Hi y’all! As you can tell, I’m beginning to feel at home now. I preached at Handley Baptist Church on Sunday morning and at the midweek meeting there on Wednesday, so I feel like I’ve got to work. I’ve visited the Historic Stockyards – where the Texas Longhorn cattle were shipped north – and seen ‘real’ cowboys riding down the street. I’ve also got out of the city to a see a small town with a classical town square familiar to anyone having watched the Back to the Future films. Perhaps the highlight to date has been 4th July. I preached at a service in which many of the hymns made reference to God and his part in America’s plan, or perhaps I got it wrong and it was the other way around. I took my courage in both hands and suggested that God wasn’t on any one nation’s side. I shouldn’t have been concerned, because in the evening, at an Independence Day concert the choir sang, “This is my song”, in which I heard these lines: This is my home, the country where my heart is; Here are my hopes, my dreams, my sacred shrine. But other hearts in other lands are beating, With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine. My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, And sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine. But other lands have sunlight too and clover, And skies are everywhere as blue as mine. Oh hear my song, oh God of all the nations, A song of peace for their land and for mine. Contrary to what we might imagine, American people seem to have the capacity to be patriotic while also appreciating the good in other nations. This is a trait that we British could emulate. I’m preaching at Agape Baptist Church on Sunday morning and will report in next week. Love Simon Photos Handley Baptist Church Fort Worth Stockyards