Uh, Is My Brother Here?

Well, yesterday my husband and I had a fun and eventful trip to Cincinnati.  (Always a treat for me!) :)
First of all, the drive up was beautiful.  The snow on the trees was so pretty with the sun shining on it.

When we got there, we went straight to Crossroads to worship.  The Super Bowl service is their highest attendance of the year, mostly because they act ridiculous and are hilariously funny as they have the "Super Bowl of Preaching" and give the message like a football game.  There is even a half-time show.  It is always a highlight.  My take-away:  wives, don't nag...it's immasculating to our husbands and does nothing to give them the courage and encouragement they need to lead well.  The text was the story from the Bible about Sampson and Delilah, and how she literally nagged him to death.  They are doing a series called "Manly," talking about what it means to be a real man who follows God.  They always use the incredibly talented people there to create awesome sets.  This was no exception.

Later that day, we hung out with my brother at his small group's Super Bowl Party.  Finding the house where they were meeting, however, was half the battle.  Kevin and I were driving up and down the road in this snowy subdivision, exhausted and getting irritated by not being able to see any house numbers or find this place.  We called my brother and he said there was a red truck in the driveway and that he was looking out the window and would stand on the porch.  We were in front of a house with a red truck, we thought we saw him stick his head out the door, so we went up the steps.  This is when Kevin said, "Go on in."  And I was feeling a little unsure of whether it was the right house, mostly because my brother wasn't out there to greet us.  We walked in, with a warm welcome from the guy that opened the door,  whom I have never seen before in my life.  Kevin introduced himself.  I introduced myself.  I was feeling really nervous at this point.  Still no sign of my brother Darin, only a couch full of people I had never seen before.  "Mike," who had let us in, was super nice and acted like he fully expected us to be there.  I finally said, "Uh, is Darin here?"  He said, "No, there's no Darin here."  We were at the wrong house!!!  And they totally let us in!!!  Kevin started cracking up and I turned bright red.  I said, "You are the friendliest people ever!  I'm halfway tempted to stay here!"  So that was the story of the night.  Ridiculous.  But a great lesson nonetheless.  That's definitely an example of having a home where everyone is welcome!