I was fortunate to spend the week between Christmas and New Year’s in Switzerland, visiting a dear friend who, sadly, has had her cancer return with a vengeance. A pastor in Zurich, Denise and I met years ago at a Reformed theology conference sponsored by the Office of Theology and Worship. Later her daughter became our exchange student here in the States, and a big sister to our only child. Our families have stayed close.
Recently I attended the sixth grade Renaissance Fair at Springfield Middle School. It was quite the event with hundreds of eleven- and twelve-year-olds dressed in varying degrees of homemade costumes displaying varying degrees of mortification.
On a cold January Sunday morning in Austin, my wife and I woke up wanting bagels — warm and fresh from a local bagel shop near the University of Texas.
