Vintage View Vednesday California Mountains 2005

Cancelations are a part of life. They happen to everyone. Schedules change, phone calls redirect our day and we move on. Right? It happens to you, does it not?

Itinerary hiccups certainly happen to evangelists. There have been several times when we came right up to a revival that has been on the program for months or even a year and the church had to cancel for an unavoidable reason. None of us can foresee death, a tragic accident, a natural disaster, sickness or mechanical breakdown. 

We had to cancel a revival earlier this year due to the bus being broken down. We positively hated to cancel, but it happens and you roll with the punches. Thankfully, Pastor Jon Isaacs and his folks were entirely gracious and understanding.

I have been telling you the last several Wednesdays about the only time when we have had two revivals scheduled back to back that had to cancel. The two revivals were scheduled back to back and each was supposed to be the better part of two weeks and they were several hundred miles apart so I had four days of travel time built in between them. Boom, we were off for a month with two phone calls! 

That is why we call that period in May and June 2005 our accidental vacation. And we had a few Sundays to visit churches we had never visited before. When life hands you lemons, make lemonade!

Thankfully our debts were low and we had fuel money saved for the trip to California and back east. Thankfully my wife and daughter have great attitudes and do not get down in the dumps easily. Thankfully they love to see the beauty that God has created and do not require expensive trips to amusement parks, shows, shopping malls and fancy eateries in order to have a fantastic vacation.

Our accidental vacation in 2005 included our first time in Yellowstone and Grand Tetons, our first time in Glacier National Park, our first time to meet the Metzger's, our first time in Seattle, our first time along the Oregon coast, our first time to Jedediah Smith Redwoods, our first and last time to drive a truck and trailer through San Francisco and our first time at Half Moon Bay. It stands the test of time today as one of our very best vacations. 

It was completely unplanned and spontaneous. It was almost entirely without restaurant meals and anything that cost money. It was me, Kelly Jo, Odie, the Chevy truck, the Kountry Star, a small corner of God's big beautiful world and more fun than we could pack away in a truckload of suitcases.

We closed the whole vacation down with more fun the last week of the vacation than we could have imagined. The Burris family, Bro. Jared, Bro. Benji, Bro. Cliff and their families invited us to spend a few days at their family owned house in the mountains. Wow! What an offer and what an amazing few days. We parked the Kountry Star somewhere in the valley and headed for the mountains.

Longtime readers know that the Burris Clan are some of our very best friends. Spending time with them while we are in California is always on the agenda and quality time with them any place, any time is like icing on the cake. We enjoyed the rest, we enjoyed the food, we enjoyed the hiking, we enjoyed the rides on the ATV and we mostly enjoyed our friends. What a glorious way to bring our accidental vacation to an end.

Thank you for joining us in revisiting our accidental vacation in 2005. I have loved every picture and every memory they produced. After the mountain house, it was back to revival and I suppose we will be visiting pictures from some vintage revival next week as well.

Davy

Accidental Vacation 2005 I Yellowstone National Park

Accidental Vacation 2005 II Grand Teton National Park

Accidental Vacation 2005 III More Grand Tetons and Yellowstone

Accidental Vacation 2005 IV Glacier National Park and The Metzger's

Accidental Vacation 2005 V Washington State

Accidental Vacation 2005 VI Oregon Coast

Accidental Vacation 2005 VII Southern Oregon Coast

Accidental Vacation 2005 VIII Redwoods State and National Park

Accidental Vacation 2005 VI The California Coast

Kids Free Egg Hunt! Wait What?

Yesterday I posted this picture that I snapped while waiting at a red light in northern Kentucky.



Originally I stated here on the blog that turkey season was not in, but on further review, turkey season started on Saturday in Kentucky! This guy got a nice big turkey on the first day of the season!😀

Kids Free Egg Hunt. Wait! What?
Easter is a big deal at most churches. It should be. The resurrection of our Lord from the dead is the foundation of Christianity. Paul said, And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. I Corinthians 15:17 

The resurrection of Christ should be preached, taught and shouted from the rooftops all year long. Dedicating one Sunday a year worldwide to the proclamation of that central truth is the very least we can do as Christians, as Preachers and as churches.

I know a good many folks that are not comfortable with calling the day by the name "Easter". That is OK, I get it. But they all celebrate Resurrection Sunday with us when we remember and proclaim afresh that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, conquered death three days after He was crucified and buried! It really should be a big deal.

We all know that the resurrection of Christ from the dead, victorious over death, hell and the grave has nothing to do with eggs and rabbits, right? Yet many churches host egg hunts for the kids. I do not particularly love the tradition, but I do not automatically hate on it either.

Then I found this. It is confusing.

It is an advertisement for a Kids Free Egg Hunt.



It does not say Kid's Free Egg Hunt or Free Egg Hunt for Kids. It says Kids Free Egg Hunt, like parents having a Kids Free Weekend or a Kids Free Date Night.😉😉

Kids Free-No Kids Allowed.

I suppose that means no brats running around picking up the eggs before the adults can bend over to the ground. That can be annoying. We must eliminate the short competition.😆

I guess I understand the concept, but I thought Easter Egg hunts were all about the kids. That is why I do not hate on egg hunts, because it is for the kids. IF adults are now having egg hunts exclusively for them, I may have to rethink my position.😏

They do advertise Street Tacos so that is definitely one redeeming factor.

Davy

Weekend In The Rearview Mirror 4/18/19

Friday was a family day and the final day of preparation for departure. We met Kelly Jo's parents for lunch (One last hurrah for Salsa) and then KJ and Odie spent the rest of the afternoon with them. I stopped in to see my parents for a bit and then worked on taking some things out of the bus and into the barn and then doing the reverse shuffle with a few other things.

Odie spent Friday evening with Lisa. The lady on the right looks like another first cousin of mine named Missy.

About the time we finished with most of our work, my brother Steve stopped by on his way home from work and visited for a while. We neglected to get any pictures, so maybe we only dreamed about it.

We were only traveling 3-4 hours Saturday so there was no need to rush to an early morning start. I finished up a little last minute preparation then cranked the bus about 11:30, turned it around and pulled up next to the house to pick up Odie. Once the car was hooked up, we pulled out about noon.

Kelly Jo noticed on Google Maps that there was a huge slow down on I-75/I-71 south of Cincinnati as there was when we came north a week before. We took I-471 to I-275 and then used US 42 to cut down to join I-75/I-71 again. It was the exact reverse of the route we took going home.

On 42 we rolled up behind this truck with a nice looking turkey in the back.

(This paragraph has been edited to correct a factual error in the original post.)
I was admiring the turkey when Kelly Jo wondered out loud if it was turkey season yet. Originally I stated here on the blog that turkey season was not in, but on further review, turkey season started on Saturday in Kentucky! This guy got a nice big turkey on the first day of the season!😀

Our only stop of the day was for fuel at Loves in Sparta, Kentucky. Soon we were pulling into Calvary Holiness Church near Brooks, Kentucky. First, we pulled up next to the church and unloaded our sound equipment.

After that was taken care of, we parked the bus, hooked up the utilities, set up the sound and then settled in for breakfast, lunch and supper.

We have preached revivals here in the past and we have always had a wonderful time. They were building a new sanctuary the last revival we were here and it is now completed beautifully. I will try to get some pictures of it this week.

Also, Bro. Doug Webb, the long term Pastor at Calvary for years, transitioned into evangelistic work and now his son, Bro. Philip Webb is the Pastor. We are excited to be with them and all the fine folks at Calvary again.

Here are some pictures from a revival at Calvary in 2012.

Once we were well fed and settled in, Pastor Philip Webb and his wife, Sis. Janelle brought us a beautiful welcome basket and refrigerated food as well. It is amazing! Thank you, friends.

The Sunday services were fantastic as we imagined they would be. Odie was on the job and snapped a few pictures along the way and I will post them below and then close this long Mile Marker.

Thank you for joining with us today. May God bless you with a great week.

Davy