On our way home from Tennessee we stopped in Gettysburg Pennsylvania for a tour of the battlefield.
The battle of Gettysburg took place from July 1-3,1863 in the streets and in the field around Gettysburg. By the battle’s end over 51,000 men were dead.
In the fields around this house the troops of the Massachusetts 22nd fought. It is strange to think that men from my home state fought and died right here.
It was a fascinating historical tour. As I drove these fields I was reminded of that quote by T. Rowe, “Those who forget their history are doomed to repeat it.”
That little saying was some thing my grandmother would say at the end of every event. It might’ve been a Church service, dinner at a restaurant, the end of a family reunion or a vacation. Home again home again riggedty jig was a catchall phrase, said at the end, of any event, and before the drive home.
I found myself saying it at 7:45 AM Saturday morning as we pulled away from our little cabin in the mountains, and began the long journey home.
Saturday’s drive was a grueling 91/2 hour journey through driving rain in Virginia.
It looks lovely here. And it was when the rain came. It came hard and fast. Even so, we plowed our way through it and made it to Gettysburg in time for a delicious Italian dinner at La Bella Italia
On Sunday morning we were up and out of our hotel in Gettysburg by 8 AM. After breakfast at Perkins, we spent a few hours touring Gettysburg national battlefield.
I will share more on that later. We were on the road by 11:30 AM and home by. 7:30 PM. It was a very relaxing and wonderful break away.
Now we are home at the vicarage. The car goes in for tuneup next week. Brenda’s off visiting a friend tonight and I am back at ministry. I had Bible study this morning with my DLT group and I am doing a worship session at TWR This evening. Today has been all about unpacking and getting myself organized for the work at home and avoiding the driving range here at the Vicarage.
This has been a good week for staring at mountains.
My sister and I have rented a breakaway cabin in Tennessee. We are deep in the Cumberland Mountains. The remoteness of this place lends itself to what I call the following of the threads. Following the threads is a form of prophetic prayer. It takes time and the sense of wonder and how God is moving in the world around us.
It is finding God and the pathway He would walk with you.
I have spent many hours, staring at the mountains, listening to the Scriptures and wondering at God‘s work in my life. It’s funny how prayer produces situations which reveal the heart of the man of God.
Yesterday I spent the morning following the threads. I was gaining what I thought was a lot of understanding. When the time came for my sister and I to drive down the mountain for lunch at a place called the Pour House. The car battery was dead.
My inner calm was instantly gone. Our host here at the cabins, gave me a jumpstart and the name of a local mechanic. Chris, the manager of Shadden Tire in Centerville, Tennessee, took good care of us. We had a new battery, and were back on the road by 12:30 in the afternoon.w
We went to the Pour House And had an amazing lunch.
We then went grocery shopping to get what we will need for our trip home. And we finished off the day with custard at the Custard Cabin.
The custard of the day was slobber knocker: Vanilla, frozen custard, mixed with Oreos, Butterfingers and frozen Snickers bits.
It turned out to be a really good day, and I learned something about myself. My sense of calm is still tied too much to circumstances rather than to the immovable nature of the Holy Spirit. I need to work on that.
What aspect of inner healing or inner growth, are you working on right now?
I am in the Cumberland Mountain Range this week. Our scenic cabin is in a place called Eden Ridge.
There isn’t much to do here, except rest, and pray, contemplate and study. At some point, we will have to make our way back down the mountain for a little more grocery shopping and probably stop at the country club attached to this retreat center for a swim in the pool.
Today I have spent several hours in prayer and study. I put together the outlines for all the Royal Ranger devotions and church sermons through the new year.
Tomorrow I will put together the outlines through June.
One of the hours I spent in prayer was at The World Missions Park by the visitors center.
During that hour of prayer, I had a really strong sense that our congregation is about to face some challenges in the near future. Specifically, I feel as though God is going to challenge us to new levels of spiritual health. This will involve us letting go of some unhealthy cycles we have allowed our personal lives and relationships to fall into.
I have the sense that ministry is going to get increasingly complex when I get back.
I am grateful to God for this period of calm before what I think will be a period of crazy.
In the last two days Brenda and I have driven from PA to TN. We have spent something like 15 hours in the car together.
A rest stop in VA somewhere.
We stayed the night in Nashville with one of Brenda’s friends and mentors Rob Fraser. Here we are going to Five Daughters Bakery.
We visited with the Fraser’s until about 1 PM and then meet our way back up the plateau into the Cumberland Mountains to our cabin at Eden Ridge.Here is the sunset from our cabin deck.
Joe and Kristine have to go to New York tomorrow to meet with someone from The Philippine consulate. So Amanda, Brenda and I are watching Sevy for the day.
I still have one meeting before I am on break.
But I feel ready!
WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR YOU TO GET READY FOR VACATION?
“Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.[d]4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.
6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. “
As the Vicarage has filled up one of the things that has become clear is how differently the various Lillies all think and practice this thing called life. The differences show up in big and little ways. For instance my son and his wife have taken over washing the dishes. I never considered that the three pockets on the edge of our strainer are for presorting the silverware into spoons, forks and knives. When I do the dishes the silver just falls into whatever pocket I happen to chuck it. Joe and Kristine just seemed to understand that the pockets were there to help with the organization.
MIND BLOWN…
My sister and I are headed out for vacation on Saturday to a Missionary retreat called Eden Ridge.
The kids are taking care of things when I go. My daughter Amanda has the incredible thought processes of a lead administrator. She called the whole Lillie/Franklin team together for a planning session last Monday night so that schedules and duties are all marked out before my departure.
It is so powerful to see this multiplicity of minds working in my family. It is also beginning in the church….AS WE DISCOVER OUR GIFTS WE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD.
Our church at Cornerstone is organized into what we call DLT groups. Each group has five purposes.
To study the Bible together
To pray together
To break bread together
To build Authentic Transparent Vulnerable relationship together
To use these methods to outreach our community
I have just started a new DLT group. It is composed mostly of octogenarians in the church. We call ourselves “The Saints of Fire and Valor.” Our outreach is to the Senior Center in our town. We are joining in with another group, “The Warriors of Fire”.
Here are some photos from our first outreach as a group.
I WISH I COULD READ THE MINDS BEHIND THESE EXPRESSIONS.
My grandson, Sevy, is a climber. He climbs stairs with no gates. He climbs gates blocking stairs. He climbs chairs and stands up on them if unattended. He has knocked more than one chair down on top of himself.
My grandson, Sevy, is a runner. He runs everywhere he goes even when he has nowhere to go.
There is no stopping this young man. I think is part mountain goat!
Anyway. because he is a runner and a climber he is often falling down and banging himself on things.
This morning he was running in the kitchen and fell down.
This is actually Sevy sleeping not falling down, but it serves the purpose of illustration.
He started to cry.
My sister said, “Shake it off!”
He did.
I thought how from the very beginning of life we are trying things and falling down in them and having to learn to “shake it off”.
Shaking it off may be one of the most important lessons we learn in life.
Notes From the Vicarage 