OTHER PHILL BLOGS

May 18, 2006

GOOD TIMES

My wife Cissy and I have some good times. I mean really good times. Yes, there are everyday delights and serendipity moments. But the really special and good times seem to be planned and anticipated vacations during the less than four years we have known each other.

One of the first trips we made was a week in Oregon while we visited her brother and his family. We traveled down the coast, then over to Crater Lake and up to Mount Hood. I was constantly awed by the awesome sights, gracious hospitality everywhere, and delicious food.

We spent a week on the North Carolina coast with my brother and sister and their families. At the end of the week my sister gave Cissy a gift that certified her as approved and accepted to become a member of our family.

A mission trip to Nicaragua was an incredible and joyful experience. A highlight was watching Cissy teach childrens’ Bible school without knowing a word of Spanish. She did marvelously well adjusting on her first mission trip to all the demands to be flexible.

The biggest surprise for Cissy in Nicaragua was when we spent a day at the beach. Sitting on a rock at sunset I asked her to marry me. While the rest of the mission team watched from a distance, they finally got the word that Cissy said YES!

On our wedding weekend in the North Georgia mountains, Cissy and I rented a large home on the lake where we hosted all of our children, grandchildren, and my brother and sister and their spouses. Can you imagine spending your wedding night with all your family? They reciprocated by serenading us below our window.

There have been multiple other beach trips to destinations like Hilton Head, Amelia Island, and Costa Rica. One week on the Florida Gulf coast involved our children with spouses and all their children. We are going to repeat that trip next month.

Last year a week in the Swiss Alps was a delightful adventure. We learned how to ride a bobsled and luge … and survive. Next year we anticipate taking a cruise and land adventure to Alaska. ,



I read in the Bible great heroes of the faith had adventures and experiences far greater than mine. The writer of Hebrews sums up their lives:

“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.”

I have so many other places on this earth I want to visit. But I am heaven bound, and realize I am a pilgrim passing through this world on my way to my eternal home.

Make sure you have your ticket so you can get on board and go with me!

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