Harris Family Christmas 2010

Couple of Desktop Pics

These make pretty good desktop photos if you want to download them.

Hamburger Cookout

My grandparents, age 95, and my mom came for lunch today. Jodi and I made burgers on the grill and, boy, was it good. We took a couple of pictures, including recreating the famous picture of my grandpaw kissing David on the head at David's first Christmas. That picture was taken by the Palestine Herald Press and was in the paper on New Year's Day. The headline was "out with the old..."

Savannah at Octoberfest 2010

It was beautiful weather at the 2010 Wonderfall Octoberfest in down-town Palestine. This was Savannah's first time to march in a parade. They looked and sounded great and we had a great time.

Homecoming 2010

Here are some pictures from Westwood's Homecoming 2010. Savannah is in her full band uniform. They did great! They performed music from Star Trek.

Chris Tomlin Concert

I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed the Chris Tomlin concert in Tyler Thursday. David and I went. It was at The Oil Palace, which is a pretty big place, and it was just about full. We were pretty far back, but David moved up when Chris took the stage.
Chris knew his audience and never strayed from what he is known and loved for. It was amazing to hear the whole crowd sing every word of every song with him. He took the stage with all of the anticipation and enthusiasm of a mega-star (which he is, since we all sing his songs every Sunday in church), but he channeled all of the praise to Jesus without flinching.
The sound was excellent and the mix was spot on. When Chris spoke, you could see right to his heart that he loved what he was doing. He quoted scripture throughout his remarks and even prayed for us. He put all of the lyrics on the big screens (most people didn't need them, but it showed that this was a worship event). He was funny, saying that an outsider coming in would think this was a big karaoke event, but he sang and played his heart out. He told us over and over how much it meant to him to be "home", since he was born in Tyler and grew up in the area.
I hadn't felt the way I felt during and after the concert in a long time. I felt the way I did when I was at Pineywoods Camp, back in the 90s and Chris led the singing and Scott Crenshaw spoke. I remember Chris sitting on the stage with me in the afternoons, teaching me the songs he was singing at the time. He came to my church one time and led worship. He even sat with my youth group at a Newsboys concert. Back then, he was just one of the guys. An Aggie like me, and a humble worship leader, although we all loved him. What's amazing is that he is still humble! Even though he's probably had more of a musical influence on the country than anyone since the Gaithers in the early seventies.
David got a t-shirt and put it on. It has a verse that Chris sings "and if God is for us, who could ever stop us." It's a great-looking shirt, and Chris wore one just like it on stage, which just added to the coolness for me.
At one point, Chris said, "I'm going to sing some songs you all know and I'm going to do some new ones, from our new album." He knew that we all knew his songs. He knew that we sang them in church every week. He knew we had his CDs. I thought to myself that that must be a wonderful feeling. At one point, the piano player played an introduction to a song and before Chris could even begin singing it, the audience started it. Chris just kept playing and let us sing. It was truly amazing.
And speaking of amazing. He said he was approached to add a new verse to Amazing Grace. At first he wouldn't do it. He said he didn't want to be the "punk" who ruined the world's best-known anthem. But then he found out that the last verse, "when we've been there ten thousand years..." was added a hundred years after John Newton wrote the song. He said "some other punk already added to it", so he wrote an incredible new verse. I can't wait to get the CD so I can hear it again.
It was a truly worshipful, wonderful experience. I'll never forget it and I hope he comes back to our area soon. I'm glad my son made us go. He's the bigger fan. Well, maybe before the concert. I'm not sure Chris has a bigger fan than me now.

David's 16th Birthday

Brushy Creek Arbor Homecoming

David and I met my mom at the Brushy Creek Arbor today for the 140th Homecoming there. My great-great grandmother used to go there as a little girl and my mom has her diary from her days there. We really enjoyed the morning. Here are a few pictures. You'll notice the sawdust floors and hand-hewn beams. Rev. Charles Millikan preached the sermon. Bubba Holcomb lead the singing. We didn't stay for lunch, and they hadn't put much food out when I took these pictures, but we walked down to the running spring.

Savannah's First Home Game

It's hard to hold the camera steady enough to get good pictures in this light, but I think these came out pretty good. The band sounded great and it was fun watching Savannah march. She did perfect! The band is performing music from Star Trek.

Savannah's First Marching Band

We went to see our daughter's band perform at the Chapel Hill Stadium last night. The temperature felt great - about 75 degrees - and we had a really good time. Here are some of the pictures. Since we were the visiting team, the band had its back to us when it performed. Hopefully, I'll get better pictures at the home game next Friday. My mom went with us and we sat with Rodney, Shirley and the girls.

Tucson Trip

We went to Tucson to see my brother, Kevin, and his family. Had a really neat trip. Here are some photos. We stayed in Van Horn, Texas, coming and going. Part of the reason for the trip was to take my nephew home. It was going very smoothly right until we got into Tucson. We were still nearly an hour away from Kevin's house and I noticed the "check engine" light on. The heat gage was in the red. I looked up and saw an exit and took it. There was a Chevron there and we pulled right up to it. I was so thankful it happened where it did. We had just been in the desert - with no houses or businesses - and it was 105 degrees. It would have been miserable if we hadn't been able to sit in the Chevron. They had tables and chairs and plenty of cold water. If we had been out in the sun, it literally could have been a life-threatening situation. The ladies at the Chevron were really friendly. They gave me some phone numbers and pretty soon I had a tow and had found a mechanic that was open. It was costly, but it all worked out. I felt like God was really watching over us.

I loved the desert. It was blazing hot, but beautiful. Kevin has saguaro (se WAR oh) cacti right in his yard and over his fence. Saguaros only grow in Southern Arizona, Mexico, and a small area of California. White-wing doves land on them. I don't know how they do that! They also have orange and lemon trees. Beautiful mountains tower over Kevin's back yard. I could just sit and stare at them. They grilled burgers and we swam and sat in the hot tub. Kelly makes a great pasta salad. It was all very relaxing and very nice.

Summer Visitor

I was mowing the back yard this afternoon and this red bird flew into my vision and landed on the fence near me. I just assumed it was a male cardinal and didn't think anything of it. Then I looked at again and saw that it was not a cardinal, but a summer tanager. It let me get pretty close so I could study it.

After I finished mowing, I went back out with the camera and took this picture. I haven't seen it again. I guess it was just passing through.

Homesickness

I had the privilege of being a guest on Family Life Radio in Arizona this week. It doesn't hurt that my brother is the co-host of the show, and his partner is one of my best friends. I can see God's hand in orchestrating my brother, Kevin's, move to Tuscon to co-host a morning radio show there. The radio station, KFLR, hired Lorri Allen first. I worked with Lorri at KLTV in Tyler, and we have been good friends ever since, even though she's a Longhorn and I'm an Aggie.
So, when KFLR hired her this spring and said she could pick her co-host, she chose Kevin, whom she knew through her friendship with me. The two sound great together and you can listen to them by going to www.myflr.org. Click the tab that says "find a station" and then the dot where Tuscon is on the map. That will launch your Media Player and you can listen to them in the mornings on your computer.
Kevin and Lorri called to talk on the radio show this week about homesickness. They talk about all kinds of interesting topics and homesickness just happened to be one of them. Kevin knows that issue is something with which I struggle. He knows it may take me two days to drive to a destination, but I can drive home in one day. After one day at Texas A&M as a college student, I packed my stuff and headed home. Dad told me to bow my neck and get back down there and I'm glad I did.
It's not that I have any great advice for dealing with homesickness, I just know about it. I've outgrown some of my homesickness, but while Kevin has taken exciting jobs in Cincinnati, Dallas, Austin, Waco, and now Tuscon, I've made my living within a rock's throw of where I was born, except when I worked at KLTV. To this day, I enjoy traveling, so long as I know I'll be back in my own bed in a few days.
In the interview, I told them that people today have better ways to stay connected than when I was younger. Now, we have cell phones and texting and Skype and Facebook. I would have enjoyed that technology when I went off to college.
Lorri asked me why I think we suffer from homesickness. I discussed how we are created to love one another and to be loved. Science has proven that we are "hard wired" to be connected to friends and family. Our brains were designed to find connections with others -- and with God -- and we thrive on those connections. When we leave our comfort zones, or the comfortable presence of our loved ones, we can feel it. It hits me when the sun sets and I'm nowhere near my home town. I've simply come to realize that that's the way I am.
I wonder if some of that homesickness is the realization that no matter where we are on earth, we're never in our true home. When we are present in the body, Paul said, we are away from the Lord. When we arrive in God's presence, we'll never feel misplaced, lonesome or homesick again. Kevin pointed out that maybe God allows us to feel homesick to remind us that we aren't ever really home. Not in this life. Jesus said our hearts should be in heaven. That's our true home.
We plan to go see Kevin and Lorri sometime this summer. I'm looking forward to seeing them, but I know I'll feel that tug while I'm away.

Memorial Day 2010

Ahh, summer time! Memorial Day is the traditional start of summer and you have to go swimming. So here I am. We got this pool for 80 bucks at Wally World. I put it under the patio cover to keep the water from getting so hot. Just one problem: this water is freezing!

Noah's Ark Found? Well Maybe

Chinese and Turkish Christians have shown photos and video they say is from inside Noah's Ark, 13,000 feet up on Mt. Ararat. The thing is, a former colleague of the team says there are spider webs in the video and there wouldn't be spiders in those conditions. He claims the whole thing is a hoax. Why would people want to dupe people like that? What could they gain? Why would Christians want to fool other Christians? I hope it's not a hoax, but I'll wait to see.
I guess Christians will always hope someone finds Noah's Ark. But such a find would require extraordinary proof. It would require verification from a neutral news team or some other group.

Through the years, several people have claimed to have found the Ark, but no one has ever been able to independently verify the claims.

If the Ark were found, it would be a solid, physical proof of our faith. We Christians believe the Ark story, and finding it would confirm our faith and solidify our beliefs. But if we never find it, we'll go on believing. After all, wood that old might not have survived this long, even in the frozen conditions of a mountain top. Some culture may have "borrowed" the wood for shelter or firewood, or Noah himself may have used it. I'll keep watching and hoping such a find is made, but I'll hang on to my faith without it in the meantime.

Mammatus Clouds

A storm passed nearby this evening and the mammatus clouds formed overhead. Rare and interesting clouds. My dad would have loved this.