January 3, 2024 - Good Morning! It's Wednesday, January 3.
Houston is my hometown. And on January 3, 1962, something extraordinary began there, a dream really. On that day, ground was broken on a new kind of sports stadium, a "domed" stadium. It was the first of its kind in the world. There are many in the world now, but the Astrodome was the first.
The dream belonged to a man named Roy Hofheinz. He had been the mayor of Houston in the 1950's, when I was born, and during that time he took a vacation to Rome. He would say later that seeing the ruins of the Roman coliseum was the inspiration for his dream. The astrodome was built on former swampland, came in under budget, and was dubbed "the Eighth Wonder of the World".
In 1970, just six years after his dream opened, Hofheinz suffered a stroke that left him in a wheelchair. He died in 1982, and in 2008 the Astrodome was closed. It still stands today, a slowly crumbling echo from the past, Houston's very own Roman ruin.
Texans have always been dreamers, Americans too.
Big dreams, small dreams, dreams that bring great success, dreams that end in great disappointment.
Do you have dreams for this new year? Does God have a dream for you? Perhaps you can find your inspiration in a simple scripture verse - Micah 6:8.
"He has shown you what is good, and what the Lord requires of you. To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
