Good Morning Friends!!
Last week I took a road trip with my wife, Kim, and our two daughters. On Thursday we headed to Texas State college in San Marcos, Texas for a college visit for Morgan, our oldest daughter. We visited Texas State that afternoon then of course the ladies had to hit up the outlet shopping for which San Marcos is known.
We spent the night in San Marcos then headed to College Station, Texas for our youngest son’s ring ceremony at Texas A&M. Ring Day at A&M is when students with at least 90 college hours get their “senior” rings. I believe this past Friday Texas A&M was expecting over 30,000 family and friends to watch a little over 4000 students receive their rings.
We passed through many little small towns along the way to San Marcos, College Station, and back home again. As we passed through some of the small towns, Kim and I would comment on the different uniqueness of the towns. We stopped in a couple of small towns to eat at places Kim had researched that were must if you were visiting the town.
We stopped at Big Pops in Caldwell, Texas to have lunch on our way to College Station. Big Pops was one of those places you might see on show Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. It’s decor was of old pictures, stuffed wildlife, flags, memorabilia, and so much more. On the table sat a roll of paper towels for those really messy burgers or barbecue. The waitress was hometown friendly and eager to make our meal a wonderful experience.
On our way home Kim and I talked about the special things of each small town we went through and the food we had enjoyed over the last couple of days. As we talked about each of those things, I began to realize that my hometown of Bowie had all the same uniqueness and wonderful little diners that we had experienced.
I was quick to notice and comment on the other small towns because they were new to me but really no different than what I experienced on a daily basis in Bowie, Texas. We have a Big Pops type restaurant, we have the World’s Largest Jim Bowie Knife, we have history along our main street, we have a friendly wave driving down a farm to market road, and we have the uniqueness that makes my town Bowie.
Isn’t the same true when it comes to us and people we meet. We meet new people that may have different things, act different ways, look different, talk different, and so much more that we feel we want those things. Are the new people we meet better than us? Of course not they are just new and different. When someone meets us they may feel the same way about us.
Too often, we don’t appreciate what we have and what we can offer to others. We begin to take our talents, our thoughts, our actions, our interactions and so much more for granted. It is old hat for us but to others it can be new and exciting.
My challenge to each of you as well as myself this week is to take note of what makes up you and what makes that special. We are each like those small towns across Texas that from first glance may look different but when you really get to look around town, they are all very similar. We may look different on the outside but on the inside we all desire to have friendships, love, experiences, relationships, acceptance, and so much more.
You and me…we are the same.
Your Friend,
Aaron