Weekend in Tulsa

Superbowl weekend proved to be fairly interesting and the game had nothing to do with it. I was blessed to attend Believe in Tulsa this weekend. I am always the first to sign on for the trip to Tulsa. There are several reasons - not all of which will I detail here.

Tulsa is the first large believe of the tour, which gives it a great "feel". Having grown up around the Tulsa area I am priviliged to know several of the youth ministers in the area, so going to this event gives me a chance to reconnect with them. My own youth minister (Steve Johnson) has been doing youth ministry at Osage Hills CC almost as long as I've been alive. He is in the CIY Youth Ministry Hall of Fame and is in my opinion a living legend.

Spending the weekend in Tulsa also feels like a trip "home". I know the city and I like it. They have these things there called "expressways" that allow you to go across town in a matter of minutes. My wife hates Tulsa, but her reasons change frequently enough that I just shrug it off.

The things my wife likes about Tulsa are the following: Q-doba, Pei Wei, Carrabbas, Starbucks (of course we have one of those here now), and Israel Diamonds. Her affinity for Pei Wei and Isreal Diamonds is totally my fault, so I can't complain. Most generally if I feed her Pei Wei she's content to just get her rings cleaned at Isreal - which is free. Occasionally I have to send her in there on her own so that a salesman doesn't say something like, "Didn't we see you in here last week?" to me thus tipping her off that I might have been shopping for her when she wasn't with me and potentially ruining a surprise gift...I really hope she doesn't end her streak of not reading my blog today!

When I got off the expressway on Friday morning I was greeted by a huge OSU logo on the side of the OSU medical center, which sits next to the Convention Center. It was like a beacon helping me navigate my way in. Saturday morning when I came into our room on the 9th floor the curtains were parted just enough for me to see this same sign out the window. Just warmed my heart!

Believe was great, best program in several tours according to my wife and I both. Production was better than I've seen previously, having the right equipment makes a ton of difference and having the right personnel is a must (we've always had great people, I think we've done a better job of getting all of them we need and in the right places this time around). Merchandise is outstanding and sold like crazy. The Believe Team is doing a great job.