In my last writing, I shared the beginning of mine and Kim’s love story and ended it with our first date. Kim used to laugh and actuallyy laughed throughout our marriage about the fact that I was a such a creature of habit. Those that know me best, know that I am still a creature of habit. One of the habits that I had was every Thursday night for about the first month that we dated, I would always call on Thursday night and asked her out for that Saturday night! I did this for about a month until we decided that we were officially “going steady”…lol. Today, I think most young people would say, “Facebook Official” instead of going steady. Unless there was a basketball game on Saturday evening that she had to cheer at, we had a standing date every Saturday the entirety of our senior year. During that basketball season, I logged a lot of miles with her and her parents to many basketball games. Our dates were usually pretty simple stuff such as eating out, going to a movie, a Bama football game or going to my Uncle Malcolm and Aunt Lou Ann’s to play cards or spoons. By the way, I learned very quickly through those card games and playing spoons that my cute little red headed girlfriend had a competitive streak a mile wide! These simple dates turned into continuing enjoying simple dates and outings throughout our marriage (more on the simple, yet important things in our marriage in a later writing). When I think about our Friday and Saturday night dates, it always brings a smile to my face because no matter what we decided to do, we had fun just enjoying being together. We learned through our 5 years of courtship to enjoy new things and learned to enjoy doing things that maybe one of us enjoyed and the other not so much, but through all these new adventures we learned that part of loving one another was doing things that maybe the other enjoyed a little more. Ours was a relationship that never endured a break up, long term or short term. Does that mean we never disagreed or even had a “lover’s quarrel”? Of course not! One thing though that we did not do once we began our serious courtship, which began around a month after that first date, was to end a night mad or not speaking to one another and this carried us well through 34 years, 6 months and 4 days of marriage. We both knew, as we would talk about through the years, that very early on in our courtship we would spend the rest of our natural lives together. In late July, 1989, I decided after four years of dating the only girl I had ever loved that it was time to pop the question. We had started to discuss more and more the rest of our lives together. The crazy thing is that we had no trepidation about the prospect of marriage. It just seemed like the natural next step for us and we knew that we were meant to spend the rest of our lives together as husband and wife. I remember like it was yesterday the several trips to various jewelry stores to look at engagement rings. We didn’t do this so she could pick out the specific one she wanted, but I asked her to just give me some ideas of what she would like – after all this would be something she would wear the rest of her life! I remember after seeing a lot of options, I picked out what I thought was the perfect token of my love and desire to make her my wife. As it should be, I went and sat down with her father Billy and asked for his only daughter’s hand in marriage. He gave his blessing and on August 17, 1989 I got down on one knee and asked Kimberly Michelle Jones to marry me and make me the happiest man on earth. Of course, she said YES and she loved the ring! Unlike, many of today’s proposals, ours was a simple moment of just Kim and me by ourselves. We believed moments like this should be shared between each other. Looking back, it was one of the sweetest moments in our 39 years together. It was a moment that would cast us off into 34 years of what I believe to be, in my humble and of course biased opinion, the greatest love story and adventure ever. We were married on August 17, 1990 a year to the day of our engagement and 5 years to the day of our first date at First Baptist Church in Athens, AL.. As a minister of nearly 26 years, I have seen a lot of brides, but I have never seen one as pretty as the one I saw when those doors swung open at the end of the aisle that evening. I had dated this woman for 5 years and yet in that moment my knees got weak at just the mere site of my beautiful bride as her and her dad begin to walk down that aisle toward me. Dr Fred Lackey performed the ceremony and with every word that we repeated from our vows that we actually wrote ourselves my heart seemed to beat faster as did her’s (according to her own words). My heart did not beat faster out of nervousness, but rather because I knew in a matter of moments we would share the most important kiss of our relationship. A kiss that would symbolize a 34 year adventure of a wonderful marriage. Our five years of courtship consisted of so many wonderful memories and that I suppose and pray will forever be locked in my memory. I will share over the next few weeks about our marriage. As I have said before, I pray that maybe these writings will be an encouragement to some, bring a smile to those that know us best, give a written record for our girls and the generations that follow and just give a glimpse into what I believe to be a wonderful story of love, overcoming, endurance, simplicity and fun.
Thoughts of a Sojourner
Thoughts, Wanderings & Adventures of a Sojourner
recent posts
- A Journey of Joy, Heartbreak and Joy Rediscovered: My Bride Goes Home
- A Journey of Joy, Heartbreak and Joy Rediscovered: A New Battle Begins
- Miles that Mattered: A Recap of Road Trips 2025
- A Journey of Joy, Heartbreak and Joy Rediscovered: Valleys, Peaks and Valleys
- A Journey of Joy, Heartbreak and Joy Rediscovered: The First Battle Begins
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Today will be the first of several of several installments where I share about mine and Kim’s story of love, courtship, marriage, heartbreak and my personal journey through the process of losing my bride. As I share these writings, I know my time writing will be filled with smiles, tears and joy, but such is this life that we live on this earth. I have been contemplating sharing this story for sometime and until now I have not really been ready to put my thoughts to words written/typed.
So where do I start with a love story that spanned nearly 40 years? Well, you start from the beginning! Kim and I attended the same school for 12 years. We attended East Limestone High School (when East was a K -12 school…yes I’m old…lol). Through most of our school days, we were acquaintances and knew each other because let’s face it, when your class only has 68 people you tend to know everyone. All this changed in the spring of 1985! We both attended our junior prom, although not together, but we did end up hanging out together with a group of mutual friends and actually danced together that fateful night. I knew from that night on that I wanted to pursue that cute redhead! As the final couple months of our junior year came to a close, we found ourselves talking more and actually went out one time in May of that year. As Spring moved to Summer, we found ourselves being the last two people toward the end of July at our school on the day everyone got their senior portraits done. After I finished getting mine done, I decided to hang around and wait on Kim to get finished. We ended up hanging out together just talking and laughing that evening. After a couple weeks of talking on the phone almost nightly, I got the courage to ask her out on our first official date which took place on August 17, 1985. Man was it a romantic date! We went to Shoney’s, had a cheeseburger and then took in the latest installment of the Rambo saga at the theater…lol. We would laugh about that night for the next 39 years. As we parted company that night in her driveway, we shared our first kiss and I knew (as she would tell me later that she knew too) in that moment that she was the ONE. I know many in this world do not believe in love at first sight, but I can truly say that we loved each other from that moment. From that precious night of August 17, 1985, we were inseparable. Our story of dating and courtship was the classic captain of the football team & head cheerleader romance. We knew from the very beginning that our love would be one that would ultimately be solidified in marriage. From the very beginning, we found joy and happiness just in being with each other. I am a firm believer that God orchestrates every affair of our lives and I firmly believe that God caused our paths to cross. I am thankful beyond any method of measurement that on that night of our junior prom, I found the courage to ask my future bride to dance because that moment set in motion what would become a life together defined by love and joy. In the weeks ahead I will share more about our courtship, marriage, the joys, the challenges, overcoming those challenges, my losing my bride, the process of grief and finally the beginning joy rediscovered as I enter this phase of life. My pray is that this story will be one of encouragement and ultimately as I share about the grief process maybe help to someone that may be traveling that path right now.
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I never come to the beach that I am not reminded of God’s sovereignty over His entire creation. I have spent the last few days at the beach. Every morning I get up, walk out on the balcony with coffee in hand and watch the sunrise over the gulf coast. As I gaze down to the beach and watch the gentle waves caress the sand on the shore, I am quickly reminded of the passage from the scriptures in Job 38:8-11 where God reminds Job of His creative, sovereign, creative power – “Or who shut in the sea with doors when it bursts forth from the womb, when I made the clouds its garnet and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed it’s limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far you shall come and no farther, and here shall your waves be stayed’?” (Job 38:8-11). What an overwhelming sight the ocean is when one sets his eyes on it and sees no end other than the horizon which doesn’t bring it to an end, but rather just says to our frail human eyes, “This is as far as you go”. As the sun, rises to the east just in time and kisses the gulf with it’s rays, life on the shore wakes up from the varying shore birds to the occasional dolphin that disturbs the emerald calmness to take another breath as it continues fill its stomach with the schools of fish that dart in the surf. The vastness of the sea is truly an intimidating sight, but to God, our Creator, it is but a puddle of water that he created for His glory and man’s pleasure. It is not something that He had to try and fail many times to create, but rather simply spoke into existence and gave it, it’s orders of its existence. The sea is but one example of the majestic creative, sovereignty of God that man gets to enjoy. The lesson for me in observing and being reminded of the Sea and sovereignty is that if God put so much detail into creating this one facet of the total created universe, how could we ever plumb the depths of the love and care that He has for us, His most prized creation. Please remember, you are created in the image of God and no other part of creation carries that distinction. With that thought in mind, how could I ever think God has forgotten me, even in the darkest corners that life may bring. Friend, the thing I am reminded of everyday is that God is faithful and just as He told the sea where to stop, He intimately knows your limits for both the tumultuous times and times of plenty and sets limits to both. Sometimes the limits of plenty leave us desiring more, but instead take time to celebrate what God has given you in times of plenty. Whether it be plenty in the area of material things, plenty in moments of joy, plenty in time with family or plenty in time spent with friends just to name a few. However, what about when we hit the limits he has set in times of brokenness? My own personal experience has shown me that my faith in God should never be dependent on circumstances. I have and am trying to learn that we can have joy in the journey no matter where the road on this journey takes us. In discovering that the tumultuous times have limits, I must trust God to bring me out of the other side of the darkness and know that He is going to restore the joy and love for life that He intends for His most precious creation. So what is the take away that I want to leave you with from these ramblings of mine this morning? Folks, embrace this life that God has given you. Embrace the knowledge that the same God that spoke the vast sea into existence and set it’s limits, knows you intimately and loves you beyond your comprehension and there is nothing, I mean nothing, that life can fling at us that our sovereign God has not already set a limit on and already has a plan to bring you through stronger and with more zeal for life. Go! Find and embrace the joy of living!!
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The subject that I am writing about and sharing my thoughts about in this installment of penned ramblings probably will not be popular with some and perhaps many that I would align with in my faith or politics, but then again those that know me well know that I am not real good at conforming with the masses at times..lol. When I worked at UPS, I had a few friends that gave me the moniker of “Candid Keith”. In other words, I tend to be very transparent in my thoughts and tend to say what needs to be said more so than what people want to necessarily hear and the subject matter here will hit that way with some of my readers.
The term “Cancel Culture” has been around for a number of years, but really ramped up beginning in 2020. It moved to warp speed in 2020 and continues today. In 2020, we were a nation in upheaval. This disease called COVID reared its head on a worldwide scale. George Floyd died during detainment and arrest. Both of these events would set of a wildfire of panic, violence, needless destruction, division the likes of which we had not seen in decades and widespread calls for cancellation and squashing of those with differing opinions. If you dared questioned the genesis, treatment options, vaccines & their safety and the government responses where COVID was concerned, you were labeled a nut, uncaring, unchristian and just a bad person (full transparency…I am one of those that have questioned in all of these areas where COVID is concerned). In the wake of George Floyd’s death, we had massive violent protests, cities that burned, division based on race and hate seemed to spike. If you questioned the response of the police, you were labeled as one that did not support the police and law & order. If you criticized the violent protests and those committing the violence you were labeled a racist. The response to those that questioned these things would be a culture of cancellation. In other words, there were moves to squash those of dissenting views. A dissenting view just was not tolerated by the masses and people became weary of questioning authority whether it be government, organizations and even religious figures & organizations.
Fast forward from 2020 to today. The cancel culture is alive and well. In the wake of the murder of Charlie Kirk, the culture of cancelation is hitting a fevered pitch. Understand, I believe that Charlie Kirk was a generational voice for the gospel and righteousness from a biblical worldview so the opinions that I will close this writing with in no way are meant to disparage his name. I do want to remind those, that like me, supported the work of Mr Kirk to be careful about blindly following and getting on board with those that may have and still oppose the biblical worldview of Mr. Kirk. Our nation was founded from the power of having a dissenting voice. In my view, the problem with many in my camp is that we would rather just squash the opposing views by cancellation. We would rather, in many cases, have any opposing view just removed from the conversation or the public square. In many corners of the church, there are leanings or a call to Christian Nationalism. In other words, to force every aspect of our government and culture to become christianized and that would solve our problems. Those of this view seem to have a low knowledge of our nation’s founding. While our Creator is acknowledged in our founding documents, our government was established as a secular government and for good reason. Our founders were wise enough to understand that it was a mistake to force christianity on a population either through cancelation or by the point of gun. An honest look at church history over centuries shows that attempting to christianize populations never works out for the glory of God. Whether it be the Crusades, The Inquisition, violence toward the reformers from the Roman church, violence from some corners of the reformation toward the Anabaptist, Bloody Mary’s campaign against protestants in England & Scotland, the persecution of the Puritans in England which would ultimately lead to them fleeing England for the shores of the America’s. A look at New Testament scripture, shows us that the early church in the book of Acts did not pray that their opposition or rather those that oppose Christ be removed, but rather they prayed for boldness in the face of opposition (Acts 4:24-31). Jesus even tells His disciples that the world hated Him and would in turn hate them. Paul and the other apostles counted it an honor to suffer for their faith rather than try cancel those that opposed and persecuted them. As believers today, rather than spending our days endlessly cheering on the cancellation of the culture that opposes the things of God and righteousness, why not pray for boldness to engage the culture in a way that would cause them to want to know the reason for your joy, hope and contentment. The Bible tells us that we should do this with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15-16). I am weary and think it unwise of the church and those that have a biblical worldview to support the current brand of cancellation. Growing up, I loved to hunt. I especially loved to rabbit hunt with a pack of beagle hounds. I always had the upper hand on the rabbit, because I was always holding the gun! I never one time wondered what would happen if the rabbit got the gun, but I have to imagine it would have not been a good situation. Why do I use this illustration you may ask? I use it because while today for those that, like me, support and proclaim a biblical worldview have a situation from a political standpoint where the public square is a little more conducive to our point of view right now, but beware things on the political and cultural landscape can quickly change. Be careful supporting the squashing and stomping out of dissenting viewpoints because one day “the rabbit could get the gun” and those cancelation tables could quickly turn.
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I am a little behind in my writing this week, but for very good reason. I have had the blessing of spending the week with my precious grandkids, John Patton and Molly this week. I made the trip over to the small town of Franklin, NC last weekend to meet Lillian and Brandon at one of our halfway points between Fayetteville, NC (I plan to write about my couple days exploring and seeing the majestic mountains of East Tennessee, SW North Carolina and North Georgia next week after my return trip there this weekend) to pick the grands up and bring them to Alabama for a week in what we, in my family, call Pop’s Fun Zone! Over the years, Kim and I always cherished our time not only with John Patton and Molly, but also getting the opportunity to see our oldest baby girl Lillian and our hero soldier, son in law Brandon. Of course things are a little different without my partner in crime where the fun zone is concerned since my bride went to be with Jesus, but we continue to navigate this new normal. I have made it my goal to make each trip for them fun and adventurous as it always was when Sugar was the ring leader of the fun and adventure. I have had to learn how to brush hair, put hair up in ponytails, make sure actual showers are taken daily, teeth are brushed, meals are cooked to specks and I think Sugar would be proud of my progress…lol. We have had the best week! There is never a dull moment in the fun zone that is Pop’s house! Whether we are doing a little gardening, feeding the chickens (that are nothing but feathered pets), playing with and wearing out our miniature schnauzer Baxter, watching wrestling, building legos, going to the woods for a hike down a trail in the wildlife refuge nearby or visiting with Great Ma, Grammie & Pappy, Grandpa and Grammy (Brandon’s parents) and of course spending part of a day riding the combine & grain buggy with Justin and Elizabeth who were harvesting the corn crop. As I sit here and share my thoughts some things and thoughts come to mind. First, as parents and grandparents always make the most of the time we have with our kids and grandkids. Time is fleeting and passes so quickly, make sure and invest it in your grandchildren if you are blessed to have grandchildren. As a kid, I have such great memories of times spent with my grandparents. I want to make sure that my grandkids have memories to cherish that were spent with Sugar and Me & now me going forward. We can give our kids and grandkids material things (and we should to a certain extent), but the greatest investment that we can give them is time spent and especially time spent just having fun! Even this week, my youngest daughter Olivia had surgery to have tonsils removed today and she will spend the next couple days with her Ma and my mom getting nursed back to health. Those are moments that you can’t put a price on because time is priceless. I have also been reminded that even today kids still like simple things. Whether it’s walking a nature trail through the woods and them asking Pops all kinds of questions about what they are seeing in many cases for the first time, puling up a chair in a pen with my chickens and having one of the diva chickens hop in their lap to be hand fed a handful of blueberries, gathering eggs that have just been laid or simply planting a seed in a mound of dirt in a pot, tray or garden bed. These are simple things that teach us so much about life and our God, the giver of life. This past Sunday, I was reminded how precious it is to attend worship at church on Sunday with them and seeing them enjoy their time in God’s house. In this instance, I was reminded that the greatest legacy we can leave our children and grandchildren is a legacy of faith and a life of walking with the Lord through times of joy and even sorrow. As our week at Pop’s FunZone comes to close tomorrow evening, I hope memories have been made that will transcend my life on this earth and bring them joy when they think about when they are grown and hopefully have kids of their own. When Saturday rolls around and we complete our trip back to the Appalachian foothills to send them on their way back to their home, we will start to mark the calendar, looking forward to our next time together if the Lord allows. I am truly blessed to have two angels that call me Pops and for that I am grateful to God.
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At 2:15am on February 21, 2025 my life changed in a way that no matter how strong your faith or how much you may think you are prepared, the loss of my bride shook me to the deepest of my core. Yes, I know she received her ultimate healing and immediately went into the presence of our Lord, but the sudden finality of a wonderful 34 year marriage was crushing to my heart and spirit in a way that I cannot put into words (I do plan in the near future to write a series of entries here about my journey through the grief process and mine & Kim’s story of love that spanned 39 years). One thing that this event did was in the days, weeks and months that would lay ahead was to cause me to think a lot about life ahead and how I wanted to approach life. The one conclusion that I came to was that I wanted to discover what it was to live life simply. You may ask, “What does it mean to live life simply?”. What I want to do in this entry is share my version of what it means to me thus far in this second half of uncharted life for me. First, when I say living simply, I mean to determine to let go of things that bring unnecessary stress to life. This involves not allowing things unnecessarily into my life that could steal my joy, peace and freedom in Christ. I turned to the scriptures, specifically Matthew chapters 5-7. I first looked at what are known as the B-Attitudes (Matthew 5:1-12). These verses I rediscovered the attitudes that we are to have in our attitude toward living life. In these 12 verses, we see the word “Blessed” which translated means “HAPPY” precede each thing that we are to exhibit as believers. Then in verses 13-16(Chapter 5), we are to simply be salt and light to the world around us, that is we are to make a difference in this dark world that is our current home. Verses 21-26 (chapter 5) teach us that we are not to remain angry, but seek reconciliation with those we may have wronged or that have wronged us – life is too short to allow unforgiveness to steal our joy. Chapter 5 verse 37 reminds us to be honest in our dealing with one another and have a reputation of being people of integrity. Chapter 5 verses 38-42 remind us that we are seek peace and not retaliation toward others. Verses 43-48 shows us that like Christ, we are to love our enemies and not just love those that demonstrate love toward us. Chapter 6 begins in verses 1-4 by reminding us to hold loosely to what God has blessed us with and when we have opportunity to give out of what He has blessed with to give, but not give to be seen by anyone other than God. In 6:5-13, Christ reminds us that the first focus of our prayers should be the worship & adoration of our perfect Father in heaven and verses 14-15 reminds us that deals with the high priority of practicing forgiveness due to our need of forgiveness from our Heavenly Father. Matthew 6:16-18 reminds us that we are not to wear our “religion” on our sleeve, but rather true religion for the believer is most importantly lived inwardly through our relationship with Christ through a deep, inward faith in Him. Chapter 6 verses 19-24 should cause us to cease seeking to serve the masters of this world for gain that is temporary, but rather strive to live a life that makes a difference eternally as we serve the only Master (Lord). Matthew 6:24-34 really is the reminders that helped me in the past 8 months, that we should resist worrying about the mundane things of life that world says is so important because our Heavenly Father is our provider of peace in this messed up, fallen world and provides exactly what we need, provides it perfectly and in the perfect time. These verses also remind us to quite living in the “what if’s” of tomorrow, but focus on this current day that God has, out of His grace blessed us with and live it to the fullest with joy, peace, happiness and with the same grace that He has provided us. Finally, Matthew 7:1-5 reminds us to properly judge ourselves before we begin to make judgements concerning others. This passage does not tell us that we are not make judgments, but rather first judge ourselves. In doing proper self judgement, it is then that through godly, gracious judgement we will judge according to grace by which we have been judged. In closing this blog entry, I want to make sure you understand that the things I have shared are not shared out of arrogance as if I have arrived so to speak in all of these areas, but I am most certainly a work in progress that still falls short so many times. These things though have been the catalyst to helping me to live simply because these verses really teach us that life for the believer really should be boiled down to these principles becoming practices and characteristics of our life. I believe if one will commit himself/herself to seeking to live out these things, life will certainly become less complicated, peaceful, with less stress, more joy and a life lived that has the greatest potential to glorify God which is our highest calling as Jesus followers.
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What I am sharing here today is not attempt to earn a badge of honor from anyone or to be pious, but to share my journey from one portion of this old negative world to find more joy and simplify life. Full transparency on my part, I have pretty much made decision in my life not to watch the news from any of the major news networks because I grew weary of the negativity and vitriol involved in all of them no matter what their political leanings. So some may ask, “How do you keep up with what is going on the world?” I made a decision to go back to old way of getting the news…..I read! You may think, “Well, there is still bias so what’s different?” The answer is yes, you still get some of the bias and negativity, but for me personally reading allows me to take the time to digest the thoughts being relayed through the words I read rather than only getting the sound bites, talking points, etc that the major media executives, show hosts, politicians, activists and basing my thoughts about the issues of the day on snippets and sound bites only from those that we agree with and maybe support. Understand this does not mean that I have changed my thoughts on the things concerning sin and righteousness because my thoughts on those things are not based on being conservative or liberal, but rather on the only real standard for truth, sin and righteousness and that is the holy scriptures contained in God’s word. However, what I have found that since taking my news from networks and show hosts, I have found myself willing to listen even to those that I disagree with and yes maybe even learn a thing or two from those that I may disagree with on any number of issues. The Bible has much to say about listening and condemnation concerning those that chose to speak hastily, hatefully and with a mean spirit. (Proverbs 12:15; 13:1; Proverbs 13:3; 15:31-32; 17:4; 17:28; 18:2; 19:20; 21:23; 25:12; 29:20; Ecclesiastes 5:1 {references taken from ESV Translation}). I have found my stress level has decreased since changing habits in digesting the news, my fears for the future have been greatly relieved (after all, our sovereign God still holds every portion of the future in His hands) and my desire to listen with grace, compassion & kindness. Rest assured for me these things are still a work in progress in my own life, but I am finding more joy in life as I grow in these things. So what is the message behind my thoughts on these things? It is not to say that everyone ought to stop watching and listening to news media because that is a personal decision that an individual must make for themselves. I do encourage you to make an effort to read of course, consider and digest those things, listen to others, engage others with gentleness & kindness…afterall, Christ Himself, when He engaged the culture and His opponents with passion, compassion, kindness, gentleness, a standard of truth based on the scriptures & His being God in the flesh. So other than the God in the flesh part, go and do likewise.
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Sunday was my final day in Yellowstone and just like day one, day two did not disappoint. We camped Saturday evening in Corwin Springs, MT along the Yellowstone River. The peacefulness of a campfire along the bank of a river in the Yellowstone is indescribable. In reality, the only noise you hear is the occasional bugle of a bull elk. We broke camp later in the morning and began our 8-9 hour trek through East Yellowstone. The visuals of the mightiness of the wilderness of Yellowstone is not anything that is possible to properly visualize through video, pictures or even the feeble words of a blog like the one I am currently penning. Before I go any further, I would encourage anyone, especially those with kids, to make the trip out west to take in this canvas painted and sculpted by the Almighty. Many concern themselves with treating kids to Disney, the beach or various other vacation destinations (nothing wrong with these by the way, my family has enjoyed these ourselves many times), but I believe one of the greatest things we can do for our young people is to instill in them a appreciation for our natural world and the importance of conservation of these natural wonders. On our final day we visited a number of waterfalls that display to awesome power of a natural waterway without interference of manmade dams or other obstructions. The deep canyons that traverse the park seem to be bottomless they are so deep as you peer to the bottom and see the remnants of the mighty waterfalls as they plummet downward. The close encounters with the bison and elk were awesome! We had one herd that walked by our car as they lumbered down the middle of the road. The elk could be found in herds of hundreds in the valleys to individuals walking the streets of Gardiner, MT. These magnificent beast command such attention that they stop traffic as they pass by as if it is their world and we simply live in it. We also spotted black bear feasting on the wild berries as winter approaches to prepare themselves for their winter slumber. Unfortunately, we did not spot a the king of the park, the Grizzly nor did we get to see a moose. One of the most fascinating things that we experienced was walking the boardwalks around the many thermal pools that dot the landscape of the park that reminded me that we were walking over perhaps one of the biggest volcanic cauldrons in world. Our final stop was at the Yellowstone Lodge, which is an architectural marvel. The massive structure was built out of logs from the park and contains a lot of history and by the way the huckleberry ice cream served there is out of this world!! While at the lodge were able to watch Old Faithful display her power as the geyser gushed steam and gasses from the depths of the earth. As we made our way out of the park we experienced a thunderstorm, torrential rain, hail and snow (yes it snowed) as we made our way down from the high elevation. As we left Yellowstone and entered Teton National Park on our journey back to Jackson, WY, the smoke had been cleared by the evening rains and the majestic peaks of the Teton Mountains silhouetted against the setting sun was something that I supposed the greatest artist in history could not replicate. This adventure was one that I had dreamed of making since I was a kid and I am thankful that God allowed me to finally realize the dream. In closing this writing, I want to thank Shane Kirby for being a great friend and a great tour guide on this trip. We had an awesome time and I cannot wait for the next great road trip! In the days ahead I will be posting a blog weekly about various subjects that I hope will be of encouragement, provide some insight and maybe even little educational in some instances.
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Today began the first of two days exploring Yellowstone National Park. First, huge thanks to Shane Kirby for being my tour guide. Shane has been a best friend of mine for many years and lives out here in Big Sky Country. Our day began in Jackson, WY. Jackson is a nice small town with a lot of history. We only spent about an hour there before striking out to Teton National Park and Yellowstone. The Teton Mountains stretch, it seems, to the skies. Even though their grand peaks were shrouded in the smoke from forest fires in neighboring Idaho, they still commanded my attention in a way that no other mountains ever have before. The vast flatlands of Teton stretched for miles it seemed. After driving through Teton, we moved on to Yellowstone. I have always dreamed of exploring Yellowstone and it did not disappoint. We toured the west side of the park today. We visited many waterfalls that were awe-inspiring. Hearing the water rage over the rocks was a display of power unequaled by anything that I have ever witnessed. As the water crashed over the edge and down into the valleys below the beauty of the water slowing down and meandering down a canyon were unlike any thing I have ever witnessed. Our next stop, would be Old Faithful, but it had already put on it’s show until the next one 1.5 hours later so we enjoy touring the lodge and grabbing some huckleberry ice cream (by the way, if you’ve never tried anything huckleberry, I highly recommended it. We visited some thermals and the only way to describe them is wow! The beauty of the water that is pouring from the lower parts of the earth brings to mind the mystery of this Creation that God has blessed us with to enjoy. We were able to enjoy some of the local wildlife. The bison are massive and just exude power as they slowly made their way up the middle of the road inches from our car. The Pronghorn Antelope are almost comical to watch as that dart back and forth in the grand fields along the roads. As we mad our way to Gardiner, MT, we were met at the town entrance by the Roosevelt Tower which is a magnificent spectacle of architecture. The elk that call Gardiner home are majestic creatures and can be seen in the fields along the roads and also simply walking the streets of Gardiner. Tonight we camp along the Yellowstone River in Corwin Springs, MT under the open skies of the Big Sky Country. Day two I’m sure will be no less amazing.
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I have contemplated starting my blog back up after a long hiatus (Since 2020!) and I have decided that now is the time. What better time to start back than writing about Road Trip 2025 out West to visit Yellowstone, Glacier National Park and several other must see destinations. In addition to sharing over the next 7-10 days about my current adventure, I will also be sharing about just life in general from navigating the loss of my bride in February of this year, all things gardening, chicken raising, greenhouse use and of course a lot about things concerning faith, theology, and all things ministry. My goals in starting back writing this blog is to encourage others, cause all of us to stop from time to time and think about life, perhaps teach a little and most of all bring glory to God in the process. After the trip that I am currently taking, I will likely post my blog on Monday mornings. Now enough of this introduction, what about this trip??!!
Traveling to Big Sky Country (Montana, Wyoming, Idaho) has been on my bucket list for many years. Outside of my ministry as a pastor, my other passion is anything outdoors, nature, wildlife, conservation and experiencing those things up close and personal. My original plan was to fly to Idaho Falls and meet up with one of my best friends, but I decided that I wanted to cover the over 2000 mile trip by driving and get to see the broad landscape that we are blessed to have in our country. Over the last 22 hours 39 minutes and 1558 miles, I have drove through the beauty of middle and west Tennessee, Missouri from the Ozarks to Kansas City, the endless cornfields of Nebraska and finally the ever changing landscape of Wyoming. As I drove the final 690 miles of the trip to Rock Springs, WY today, I was amazed at the diversity of Nebraska and Wyoming as far as the geographical landscape. Nebraska and the endless fields of corn, soybeans and the many cattle operations that are intermingled along the way. The corn stretched as far as the eye could see to the horizon. As I drove past those vast fields, I was reminded how important our farm families are not only to sustaining our country’s food supply, but also helping us maintain our way of life. Many of those operations, just like those operations of friends of mine in North Alabama, represent, many times, generations that continue to operate in years of plenty and years of scarcity due to weather. As I moved westward along I-80, I entered Wyoming and the level of geographic diversity picked up. From the rolling hills of eastern Wyoming dotted with innumerable cattle, to the flats of central Wyoming with even more cattle, but also signs of oil and natural gas exploration. As I drove through the flats, I imagined the snow that falls in vast amounts and the drifts that blow across the beautiful plains. As I entered western Wyoming, I saw the mountains that started to spring up on the western horizon that even though they were partially shrouded in the residual smoke of wildfires, their majesty was not diminished. I also saw my first signs of wildlife that calls this area home when I observed a big herd of Pronghorn Antelope running in the open plain along the interstate. As I settle in for the night, after having been blessed to see these things, I am reminded that we truly are blessed that God has blessed us with such things from the farm family to the antelope galloping without a care in the world. I am reminded that God situated us as Americans, in this place with freedom granted by the Almighty to travel freely and enjoy all these things. Stay tuned for more! Tomorrow I enter Yellowstone and I simply cannot wait!
Thoughts of a Sojourner 