I hear in memory my grandmother singing: “Home again, home again, jiggty-jig.” And this is what I thought when I pulled the truck and camper into the driveway after two week traveling adventure.
Home. No place like it, my favorite place to be. Faith would agree if she could talk, but her actions spoke volumes. When I let her out of the truck, she raced for ten minutes around the yard, tail wagging and ears flying in the wind.
When I look back at my photos, I smile to see and remember the churches and graveyards I visited. The most famous of these I visited on the journey homeward–The Billy Graham Library. While not officially considered a church and graveyard, it most certainly fits the description.
Ruth’s stone reads “End of construction–thank you for your patience.” She is said to have gotten that epitaph from a road construction sign. I have not seen the sign in today’s world, but well remember traveling with my parents as a child and seeing the orange triangle with the black words at the end of a road construction area. Were people simply more patient and thoughtful back then? Food for thought. I have found Ruth’s writings to comfort, uplift, and guide. I’m grateful for her life and writing.
The Library chronicles not only Billy Graham’s life and faith, but presents the message of the gospel of Christ. Everything there teaches and reminds visitors of their own faith and journey through the years. I’m grateful that I got to visit. The stop provided a space of peace on a scale I had not expected, for both myself and Faith on our long journey south.
This is a random house in some small town in Georgia, one of many old houses that no doubt has born witness to historical happenings, yet has not earned a place on the historic register. It has enjoyed the love and devotion of people who live there and maintain it.
I so wish I could have taken photos of many such houses in the small towns the state highways wound through. But rarely was there a place to pull the truck and camper over so I could take a shot–and since Faith can neither take photos nor drive, it was up to me.
If you get discouraged when seeing too much news videos, or reading horrible happenings, as what happened in Israel just as I started off on my trip, take an afternoon and drive out on a smaller state and county highway. If you live in one of the towns there, take time to walk around. There, on the two lane roads, the real America still exists. Places where men and women still live and upkeep homes lived in for generations, where things are repaired and not thrown out if possible, and this includes people and relationships, where churches abound, and people of all sorts live side-by-side, and people do seem to have more patience and fortitude and gumption. Whenever I drive through those towns, I am heartened to think that life and love go on.
So now I attempt to get order in my home and my writer life after the journey. I confess that my email got very backed up while I was away, and if you emailed me for an autographed bookplate, I fear it may have been overlooked. Please let me know again–I call your attention to the menu at the top of the page: For Readers, Book Clubs, Groups. There is a contact form on that page for a free autographed book plate, as well as other information.
Grace and peace,
Curtiss Ann Matlock 