Cane River

We have just come back from a wonderful weekend in the mountains of NC--an amazing place near the base of Mt. Mitchell called Cane River. We go once a year with all my brothers and sisters and their families and stay in a big old log cabin in the middle of the woods. We spend the days trout fishing in the pristine, gorgeous streams around the cabin and enjoy hearty dinners at night sitting around a huge table, laughing and talking and recalling wonderful old memories. How we all love it! I'm not sure what I enjoy most--hiking and climbing in the gorgeous streams, sitting on the porch and reading and talking, eating and sharing at the dinner table, going to sleep listening to the chorus of the Cane River outside our windows, or simply soaking in the unfathomable beauty of God's creation surrounding us at every turn.

What an extravagant Lord we serve! As my youngest son and I were fishing, we talked about the extraordinary colors of the trout--the brilliant oranges and reds and greens. God didn't have to make fish in so many colors--He could have just made them brown or green or some "useful," multipurpose color! But He is the Creator who loves color and variety and pattern and beauty. The mountains are such an example of His handiwork--a real cornucopia of sounds and smells and sights. The sounds of the stream and the birds and the bugs, the smells of wildflowers and clean air and wet rocks, the sights of glistening stream and verdant green tree-covered hills and brilliant white rhododendron. And 4 of us saw black bears while we were up there! What a magnificent creature! Our God imagined and envisioned and with a word created the furry, powerful, lumbering black bear and the sleek, flashing trout, and the alert, agile deer, and the gentle, bounding rabbit, and the soaring Blue Heron, and the strutting pack of wild turkeys--all creatures we had the privilege to witness in one short weekend!

And He gave us the inestimable gift of family and of memory and of laughter. All our children talk about how much they love sitting around that big old dinner table and listen to my brothers and sisters (their aunts and uncles) tell stories and share wonderful memories of our parents and of Aunt Janie and other relatives and of growing up together. Thank the Lord for families! Thank the Lord that He did not leave us out on our own in this sometimes hard, frightening, perplexing world, but He gave us imperfect but precious families to bring us comfort and solace and encouragement and joy along the journey.

So today, I just thank the Lord for His magnificent creation and for the gift of my family. Even now, I can hear in my heart the gentle song of the stream and the laughter at the table and I am filled with joy. Lord, help us to carry these memories of Your goodness in our hearts and to remember them when our days are dark or uncertain or frightful or lonely. Might we choose to remember and be thankful. And might we choose in our gratitude to trust. To God be the glory.