Sunday, July 24, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | I will lift up my eyes unto the hills
I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is they keeper: the Lord is the shade upon thy right hand. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and for ever more. Psalms 121 (KJV) I know there are more modern translations of Gods Word and I have them and use them often; however, at times it is refreshing to me to go to the Bible of my youth and read it the way I learned it in Vacation Bible School and Sunday School. By the time you read this, our church will have completed our yearly pilgrimage to the North Georgia Mountains from whence cometh my help. We will drive up on Friday and come back on Saturday and then worship together on Sunday. We often do this twice a year during the leaf-changing season. This year we will attend the Georgia Mountain Fair in Hiawassee, and then do a high speed pass through the wonderful flea market in Clayton. We will eat some serious food (this is part of my theology and hopefully yours) at local restaurants all with Christian friends at the table. Folks, it doesnt get much better than this. This is one of the many blessings of being in a smaller church. You can logistically do things like this together. And to top off the event, our daughter Nikki is visiting us and has a birthday July 21. We were overjoyed to hear of her husband Jeremys successful solo flight in his jet trainer at Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Okla. This base is not far from Muskogee, where Merle Haggard made his wonderful country hit Okie from Muskogee. Muskogee is not far from Okmulgee, where I spent many summers. If this isnt enough for you, let me show you some family photos, and some home movies! I always said I would never be one of those people who did this sort of thing and now I am the worst of the bunch! Nikki and Jeremy played together when they were two years old in Korea! God brought them back together in the state of Alabama! She was a freshman at Auburn and he at Sanford. I cant imagine what Dee and I will be like when we have grandkids! We used to own two cabins at Ridgecrest and would go up every time we could. We would rent them out to people going to various retreats in the area. There are five large denominations that all have retreats in this area. To me and our family, there is something very special about this part of the world, and it is not just because it is in the beautiful Smoky Mountains. I believe it is because there has been so much prayer raised to Almighty God from this area. It was at Ridgecrest that my mothers engagement was announced one summer while she led the music for the SBC Retreat. It was also at Ridgecrest that many a young person accepted the call to the ministry and the mission field. It is in this area that Billy Graham has his retreat center called The Cove. As you probably know, he and his wife live at Montreat there in Black Mountain, N.C. This may sound a little strange to some but we had a family plan that if there was ever a national disaster in the U.S. like a war, or any totally chaotic event, we would all assemble there in Black Mountain. I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth. (The churchs Web site is under construction and will be up and running shortly.) |
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