Clay in the Hands

This past week, it was announced that the Lubbock area, in west Texas, was voted the “Toughest Weather” area in the United States – runner up?  Fairbanks, Alaska.

As I read that announcement, I thought to myself, “How did we beat out sub-zero temperatures.  Then a picture of a good ol’ west Texas dust storm popped into my head and I thought, “Yeah, that’s about right.”

But as I have thought about this new found title, I began to think about the people who inhabit this part of the world.  What were that first settlers thinking when they decided to call this area home?  Some say the waggon train was headed west and the wheels fell off so they just stayed here.  Some say they actually chose to settle this area.

The truth is, the weather is really not that bad.  I mean, all the wind sure makes us appreciate the three days per year that the wind doesn’t blow.

I have been asked multiple times why I moved back to  west Texas almost 11 years ago.  My answer is always the same – the people – and of course God.

People are different out here.  We live in a wilderness where the pioneer spirit still flows just under the surface.  A hand shake is as good as a contract (in most cases) because a person’s word still means something.

Sound a bit cliche or Mayberry USA?  Well, maybe.  But there is some truth to the fact that west Texas is still a great place to live and the people, not the weather, make it true.

But I think the setting has something to do with it as well.  This is west Texas.  You just haven’t lived until you have seen God in a west Texas sunrise or sunset.  Our souls long to find God in nature and there is plenty of nature here.

Toughest weather or not, God is alive and well in west Texas – alive in the breathtaking sunrise this morning – alive in the person’s smile as I paid for my coffee – ALIVE!