Bagel & Brew in Waco, Texas

I recently met William Hoyt in Waco, Texas. He's a Waco native and has found his career selling bagels and schmear. Trey is super friendly and outgoing and just a real joy to be around.

We met Trey early on a Friday morning in front of Pinewood Coffee Bar. (I had an amazing latte at Pinewood.)



I ordered a blueberry bagel with strawberry and peach schmear. The bagel was huge and they applied a generous amount of delicious schmear.

It was the best bagel I ever ate.


Thanks Trey for a delightful breakfast. Every time I visit Waco, I'll eat a an amazing bagel from Bagel & Brew.

Friends if you're in Waco and spot William Hoyt's food truck, be sure to stop for an unforgettable bagel!

El Paso Challenge

After the El Paso shooting, Ruben Martinez challenged others in his community to remember the victims with acts of kindness. What an amazing challenge, but the thing that makes it more interesting is that Ruben is only eleven years old.

This child is daring us to honor the victims. At first the challenge was to do twenty acts of kindness. It's risen to twenty-two acts of kindness today. These are not random acts of kindness. I feel like we are to be intentional in performing these acts.

If you need help coming up with ideas, Ruben has some to share. Mow a yard, visit a nursing home, pay for someone's lunch or dinner, donating for families in need, taking flowers to the hospital, or writing a letter to someone telling them how great they are.

If we perform twenty-two acts of kindness, I think we'll want to keep performing acts of kindness. Wouldn't it be great if Ruben's challenge made the world a better place?

I know nothing about Ruben's faith, but I do know he's a child. A child of God. He's important to God, his family, me, and the world.

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” Matthew 18:1-5

People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”
Luke 18:15-17

Flag of the Week

If you've ever seen an episode of Fixer Upper, you've probably seen this flag. I remember the first time I saw the Alico building.

Artemas R. Roberts helped finance the building of the Alico building, and construction began in 1910. It's located on the corner of Austin Avenue and Fifth Street and was the first skyscraper built in Texas. It remained the tallest building until 1922, but it's still the tallest in Waco. In my research I read that for entertainment, people in Waco would watch the construction of the building. I'm sure it was an amazing adventure.

Just a Saturday in Waco, Part One

I've always loved going to a farmers market. We started our Saturday by going to Waco's Farmers Market in downtown Waco. There were interesting vendors with a variety of options, but I loved that there were farmers selling fresh produce and flowers. The vendors are required to sell produce grown within 150 miles of Waco.



The clouds in the pictures might lead you to believe it was a cooler day in Texas. It wasn't cool. It was HOT. Even the breeze is hot. We didn't let the heat deter us from exploring and finding honey, soap, canned goods, fresh fruits and vegetables and food vendors. If you couldn't find something to try, you weren't looking.

Tim and I decided to try something new. It was a blueberry waffle with bacon, cheese and scrambled eggs on top. It was delicious.



If you're in Waco, be sure to stop by the Waco Downtown Farmers Market.

Writing in Waco

After attending ACFW conference in Dallas, I caught a ride to Waco to visit Scott and Kelli. It was a time to visit with them, but I knew they were both working. So, I spent my time writing and working on proposals.





Waco is a fun town to visit with many unique coffee shops and stores.

One coffee shop I spent time in was the Pinewood Coffee Bar. It was a simple place, but beautiful in it's simplicity. There were not hundreds of choices, but the coffee was hot and delicious.

They played music from vinyl records. One record at a time. It was a nice atmosphere to write and spend a few hours.