Great 24 Hours

Beau here.

So the last 24 hours have been a lot of fun for me. Two highlights.

First, we booked a last minute vacation to Puerto Vallarta today. We leave Thursday. We have continually delayed or canceled family vacations all year because of adoption stuff. So this weekend I decided we needed to squeeze in a week on the beach. I am pumped..especially because the resort has a sushi chef.

Second, I got to get my preach on last night. I have been hanging with an African (primarily Kenyan) church here in Dallas for the past few months as we at Watermark try to discern how the Lord would have us serve and learn from this great local church. So on Wednesday I was given an opportunity to preach at their church last night. It was their annual married couples Christmas dinner, and they needed someone to do a 40 minute sermon on something related to marriage.

So here is my David Letterman Top 5 list of why I know I was at a Kenyan church and not your typical American church.

5. The event was supposed to go from 7-9pm but ended up lasting until after 11pm. Reminds me of my first visit to Africa and church went 6 hours...never in a rush.

4. See point 5 above. They told me to preach for 40 minutes, so I went for 60 minutes :) If the event was supposed to be over at 9pm, and I didn't get up to speak until after 9pm then what the heck! And nobody got antsy and walked out...definitely not an American church. I taught on the tie between the gospel and marriage. I have been listening to Piper for way too long and now feel like the gospel needs to be preached in every message :) If you want to see a copy of what I did, ping me at bfournet@hbk.com

3. Main components of the dinner was goat and chai tea. The sweet lady who set up the room did an incredible job of making it very formal. She had fine china for all 50 of us. So all the Kenyans, who absolutely love their chai tea, were complaining about the small china coffee cups because they had to keep getting up to refill their coffee cups. As the master of ceremonies, on three occasions between introductions she kept telling people she knew they were disappointed with the small cups but that they needed to enjoy using fine china. This was apparently a big deal.

2. When I was introduced to this lady later in the evening by the Senior Pastor, she asked me how I was enjoying myself. I said, "I am having a great time, but my coffee cup is too small." Hey, I couldn't help myself...when in Rome...

1. I was sitting beside a great guy who moved to America from Kenya four years ago. He asked about my family history which I shared. I then asked how many siblings he had. So he says "I am the 9th of 13 kids." I am thinking "holy cow." Then he says, "but my father was a polygamist." (note: in rural areas of Africa, this is not uncommon) So I am thinking "okay, so at least it was two women who bore the 13 kids." Then he says, "My father's other wife had 10 kids, so I am one of 23 children." I went to get another cup of chai tea.

I should be speaking at the church again early next year on stewardship. Looking forward to it. But right now, I am really looking forward to the beach in Mexico...