A Pampa Footnote: "Circles inside of circles, inside of circles"

Although a number of women traveled 120–150 miles round trip from surrounding areas to attend, Janice flew from Dallas to Amarillo––up and back in a day––rented a car and drove by herself the 60 miles each way to and from Pampa contending with a 50+ mph crosswind. Janice had dressed for Spring, but nary a complaint about the Panhandle weather crossed her lips.

                                           Janice, me, Pat, Sue and Danina

Thank you, each and every one who got out on such a blustery day, Saturday past, to hear me speak at Faith Bible Church. When I overheard some women saying that the bad weather had made it possible for them to attend because ball games and various outdoor activities got canceled, it struck me how hollow my prayers sound when I ask for comfortable conditions, the removal of obstacles and the wish that things I value would come easy.

Since graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary in 2008, I have sought to discover and develop a speaking/writing platform. Based on remarks and written evaluations, I am encouraged to continue in this direction, to continue as Prof Hendricks tells his Creativity classes, "plussing," to make ideas better.

Several asked about quotes used in my talk, indicating that they wished these had been written out. Most of the quotes came from the books I recommended, titles and authors printed on the back of the outline I had prepared, then distributed.

Without repeating the full outline, here are a few quotes corresponding to each heading. 

I. Reading …
"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become." C.S. Lewis

II. Writing …
"You are the custodian of your memories and they are perishable." William Zinsser

III. Creativity…
"All people are born originals, but most die a copy."
"The tragedy of life is not in the fact of death but in what dies inside us while we live." Both of these quotes come from the revered Dr. Howard G. Hendricks, who this year celebrates his 60th Anniversary as a professor at DTS.

IV. Transitions …
"The most exhausting thing in life, I have discovered, is being insincere. That is why so much of social life is exhausting; one is wearing a mask. I have shed my mask." Anne Morrow Lindbergh

"Circles inside of circles, inside of circles …," my story reads better because of you.

Speaking of Pampa

I will be in Pampa, TX on Saturday March 27, 2010 to speak at Faith Bible Church, 10:30–12:30. http://maps.google.com/places/us/tx/pampa/w-kingsmill-ave/110/-faith-bible-church?gl=us


Which, speaking of faith, I must exercise my faith to trust I will have a voice by then. Laryngitis struck with whatever the last 60–70 mph. wind blew into Lubbock the day before yesterday.

My subject is Story. The main points are Reading, Writing and Creativity, with a post script, Transitions.

One of my favorite books, Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea, offered inspiration underlying the message I hope to deliver.

The movie, Castaway, a portion of which was filmed in the Panhandle, near Pampa, captures visually how like the ocean that part of Texas is. An intentional parallel, I might add.

Vast, with islands of inhabitants, the land creates its own geographic isolation where the treasures of friendship wash up onto the shores of individual stories.

A Gift to be part of and to know some of these stories, I look forward to seeing familiar faces, hugging necks, meeting new people and reinforcing the ties that have bound my heart forever to Pampa.

A New Mrs. Frugé

 
Stephanie Reneé Reinhart became Mrs. Jordan Frugé a week ago today.

It seems so much longer ago––is it the time change? 

A Mary Poppins wedding, "practically perfect in every way."

Welcome to our family, Stephanie.

My pictures fail to capture how radiant Bride and Groom looked, how wonderful the ceremony was, and how much fun our whole family had throughout the wedding weekend in Horseshoe Bay. 

Here's a peak at a few pictures the wedding photographer took.
http://tylerschmitt.blogspot.com/2010/03/wedding-stephanie-jordan-austin-texas.html 
  

Jordan's nephews, aka. my grandsons Beau and Beck, were Ring Bears. A surprise during the rehearsal, the twins played their parts and kept their secret, which was their mother's great idea. No costumes worn for the actual wedding though. 

No wedding is complete without its crisis and its hero. Here's Charlie, the guy who risked life and limb to break into Stephanie's house to retrieve her veil.

When Stephanie realized late Friday night that she had forgotten her veil in Houston, desperation led Jordan to tell Charlie to use a golf club to break a window. A vigilant neighbor stopped Charlie mid-entry––stopped him with a .357 Magnum pointed at his backside. 

This story has a happy ending. Charlie got the veil, he delivered it in time for the wedding, and Jordan and Stephanie via cell phone made fast friends with their new next door neighbor.