Dallas, The weekend

Well, I’m back home from my trip to Dallas, so let me tell you how the rest of my time there went–here’s how my weekend went.

Saturday

Saturday I was able to sleep in, which was very nice. We had already finished 3 of the 5 days of the workshop, each of the participants had had an opportunity to either practice teaching or assisting to teach. I had assisted to teach, which meant that it would be my turn to teach (in this case) on Monday. I was very grateful that I had the whole of Saturday to decide on a topic and prepare it.

As is prone to happen, my plans didn’t go how I had envisioned them. I had the hardest time trying to decide on a topic. After chatting with my dad, I finally narrowed it down to two: knots or the value of knowing one’s personality to be a better teacher. The first would be very, very easy; the second would be…challenging. There were several other people from the workshop staying in the guest housing I was staying at, so I asked them what they thought of these two topics. Two of the guys basically indicated that either would be fine–which didn’t help me 🙂 . By the end of the day, I had still not decided on a topic and barely prepared.

I didn’t work all day Saturday, though. In the mid-morning I had gone with one of the facilitators of the workshop to Walmart. After getting what we needed for the rest of our time there (like cereal for breakfast), we went to Starbucks and had a good conversation about education and such over coffee and chai.

So, Saturday was a good day, though I had hoped to have gotten more done for my presentation.

Sunday

Sunday was a great day of rest and fellowship. I went to church at one of my parents’ supporting churches (Town North, in Richardson, TX). I wasn’t sure how I was going to get there, because I had to go all the way across to the other side of Dallas! It turned out that the guy I had gone to Starbucks with the previous day, Jim Cunningham, had met a Chinese man on the airplane on his way to Dallas. This man was not a Christian, but wanted to meet with Jim again and he “happened” to live in Richardson, TX. So Jim accompanied me to church and then he went to meet the Chinese man for lunch.

My dad had told one of his friends from Town North church that I would be there that Sunday. This man, in turn, told the elders of the church, who all greeted me and made me feel welcome. In fact, the pastor  had me stand up during the service and he introduced me as the son of some of the missionaries they supported. I thought this welcoming was nice, but unexpected, because I had not actually been to Town North in over ten years! After the service I had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with quite a number of people who knew my parents.

I was invited to lunch and to spend the afternoon with the family of one of the deacons of the church, Joel Aguilar. His family is of Mexican descent, so we spent much of the day conversing in Spanish and English–quite pleasurable. After a nice, Mexican meal at a restaurant, we went to the Aguilars’ home, where we rode on bikes and played some games.

Sunday evening, Town North church was having a “Festival of Lessons and Carols.” So I attended that and it was quite good. When it was over, I got a ride home with one of the other participants of the workshop who had spent the weekend not too far from Richardson, TX.

I’m certainly very thankful that for the hospitality and of the people of Town North, and for the ride that God provided for me. That night I went to bed quite refreshed by the fellowship I had had that day.