God and government

Last month a friend of mine made a comment on his Facebook page that went like this....."Chaplain Dan Hall is wondering why the government is so important to God."  This sparked a very lively discussion on God and government.  Now you have to understand that Dan and I are on very opposite sides of the fence when it comes to several issues in today's society.  Speaking for myself, I know that Dan's opinions come from his deep faith and much prayer.  Dan also knows that my opinions have come from my faith and much prayer, probably even more prayer since I tend to have beliefs that fly in the face of much of the popular Christian beliefs.  But we both love and worship the same God.  As a matter of fact, we grew up in the same church.  Okay, so why am I talking about this here, where I've pretty much been journaling my vacation?  It's because this has to do with my vacation.  We spent much of last week in Washington D.C.  with side trips to Gettysburg, PA and Arlingtion National Cemetary.  This area is rich in our national history and heritage.  Every where we visited we saw quotes of different leaders, Lincoln, FDR, JFK, RFK and I saw God and faith mentioned in many of the quotes.  This country has been a world leader for many years, we have faced possible division and survived a civil war.  Through all of these times we have had presidents and leaders who took time to pray before acting.  We are a country of diverse faiths and values, and we have elected leaders who are very different from each other, yet each leader in times of trouble, went to God and asked for help.  Most likely, this was done privately in a quiet spot as Jesus taught in Matthew 6:6 - But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.  This very action brings God into government.  We are blessed to live in a free country where we can worship as we choose.  My faith in God and in this country was bettered because of our trip to D.C.  God is good, all the time.

On the road to D.C., or how I rand out of gas on the PA turnpike!

So here I sit, just miles from our nation's capitol.  Cleveland is behind us and league bowling is over until next September.  The national tournament was fun.  We have made so many friends around the country through blind bowling.  It's always great to see them and catch up on each other's lives.  As far as the bowling goes, well Gar and I both showed up, bowled and left, leaving the prize money to others far more deserving than us!  Our trip to D.C. did have one exciting moment in Pennsylvania!  We were on the PA turnpike when I noticed that my gas gauge was getting low.  Soon, the low fuel lite came on.  I didn't panic immediately, thinking that a service plaza would come up shortly.  Well, one did, on the other side of the turnpike, the one on our side was closed and there was not another  one for 35 miles.  So, we drove and drove, looking for an exit, anything.  There was nothing.  Lo and behold, I ran out of gas for the first time in my many years of driving.  Thank God for AAA.  We had run out of gas 5 miles before the nearest exit.  Am I a huge fan of the PA turnpike, no!!  But we got gas, got off at the next exit, filled the tank, found a campground and settled down for the night.  Up bright and early the next day and off for Cherryhill Park Campground, our destination.  Got here, set up camp and we're ready to go see D.C. today.  I'm very excited.  Tomorrow Annie & Kari join up with us, then it's off to Gettysburg and more D.C.

God is good, all the time!

I was reminded on this trip how God is always in control.  We camped for five days in Berea, KY.  While we were there we planned our next leg of the trip to West Virginia.  We had looked on the internet and thought that a state forest near Charleston looked like a decent day's drive and a beautiful park.  So, here's where God comes in.  Saturday night I woke up with a very, very stiff neck.  You know the kind, where you can't turn your head and you have the mother of all headaches.  Not cool when you've got about five hours of driving ahead of you.  Well, it took a little longer than usual to take down camp because I couldn't do a lot.  As we were driving along, Gar commented that we would have to find a pull through site because there was no way that I was going to be able to back in a camper.  As usual, he was right.  When we stopped at a WV welcome center, we looked at information and saw that there were no pull through sites at the state forest, so we decided to stay at a KOA near Huntington, WV.  It was a very nice campground, clean, the  best bathrooms we've ever seen at any campground, and that's saying a lot!!  On Monday, we drove over to the state forest to look around.  The roads into the campground were very windy and narrow.  I wouldn't have wanted to drive down there with my camper even if I didn't have a stiff neck!!  The next morning we discovered just how good God is.  Our tires on the camper were very bad and very bald!!  I don't think they would have held up driving through the state forest, and getting someone there to change them would have been next to impossible because of cell phone coverage.  This morning, as Gar was taking down the camper, our awning came off.  Another situation that would have been difficult to deal with in the state forest.  The owners of the KOA were so helpful through all of this, and Gar is a great tire changer, even when the camper is set up!!  As I was reflecting on all of this today, I totally saw God's hand in it, taking care of us, as God promises to do.  If I hadn't had the awful stiff neck we would have been in the state forest with problems that would have been a lot bigger than they were at the KOA.  Not only that, but even those problems were little bumps along the way, nothing big enough to even come close to ruining a vacation.  Thank you God!!

Oh Kentucky!

So here I sit in Kentucky at our campground, Oh Kentucky, doing laundry.  Tomorrow we set off for West Virginia.  Kentucky was awesome and incredible.  Got to meet my friend Maya, face to face.  We've been Internet buds for many years.  It was so cool, no awkwardness, just a meeting of friends.  We dined together, kayaked together and talked, talked, talked.  I'm so glad that we came her and got to meet Maya.  The kayaking was peaceful and serene, and I really liked it.  I was honored that Maya shared this with me, as it's her serenity and very important to her.  Today Gar and I went and toured the Wild Turkey distillery.  I now know more about Kentucky Bourbon than I ever had before.  Of course, Gar had to get a bottle for some sipping.  I'm waiting for him to take a sip and say "smooooooth".  We drove around Lexington and had lunch there.  A beautiful city.  Probably the only draw back is that amount of rain and wind that we've had, but hey, even that hasn't been too bad, and I did get to kayak yesterday, the rain held off till afternoon.  

Of course, it wouldn't be a true vacation log if I didn't mention our first night of vacation.  That was very cool too.  We stayed in Peoria, IL at our friends, Sue and Keith's new house.  They moved to Peoria about a year ago, so it was fun to see their new house.  We are blessed with such great friends, and so far this trip has been all about friends, and that has been great.  More later!

The boogie man under my bed

So, after two days of driving on my vacation, I've had several random thoughts.  Of course, some of those thoughts center on my recent experiences with very early stage breast cancer.  I made a realization about my reaction to this that I want to share.  I think that every girl grows up a fear and awareness of breast cancer, how can you not, especially in this day and age.  In my case, the boogie man lived very close to me.  I can't remember a day that I didn't know that both of my grandmothers died of breast cancer.  As a child, my biggest ache was that I didn't have a grandmother.  I heard from relatives how much either of my grandmothers would have loved to have a granddaughter like me or my sister.   As I moved through my life, friends and acquaintences were diagnosed with cancer.  Some unfortunately died, others have fought and gone into remission.  So, boom, after several rounds of diagnostic tools, they discovered my cancer, thankfully after it left my body.  I get to spend six weeks of radiation, then hopefully, all will be well.  So, why am I writing this? Couple of reasons.  First I want to say that the minute I named that particular boogie man, I was able to turn it over to God, and let God worry about it.  I know that God was there with the early diagnosis.  I also know that God loves me, and my future is in God's very capable hands.  Secondly, is a reminder that diagnostics are huge in this disease.  Since I have been diagnosed, I have learned of many people who found the cancer early, as I did, treated it, and are doing fine today.  Who knows, if those diagnostics and over all awareness of breast cancer had been available sixty years ago, maybe I would have known my grandmothers.  Thank you God for the tools of diagnosis.  Ok, so now I have these thoughts named and verbalized, so let's have a great time on vacation!!

New Beginnings

Well, the day has finally come and gone, and we have a new president, yay.  I've never made any secret of my political leanings, nor will I apologize for them.  What I do want to do is say how happy I am with our new president, Barack Obama.  Many years ago, when we were in Chicago for a bowling tournament, I saw this man named Barak Obama being interviewed on WGN news.  He was running in the primary for the U.S. Senate race.  I was impressed by his poise,his views and how well he presented himself.  I watched him in the senate and was impressed.  When I heard that he was running for president I was excited but a bit conflicted as I respect and admire Hilary Rodham Clinton too.  Then, on October 4, 2007 Gar and I attended an Obama rally at Luther College in Decorah, IA.  As I listened to then Senator Obama I felt hope.  As I looked at the faces of those around me, especially then college students, I saw hope on them.  I was fortunate that evening to see Obama in a relatively intimate setting, about 1800 people, shake his hand and wish him luck.  From then on, I knew that I was an Obama supporter.  It will not easy for him to be president, he comes in at a time that the problems are numerous and varied.  I do believe and pray that President Obama will see us through them and we will emerge a stronger and better country.  God bless President Obama, and God bless America!

Back at it again

As I was looking around and setting and iGoggle page, I found my blog from when we were in Australia last year.  What fun to read it and remember a great trip.  Though my life is nowhere near as exciting now, it might be fun to back up and read parts of it later on.  Today is a day where I'm babysitting grandkids and getting ready for a quick trip to Chicago.  I actually forgot that my girlfriend was coming to do my hair, and guess who's here!!  More later, but I'm back.

Nanc