Texas, almost over already?

So we just ended our free day in Dallas. At this point all of us are all pretty shocked by the reality that we are only in Texas two more days. This was the state that all of us were dreading because we spent the most time here. Now we are almost through it! We have been told by previous riders that once we get out of Texas the rest of the summer flies by. Today we had an awesome friendship visit at a school for children with disabilities ages 1 to 6. We got to the school where there were a ton of kiddy pools set up and all the kids came out to play in them. They were so much and all them were so happy. I just stood there watching how happy they were and how much they were just like any other child their age. All of the kids put such a big smile on my face. We also ate lunch with them in their classrooms, which was so much fun. A few of them were being taught to eat themselves and they made quite a mess!

Afterwards we had another friendship visit at a pool with a couple water slides. It was nice just to relax and have some brotherly bonding. We ended the day with a sponsored dinner by a previous South Route JOH cyclist, Randy, from 1996 and another Pi Kapp alumni. They were great! We played Whirley ball which is like a mix between bumper cars and lacrosse. It was a blast! Randy brought his photo album from South Route ride and it was awesome to see the places that we had come from.

I hope that everyone is still enjoying our posts and sorry again that we are not able to write more often. It is unfortunate because I feel that I cannot always find the words to describe the experience that I am having. This summer has absoluntely changed my life and I wish that everyone knew how amazing it is. This summer I am reading Three Cups of Tea which is about a man, Greg Mortenson, who has built several schools in the rural areas of Pakistan (There is so much more to it than this, but this is the basic summary). But reading about Greg's experiences, mixed with mine from this summer as well as my previous service trips, I have definitely realized that this is where God wants me and He has shown me the importance of service and community.

Well it is about bedtime so I must be off.

Joey H.