Our entry on our trip to Minneapolis was brief... this was due to a a slight technical difficulty which meant I couldn’t complete it... if I had, what I would have said is this:
At the service at Bethlehem a series of Church picnics were announced. The aim of these is to bring a large church family into closer fellowship. Sam and I saw a slightly different possibility- the possibility of free lunch and some good Christian fellowship. Of course, the fellowship matter more than the food (?) So, we took directions and ended up in a park with a number of families, many of whom were just leaving to put their kids to bed- yet a few people remained and we got chatting. They were really excited to have two road trippers on board.
Anyway, there turned out to be a few signs of providence in the fact we went to that picnic. For a start, Sam had commented about how he knew only 3 people who had ever been to visit that church - they’d been to a kids work conference. It turned out that one of the people at the picnic had been involved in running this conference and knew them. The next providential link is why I am writing this post now and not then...
One of the guys there, Eric, said he had an aunt who lived in Buffalo WY which was very much on our route and very much a place we could stop given the mileage etc. So... he took my number and arranged for her to put us up for the night.
So, Tuesday evening... after we’d driven for a while and seen the likes of Mount Rushmore, the Devils Tower (famous from such films as ‘close encounters’) and a few other sights... we spent the night at Eric’s Aunt Linda’s. Not only that but she prepared a very tasty breakfast for us. Since we had not showered for a couple of days this was a real treat- a real bed, a real shower, real food... ahhhh!
It is also an awesome illustration of the kind of hospitality Jesus called for when he said, ‘whatever you do for the least of these my brothers you did for me.’ i.e. the hospitality extended to us simply because of our common allegiance to Christ (we are his brothers) is kindness done for Christ himself.
It was also great to chat with a real Westerner about what life and the church scene is like over there.
Wyoming is a beautiful state, though largely uninhabited (400,000ish I think). Tomorrow hold more of its delights... Yellowstone National Park.
At the service at Bethlehem a series of Church picnics were announced. The aim of these is to bring a large church family into closer fellowship. Sam and I saw a slightly different possibility- the possibility of free lunch and some good Christian fellowship. Of course, the fellowship matter more than the food (?) So, we took directions and ended up in a park with a number of families, many of whom were just leaving to put their kids to bed- yet a few people remained and we got chatting. They were really excited to have two road trippers on board.
Anyway, there turned out to be a few signs of providence in the fact we went to that picnic. For a start, Sam had commented about how he knew only 3 people who had ever been to visit that church - they’d been to a kids work conference. It turned out that one of the people at the picnic had been involved in running this conference and knew them. The next providential link is why I am writing this post now and not then...
One of the guys there, Eric, said he had an aunt who lived in Buffalo WY which was very much on our route and very much a place we could stop given the mileage etc. So... he took my number and arranged for her to put us up for the night.
So, Tuesday evening... after we’d driven for a while and seen the likes of Mount Rushmore, the Devils Tower (famous from such films as ‘close encounters’) and a few other sights... we spent the night at Eric’s Aunt Linda’s. Not only that but she prepared a very tasty breakfast for us. Since we had not showered for a couple of days this was a real treat- a real bed, a real shower, real food... ahhhh!
It is also an awesome illustration of the kind of hospitality Jesus called for when he said, ‘whatever you do for the least of these my brothers you did for me.’ i.e. the hospitality extended to us simply because of our common allegiance to Christ (we are his brothers) is kindness done for Christ himself.
It was also great to chat with a real Westerner about what life and the church scene is like over there.
Wyoming is a beautiful state, though largely uninhabited (400,000ish I think). Tomorrow hold more of its delights... Yellowstone National Park.
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