Before the fall

It seems crazy how quickly the summer passed. I guess between work, watching our daughter grow and taking some trips, time found lots of places to escape. I'm enjoying the rare sound of rain on the roof right now as the yard enjoys the drink. Hopefully it will encourage my late season watermelons to add to their girth.

There is so much coming up before the fall arrives. We are working to nail down airfare for the mission trip to Vancouver in February. We have hit the ground running on nailing down a location for out stateside summer mission trip. We have a pool party for the children's ministry on Saturday and staff planning retreat the first part of next week. When I sit down to think about why I don't blog more often, I quickly see why. Nevertheless, here is another long awaited entry.

One of the trips we took was to Charleston, SC. Probably one of the greatest cities on earth-no hyperbole either, I am serious. We only had a couple of days there, but it was great. Smelling the ocean and walking in the history-fantastic. The neatest part was watching my daughter see it for the first time and look at everything with wonder. Hopefully we'll take her to the SC State Fair this fall and we are going to line up a trip to an apple farm for the kids at church. With her being older, it will be fun to watch her reactions.

I wonder if God watched Adam and Eve like an excited new parent as they discovered the garden of Eden and took everything in. I wonder if He found joy in their amazement and wonder at His creation before the fall.

A Great South Carolina 4th!

We enjoyed a great time with friends from church at the annual get together I blogged about in a July 4th post last year. The stew was great and had just the right kick to it, though I didn't find it nearly as spicy as some were making it out to be.

We had a church-wide picnic planned for July 5th and it was located at a business with a park where a church member works. When I arrived at church on Sunday, the talk revolved around whether or not we needed to relocate because of the threat of rain. It has not rained in weeks, but that is not important. The precipitation percentages varied through the day, but the decision had already been made to move the location to the shelter of the church gym which meant trapped heat and flies to spare.

The time came and a gentle breeze was blowing outside, but never a drop of rain. I sat in the gym watching flies congregate on a partially eaten hamburger like a dead gazelle in the Serengeti and I thought about how little people have learned about weather forecasting in South Carolina.

The meteorologists are rarely ever going to be right here. Even when it is pouring rain, they will tell you to expect sunny skies or if the skies are sunny, you can expect a 50% chance of rain. The best thing to do is make your plans and do the opposite of what the weather forecasters say and you will have a better percentage of being right than they will. And you don't even need all of the advanced technology, just a little (un)common sense and an understanding of the place you call home.

Of course had we not moved the picnic, we would have needed boats because it would have poured rain. But, that is life in South Carolina.

Off the Beaten Path

We went to Edgefield, South Carolina on Sunday to attend my niece’s baptism. There is no direct route to Edgefield or the many other small towns that dot the South Carolina and Georgia border. Once the seats of thought and politics for the state, time has made them historical markers and neat places to visit as they are steeped in history, good and bad. Edgefield is known for its pottery, so if that interests you, check it out here and here. It is also home to 10 governors of South Carolina and all around a neat place to visit.


As we made our way down, we made turns on the various two lane highways through small towns traveling behind drivers with no apparent awareness of where their gas pedal is. We arrived in time for church and the baptism and had a wonderful time with family. We had South Carolina barbecue, that's mustard based-ya'll. We even slowed down enough to rock on the front porch swing and enjoy a calm, quiet afternoon in the quaint Southern town.

When it came time to head home, we wanted to try a "more direct" route. I should have reminded myself that none exist. As we traveled down Highway 25, my Garmin told me to turn onto Log Creek Road. I made the turn and passed a small church and then a sign that read "Gravel Road Begins." Why didn't I turn around? With our 17 month-old sleeping in the car seat, my wife began to let me know how unhappy she would be if I woke her up because of the conditions of the road. Making it worse was the fact that the Garmin was giving us an ever slowing mile countdown to our next turn that my wife could clearly see. As we made our way down the three and half miles of dirt and gravel road with signs pointing out one lane bridges, it began to get comical as we thought the road itself was one lane. We saw hawks and snakes and my wife lamented that we only needed to see a deer to make it a complete nature drive. We did see quite a few deer stands painted camouflage.

As we neared the next turn mark, we realized it was going to be another road made of dirt and gravel, this one four and a half miles long. Each bump and jolt brought with it the fear of waking the baby. Half way down that road my wife asked if a road could be called a highway if it was in this condition. Knowing the answer was no, I began to wonder myself considering the fact that roads like this remained in existence. I looked at the GPS and realized she was asking that because the next turn was onto Highway 430 and a faster drive. Once we made it out, it was smooth sailing and we made it home in time to have a quick supper before heading to church to start VBS.

While the towns may be uniquely Southern, I know the roads are not. I have been to many places where the residents would think their state or country was very developed, so it just goes to show that you never know what you will find off the beaten path.

School is out!

A least where we live. I get to take a break from bringing the baby into daycare as she'll get to spend lots of time with Mommy who gets a break from teaching kindergarten. We'll kick things into high gear with VBS and a mission trip to Virginia back to back in June. We'll try and get to the beach for some much anticipated family vacation. I love Charleston, and hope that will be the destination. Time will tell.

We have a Braves game on tap for August and with all of the everyday stuff mixed in, the summer will fly by and our full attention will be on a mission trip to Vancouver during the Olympics. And to think, the break just started!

In regards to my last post, I stand corrected: Some of the pilots here for Freedom Weekend Aloft did launch their balloons "at their own risk" I guess we were not patient enough.

Freedom Weekend Awash

Memorial Day weekend brings the annual Freedom Weekend Aloft event to the Upstate of South Carolina. It brings great concerts, food, celebration, and hot air balloons. Normally, we are spoiled with great weather and plenty of opportunities to chase the balloons and meet the pilots when they land. It is fun to watch the the team members follow their balloon, almost like a storm chaser. They track everything; wind, trees, people, fields, homes, you name it. We have even been fortunate enough to get a ride in a balloon after we followed it to its landing site.

This year though, we have been getting some much needed rain. Understandably, the balloons could not launch as often as they would have liked. Now I am no ballooning expert, but I think the pilots kind of gave up on the event too early. They even had a "failure to launch" on the last day of the event. There was a rain shower earlier in the afternoon, but no where near close to the 6:00 p.m. launch time. There were people everywhere waiting for the launch and no one communicating that the balloons were gone. It was definitely disappointing, especially since the event is built around the balloons. We are thankful Upstate South Carolina is home to then event, but would have loved for the balloonists to stick it out and make the event as special as it normally is. Thankfully, there are lots of other local activities that come around with the summer time. You can't beat Greenville during the summer, or anytime really!

These pics are some I took during last year's FWA.

There's no place like home

I just got home from a trip to China and it was great! Beijing, aside from the smog, is a beautiful city and China is a beautiful country. I know we have stereotypes that come to mind when we think of China, but you have to experience it yourself to understand it. The people were so friendly and many had never seen Westerners before. They would stop to take pictures and video of our group as we traveled.

Like here, the is you want good food, it surrounds you and if you want something unique, you can find it. There are community park all around Beijing and you can find a crowd at any of them through out the day. People will gather to play ping pong or a version of hackey sack, exercise or just talk.

I think we can be too quick to criticize "China" because of its government and industrial development. While I do not agree with its government on many things, I think the West has responsibility when it comes to the growing industry. While walking on the Great Wall, I heard someone say the a news anchor had commented on the Chinese love for money and as it was said, a local English speaking person just shook their head, obviously not liking what was said. That got me thinking about the whole concept of China.

It is foreign industry that started the boom that has padded the economy and polluted the sky. It is our businesses that want cheaper labor so they can make more money on what we buy. But enough of the geopolitical aspect of it all. When it comes down to it, there is no place like home.

I am not simply talking about the accents that draw attention, but the entire aspect of life in the Southeast that make it so special. The landscape, the cleanliness, the hospitality all work together to make South Carolina and beyond a special place to live. I was reminded on the journey home that there are many incorrect stereotypes about the South that still exist.

While catching our flight from L.A., there was a rather rude man that associated the accents of some of our group with a lack of intelligence and ignorance. I guess he would be surprised to know we have indoor plumbing. I know our corner of the world is not perfect by any means, but it comes close and I am thankful that I call it home. I can't wait for where to check out where my next adventure takes me.

Home

I just spent a week in Waveland, Mississippi, which was ground zero for Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The city was virtually wiped off the map after losing over 90% of its properties, public and private. Three years later, the people are still rebuilding, still waiting, and feel like they have been forgotten.

Long after the cameras left, the debris of houses ripped apart, slab foundations, and twisted trees stand as harsh reminders of what took place. There are numerous businesses left untouched, roads unpaved, and homes no one can live in, but must pay a mortgage all the while. The people that live along the Gulf Coast need to know that they have not been forgotten. They are our friends and family regardless of how well we know them. The picture above is from the first post-Katrina trip I made to Pascagoula in 2006. There has been little improvement in the two years since then.

All I can compare it to is Hugo in 1989. I had just turned 11 when it made landfall in Charleston and trekked through the midlands before turning north towards Charlotte leaving a path of destruction. Hugo is what took Disaster Relief, as we know it, to the next level. My family would travel to Charleston every summer and it was like a second home to me. I still think it is one of the greatest cities in the world, but it needed help to recover. 19 years later you can still see the twisted trees that will never again be green, but their harshness is muted by those that survived and the new ones that have grown. I remember when our own state was hurting from Hugo. I remember when I saw Charleston for the first time after the storm and it was heartbreaking, even for an 11 year old boy who lived in the Upstate.

My hope for the Gulf Coasts of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi is that they too will recover as Charleston has. I hope there will be a desire for people to continue to help in this devastated area and that there will be continued growing hope in the lives of people who feel depressed and lost wandering what to do. Our message for the people of Waveland was simple: We have not forgotten.