THE LITTLE COUNTRY CHURCH

I went on line and found what appeared to be a small country church – grassy area all around, a view of the foothills, three crosses on an elevated hill.  Then we attempted to FIND IT!!   We got to a place where we could see A CHURCH with a cross, but no road leading to it.  So we proceed up this main road in the “small subdivision” only to find two more subdivisions.   Finally, got to a main road that apparently went into one in the general direction we needed to take.   Lo, and behold,  there was a sign at the stop sign three roads in saying to turn here for the Grace Community Church.  We did and when we arrived five minutes before 11 AM we found the parking lot full and no folks wandering about.   We parked in the overflow field and walked toward the front; the friendly gentleman at the door explained that for two months in the summer they have a combined service at 10 AM. So Tom was right we were arriving just in time for the benediction. 

Well, not quite.  We were served Communion there in the vestibule along with some “hanger outers” drinking coffee and the friendly greeter.  Then followed the server into the worship space and someone noticed us and slid over so we would have two chairs together.   The worship team did an extended LAST SONG and THEN the pastor gave the benediction.   Several folks apologized that we had missed the worship service, saying “but come back next Sunday at 10 AM, we would love to get to know you!”  We explained that we were RVers with over 60,000 miles on our tripometer and we were moving on in the morning.   But we did in fact participate in Communion and the last song before the Benediction, so we were BLESSED to have FOUND the little church out in the field that I had seen on the internet not knowing it was at the edge of TWO subdivisions.

We FOUND our friends on 4^th of July for their BBQ here in Colorado Springs.  What did we do before MAPS programs and GPS?  Their small subdivision in an older part of “the Springs” is a half acre and in a lovely cared- for area off Academy Drive.   The food was delicious and the company included their son, whom we had not seen since he was a teenager learning to ski at Dodge Ridge.  He is the age of our son Tom.   His two sons dropped in for the food and then were off to a baseball game.   So we DID have something to do far from home on the Holiday thanks to the generosity of our OLD FRIENDS from early marriage, thanks to keeping tabs via Christmas Letters and now Facebook!

We FOUND a car wash since we were running early on 4^th of July.   And true to the OLD SAYING the truck has had sprinkles at least each day since the wash!!   

Come Saturday we FOUND the County Roads leading from Falcon, where we are parked, to Castle Rock.  One of those County Roads went through Peaceful Valley in an area known as the Black Forest, where Tom remembered the FROZEN camping trip with the Boy Scouts.  That was NOT PLANNED as a WINTER CAMPOUT and Tom’s Dad realized the “freak storm” in AUGUST had isolated the troop and put them in danger.  This was BEFORE cell phones.  So Dad rousted the county road crew chief and got them to plow the foot of snow from the road into the camp, so the parents could get to the boys.  The Scoutmaster’s battery was so cold it would not start his vehicle, so someone jumpstarted his pickup.  Amazing that Tom recognized the area BEFORE I saw the sign for the Camp!!  I guess memories are like that!

 We FOUND the Memorial Service we were looking for yesterday, at the very eastern edge of Castle Rock.  BOY, has that small town grown since we were kids; of course that was seventy years ago!  Our friend from those early years of marriage had just been talking about the MISTAKES our generation had made in allowing unrealistic building codes to proliferate so that a family starting out CANNOT afford a house because the houses have four bedroom and three baths on a full acre with a two car garage.  AND there are no 2 bedroom, 2 bath homes with a one car garage for the seniors who do not want to check into an assisted living  situation.  So by the time we no longer NEED all that space, we have acquired too much STUFF to even consider a 2 bedroom home if there was such a thing.  Unrealistic expectations.  And those are passed down to the next generation who expect to move from college to an apartment or condo – where you only own the air between the walls – and then to one of those four bedroom, three bath houses on at least an acre, possibly three so they can each have a bedroom and a DOG or a HORSE.

This world is not my home, I’m just a’passin’ through.  My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.  The angels beckon me from HEAVEN’s open DOOR and I can’t feel at home in this world anymore. – OLD COUNTRY GOSPEL SONG

So why are we planning to take a UHaul from California to Arizona with “our treasures” to keep us company for our remaining winters in Arizona? 

GOOD QUESTION!   Maybe we will FIND the answer soon?