Pray and Play

I had a big class at Cape Fear tonight. I drove down to Wilmington this afternoon. I got there an hour early so I stopped into Dillards to see if I could find shoes for the wedding. I did not. The search is just starting for those, but now I feel a little urgency.

I arrived at the Cape Fear country club and the set up took a hardly any time at all. Thankfully my friend Darby came early to set up with me, so we went to play Siamese mah Jongg for an hour before dinner. We had lots of fun, except when a bridge player shhhhed us. I think she just had bad cards.

At 5:00 we went to the bar to get an early dinner and Mary and Carol Ann joined us. Three of my very favorite people in Wilmington. They are always so kind and take me to dinner or lunch when I am there. Tonight Carol Ann treated me.

Carol Ann was in Greenville last week with her mom and they stopped into a gift store that sold Mah Jongg sets. Carol Ann asked me if I had been I Greenville last week and I confirmed that I had taught class there. She told me that the girl at the gift store was quite excited because “Dana” was in town and so she was selling lots of Mah Jongg sets because of it. I loved hearing that I was an economic driver last week.

Carol Ann asked the young woman if she played mah Jongg and she said yes, but that they had combined playing with Bible study with her group of friends. Carol Ann dubbed that Pray and Play.

I have heard a lot of people praying for jokers, but Pray and Play is a whole different level. We thought it might open a market for religious themed Mah Jongg tiles, but thought that Jesus as the joker might offend too many of the Pray and Play crowd, so we quickly distanced ourselves from that idea.

We had a fun class. I had a little stage to teach from and I was thankful I did not fall off of it. Thankfully class did not run late as I had to make the drive home after class. It was a lot of driving in one day, but not undoable.

Being with my friends for playing mah Jongg and dinner was the highlight of the day and made the drive bearable. Thankfully tomorrow class is local in Cary. Very little driving, and probably not too much Praying at class.