I Like Mountains.

Friday, February 1st- Sunday, February 2nd:

This weekend my staff and the other Lilly Fellows went to a retreat/revival conference in Gatlinburg, TN, home of the Great Smokies. While the weekend was supposed to be a new and unique way to experience God and learn together, and I did my best to have an open mind, I ended up just feeling a lot of disappointment.

It was a 6 hour drive to get there.
The roads through the Smokies were closed.
The motivational speaker was into talking (yelling) about God. I know that's supposed to seem like a good thing, but I'm almost positive that Jesus might even have rolled his eyes and made a few sarcastic comments.
The motivational speaker was into bad metaphors and statements. For example: "So when you buy an iPhone, you're actually buying courage" or "I know who will win the Super Bowl--whichever team shows up to play"
The motivational speaker was into talking (bragging) about his church and his book.
The motivational speaker was just, frankly, not very motivating. He showed the last scene from the movie Pursuit of Happyness (where Will Smith, playing Chris Gardner, is finally given the job) but explained nothing beforehand about who this man was, or how much he struggled financially and emotionally. Just showing the whole movie would have been more effective than his talk.
Then, it was a 6 hour drive back.

But then there's this all in one weekend and it's all worth it.

Driving to Gatlinburg after a light snow

Random field at the base of the mountains

Great Smokies from a cemetery near our cabin

Monday, February 4th:
Today was the first day of my staff's adventure to become VIPPs (Very Important Parks Person). We registered online and now we have to travel to 15 required state parks and 5 elective parks or state forests in West Virginia. When we complete the program we get a VIPP jacket. Totally awesome, right? We started today by visiting two required parks and an elective--Bluestone, Pipestem and Pinnacle Rock, respectively. These parks were all in a loop through Bluefield, WV where I was on ASP staff in 2010. We had lunch at an old favorite restaurant with two of the most special women in my life--both from families that I worked for that summer. It's always incredible to see how much the relationship of these next door neighbors has grown since that time and I believe that the shared experience of having ASP volunteers at their houses for an entire summer was a major part of that. I was so happy to share their light (and spunk) with my staff. There was a lot of beauty today so I don't think that I can name just one thing, but that's probably how it should be!

Bluestone State Park

"Greet each other with Christian love. Peace be with all of you who are in Christ." 1 Peter 5:14