Enjoyable weekend

I spent a delightful weekend with friends camping in the Smokey Mountains on the Blue Ridge Parkway. A couple from the office that Carol and I often traveled with, went a day ahead and found an ideal site which we used as our base camp. A friend from church joined me on the trip. We enjoyed a fairly strenuous hike to a beautiful waterfall and found that we are not quite as in-shape as we once were. We need to do this more often to get back into shape. Several along the way commented that they were impressed that we would take a hike like that “at our age.” It must be that our not-very-in-shape condition was showing a bit when we didn’t keep up with the much younger folks on the trail. We attended two enjoyable mountain music programs with lots of clogging and enjoyed a delicious mountain Bar-B-Q potluck on Monday before heading home later in the day.


While away I was able to finish reading the book of Job and am now working my way through the Psalms. After all of the back and forth between Job and his friends, the Lord speaks to Job in chapters 38-41, responding with numerous questions back to Job which opened his eyes and brought him to repentance in chapter 42 and a willingness to trust God completely even without totally understanding his ways. In only two verses (42:12-13) we find how richly the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life. The last verse of the book especially spoke to me; “Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life”…and he was also greatly rewarded during the second half of his life for his faithfulness under unexplained fire. Another challenge for me to finish well!

I am thrilled that grandson Justin will be flying here tomorrow. I will be accompanying him to do some house hunting at their new location at Shaw Air Force Base. You will recall that their wedding was the last event Carol was able to participate in. It will be great to have he and his family living fairly close to me! Then on the weekend I anticipate a dear couple from Michigan to arrive. It will be great to be able to catch up on their lives since we last were together. It is always a blessing for me to welcome friends here…That includes YOU!

Love to you all,

Chuck