On Friday, we joined with a million of our closest friends for the parade celebrating our new World Series Champions. It was a crazy experience. We almost missed it. Even though we allowed three hours to get downtown, the free train ride offer overwhelmed the service. Thousands of people waited trying to get to the parade. We waited for two hours. We watched the frustration bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. We watched people who take the train every day panic because they couldn't get to work. We watched people bucking the system refuse to get off the train. We saw the lowest person on the totem pole for Metro come up with a brilliant solution. That allowed hundreds of people (including us) to make it with minutes to spare.
Once we got there, we were apart of the most diverse city in the world coming together to celebrate something bigger than ourselves. Every tribe, every tongue, every socio-economic status, men, women and children coming together as one for no other reason than to celebrate something great that happened. 20% of the greater Houston area showed up. I started to think about how much better our eternal celebration will be when all the citizens of the Kingdom come together to celebrate something that matters a whole lot more.
For many, Houston feels like exile. Most people don't choose to be here. They get assigned here and then are stuck. However, once they're here they find something special. Downtown Houston was suddenly a place where a lot of people wanted to be. I thought of this verse from Jeremiah in that sea of people. I'm thankful that Houston is our city. I'm praying for the continued blessing of our city.