i can't wait for christmas!

The Preacher and I have never celebrated Halloween as a holiday. We just didn't feel like Halloween lent itself to celebrating Christian values. And when our son was born, we decided to continue with our convictions.

During the fall season, when he was 4 or 5 years old, he and I would go for a walks in our neighborhood. I homeschooled and we would often take these walks to help him clear his head. As we walked down the street we were noticing how many of the homes were decorated for Halloween.

There were faux gravestones, giant spiders with giant webs, ghosts made of white trash bags and orange lights strewn in the trees.

Our son asked me why we didn't have any decorations in our yard and why we didn't go trick-or-treating. I then proceeded to explain to him the conviction his dad and I had and I told him some of Halloween's origins in a way I thought my young son could understand.

After my explanation, our son was very quiet, he didn't say anything while we passed by a couple more houses, decked out in all their Halloween glory.

He then stopped and exclaimed, "I can't wait for Christmas!"

I believe there is something inside all of us that wants to celebrate something.

If you choose to celebrate Halloween, please be careful while walking from house to house trick-or-treating. 

If you choose to wait for Christmas, then have fun anticipating all the Christmas decorating, preparing the food, and giving the gifts.

Just what ever you do, be sure to have fun and give God the glory.

appreciating the preacher

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”                                    – Isaiah 6:8 

The Preacher read this passage almost 39 years ago and echoed what Isaiah said. "Here am I, send me". He heard His call and obeyed. After all these years. After all the victories for the Kingdom. After all the trials and the hardships. He still loves the work that the Lord called him to do.

He is my Preacher too and I couldn't imagine a life without him. 

empty chairs

The Preacher and I first experienced the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, in October of 1995. Our son was 6 months old when we first attended.

We sat in hard plastic chairs under big circus-type tents. For three days we were held spellbound listening to storytellers telling Jack tales, folk-lore, personal stories of their families, stories of mythological creatures that hide under bridges in dark forests.

We were hooked. The Preacher and I decided we would not miss one year ever again.

We went home and began to spread the word – "There's this storytelling festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee, you have to come with us!" We told our friends and we told our families. We told any one who would listen. We invited them all to come and sit with us under the tents and listen.

Eventually they did! Each year during the first weekend of October, we had friends or family members joining us on a three day adventure. We loved seeing their excitement upon discovering this storytelling thing.

This year we traveled to the small town of Jonesborough to experience it again. On the first day I was sitting in one of the same hard plastic chairs that I had sat upon 23 years ago and I looked around. The hour of storytelling had not yet begun. People were still arriving, slowly moving about trying to find the perfect seat. My row of seats were still empty. In my mind's eye I could see everyone who had shared this festival with us. I saw them, as if they were sitting right there with me. It was a bittersweet moment. I began to miss them all:

Hank & Alice Smith, Lula Mae Kuhn, Grandma Joan Smith, Brenda Beiter, Aimee Beiter, Michelle & Greg Bontrager, Michelle & J.D. Richards, Jennifer & David Ward, Samuel Smith, J.Keith, Jennifer & Jonah Smith, Tim Johnson

Some of these friends and family members have gone on to be with the Lord, some have moved away and we haven't seen them in a long time, some are in situations where it just isn't possible to join us.

This year we had the joy of introducing the festival to our dear friend, Bill Glover, and we were delighted to find out that the Preacher's preaching buddy, Tim Johnson, would be joining us again. 

We still tell people about the festival. We believe everyone should experience it at least once in their lifetime.

This has become more than just a festival to us. It has become a reunion. A reunion of friends, family, stories and memories.

I would like to close this post with a video of Kathryn Windham at the age of 92, closing out the 2010 Festival. Kathryn passed away in June of 2011. It's a little long, 15 minutes, but if you have time, please listen.

love me always

“Your goodness to me has been overwhelming. How tender you are, though I am often as tough as gristle. How patiently you have loved me since you made up your mind to love me always.”                                 ― Jan Karon, Somewhere Safe with Somebody Good: The New Mitford Novel

Happy Anniversary my love!

bridges, love and graffiti

The Bridges of Madison County, especially the Roseman Bridge, have taken on a new meaning for a lot of people. They are not just a by-gone mode of transportation over a river, they are a symbol of love due to the book, The Bridges of Madison County, published back in 1992.

It was a legendary love story of a forbidden love. And people now come far and wide to get a glimpse of the bridge where it all started. Some come to stand in front of the bridge, get down on one knee and declare their love and get engaged and even some get married there.

While walking through the bridges you see that people have left their mark. They have written their name and the name of the one they love on the beams of the bridges. I don't condone graffiti but I couldn't help, when reading some of them, but to smile knowing that they are declaring their love for all the world to see. I don't know Jim and Kerrie but on the date they wrote their names I know they loved each other.

I had to take some pictures of the 'love graffiti', I even found 'Jesus graffiti' and I took a picture of Olivia's graffiti. I thought Olivia's was just too cute not to share. Also there was one that talked about dancing in the rain. I thought it was very fitting for the Preacher and I. On the day we visited the bridges it was raining but we had a great time driving to each bridge and reading all of the love letters in each one.

The last picture is someone declaring that graffiti is wrong which I thought very funny.