Marlin to Missouri
I’ve been sitting at this computer for the past thirty minutes with my most recent speeding ticket in front of me, desparately trying to figure out how in the world to learn more about the steps I need to take in order to put this thing behind me, both physically and mentally.
“But D.O., we didn’t thought the last speeding ticket you received was your sophomore year in college?”
Well yeah, you would have been right if you’d have asked me that at Lauren’s wedding. After leaving Brooke at the airport and crying all the way down 360, I-20, and on to 35W, I went ahead and got pulled over in the God-forbidden city of Marlin, TX. I was going an unacceptable seven miles-per-hour over the posted speed limit. A disgusting 77 in a 70.
WHO GETS A TICKET FOR THAT?
I’ll tell you who doesn’t: the girl in Brenham with whom I am working who got pulled over for going 17 over the speed limit and left with a warning. Too bad I wasn’t taking three black ladies to church when I got pulled over…
I, in my rattled state of being issued a ticket, went ahead and signed on the line saying that I would appear in court before a judge before the stated date. I thought surely there would be some way to get around that, and if nothing else, that there would be an online resource that would provide the answers I needed.
Well, apparently Marlin, TX’s Police Department is all but unaware of what most people call the Internet. They have, however, completely mastered the age-old art of allowing their phones to ring until the answering machine (that doesn’t tell you whether or not you are actually leaving a message) picks up informing the caller of their ridiculous hours, and indirectly sharing the fact that said caller will never really be able to contact the courts save a trip back to the wretched town.
“Why do you need to get this ticket behind you so soon?”
Well, it boils down to the fact that I’ll be gone the entire last week of my grace period. I’ll be a little busy relaxing and enjoying God’s creation and His people at a wonderful place called KAA. I’m real pumped about this camp for inner-city folks. I’ll fit right in.
Okay, sorry for the long, ranting, whiny post… and for the lack of a photo of the officer who pulled me over.
picture pictures
word pictures
I know that you, my beloved readers, would greatly enjoy a few pictures from my time spent in Brenham. Well as it turns out, that is something I cannot offer. It isn’t that I haven’t taken any pictures, I certainly have; but I haven’t had any means of getting those pictures on the internet. The one time I was able to get my pictures on a computer, the internet didn’t work. So, this is what I’m going to do for you: I’ll describe a few pictures to you, and you can enjoy them, and even tell me which one is your favorite.
1. Me and EJ (Eric Jr) sitting on the couch at Mission Brenham. I was looking hard, like the true gangsta that I am, thinking that EJ would do the same. I learned as soon as I looked at the picture that EJ smiled really big, like he normally does, so I just looked stupid. EJ’s smile is something that I hope to never see as anything less than beautiful. It really is a light in the midst of the darkness that is many of these households.
2. Pearlene, Shaquita and Matt in a wonderful rockstar pose, black and white, on a very cool brick wall. I accidentally left the exposure on my camera at +2, which made all the pictures too bright, but it actually turned out cool (as you can see) because it has an all white border, with the three subjects in the middle and bricks inbetween them. Pretty cool.
3. Me sitting in the front passenger seat of the HooDoo. Said seat has a back on it, but it’s very broken, and lays flat on the ground behind the seat (as if eternally reclined 180 degrees). I’m sitting up straight with my seatbelt on, as all passengers in Mission Brenham vehicles ought to.
More pictures to come in the near future; they may actually be in color.
finally…
I hope that the length of time since my last update will keep your attention seeing that this post has no picture attached. I’ve already taken six since I’ve been here though! First, let’s get down to business:
I (heart) YUK
grey polyester
I (heart) NY
BCAAAAA
TUESDAYS
Martin Gymnastics
Pray for China
Aggie Pumpfest
BCA 1/4 Formal (that I didn’t go to)
iWitness ‘05
PC closing day
Jesus es mi amigo (new)
6 Chicks shirt
iW ‘06 (also new).
Therefore, Jon wins the contest (unless I miscounted, but I figured if he entered he would win).
In other news, I’m doing well here in Brenham, I’m working with jr high kids and trying to teach them job skills and how to be a real man (which I’m certainly still learning). I’m also doing tons of video editing stuff, which I truly enjoy. I need not forget to mention that I’ve also been put in charge of driving a 15 passenger van around a town I do not know in order to pick kids up everyday. This provides tons of laughs for me, and an equal number of frustrations for my passengers.
This part has potential to be pretty long, so if you want to skip it, I guess you can. This past weekend I was blessed with the chance to go to Waco and experience a thing they like to call “poverty simulation.” The gist of it is that you are forced to go through the weekend with the same income as a single mother of three living at the poverty line. That’s not very much. I do not want to go into detail about the in’s and out’s of the simulation, in case you ever decide to do it (which I recommend… paying money to be poor for a weekend… brilliant). I do, however, want to elaborate on the weekend’s finale. I was so blessed to go to a Sunday morning service at Church Under the Bridge. This beautiful sanctuary is right across the street from Baylor’s campus, and is appropriately, under I-35. It’s members include a large number of folks who are homeless or marginalized in some form or fashion. There are also a handful of college students and middle-class people who meet under the interstate for worship each week. I was just really blown away as I looked back over the approximately 200 people who were in attendance, and I remember vividly my thought that Jesus must be happy with the goings on here. I found out that the speaker on Sunday, who happened to also be the director of Mission Waco, Jimmy Durell, is writing a book that will release soon. I was elated to find out that the person writing the intro to his book is none other than my current author-man-crush, Shane Claiborne, who wrote The Irresistible Revolution, and you can read about that here. So yeah, great weekend, great people, great God.
I am so sorry that I have not had time to check y’alls blogs, emails, phone calls (actually, I can do those… hint hint), but take heart! I love you people so much. I miss you guys a lot and for those of you on the field, I’m praying for you (hope you’re under a secure browser) and for those of you going to Lauren’s wedding, I cannot wait to see y’all! I love you again.
So sorry again that this isn’t exciting, and forgive me for all the apologies. If you aren’t inclined to post a comment or anything, I understand. I’ll still be your friend.