Mother/Daughter Sunday

My girl and I had quite the day yesterday.

A group at First Baptist Church—Waco just completed a study of the Book of Ruth using my Bible study, Premium Roast with Ruth. So they asked me to drive down (about 90 miles) for a “Meet the Author” potluck night. And since I’d told some of the story of our daughter’s adoption in my book, they wanted to meet her, too. Generally our daughter loathes being in the public eye, but since she heard they’d probably have a dessert table (complete with chocolate), she agreed to come along.

One of the advantages of attending a small church is that our daughter has about as much interaction with people my age and older as she does with her own peer group. And last night I loved watching her talk easily with a wide cross-section of delightful grown-ups.

The group presented me with a gift bag, and inside I found a journal with notes from the group members telling me something specific they learned or that benefited them—a wonderfully encouraging touch. And how’s this for a touch of class: They presented my girl with a gift bag, too. Hers held a matching journal. Then when individual readers indicated afterward that they wanted a photo with me, they also motioned for my daughter to get in the shot (she teased them about being the paparazzi).

I’d spoken on Naomi as the female version of Job, and my girl must have listened, because she asked me a question about it on the way home. Plus we both love John Denver, so we cranked up “Thank God I’m a Country Boy" (she is, after all, a fiddle player). I confess we played it no fewer than ten times—in a row—during the drive home through hills covered with bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush in full bloom.

Today we learned she passed the state standardized test for math (not her fave), and she celebrated by dressing up like a character from Tom Sawyer, complete with a straw hat. Never a dull moment around here, let me tell you.