10/8/2019
On Saturday, I mentioned going to be in North Carolina at the Charity Bible Church, with Bro. Brian Sipes and his group of precious saints. More about that further down, but now I want to tell you about my journey to get there.
When I put the destination into my map-app, it gave me two routes from which to choose. One was how I’ve always gone, through Knoxville, then East on I-40 to Statesville, then North to where I stay overnight. But, to my surprise, shorter by about 45 minutes was from East on I-40, take I-81 all the way into Virginia (where it turns mostly East) to meet up with I-77, then South to my destination. 45 minutes faster? Didn’t seem possible. So, away I went. It’s true, once again the map-app proved smarter than me. And, it gave me more new things to see. (I’ve been on this route, but either in the Winter or after dark.)
It was a very enjoyable ride, even though I chose to take a “shortcut” off I-81 and go through some country towns, one of my favorite things to do. I had plenty of time, so I meandered up and over and down a mountain to go through Sparta, NC. Neat little mountain village of about 2,000 folks, plus all those who live on the sides of the mountain—probably hard to really know how many people live there. The country side was beautiful and easy to look at. One other side note to this detour: It was about 82-83 degrees when I left Bristol, VA and 30 miles later and up the mountain and it had dropped to 50. I’m driving along in shorts and a T-shirt, so I didn’t get out and walk the streets in Sparta.
On the down slope of that mountain, headed toward Elkin, NC, it warmed back up a bit, but a wonderfully cool evening was ahead. I had dinner and a great time of fellowship with Brian and June and their granddaughter, Brianna. Good food and good company makes an enjoyable evening, don’t you think?
Sunday morning offered more wonderful conversations with more interesting people. When I was ready to leave my room it was time for the lobby to have coffee ready, so I grabbed my computer and went to get some. I sat there, nodding “hello” to several people while reading stuff on the ‘net. Then, a woman said “g’morning” in a way that said to me, “we need to talk more, got time?” (If you don’t know that tone of voice, you’re not as gregarious as me.) So, soon she was telling me some of her life story and I was telling her some of mine. When we got to the Lord, she was willing to let me talk enough to preach the gospel of Christ to her. It was a good conversation for the sake of Christ, and an interesting one to remember. She has her professional singing career, some of it online and I gave her my teaching online info. Hope something good can come from it. Her husband, who didn’t come down for coffee, didn’t come up in this part of our conversation. I make no judgment that she was either a lost person or a saved person, but lean toward her having simply trusted Christ. She has had that de-emphasized over the years by a strange assortment of life’s interruptions , but still remembers the day and place. It’ll be an interesting expectation to wait for a next contact.
On to breakfast with a beautiful young family. Some of you Texas friends might remember George Barlow who came to Berean Bible Church in NB while he was enrolled at Texas State. He now has a wonderful family; lovely wife Jill and a delightful pair of youngsters—Jack and Charlotte, who are all great conversationalists. We had a very enjoyable hour before going to the Charity Bible Church for two more hours of great fellowship.
The group was pretty good sized at the church building and though I wouldn’t care to evaluate my own messages, no one threw anything at me or booed or hissed! Good to see some of the older friends and some young families I don’t believe I had met before. I thank the Lord for the opportunity to be there with the saints and for the fellowship, although it would be better if Bro. Sipes being ill was not the reason for me going.
When I left the church, I decided to go home by the same “northern” route as I had come. This time, though, I didn’t cut across the mountain through Sparta, rather I stayed on the I-77 to I-81route. (Some beautiful mountain passages I had not seen before which, of course, makes me want to go back.) I stopped in Abingdon, VA, for a bite to eat. That’s a neat story.
On my way Saturday, I stopped at the Virginia welcome station on I-81, went into the welcome area where they give away information (I’ve always picked up the old style road maps at these places.) Over in a corner was a young man with a display of Olive Oil with various flavors. I walked over and was looking at it all and he said, “Let me give you a bit of ice cream with olive oil—gonna make it taste like a dreamsicle!” Oh, I was surprised and he said, “It really does” and handed it to me. And it did!! He had several flavors or combinations of flavors to choose from. We talked awhile, he gave me information about his olive oil and where his business was located. It was in Abingdon! The conversation then turned to the city which is his home. He said they had won some sort of recognition last year as having the highest quality and number of restaurants per capita, or something like that. And, although only 7,000 people live in Abingdon, the restaurants have made to a “destination city” for visitors (they get far more than their “share” of tourism. They are not on a lake, nor near a park, nor do they have entertainment venues or state historical sites. Yet the people go there in great numbers for the food choices, it seems.)
So, on my way home Sunday, I stopped in Abingdon for lunch. I saw several of the notable restaurants, most open on Sunday afternoon, and could see why the draw: they were pretty well done in decor, looked inviting and the one I finally chose was very clean and efficient. My choice was a family owned pizza and Italian food spot which has been open for 54 years. The pizza I had was exceptional, not the same old cardboard with sauce and cheese with toppings from a can. I asked the waitress about the town and its restaurants and she said Thursday through Sundays were always busy in all the restaurants she’d been to in her (young) life. The rest of the week, she said the breakfast/lunch restaurants were busy. I asked her if she was part of the family who owned it and she said, “I wish!”
Another in the long list of unique places we have found to eat—you really don’t have to settle for the same ol’ hamburger. And, we have more reasons to stop in Abingdon, VA when we go that direction.
Remember the Gatlin Brothers? One of their hits was the SIMH this morning. “Love is Just a Game—that everybody plays. Winners keep on laughing, losers cry, Deal Again” Larry wrote many songs and many artists have recorded many of them. He wrote this one in 1977, in the time when several of his songs were on the chart. This is one of my favorites of his.
Thanks for reading, the Elder.
the Elder's Blog 