some good Christian stuff at Windermere.
I'm tired after writing all of this.
BLESSINGS on you who read this and those who don't.
