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Towels that will not dry By REV. DR. KNOX
HERNDON
We used to own two cottages at Ridgecrest, N.C., which borders the beautiful town of Black Mountain, nestled in the peaceful Blue Ridge Mountains. As you know Billy Graham lives in this area and has an evangelistic retreat area called "The Cove." The trip to this area from Fayetteville was a four-and-one-half-hour drive each way. When ever we would get a couple of days off, we would load up the van and head toward this time of needed retreat. As we were making the drive, I'll never forget the "how much further Daddy" cries from Nikki and Robbie, who were two and four years old when we bought the properties. We owned the cottages for ten years, so they grew up remembering the beautiful fireplace and wonderful meals and the singing that would go on in the main cottage. In the evenings or early mornings you could sit on the front porch in one of the rockers with a cup of coffee and all the cares of the world would somehow vanish. On the wall in the kitchen Dee had bought my mother a beautiful plate that had inscribed around the outer ring, "I will lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help." As you know, that is from God's Word and so, so true! One of the many things in this area we loved to do was to go "putzing." I can't really say where the word came from but I know Dee brought it to us. The only possibility I can think of is from the German word "putzen" which is to clean. Dee was born at Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta and reared in Philadelphia. This actually makes her the only true Southerner in the family. I suppose since my sister and I attended the first, second, and third grades at the elementary school in Social Circle, we might slip through the knot hole and be called Southerners. Back to the putzing. Dee and I were hitting all the antique and flea markets we could find when she ran upon a linen outlet store, for which this part of the country is famous. Now I can "putz" with the best of them and can go all day looking for antique fishing plugs or old military memorabilia, but some stores send my body into rig- amortous! When this happens, I can go instantly to sleep where only a funeral home would know I was alive. Dee pledged to "only be a minute" and she ran into this textile outlet store and came out with a bulging package. I awakened from my "power nap" to discover she had gotten "a very good deal" on these beautiful cranberry (her favorite color) set of bath towels. In fact, I had my second Black Bear made into a beautiful floor rug and had it "backed in cranberry" so I could get it into the house (almost had to see a marriage counselor on that one). Now these towels were beautiful and Dee loves to decorate. If she sees any empty space on a wall, that is "sin," and can only be corrected by "filling the space," but she does, in my opinion, a beautiful job at whatever she touches. She put these cranberry towels in our bathroom to match the already "color coded" soap, rugs, wall hangings, wall paper, shower curtain and toilet seat cover. They did look great but they only had one problem, they would not dry water off your body. They were good at moving water around on you, but would not dry the water off your body! Now I don't believe it is rocket science to create a towel to do its only one true mission in life, to take water off your body! There are no moving parts, and there is nothing to wear out except the towel itself. Evidently the makers of these "very good deal towels" had coated them with a water resistant chemical. It was like trying to dry off with wax paper! Why am I telling you all this? God's Word tells us that we as Christians are to be "salt and light" to the world. God doesn't overburden us with loads of lists of what we are to do before we go to be with him. I am reminded of a scripture from Jeremiah Chapter 2:13 and I quote it here: "For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns, broken cisterns that can hold no water." In this New Year don't major on the minors, and minor on the majors, find out what God wants you to do and lovingly do it. Time is short. Listen for the trumpet! Make sure your towel soaks up water! The staff and I and the congregation at His House Community Church wish you a Christ-filled New Year! The Rev. Dr. Knox Herndon is pastor of His House Community Church (SBC). The Rev. Greg Mausz is senior associate pastor. The Rev. Dr. Lydia Herndon is the Sunday School superintendent, Bible study coordinator and teacher. The church is just below Fayetteville, on Ga. Highway 85, a mile south of Ga. Highway 16, just below the fire station. Visitors welcome. Church office and prayer line 770-719-2365; e-mail KHERN2365@aol.com. The church's new Web site is www.hishousecommunitychurch.com.
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