the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Daily Devotionals
Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life
What's the biggest problem with taking a vacation? One has to return home to rest adequately. My lovely wife, Becky, and I were in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, over the Memorial Day weekend. We found out the hard way that one never wants to go to a beach resort town over a national holiday weekend. One cannot move about as freely as one would wish to do, due to the overcrowded streets. So much for the "one" stuff.
Who would have thought that, in a place called Myrtle BEACH, that would be the one place we could not easily access? Our first foray to find a beach left us in the middle of Ocean Boulevard traffic which could only go north. The south lane was closed as were many of the mainline businesses in Myrtle Beach. We were not allowed to turn left off the boulevard to the many beach access drives available.
We decided to head to North Myrtle Beach. From the time we first turned on Ocean Boulevard to the time we final stepped foot on a beach was approximately one hour and forty-five minutes. The beach was fairly empty and the walk was wonderful. The ocean was beautiful, as usual, and my bride of almost thirty-three years walked hand-in-hand with me on the beach. It was a wonderful time. But Sunday morning was interesting.
The two days before we had wanted to be alone and were not happy being in the throng of people in town. The solitude of the beach was refreshing. Now we wanted to be with Christians, meet some new friends in Christ and worship the risen Lord. We chose a Christian Church near where we were staying. It was only a five minute drive. When we got there we were wondering how friendly people would be. We entered smiling and ready to talk. People looked at us and went about what I assume was their normal routine.
By the end of the service no one knew our names, we knew no one else's names and we definitely felt like visitors from out of town. "Let brotherly love continue. Do not forget to entertain strangers for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels." Hebrews 13:1, 2 My wife and I have visited a lot of churches. As such, we greet everyone who visits ours with a welcome, our name and some interest in their names and home. We have only one chance to make a good first impression.
'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' Copyright 2010 © Tom Kelley. 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' articles may be reproduced in whole under the following provisions: 1) A proper credit must be given to the author at the end of each story, along with their complete bio and a link to https://www.studylight.org/ 2) 'Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life' content may not be arranged or "mirrored" as a competitive online service.
