The view out my window this morning was nothing but thick fog.  Even after getting breakfast and spending the morning and lunch time talking with people about the prayer-focused resources I had available, the fog remained when I returned to my room for an extended afternoon break.  As I contemplated what my afternoon free time would look like, I began to wonder if the road over the mountains between Gatlinburg, Tennessee and Cherokee, North Carolina would rise above the fog.  The adventurer in me wanted to get out and hike and the photographer in me wanted to take pictures from above the fog.  Fortunately, the solution for both of those was to get out and drive the Newfound Gap road looking for adventure and photo opportunities.  As it turned out, I found both. 🙂

The drive up the mountainside was foggy until just before the Newfound Gap overlook as the road crested the mountain.  As I left the fog behind, it was still spread out like a blanket over the area I had just left.  The photo opportunities I anticipated were also spread out in the valley below.  As I stood at the dividing line between Tennessee and North Carolina, the contrast was remarkable.  Fog blanketed the valleys and low-lying areas on the Tennessee side of the mountain while it was completely clear on the North Carolina side.  With clear skies ahead, I headed toward a series of waterfalls and hikes that I now knew would be clearly visible with no fog on their side of the mountain.  

As I enjoyed the beautiful afternoon, I thought about the verse in Proverbs that talks about the sluggard saying he is not going out because there is a lion in the street.  I’ve always heard that it was unlikely that there was actually a lion but that since it was a possibility it simply became an excuse not to do what needed done.  When I worked on a roofing crew, there were times we were rained off of a job, but never a time we were “forecasted” off of a job.  Sometimes we talk ourselves out of doing the things God wants us to do because we are not willing to move forward in faith by simply taking the next step.  The prospects don’t look that promising.  The “what ifs” tend to paralyze us and we never end up knowing if the should have been actually could have been.  It would have been easy today for me to look at the fog and decide it wasn’t good hiking weather and it would be impossible to take pictures that would turn out at all.  What if I get to the top of the mountain and it is just as foggy there as where I started from?  I overcame the “what ifs” and decided I would never know until I got out and tried it.  The result was even better than I had hoped for but the truth is even if the fog had continued up one side of the mountain and all the way down the other, it would have been a good trip to enjoy the goodness of God’s creation.  

As I wrapped up my sightseeing on the North Carolina side of the mountain it was looking possible that I would reach the peak just as the sun was setting.  I hadn’t even thought about trying to make that happen and it was looking as if God was wanting to give me an extra blessing beyond all the goodness He had already shared today.  As it turned out, I was a little late getting to the peak for the best photos but I had incredible views of the sun setting down the back side of the mountain — there just weren’t any pull-offs with clearings to the west where I could get pictures of anything but trees with a sunset behind them.  Even so, there was still some color in the sky when I reached the top so I managed a few pictures of a fading sunset.

As I prepared to set up my display at the conference, I had a few hours to spare so I headed back to the park.  Once again I was greeted by a large sign stating that all park roads were closed.  The road was open to the visitors center, so I stopped in to see a map and decide if I could walk the road to a nearby trailhead.  The gentleman at the desk told me that Cades Cove was open so I told him I had been there yesterday and was looking for something at this end of the park that was shorter than the 10 miles I hiked yesterday.  He then began to show me some options, including the trail to Laurel Falls.  I was slightly confused because the options he was showing me were all along Little River Road, which I thought was closed — it had been yesterday.  As I asked about it, he said it that road was open all the way from Gatlinburg to Townsend.  I was thankful but I guess their definition of all park roads is somewhat different than mine. 🙂

The Laurel Falls trail is the one I was hoping to take, so a short drive from the visitors center found me with boots laced up and ready to hike.  At the beginning, and all along the trail, were various warnings about the dangers of hiking, of this particular trail, and of wildlife.  I really didn’t pay much attention to them because I had hiked this trail before and my intent was to hike it again.  As I hiked, I began to think about how often we tend to ignore the warnings found in God’s Word.  We live life as we wish, convinced nothing can happen to us because the consequences of God’s warnings haven’t been experienced before.  When we read God’s Word, instead of obedience our response is often similar to that of Satan in the garden — “Did God really say?”.  We spend so much time explaining away the warnings that we miss the entire point of God trying to protect us.  

After the round trip hike to the falls and back, I drove the length of Little River Road to enjoy the beauty of the park and take a few more pictures.  When I returned back to the Gatlinburg area, it was time for lunch so I stopped at Subway and then went to a small park next to my hotel to enjoy the sights and sounds of the creek running along the edge of the park.  I found a large rock in the middle of the creek and sat on it for a while, relaxing and spending time with God in the midst of this peaceful place.  The rest of the day was spent at the conference getting set up and then talking with people about the prayer ministry and the resources God has allowed me to make available.  It was fun sharing the story of my books writing and giving God all of the credit for both giving me the gifting in my life and giving me the opportunity to use it.

“This is a test.  This is only a test.  In the unlikely event of an actual emergency . . . ”  One of the benefits of viewing the year as a collection of 365 blank pages that are written on by each day of my life is it helps me to see recurring themes and how God is continually preparing me.  I remember when I taught 5th grade at MCS, the students would constantly be asking, “Will this be on the test?”.  The unspoken reasoning was that if it wasn’t going to be on the test then they wouldn’t pay attention.  Sometimes I think we live life that way.  We’re not convinced the day to day stuff will be on the test, so we don’t pay attention to what God is trying to do in our life.  But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Today was a travel day as I prepare to represent Impact Prayer Ministry at a camp leader’s conference.  There was great potential for it to be a messy travel day as yesterday and last night a major winter storm rolled across the path I would be taking.  The first half of the trip was clear roads and sky and I was thankful for such a smooth start.  My GPS unit receives traffic information and eventually it alerted me to the fact that there was a 108 minute delay 60 miles ahead of me on my route.  It offered me a new route that only had a 86 minute delay. 🙂  The new route would depart my current route just before the delay so I had a good amount of time to decide.  About 30 miles out, it adjusted the original delay to only being 35 minutes so I decided to stop and top off the truck’s fuel tank and got me an over-sized Ale-8 fountain drink so I would be prepared for whatever upcoming delay there would be.  As I continued, the delay was down to 16 minutes and by the time I went through the delay areas the delay no longer existed.  Lesson number one of the day:  You often have no control over delays on your journey.  Your job is to just be faithful in continuing your journey in order to reach your destination.

I arrived at the hotel and put my things in the room before heading out to take some photos and get something to eat.  On the way out of the hotel, I went down the hall to see where the pool was and what it looked like.  Surprise!  The sign on the door said it was closed for renovations and inside the room was a very empty pool.  My first thought was to complain all the way up whatever chain of command I could find when I returned to the room later.  Then I ended up taking a drive through some of the snow-covered foothills where I was able to take in some of the incredible beauty of God’s creation.  The more I viewed the handiwork of God, the less concerned I was about a man-made pool in a hotel building.  Lesson number two of the day:  Be careful not to miss the beauty of the journey by becoming distracted with things that aren’t primary to the journey.

After a scenic evening drive that ended up being longer than I had planned, it was time to get something to eat.  I decided I would head up the road to Chik-Fil-A where I knew there was a Wal-Mart right behind it so could pick up a few supplies.  As I reached the intersection, I first thought my memory hadn’t served me well because while I saw the Wal-Mart sign, there didn’t appear to be a Chik-Fil-A sign.  After a closer look, the restaurant was there but all of the outside lighting was off and there were only a few lights on inside and there were just a couple cars visible on the property on a Saturday evening.  It was obviously closed for some reason and I was disappointed.  Now I had to rethink what I was hungry for.  A quick trip through Wal-Mart found some turkey slices, BBQ  Fritos, microwave popcorn, chocolate, and bottled water so I had all the makings of a nutritious meal I could have back in my room. 🙂  Lesson three of the day:  You won’t always get exactly what you may have your heart set on but keep your eyes open for viable options.

It’s funny, as I was driving today I thought to myself that today’s written page would probably be much shorter than most of them so far because I hadn’t really done much but drive.  Turns out it is probably one of the longer ones. 🙂  I pray that my face stays  turned toward God so I don’t miss the lessons He gives.  Fortunately, the test that matters the most is all about God’s faithfulness to His Word and my relationship with His Son.

“I’m satisfied with, just a cottage below.”  . . . or a little cabin on the hillside. 🙂

After another good night’s sleep, I headed to work early to start a day filled with great variety.  My daughter has been having seizures and needing extra sleep, so after an early morning cleaning and building prep I headed home to be with her while my wife went to work.  While Susan slept, I finished writing the next 31-day devotional I am working on.  This one is about choosing the words we use each day.  Later in the day I printed out the initial manuscript so it is ready for my proofreader/editor.  I also printed a copy to take with me to the Christian Camp Leaders’ Conference so those in attendance can browse through it and see how it could be used in their camp setting.

Next on the agenda was taking Susan in to work then heading downtown for the St Joseph County Right to Life March for Life.  I had the privilege of offering the closing prayer at the rally prior to the walk downtown to the Federal Courthouse.  I shared one of the poems God had given me last year and prayed for the gathering and the need for everyone to value all life.  It seemed to be a very good turnout for noontime on a Friday and the weather was as cooperative as you could expect in mid-January.  My prayer is that this community was able to see that there are people willing to stand up, and speak up, for those who can’t speak for themselves.  Not only the community in general, but that those who value life would see that they are not alone.

It is interesting how quiet people can be about issues that matter when they are not sure how others feel.  They say that there is strength in numbers and I believe that is true in both positive and negative ways — depending on which side can draw the most people.  When you feel you are all alone, many people will allow fear to keep them from speaking up.  As Christians, God calls us to be bold in speaking of the hope we have in Christ.

After the rally and march downtown, I had lunch with a friend then headed back to work where I finished the set-up for the book I’m working on then began doing my end of the week cleaning of the building.  As I cleaned the building from one end to the other, my wife and daughter came down to help so I could get finished earlier in the evening.  Once the building was ready for the weekend, it was time to start loading up books and display material for the CCL conference.  As I prepped and packed, I checked in on the current road conditions through Kentucky and Tennessee and prayed that they are cleared up considerably by tomorrow afternoon.

I finally felt like I got a good night’s sleep after having several nights in a row that I would wake up throughout the night with a return of some anxiety/panic attacks.  It was also a clear night, so no snow to deal with at work leaving me with time to pay extra attention to the floors which needed it after several snowy days.  After getting the building ready for the day, I turned my attention to getting some more writing done for my next 31-day devotional journal.  I had completed the initial writing for 16 of the days earlier and now it was time to spend time with God in prayer to refocus on the second half of the book.  

As I worked, a variety of birds were playing outside my office window.  At one point, I noticed some movement further out in the woods and as I looked more closely, saw there were several deer bedded down within view of my office.  It was a beautiful thing to know they were comfortable making themselves at home that near the building.  The rest of the work day was a mix of writing, preparation for an upcoming conference, ministry conversations, and a meeting to evaluate possibilities for additional outside lighting.  By the time I left the office, I had completed the devotional writing and questions all the way through day 28 in the new book so just a little further to go before I’m able to send it to my proofreader/editor.  

The title of the book I am working on is “Watch Your Mouth: Choosing Words Which Honor Christ”.  As I spent time with God writing today, I was reminded of how important it is to choose words wisely.  Our words have great power to heal or to hurt.  In an era when so many people believe it is okay to say whatever they want — after all, it is a constitutional right — the reminder to watch your mouth seems to be a timely topic.  The writing process has been a great reminder for me and I pray that the finished product will be used to help others realize the need to reign in their tongue.  I pray that it brings glory to God and accomplishes the purposes for which He has designed for it.

I wrapped up the day by taking my family to meet my mom and dad for dinner.  It was good to catch up with them and hear about the enjoyable time they had as they spent the first two weeks of the year in Florida.  As we arrived home, the nearly full moon was shining brightly in the crisp cold air.  Like the beauty of the cardinals and deer, I have yet to get tired of photographing the beauty of the moon.

Another snowy night meant another early morning start to the work day.  As I cleared the walks, it was as if I was working in a snow globe.  The snowfall was such fine snowflake crystals that they sparkled in the light as they fell.  As I worked my way down the sidewalks and around the building, the entire parking lot was a sparkling beauty under the lights.  After the first pass on the walks I did the inside cleaning then went back out for a final pass before the students began arriving for the day.  Then it was time to work inside setting up the replacement office computer and installing the necessary software.

With the extreme cold moderating a bit, the cardinals began playing outside my office window even before daybreak.  They were joined throughout the day by various songbirds, woodpeckers, and squirrels.  The squirrels have discovered the bird feeders that were put out by one of the teachers and they go to great extremes to help themselves to free food.  As I watched the squirrels, I began to think of all the effort we put into getting something for free because it appears to be easier than working for it.  The berries and food sources that had been supplying the birds and squirrels are still obvious along the tree line but there seems to be something alluring about these hanging bird feeders.

In recent weeks we have watched people buy into a lottery system with hopes of winning a record payout amount.  For some, it’s a game.  For others, money they didn’t have was spent on a chance to have an easier life without having to work for it.  I believe that God wants us to be responsible with every resource that He allows into our hands.  God is not only our creator, He is the creator of work.  God understands that when we do whatever work that is before us as if doing it directly for Him, we find satisfaction and fulfillment in accomplishing a noble task.  Often the problem, I know it has been for me at times, is in seeing some of the work tasks we are faced with as having anything to do with God.  We tend to forget that the way we work, the way we treat one another — even the “least” of our brethren — is the way that we treat Jesus.

I pray that you and I would seek out the good works God created in advance for us to do rather than being drawn in to the misguided allure of easy money and get rich quick schemes.  Shoveling snow is not a glamorous task, but when done for the glory of God it is much easier to see His beauty that sparkles like diamonds.