Houston Day Trips is a blog for those who enjoy getting away <br> from the greater Houston area on short, one day excursions. <br> Here you can find feedback and discussion on locations to <br> visit, places to eat, sights (and sites) to visit. Also coming <br> soon will be Google <br> Maps implementation. http://houstondaytrips.com 2005, Poiema Design en-us Tue, 25 Oct 2005 12:34:38 -0500 Thu, 20 Oct 2005 14:55:10 -0500 daytrips@houstondaytrips.com FeedForAll v1.0 (2.0.0.3) unlicensed version What Matters Most?

Walking with God, was the opening message in the series. The theme was experiencing God's hopes, dreams, and desires for our lives by learning and living His Word, coming to Him in prayer and depending on His life throughout the day. (Don't have this one up yet.)

Loving Others dealt with pursuing honest and vulnerable relationships that cherish and challenge all the people God has put in our lives. This message was from both Tom and John, and was especially effective as some of us tend to be cherishers who need to know how to challenge, while others of us tend to be challengers who need to learn how to cherish. Probably one of the best messages I have heard in over 20 years at the church.

In the message, Sharing Christ, Tom talks about freely telling others the message of Christ, cultivating relationships with non-Christians and praying that they would come to know Him. There are a number of amazing illustrations, but the last one simply left the church silent. Don't miss it.

Giving Selflessly, the final message in the series, dealt with so much more than just money. Tom talked about joyfully pouring out our time, skills, money and possessions to partner with God in what he is doing, both at home and around the world.

In What's Your Next Step?, Tom covered it is not enough to know the items above, but that we must implement them in our lives, thus the message title. The four main points were: Listen Well, Live Ready, Loosen Your Grip and Look Forward. When we have done this, not only is our direction clear, but our steps will be firm.

]]> Thu, 20 Oct 2005 14:55:10 -0500 What a way to start a blog, talking about a hurricane... come to think about it, it certainly was a day trip getting out of town! Well, when I woke up that Thursday morning, the forecast was for Rita to come straight up through Galveston and the Houston ship channel as a very strong Category 4 hurricane. It did not take me long to decide I was not going to stay in Houston for the event. (Like 2, maybe 3 seconds.)

After tearing down my PC, etc., and moving furniture away from the windows and putting everything up off the floor as much as possible, I left west Houston, not exactly sure whether I was going to go north on I-45 or west on 290. So I asked the Lord to guide me, and guide me He did. I ended up going west, not north, and so I was not in the incredible traffic jam that I-45 ended up becoming.

The trip to Austin was slow, but it was hardly stop and go, except for one very small stretch of road. Also, there was gas once one got far enough away - I had a half tank when I refilled in Giddings. No line, either. The place I stopped at for gas had just filled up 79 school buses heading for Houston a half hour earlier.

In any case, I made it to Austin, had dinner with my son, and then drove on to Plano to stay with my brother for a few days and then drove back to Houston via I-45. It wasn't too bad until about 75-80 miles from Houston, then traffic began to go rather slow, about 20 mph. But it was at least moving.

Passed by a number of places on the way to Austin I want to explore when a hurricane is behind me. I'll try and post about these as I have time and inclination. One place I want to visit is in Chappell Hill, called the Southern Rose Ranch. Also passed a number of barbeque place which need to be explored as well. Hmmm... I]]> Tue, 18 Oct 2005 10:36:26 -0500
I found out about them from a friend of mine at church who had stumbled across them several years ago. His description of the churches he and his wife had seen aroused my curiosity, so the first chance I got, I headed out late one Saturday afternoon, not a good thing to do with Houston traffic as I arrived shortly after the church closed.

Undeterred, a friend and I came back a couple of weeks later and made it to most of the churches. To walk inside one is to step back into a time when craftsmanship mattered, where everyone in that little community contributed to the building of there church.

To find out more about them, visit the website, The Painted Churches of Texas .
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