THE day, this day, has finally arrived. The day on which we begin our illustrious adventure.
Pops flew in several days before The Adventure began and we spent several days "doing" DC. We went to the top of the Washington Monument, 500+ in the air, with a spectacular 360 degree view of the city, visited an array of monuments and museums and toured him around the Columbia Heights neighborhood where I have lived for the past year. I showed dad some of the local hotspots like Bens' Chili Bowl and had dinner with a bunch of my friends before we departed west via the south.
Our departure day began off key, you might say, as both of us hardly slept the night before due to my housemates walking down the creeky old stairs of our 1920's rowhouse about every couple of hours to go out for a smoke. Once things died down (about 4am) dad's air mattress went AWOL and was introduced to the hardwood floors.
Needless to say, when morning finally arrived, we were both itching to get going. And get going we did. First stop; Prison Fellowship. Our family has been a long-time supporter of PFM and since we were this close (they are based just outside of DC) we might as well drop in and say "hi". The nice ladies there gave us a tour of the impressive facilities and showed us Chuck Colson's office (which was suprisingly small and simple; but it did have one of CS Lewis's pipes on display).
After being supplied with pop and tea by the gracious hosts, we hopped in the Honda Accord we (Colin for the most part) just bought (another story for another time) and "hit the road, Jack". 13 hours of driving here we come. We passed through rain in Virginia, snow in North Carolina, skirted across South Carolina and moved into Georgia as we made for our sweet pillows in Atlanta. (Where for art thou O beautiful bed?)
We pulled into Atlanta (Marietta to be specific) about 11:30pm and proceeded to crash (onto our pillows, not the car). Tomorrow we'd do some sight seeing and push to New Orleans, but for now the combination of not sitting in the car and instead lying in a bed are golden.
Then on to New Orleans and the French Quarter. To be continued.
Pops flew in several days before The Adventure began and we spent several days "doing" DC. We went to the top of the Washington Monument, 500+ in the air, with a spectacular 360 degree view of the city, visited an array of monuments and museums and toured him around the Columbia Heights neighborhood where I have lived for the past year. I showed dad some of the local hotspots like Bens' Chili Bowl and had dinner with a bunch of my friends before we departed west via the south.
Our departure day began off key, you might say, as both of us hardly slept the night before due to my housemates walking down the creeky old stairs of our 1920's rowhouse about every couple of hours to go out for a smoke. Once things died down (about 4am) dad's air mattress went AWOL and was introduced to the hardwood floors.
Needless to say, when morning finally arrived, we were both itching to get going. And get going we did. First stop; Prison Fellowship. Our family has been a long-time supporter of PFM and since we were this close (they are based just outside of DC) we might as well drop in and say "hi". The nice ladies there gave us a tour of the impressive facilities and showed us Chuck Colson's office (which was suprisingly small and simple; but it did have one of CS Lewis's pipes on display).
After being supplied with pop and tea by the gracious hosts, we hopped in the Honda Accord we (Colin for the most part) just bought (another story for another time) and "hit the road, Jack". 13 hours of driving here we come. We passed through rain in Virginia, snow in North Carolina, skirted across South Carolina and moved into Georgia as we made for our sweet pillows in Atlanta. (Where for art thou O beautiful bed?)We pulled into Atlanta (Marietta to be specific) about 11:30pm and proceeded to crash (onto our pillows, not the car). Tomorrow we'd do some sight seeing and push to New Orleans, but for now the combination of not sitting in the car and instead lying in a bed are golden.
Then on to New Orleans and the French Quarter. To be continued.
As I think over this trip of a life time...a trip with father and son, I am very blessed and happy about this. The theme of the trip was to take a look at Americana...things that contribute to making America what it is...the pomp and power of WaDC, civil war battle fields near Atlanta, the deginerating culture of New Orleans, the monument to slavery--Oak Alley Plantation, civi rights battle field in Jackson Miss, economic juggernaut of Houston, the memorial of bravery at the Alamo, the beauty of Carlsbad Caverns, the shock of seeing El Paso (700k) and Juarez (2.3m) knowing that drug traffic is huge and hard to contain in this sprawling sea of humanity. then to Tucson, San Diego and the missions of the early Spanish.. All belonging to Americana... But also to see what is the kingdom of God doing in the midst of this country that one day will fade away.
ReplyDeleteWaDC: to worship with Colin at a very alive Presbyterian church that uses a Baptist church building for service.
Prison Fellowship: raised in Walla Walla, prison work and what Chuck Colson has done for 30 years in bringing the light into the darkness is absolutely Godly.
John Perkins: who has lived the life of racial reconciliation...that begins in the heart. To spend hours listening to a legend, who has done things most of us have never considered or imagined.
Brian & Kelly in Houston: to live and work with them doing an out reach to East Side Houston and seeing the transforming power of God's love working in a hard pressed, gang dominated area and see it become set free and listen to the miracles going on .....at street level.
Bill & Julie in Tucson: who have been faithfully translating the bible into native tongues from Mohawk to Mongolian, Apache to South American tribes enduring live and special hardships for 30 years.
Fuller Seminary in Pasedena: a school training leaders for the Kingdom for service all over the world...and then to get a surprise once we are home..... More of the Kingdom of God at work... which is internal.
Rocco & Tina at Wiemer Institute: believing that God wants us to be healthy so we can better serve Him and enjoy the life He has give us..
Molly Gowan at Bethel School in Redding: learning that God's Spirit can guide us in special ways on a daily basis.... that God is very alive, very well and working amongst us...
These are just some of the glimpses of the Kingdom of God working inside this earthly kingdom.
As in the days of Babylon, God was at work. His kingdom never ends....
Colin and I hope you enjoy traveling with us... We thank God for this great and beautiful country; but greater still is our appreciation of the Kingdom of God at work amongst us. Blessed be His name.