21 Years and 3 days!

Happy birthday to our very own, Stacy Stivers. She turned 21 on June 13th, this past Saturday. We were able to celebrate her birthday on Saturday and had a great time. We got in to Houston on Saturday night and got to go to the Hooten household. We love the Hooten's and their daughter, Skylar, who most of us know from Pepperdine. Evelyn, Mrs. Hooten, graciously cooked us and Stacy a birthday dinner, and we had a great time at the Hooten house on Saturday night.

On Sunday morning, we got the chance to sing at Clear Lake Church of Christ. What a great church. We loved being able to sing a concert during class time and then lead worship during service as the praise team. It was a great concert but more importantly a great time or worship with the congregation there. They had a potluck meal afterwards, and graciously invited us to join them. Our first Sunday potluck of tour, and it was DELICIOUS! We couldn't have asked for anymore. It was a great time of fellowship and fun with the church there. I, Matt, also got to see some old family friends of our family and loved getting to spend time with them. The Fike family have been great friends to our family for quite some time now and, as they live in Houston, we don't get to see them all that often. It was great to see them though, as always. Thanks to the church there in Clear Lake and thanks to all who made it such a great morning.

On Sunday evening, we got the great chance to sing at the West Houston Church of Christ. The minister there, Matt Soper, and his family are great friends of Darnell as Matt used to be the minister at Darnell's church in LA a while back. The guys have been able to stay with Matt and his family the past few years and we have enjoyed our time. They have two daughters, one of whom, Morgan, just graduated high school and is coming to Pepperdine next semester. We are excited for her and the opportunity she is going to have out in Malibu. That being said, it was a great concert on Sunday night and we always enjoy our time at West Houston. We got to hang out afterwards and loved our time of fellowship with the church there.

On Monday we got to take it easy in the morning, which was a very nice break. In the evening, we traveled to the Cinco Ranch Church of Christ to sing at the summer youth event, Summer Youth Series. We are thankfully able to sing at this every summer we are in the Houston area, and so this summer it was a blast to get to go again. We were able to lead some worship with the youth there, and then perform a concert later in the evening. It is always a blast to get to sing with and for teens as they provide a great energy as an audience. We also get to call them up on stage and ask them to do things like beat boxing and to fill out Pepperdine info cards so that we can give away free Pepperdine stuff! We loved our time at SYS and enjoyed getting to fellowship with the youth of Houston. What a fun night!

Today on Tuesday, we are able to have a free day and to hang out in the Houston area. We will be heading to Tyler, TX tomorrow and then we will be in Texas for a few more days after that. We have appreciated all the hospitality and friendliness that everyone has extended to us thus far in Texas, and look forward to the next few days here....not so much the heat and humidity though. Man it is hot in Texas!