This post is a little late, but I wanted to do it anyway. If you remember from here, I was involved in a golf tournament to raise money for a cause that weighs heavy on my heart. A couple of friends/blog readers made donations that I greatly, greatly appreciated. Mrs. Blumberg donated hotel stays during some prime!!!! weekends, and Mrs. Kendall donated this painting:
I cried when I saw it. It’s named Jenny’s Light, and it represents the lives that are being effected by her witness.
There are a lot of reasons I love where I grew up. While leaving Birmingham was/is a heartache, there are joys I find here that are different. I love our Birmingham “mountains,” and restaurants, and shopping, and friends…But there is something about the atmosphere three hours south that feels like home. I love to see a horse trailer being pulled by a muddy truck, the familiar streets I’ve watched whizz past me as long as I can remember, the people who know more about my past than I do that I bump into in the grocery store. And while the absence of really good restaurants is grievous :), a weekend like the one I just spent makes the loss seem petty:
As you wind back through the fields of Southern Cattle Company there is a lot of beauty to take in
BUT, in the last pasture there is a hidden treasure. It’s one of the few places I’ve been to that stirs an awe within me that I can only describe as–magical.
I guess it’s the shock of the unexpected. The cypress trees that you expect to be growing out of murky water, are towering over a pristine blue oasis.
And if you look closely you can see that there are caves–stretching almost a mile deep in that cold water. It’s eery and beautiful, and when encountered alone, could inspire a man to write poetry he didn’t even know he could write.
When encountered with family,
It can inspire a whole lot of fun 🙂
As we drove home I said, “Do you feel like we just experienced the kind of joy God created us for?” Family, food, and glorious creation…
and rest 🙂
I just re-read my last blog and laughed at my naive enthusiasm. I thought we were going to be completely moved out by Sunday….I underestimated the clutter. Jeremiah and the girls carried not one but TWO U-haul loads and three cars full of stuff down to Dothan Saturday, but I remained and de-cluttered, cleaned and loaded ANOTHER U-haul size trailer full of crap yesterday. I have, as always, had lots of help. Caroline and Ashley helped me tirelessly and did a lot of jobs that nobody would ever want to do (especially Jeremiah and me who actually made the mess :)). Does it take anybody else a solid month to move out of their house? It was grueling, but by 2:30 yesterday afternoon, we were officially O.U.T. Somebody strike up the band and give me a top hat and baton. I’m ready to dance down main street!
I feel like your walls have absorbed our beginning:
And enjoy each other in our hidden tree-house.
