Wednesday, August 19, 2015

#KCRoadTrip

Sometimes I get more than I aimed for. I realize that is a terrible way to start a blog post and to end a sentence, but it is very true.

Sondra will always be the one that I out punted my coverage on. As a young teenager, I made a list of what I would look for in a wife and then I met Sondra in college. I looked at my list, wadded it up and threw it away. She was and continues to be more than I ever had dreamed of as a mate.

Then God gave us two daughters. I have written much about each of them. Shelbi and Morgan are truly delightful, wonderful and far more than I ever dreamed gifts from God. Sondra and I made some mistakes along the way in rearing them but we intentionally purposed to help them love the Lord their God with all their heart, mind and soul. As they grew and matured and headed off to college, God brought a couple of young men into their lives. Mark grew up as an east Tennessee boy where I think they got indoor plumbing about the turn of the century. ;-) He and Shelbi celebrated their 3rd wedding anniversary last week. Wil grew up down in the 'boro, Murfreesboro that is and managed to not let being a Siegel Star warp him too badly. Both Shelbi and Morgan met their beaus at Union University and quite honestly, Sondra and I could not be more thankful or proud of the four of them.

James, me, Wil, Mark, Dad
This past weekend was a self-declared "guys weekend" and Mark, Wil and I climbed into the car early Saturday and made our way to KC. We landed at my dad's mid-afternoon, were spoiled by my dad's hospitality and then we headed to The K.  Kaufman Stadium is a beautiful baseball stadium completed in 1972 as a part of the Truman Sports Complex which also includes Arrowhead Stadium where the KC Chiefs play. The Royals were playing the Los Angeles of Anaheim Angels (or whatever they claim their hometown to be) and we watched the Royals beat the Halos 9-4. On Sunday, I got up and ran and then we headed to church with my brother's family to Sheffield Family Life Center. A church that is reaching the eastern part of KC with the gospel. It was great to worship with them.

On Sunday afternoon, we headed to my brothers for tacos and then I showed the guys around my hometown of Independence. We saw most of the historic areas including the convergence of the Santa Fe, California and Oregon Trails. We saw the Harry S. Truman home and Truman Library and will have to return to actually tour those facilities. I took them to a couple of homes that I lived in growing up in Independence and managed to not bore them too much.

The K
Sunday evening we headed back to The K for the ESPN Sunday Night Game and watched the Royals score 2 in the first and then not get another hit until the tenth inning and win on a walk-off single in that same inning. We had tied it up in the bottom of the ninth without a hit. Crazy.

Early Monday morning we climbed back into the car and made our way back to Nashville. It was a quick trip, but a very fun one. It was good to be with my dad, brother and sister-in-law and a couple of my cousins. It was good to worship at Sheffield on Sunday. It was just big fun to get to see the Royals play a couple of games this year.

And it was good to be with Wil and Mark. Those two guys are a huge blessing to our family. I am honored to be their father-in-law. Thankful for how God has blessed us as a family and thankful for what God has done and is going to do in our family in the future.