My fellow Texans may understand the distaste I have had most of my life for the upside down hat that sits atop of Texas’ head. Oklahoma may just be so conveniently close that it became an easy rival? In the case of college football there are clearly defined rivalries… but I never really followed college football (yeah, I said it). Growing up there were influences around me that taught me that Oklahoma was the bad guy… but I was never too sure why. Now that I have grown older you may think I could simply drop this silliness and admit that Oklahoma is ok, maybe even more than just ok (pun intended). That would probably be the case if I didn’t have to drive through Oklahoma anytime I want to visit Texas. I mean, do they really need to put stop lights on the interstate and use it as the main road for countless little towns with countless little tobacco shops? Seriously it’s effectively increasing the last hour of my drive into the last TWO hours!
Alas, by the end of next week, for the next 7 weeks I will live in Oklahoma. And if you can keep a secret, I would maybe even tell you that part of me is really looking forward to it. The why, it turns out, has everything to do with it. Last semester Stacy took an advanced linguistics course that taught how to identify and analyse patterns in languages, which will greatly aid us as missionaries to West Africa in the future. That portion of the course was primarily all desk and book work. Starting next week, everything theoretical will become practical as she and her classmates will sit down with Cherokee language helpers and begin analyzing a language they have never heard before. It excites me not only because I am very proud of my wife, but because we are convinced this is the next step that God has for us as he continues to draw us into foreign missions. If that is true, then it means God himself wants me in Oklahoma.
So I hope your doing great OK, I look forward to seeing you next week.
-Creech
P.S.
While Stacy and the other linguistics students slave away at learning the Cherokee language, I get to assume the familiar role of the cook… and yes this Texan is bringing his smoker.