A Stroll after Supper

“Let’s stroll for a bit.”

The all-you-can-eat buffet at the lodge weighed heavy and a slow, easy walk sounded good. The evening was pleasant and we headed along the path around the lake.  There was a slight breeze and the sounds of the tree frogs and crickets accompanied us.  After a while, we found a bench and sat down.

“Tell me a story,” my wife sad as the conversation lulled.  This lead us to places and people of our separate and common pasts. Some stories were old and well worn, others unfamiliar to the other.

We centered in on our college years, when those life changing decisions were afoot, with job interviews and wedding plans.  So much uncertainty then has been settled now.

I was thinking that that time was gone and we can’t go back.  Even going back to college now would be a step forward into another uncertain future.

You can’t go back.  The things that fit me then wouldn’t fit now.  I’ve grown into a different person.  The things that I feared back then, I could face now with ease, but now there are new challenges ahead.  Our kids are getting closer to the teen years and I’m concerned that I might not be able to face those years.  But, it does not good to worry.  I need to trust that God will provide the grace to meet whatever changes that are ahead.  We have to take it one day at a time.

Give us, Lord, Our daily bread.

Conversation with the Cashier

“This place sure brings back some memories.”
“Uh huh.”
“I used to come here every Thanksgiving when I was a kid.”
“Uh huh…Sign here please.”

The cashier handed me the credit card receipt. I signed it and handed it back.

“Y’all have a nice day.”

As we walked away from the register, I said, “She couldn’t have cared less.”
My wife agreed, “Not a lick.”

The Third Day: Cable Trail and a Mission

“What day is today, Wednesday?”
“No, it’s Thursday.”

You know your on vacation when you can’t remember what day it is.

We had just gotten back to the car after our morning hike down the cable trail. This was a steep hike to the bottom of Cane Creek Falls that was more vertical than horizontal. The trail got its name from a thick steel cable that runs the length of the trail. It’s fairly short, but the hike left us huffing and puffing with leg muscles screaming for mercy.

In contrast from the previous day’s hike, there was only one other couple at the base of the falls. They decided to brave the cold dark pool and swim over to where the falls was. We contentedly stayed on the shore, mostly resting our muscles, unaccustomed to such strenuous work.
There were not so many words today, having used up a “goodly” number of them the day before. We didn’t linger at the bottom either, although we stayed long enough to rest for the hike back up. We had another mission for the day.

We got back to the top and went back to the campground to rest. It was tiring climbing such a steep trail and our legs weren’t as fresh as the day before.

After another hour of reading at the campsite, with chapters completed, my wife said, “Are you ready?”
“Yep, let’s go.”

We both were a bit anxious, having not done this before. The last time we tried, we drove to the place and even parked, but didn’t have enough nerve to go through with it in the end.

This time, we were determined to go through with it and kept reassuring one another with encouraging words:
“It doesn’t matter what other people think.”
“We need to just do it and get it over with.”
“It’s just out of our comfort zone.”
“Yeah.”

We parked and waked up to the clerk at the counter. “Two buckets of balls, please. And we’ll need some drivers, too.”
“That’s $7.00. The driving range is over there.”

We had some pretty bad whiffs, but had a good time and quite a few balls went past the second or third flag. As we waked back to the car, there was almost a sense of relief.
“That wasn’t so bad.”
“Yeah, that was pretty fun.”

In some ways, it was harder than climbing back up the cable trail, and more satisfying too.

The Second Day: Hike to the Bottom of the Falls

We woke up cold in the middle of the night, but grabbed the sleeping bag that was under our air mattress and covered up with that. It was a wonderful feeling. We slept in until after 9, but being on Central Time, it was really only after 8 for everybody else. We decided to stay on Eastern time since we’ll only be here for a few days. So we’re going to bed earlier and getting up earlier than everybody else.

After breakfast, we drove to the Nature Center and hiked across the swinging bridge, along the rim of the gorge, stopping at sever overlooks along the way. At one overlook, we sat and talked for so long that I lost track of time. We only got up when other hikers came to the overlook as well.

This trail was more familiar to me and I remembered the rough terrain and the rocks. When we came to the Fall Creek Falls overlook, we kept on going, heading down into the gorge. The trail had eroded significantly since I last remembered. They had also put a fence up along the trail to keep you from going over the edge.

I remembered cutting across the switchbacks, but it wouldn’t have been possible today. Besides, the poison ivy was out everywhere and it was hard enough to avoid it even when staying on the trail.

We made it to the bottom, passing another memory from my childhood along the way: A rock formation that looked like it went back into a cave. There was a cool breeze coming from the opening and we rested there for a moment.

When we got to the base of the falls, it was the most crowded I had ever seen it.

There was a large youth group there, sprawled across the rocks and the water and even behind the falls. The mist at the bottom was cool and refreshing to the point you got chill bumps after sitting for a few minutes. We sat and rested and touched the water–surprisingly cold. But as the youth group made signs of leaving, we hurried to beat them back up the trail.

We made it none too soon, because, even though we couldn’t hear them on the way up, when we sat to rest at the top, they were only a few minutes behind us. We watched the group straggle up the trail, coming in threes and fours, in various shapes and sizes and in wet clothes and bathing suits. We were relieved not to be at that stage of our lives again. I look back at all my insecurity and foolishness and see how stupid I was.

We took the short way back to the car, but were stalled going over the suspension bridge (weight limit 6 people) as there were people on both sides waiting to cross.

The First Day: Travel and Memories

Up at 6 am, I didn’t sleep well. We pad packed our regular pillows and used the guest ones. They were too poofy, so I kept waking up in the middle of the night, and woke up tired.

We drove down to Tennessee in the rain for 2 1/2 hours I don’t know why, but it is hard driving in the rain–I guess because it requires more concentration. But the weather was beautiful in Tennessee. We dropped the kids of at my folks and stayed for lunch. We got to see my sister who drove from Colorado, and the kids too, but were glad to be on our way. Being tired is harder when there are 5 excited kids around.

Fall Creek Falls wasn’t like I remembered. More accurately, I don’t remember it as well as I expected to. There are too many memories crowding in from other trips and other places. I can’t keep them sorted out.

A lot of the things are the same as i remembered them. The lodge, the swimming area, the falls, but they are some how different than they were. Or more likely, I’m different and the memories of these old stomping grounds don’t fit me the same as they once did. But it’s OK. I didn’t have any expectations of these remembered places and so I’m not disappointed.

Camping is definitely simpler with 2 people. We don’t have to work at entertaining one another, and our goal is the same: to relax.

Once conversation at dinner led to other memories:

• Of a fateful men’s retreat when I questioned my faith and was approached by the man that I’ve met with as an accountability partner for almost 10 years.
• Of the dry desert time in my spiritual life when God seemed far away and I believed the lies of self effort.

We finished dinner in prayer, cutting away from those lies and confessing our desperate need for our Father to help us trust Him.

I came away full, not only full of hamburgers and beans and Doritos, but also full of gratefulness and faith for all that God has done and is doing and will do. These memories strengthen my faith and cause me to want to trust God more.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

 

Going on vacation

We’re heading down to Tennesse tomorrow and will be gone for 4 days or so.

Going to Tennessee

We’re going to Tennessee for a few days of camping, down I-81, past the guitar,

to drop the kids off at my folks. They’re having a “cousin camp” with 4 other cousins, run by Oma and Opa. And then it is west for three days of camping with my beloved. No computers, no phones, no work. We’ve got fun books to read and hope to have a relaxing time reading hiking, biking and sleeping. I might write some while were there, and maybe some of those entries will get back to this journal.

Truefaced Letter

I’m giving Truefaced books to a couple of family members tomorrow. With each copy, I’m enclosing a copy of a introductory CD or DVD. Here is a copy of the letter:

In the Spring of 2005, I was leading a small group in our church and one of the members gave me CD of a sermon and asked me to listen to it. I was going on a business trip and took the sermon with me, listening to it on the plane. The speaker, John Lynch, spoke of a fork in the road of our Christian walk, and of two paths from which we can choose just one. As he described this fork in the road, I thought that I was sure that I’d choose the “right” path in my own walk. But the names that he gave these two roads surprised me, and I had trouble deciding which one was the “right” one to take.

I could identify with the word picture he described and could see my own life as a Christian being exposed in a new light of God’s truth.

I listened to the sermon again and again, and as they mentioned a book, Truefaced, by way of an introduction of the speaker, I thought: “I’ve got to read that book.”

When I got home, I ordered the book, and read it, and decided this last year to lead a small group through the book. I confess to you that the process of reading and trying to apply the truths from this book has changed my outlook on my Christian walk in a very significant way. Not only has it changed the way that I view my relationship with God, but also how I relate to Christine and the boys, and others as well.

I’m sure that you receive numerous requests from people to read books and look at devotional material. I don’t want to put a burden on you, but would make one request: Please watch the DVD. It is a video presentation of the sermon that I heard and lays an introduction of the themes in the book. It’s only about 45 minutes long. If you watch it and don’t find an interest in the topic, then feel free to pass the DVD and the book on to someone else.

If you decide to read the book and have any questions or comments about it, I’d love to hear them. I hope that it blesses you as much as I have been blessed.

Thanks!