Congratulations Matt!!!!

Early this week Matt finished his first "Journey through the Bible," as Lynella calls them. I was so excited for him---- he was excited, but I was ECSTATIC. I decided that this meant he would get a surprise date. (We haven't been on a date in awhile.) I asked around at TECH what kinds of things might be fun to do, and people had neat ideas, but they were the kinds of things Matt already does with me, like taking me to the beach on a hot evening, or a camping overnight... I thought that we should do something COMPLETELY different.

Then I got an e-mail from my friend Mark, the pianist at Fellowship Bible Church. He asked if Matt and I were still interested in seeing him in the East Texas Opera, and that he had FREE TICKETS if we were interested. The tickets were for Friday, the night I was planning to take Matt out! I remembered how excited he was when he found out Mark was in this opera, but he (I had hoped, like me) had forgotten which weekend it would be in Longview.

Mark and I e-mailed back and forth about when/where to pick up tickets and how we should dress, etc, and so I got the tickets Thursday during our lunch break while Matt was showering (read the previous blog entry).

I told him to wear a tie, and I took him out to the Tyler St. Bistro beforehand. I told him there that I would be taking him to the opera. He was really excited, but I think he over did it because I always get nervous when he doesn't seem excited about my ideas.

The opera was a comedy, and it cracked us up numerous times! I asked Matt afterward if we could go again sometime, and he responded, "Not anytime soon."

I'm pretty sure he had a good time, but I think he's hoping the next time I see an opera that he'll be the starring tenor. Within the family/friends circle, he's pretty famous for his opera singing. Hopefully he'll audition soon!

The Latest about Matt

Matt has been working most mornings these past couple weeks on the TECH landscaping. The crew of workers is headed by our in-house landscape architect (and friend) Bill Daniel. Bill's cubicle is right next to Matt's, and they get along very well. All that to say, Matt gets very sweaty in the morning, showers at lunch, then returns to work in a dress shirt and dress pants to be an architect in the afternoons. He loves it! ACTUALLY, one secret about Matt (shhhh) is that he has always wanted to be an outdoor maintenance man at a Christian camp or ministry. He loves gardening and mowing the lawn, pruning and laying mulch. Truly he loves hard work.

All that to say, I thought I'd include a couple pictures of HIS latest work... or him working lately, I suppose. It's hard to describe all that has gone on for the landscaping since the remodeling... but I'll show you a "then and now," to help give you the idea.

THEN:










NOW:






(Dan, from Computer Services, with Matt)


Everything seems to be moving right along!

A Neat Experience

For about a week I had been working on a 7-foot retractable display for a missionary family going to Spain. Because of some communication issues (lack of internet accessibility), the father came in to TECH to help me finish the final changes. The following day he came in to pick up his display.

While he was working with me, he told me all about how God called his family to Spain and how they were feeling less equipped than he thought a missionary should, and his anxiety showed. He's a young man who is preparing to plant a Baptist church in a very Catholic city. A teammate of mine in graphics and I were able to take that opportunity to encourage him as we worked, and we now have a more specific direction to go while praying for his family (as we pray for the other missionaries on our docket).

Praise the Lord for that great opportunity! It is not every day that a client is able to come into the office and work next to us on the project we are doing for him/her!






(A Photo of the Deluxe Retractable in Joel's corner)