Heat Therapy

Ahhhh, it looks so nice and cool. Don't you think?

The summer has been blistering in our neck of the woods, like many other places. It has left us feeling a little overly toasted. My personal approach has been to hunker down and anticipate winter in our nice, cool house whenever possible. We are so thankful for air conditioning! 


Earlier in the year, when all the planning for the church calendar was taking place, we were asked to consider sponsoring one or more of the trips for our young people. Comparing that calendar with ours, there was only one trip that we could possibly be available for. For all the others, we already had conflicts. 


So we agreed that we would go on this one last trip of the summer with the young people from our little church. And I'm now asking myself, "WHAT WERE WE THINKING?" :)


Guess where we are going?






SIX FLAGS OVER TEXAS!   yipee . . .


Do you know what the forecast is for the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the next several days? 

We understand heat. We are used to heat. But combine heat with lots and lots of pavement in an amusement park, and it won't feel like a nice warm 100+.


We could actually be in danger of our shoes fusing to the asphalt. 


What then? I ask you? 


Yes, we took our children to Six Flags in San Antonio last month and it was this hot. We know what we are talking about. We are older and wiser and cooked a little more thoroughly than we were. 


Will teenagers care?  No.


Will they remember on their own to stay well hydrated?  No, probably not.


Will they bring non-melting shoes? Probably not.


Kregg even had to go get a DOT physical so he could drive a van borrowed from another church. You know, the "turn your head and cough" kind of physical? He had so much fun.


I will be driving our old suburban. 


So, it's Kregg and I, and the youth minister (who insurance companies say isn't old enough to drive the van) and a college intern. 


Have you broken out in an "empathetic cold sweat" for me yet?


What were we thinking?!


I'll tell you what we were thinking: we felt guilty for not being available for any of the other trips. And so we said, "Sure, we'd love to go and help." We lied. 


Guess where we are staying?


Does the fact that Kregg said this morning, "We need to take an air mattress unless we want to sleep right on the floor," give you a hint? It isn't the Hilton. It isn't even a hotel. :)


Wanna go with us?  Come on, it'll be fun!


We will have a ball, I'm sure. I really mean that. There is something about the absurdity of it all that will probably make this a very memorable and enjoyable trip. Being closed up in a suburban with a bunch of teenagers for several hours always brings out the super-silly-side of me. Didn't know about that did you? It's a survival skill I have honed to a fine edge over the years. It's always rather a shock for the uninitiated. But, I still have a young man who comes up and teases me about things that happened in our suburban when I drove a herd of the young people down to an orphanage in Mexico several years ago. It's that memorable.


So, while you enjoy the remainder of your week inside an air conditioned cocoon, think of us once or twice. I think the fact that you aren't going with us is worthy of a spot on everyone's gratitude list for the week. Don't you?


And if they all come back with blisters on their feet, it won't be because I didn't warn them. :)