People in Texas spend their entire lives wanting the opportunity to live in Austin. Some of them come here for college and enjoy it so much that they want to get back here. Some of them come to visit and think how much fun it would be to live here all the time. Others want a lifelong career lying sideways in the public trough.

Then there is Peggy and me. We have really enjoyed it here and now we are talking about leaving only six months into the adventure. We have the cool apartment, the downsized life, access to all the cool things Austin brings to bear.

This weekend we went and did some of the things we love here in Austin. We took Allie and climbed up to the outlook over the river. We went to the Iguana Grill, one of the few decent restaurants in the area that actually looks out over Lake Travis. Great food, gorgeous sights, even in the midst of the drought.

And we talked. The company in Louisiana wants me to come back to Baton Rouge for another meeting, and this time they want to meet Peggy, too. A supportive spouse is incredibly important in the role I will be filling and they want to make sure Peggy is OK with the move.

Peggy is worried about this development. I am thrilled. She is absolutely my secret weapon — once they meet her there is no way I won’t get the job if I want it. I have always said that she is the most concrete proof of my sales acumen. Like most wonderful women, she really doesn’t know what the fuss is about. It’s part of the reason that everyone who meets her loves her.

Peggy and I were again scheduled to go to Mexico for a week. The company wants to have the meeting while we were planning to be gone. Since that means I will not have to take extra time away from my current job — which is very important to me — Peggy and I altered our plans. We will once again be going to Cajun Mexico for several days, with an important side trip over to Baton Rouge for one of the nights. I’m glad we get to stay at L’Auberge all the time because it really comes in handy when plans change.

We’ll see what happens next. For now we are enjoying Austin for all it’s worth.

When you grow up going to the beach in Alabama and Florida, the beaches in Texas take a little getting used to. I moved to Dallas when I was fifteen, and everybody talked about going to South Padre Island. I had been to Galveston and to Corpus Christi and was not impressed with the beaches, so I was not too interested in going to South Padre, even for Spring Break.

I went back to Louisiana for college and we would travel to Gulf Shores or Destin, the “Redneck Riviera” and the “Emerald Coast”. It wasn’t like I was turning up my nose at South Padre, but I never went.

When Mike was about nine I had a business conference on South Padre Island, so I took Peggy and Mike and made the trip. It really is a beautiful place — at least when Spring Break is not going on. The most memorable thing that happened was watching Peggy and Mike on the beach trying to get back to the hotel with his inflatable boat. I had just gotten to the room and was looking out of the window at the two of them coming back from the beach. A huge gust of wind came up and lifted both of them off the ground. Fortunately, neither of them was injured, and they didn’t lose the boat! 

My company hosted a meeting on South Padre for one of our large customers this week, so Peggy and I returned to the island for the first time in several years. We came down a little early and spent a couple of nights so we could enjoy it without work encumbrances. We are staying right on the water. This is the same time of year that we were here with Mike, which means it is a wonderful view but it is still some kind of windy.

We had a great time the last couple of days exploring the area and seeing all of the things that have changed since our last visit. Two hurricanes hit the island in 2008 causing significant damage. This is our first trip back since the hurricanes, so there have been a lot of changes. A lot of the properties look brand new, some because they are new and others because they required significant repairs after the hurricanes. The builders and planners have done a wonderful job of making the island look great while retaining the original charm of South Padre.

I’ll be working the next two days while Peggy relaxes. She deserves all the relaxation she can get, and this is a beautiful place to do it. We have a dinner tomorrow night that is her only obligation, so she is free to do whatever she wants to do.

Life is always good at the beach.

Today was a true blessing.

The Minnie Pause ladies performed for an amazing crowd at First Baptist Church of Houston. The ladies in the audience were ready to have a good time, and that always gets the cast going. There were a few men there, too, but this was a women’s event and the ladies were fired up about it.

The members of the cast were there long after the show ended taking pictures and sharing with the attendees. It is amazing what will be shared in this environment, and many times the only appropriate response is to stop and pray with someone. It is wonderful to watch, and it really does help. When your message is “Joy 4 Life’s Journey” it is important to embody what you are singing and acting out.

Usually, once the pictures are taken, the cast will change out of their costumes and wigs (you can see why!) before we leave. Today was different, though.

A long-time close friend of ours is dying. He and his wife have had a rough few years. Their son was born with special needs and died a couple of years ago. Rick and Patti were supposed to be able to enjoy some time together after going through that tragedy. Instead, more tragedy has followed. Watching your friend die is tough; watching your spouse die is almost too much to imagine.

Patti has attended several shows, and when we found out Rick was back in the hospital today we decided to go see them. After the show we decided that we would do so in costume. I was sure it would lift Patti’s spirits, and I know Rick well enough to know he would think it was hilarious to see these ladies walk in wearing gaudy makeup and two-foot-high beehive wigs.

The reaction was just what we expected. We visited and talked with Rick and Patti, and then Rick asked if we would sing. The sounds that came out of that hospital room sounded like heaven to me, and we attracted quite a crowd that just wanted to come see and hear what was going on. Rick was moving his lips right along with us, and I know his heart was singing to beat the band.

These kinds of moments are special. This is the heart of what being involved in a ministry is all about, and I am privileged to serve with people who gladly take on the responsibility. Sometimes joy is easy, but often joy is difficult. The joy on Rick’s face today is something that I will remember for a very long time; something that I will remember every time I think of Rick.

We love you, Patti and Rick! God bless every step of your journey.

It’s pronounced like the color.

That’s the first thing you learn when you move to Texas. The Gruene Dance Hall has been operating since the 1870s, and some of the greatest names in Texas music have played there over the years. I saw George Strait there before he was famous, and I saw Pat Green play one of the best shows I have ever seen. You can go any day, but we like to go on Sunday because the shows are usually free.

Gruene is now basically part of the town of New Braunfels, about forty-five miles south of Austin. Peggy likes to go down, look in the shops, eat at the Gristmill and just hang out. Since our Friday night date got interrupted with more important news of our son’s pending nuptials, I decided to take Peggy down to Gruene after church to celebrate in style.

The weather was a little overcast but not too cool for shorts (it is spring in Texas, for goodness’ sakes), and the shops are always too cool. We walked around and listened to the music from the Hall, then we went to eat at the Gristmill. It is right along the river and used to be a working mill, but it is much more popular as a restaurant. You can sit inside or outside if the weather is pretty. Today they weren’t seating people outside. The only problem with sitting inside is you can’t hear the music, but the view of the river and the food are a good consolation prize.

When we were younger Gruene was where we would come to ride inner tubes down the river. When we got a little older we would come to New Braunfels to visit Schlitterbahn with Mike. In this area you can ride the Comal or the Guadalupe River, and the section of the Guadalupe right behind the restaurant is where we used to get out of the river. It was fun sitting here today and reliving some of those memories. It is sometimes hard to believe we have been together for more than thirty-three years to have all of these memories together. I’m counting on at least thirty-three more.

But I am not getting back in that river anytime soon. That water is cold!

Every once in a while you get to do something that is truly memorable.

A couple of years ago we did a Christmas show at the Stafford Opera House in Columbus, Texas. It is a beautifully restored turn-of-the-(last)-century theater that hosts touring plays and musicals each year. We were honored to appear on their stage, and the audience really enjoyed the show. Apparently they enjoyed it enough that the Opera House invited us back to do our “regular” show as part of their season package this year.

There are real benefits to doing the show in a theater. In many of our venues my most important job is figuring out how the stage is going to be set up to accommodate our show and the necessary props. In this theater that is not a problem. Well, maybe the stage is a little too big, but we aren’t going to consider that a problem.

The show tonight was incredible. Frequently our audience is mostly women, which is understandable since we are hired by a lot of women’s groups to come perform for their events. Tonight the audience was basically half female and half male (the makeup of the room, not of the individuals in the room).

I have always said that men enjoy the show at least as much as the women, at least once they get permission from the misses to laugh. Every once in a while one of the men will laugh a little too loud or too long and will get a little side-eye from his neighbor, and we do see an occasional elbow. But most of the time the ladies are laughing too hard to notice what the men are doing. 

Tonight’s audience was ready to have a good time from the jump. Every time we asked for a little audience participation the husbands were encouraging their wives to get up and dance, and several of the men joined the conga line along with their wives. When the show ended we had several of the men tell us they had never had more fun going to a live show, and for the first time I can remember we had as many men as women waiting in line to take pictures with the cast.

It was hard telling everyone goodbye when it was time to leave. Nights like this are so much fun and are why our group is so close-knit.

Laughter is good medicine. We all got a good dose tonight!