Accents...

Dearest bearers of God’s infinite life,

Driving around Pearland, Texas, provides much material for a blog such as this one. We are working fervently on a list of things that actually are bigger in Texas. Keep your eye out for that dandy blog post somewhere in the future.

Incident #1. Location: Big Lots. Mission: Find various forms of carpet, dish towels, a lamp, and potting soil. Context: ECHO 7 Houston has decided to practice our “Texan.” Accents, that is.

Jen has been dropping things all day (coins all over the Goodwill checkout, candles all over the floor at Hobby Lobby, a ceramic mixing bowl - now in pieces - in our kitchen, the dish drying rack from our cart, this, that, and other things). Better yet, she is the best Texan speaker by a long shot among ECHO students in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston.

Using our Texan, we were admiring some bronze star decor in Big Lots. Most of the decor was made in China, but the spirit of this particular bronze star was certainly made in Texas. A nice Texan lady approached us and asked Jen, in perfect Texan, wheyre she maht fahnd the tin suhnflayowerrs.

Jen, missing nary a beat, responded in nearly perfect Texan, that she wuhsn’t quaht shure wheyre the tin suhnflayowerrs were, but that perhaps they were overr heeere near suhme of the bronze deckerations. She and the nice Texan lady proceeded to seek the tin suhnflayowerrs in a nearby aisle, to no avail but to the immense pleasure of Laura and Kristi, who were at this point hidin’ themselves and their laughter behahnd the nearby shelvin’ unit.

Incident #2. Location: Big Lots. Mission: Decorate the Papa’s Angels house in a fashion appropriate to the Texan surroundings. Context: admiration of the tradition previously thought to be Midwestern of decorating one’s house with large, three-dimensional metal stars. Said stars are often sold in specialty shops that sell stars and other yard decorations including but not limited to a three-or-four-headed giraffe topiary.

It did not take much for us to realize that bronze stars, even if they were not originally from Texas, have moved here and gotten their residency. A veritable bronze-star mycelium lurks here, making them liable to pop up anywhere given the proper conditions, like the air of locally owned restaurants and gas stations, undecorated siding, or proximity to human beings whose ancestors immigrated here a long time ago.

The star on the Texas flag (the only state flag, by the way, which may legally be flown at the same height as the flag of the United States) is like the platonic ideal whence the rest of the stars draw their form. It’s like the flag star was promised that it would have descendants as countless as the stars....

Having gained familiarity with these deep truths of the place where we have been sent, we could not help but seek the enduring presence of a bronze star of our very own. The opportunity presented itself while we were at Big Lots. So now we hayve one on ouwer livin’ room wahl!

Longhorn

We are grateful that the Archdiocese found us a place to live, despite a bit of a time crunch -- the previous resident just moved out on Friday! We spent our first night in the house on Sunday after a long day of moving furniture, cleaning a bit, and sorting through some fantastic donations. And laughing.

Upon navigating the street where our house lives, upon processing through the cast iron gates (keep your eye out for this future blog post), and upon unlocking the door to our house, we took a moment to let our eyes feast upon a most magnificent sight --

Our home has a fireplace. Not just any fireplace. Our home’s fireplace has a six-foot set of Texas longhorns mounted on it. We’re not in Florida, we’re not in Iowa, we’re not in Ohio anymore. We. are. in. Texas.

Given that one of the pillars of the ECHO program is spiritual formation, we strive to be the kind of people who let our new and unexpected experiences affect us. We have resolved, as a community, to refer to our surroundings using language of conviction and intention. For example, our house isn’t quite “classy.” It’s clean, spacious, rural, and comfortable. But, above all, it is very ... Texan.

Hey, Y'all!!

Dearest brothers, sisters, friends, fans, and mentors,

The three of us have just moved into our new abode. For the next two years, we’ll be sharin’ time, space, and life together in the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. In order to let y’all -- our intelligent, patient, and attractive readership -- partake of the joys and challenges of our experience, we intend to post regularly on this here blog.

We were delighted and a bit surprised to encounter the eccentricities of our residence. This blog will consist largely in our delicate descriptions of said items, though we will not deprive you of other lenses through which to share in our experience (e.g., meal mishaps, fascinating people we find along the way, and things we read together that we find worthwhile).

Please know that we will be praying for you, and please send us your feedback, advice, questions, and especially prayers.

Godspeed,
Laura, Jen, and Kristi