Maggie’s dinner success, choir, the wedding

Maggie texted me last night to let me know she had successfully made dinner for Nate and the children. I texted back and asked her to let me know the hospitalization report in the morning. Like most of us, it is not a matter of what we are capable of doing but rather what we are willing to do. Like I have heard many preachers say, “The ability God is most looking for is availability.”


Chase played for me as I sang last Sunday morning and it went really well. The only catch was that in order for him to accompany me, according to the rules they have established, he needed to be a member of the choir. As Bro. York explained that to us Chase agreed to join the choir to keep things in order. As he got the low down on choir membership requirements, he was less enthusiastic and wanted to back down. I was not inclined to allow that. So regardless of the excuses he gave I told him it would be wise to join for the few months he has here in Amarillo to keep things right.

The greatest inconvenience of choir is having to be there for practice at 5 pm every Sunday night. The real blessing is the encouragement you get to be to the church as a whole. Most people in church enjoy the music ministry; few will go out of their way to support it. We went for years in Victoria without a choir or a real music program for that matter. Even the humble program we have here is a blessing to the pastor and the church – which makes it well worth the effort.

Mama is getting excited about the trip to Florida. Weddings are something she really enjoys. The fact that it is one of our own makes it a special pleasure. Things have been put together so quickly that I am still absorbing the idea that my daughter is getting married. We have been aware that this day was coming and we are excited about it but now that it is here I am having difficulty getting it to really sink in. It could be the fact that it is happening over a distance and I have had very little to do in helping with the preparations. It could be that I am so thrilled with Maggie’s choice that it is more fun than I thought to watch it play out. Maybe so many things are happening at once that I am having trouble separating them out. Maggie and Aaron have made it easy and I think what is really happening is that it was so expected that it is almost too predictable. Since the biggest scheduling conflict, Aaron’s time off, has been overcome everything else seems easy. Whatever the reason, we will go and enjoy it. We don’t need any more unpredictability.

After this trip is over I hope to stay home or close to home for the remainder of the year. I do not know if we will be able make that happen, but financially it would be prudent. The real issue is whether we count the farm as a home base. With it being three hundred miles away, it seems a little excessive, but that is where Grandma and Grandpa – hopefully Victoria too – will be. The fact that I have to travel there on business regularly makes it a little more plausible from the money side.

I have run the numbers on the farm purchase so many times I almost have them memorized. It reminds me of a scene in “White Christmas” where Bing Crosby is setting up to move the show he and Danny Kaye produce to Vermont to help out a man they admire. Danny Kaye is anxiously listening in on the conversation and asking “How much?” When Bing Crosby gets off the phone after asking the stage manager that question, Danny Kaye asks again, “Well, how much?” to which Bing Crosby responds “Somewhere between ouch and boing!”

I have a feeling that is about where we are going to fall out.