Making Movie Memories (and more importantly, meeting Silas)

Our good friends Joel and Heidi Hayslip, who are missionaries in Burkina Faso, West Africa, are back in the US for the summer. Their little boy Jakob (who’s getting soooo big) is always a treat to see. In addition though, I finally got to meet the newest addition to the family, Silas Hayslip. He’s Joel and Heidi’s adopted Burkina boy who just turned a year old. He’s adorable! He’s about the same age as Titus, so I’m sure they’ll be friends growing up, whether we’re visiting Africa or whether they’re visiting America.

On my way to summer camp today (Camp started on Saturday, I just made my way up after church on Sunday), I made a pit stop in Longview where I met up with Joel and Heidi. Actually, I had dinner with Joel before seeing Prince Caspian. I know, you’re probably thinking… movie? Really? You only see this good friend of yours every 2 years and the first thing you do is go see a movie? Yes. It was actually Joel’s idea. You see, all you girlies don’t really understand this. Guys can bond just as much sitting in a movie theatre or playing a video game as girls would while shopping or planting flowers together. You see, it’s a powerful, shared experience that’s linked with a movie we may never forget. As I think back at some of the big movies in my life… I remember who I saw them with. Really, I do! I saw Batman with my friend Ronnie in the 6th grade. I saw space camp with my mom, dad and brother (we didn’t see many movies together as a family… so it was special). I saw ET with my Dad, and Return of the Jedi with my grand father. Braveheart I saw with my best friend Stephen right after graduating from High School. I saw Titanic with Sara and Transformers with my friend Ryan. I could go on and on, I remember most of them. So, I added one more shared experience to the list tonight.

(Oh, and I talk and video chat with Joel all the time… so it’s not like we haven’t both talked and seen each other!