What a great Halloween last night. Dent & Kelly Offutt and their three girls hosted a trick-or-treating extravaganza at their home and neighborhood. There must have been 60 people walking down the street together. Kids in costumes. Parents with flashlights. And you should have seen the looks on the faces of the homeowners when they opened their door to see about 35 kids waiting for treats. What a blast.
Before joining all our friends at the Offutt's, we did a little trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. Trae and Tori joined up with our neighbors, Derek and Tyler, and the four of them visited all the neighbors homes.
This year, Trae's costume was Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, complete with the bright red shoes and the basket with a stuffed Toto. Tori was supposed to be the Cowardly Lion, wearing the little Lion costume that Trae made famous at Jessieville football games. Only one problem, though, Tori was too cowardly to even put on the costume (perhaps it was the lingering effects of her sickness on Sunday night). At any rate, Mandy made do by outfitting Tori as a member of the Dora Fan Club.
My girls were cute. Trick-or-treating was great fun. Eating all their candy is gonna be even more fun. And now, we have one more great memory to go with so many more great memories of our girls!
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A quick meterological note: for the first time since our move to Texas, we experienced a significant rainfall yesterday. I was beginning to wonder if we had moved to Arizona instead of Texas.
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Last night, it hit me how soon the innocence of childhood is going to give way to the demands of youth for all those children.
Last week, as I stayed with Dale and Lauri Mannon, I had the opportunity to go with them to their oldest son's pre-season basketball team dinner. Jedidiah plays all sports at Wolfforth Frenship High School, just outside of Lubbock. The facilities at Frenship are out-of-sight (their basketball gym is better than any gym I've ever seen in Arkansas).
During the coach's speech to the parents, he told them how "necessary" it was that their boys commit to playing summer basketball. He noted that to compete in high school basketball these days requires 100%, year-round preparation. High school basketball has become a 12-month commitment.
What impressed (and even saddened) me was how unashamed the coach was in calling for total commitment from the boys and their parents to the basketball program.
Why is that kind-of commitment honored in athletics but frowned upon in church? I mean, think how you would react next Sunday if your preacher or elders called on you to give that kind-of commitment to your church "program"? What would you think about parents who demanded total commitment of their children to the youth group at church?
Could it be that, in contemporary America, we've got our priorities a little misplaced?
