The Great American Journey

GAP WALK JOURNALS - VIII

Monday - October 13, 2008 Day 222 0.0 miles

Total Maryland miles - 68.4 Walking Days - 104

Washington D.C. miles - 4.6 Cumulative miles 1800.2

Bonny and I were up at 6 am and on our way by 7:30 am
heading to Arlington National Cemetery. Lady G, our GPS, got
us there with very little trouble - only one wrong turn easily
fixed.

After parking in the Visitor’s Center parking lot, we sat and had
our Bible times, then shared a little of what we had each read.
My reading was from Isaiah 6 where Isaiah realizes he is in the
presence of God, and he is fearful for his life being a sinful man
in the presence of the holy God. After touching his mouth with
a hot coal, the angel proclaims him clean. Then God asked who
could He send to the people, and who would go for Him.
Isaiah’s response was that he was there and willing for God to
send him.

As I thought about this I was so thankful that we can enter the
presence of the Living, Holy God because we have been
cleansed by the blood of Jesus. How awesome is that?

The other thought that came to my mind had to do with these
prayer walks, and how God has so impressed on my heart that I
am to go on these. My response has been, “Here am I, Lord,
send me.” There have been times - especially on this particular
walk - where I’ve wondered about my sanity in saying I would
go. Yet, as I have gone through the hard times, the loneliness at
times, and the setbacks, I have come through stronger and more
ready than ever to continue. So, yes, I can still say with
certainty, “Here I am, Lord, send me.”

Finally it was time to go inside to get our tour tickets. We were
on the first tour group to go into Washington for today. As we
waited t board the bus we got to talking with a couple.
Somehow we found out they had friends living in Tennessee.
When I asked them where in Tennessee, I was very surprised to
hear them say, “Sweetwater.” Sweetwater is where our daughter
lives.

Our guide was Dave (good name), and he did an excellent job. I
decided to take notes this time. On previous tours I’ve taken lots
of pictures, and I decided I would only take pictures this time if
there was something really different. One of the first things
Dave told us was while we crossed the Potomac - the word
Potomac means “meeting place.” Now Bonny and I thought that
was very interesting since right now there are economic leaders
from many countries meeting in Washington D.C. These are
very important meetings that can affect not just our country right
now, but countries around the world for now and for some time
to come.

Our purpose for coming to Washington D.C. today was to take
the tour-mobile into D.C. to pray for our nation’s capital - and
pray we did. We prayed for the world economic leaders as they
meet to make plans and work on ideas that will help us all out of
the mess we’ve gotten into.

Some interesting tidbits that we gleaned as we toured: the
Herbert Hoover building was the largest office building in the
world in 1934. - The Willard Hotel is where the Battle Hymn of
the Republic was written in 1861. - The Ronald Reagan building
is now the largest office building in Washington D.C. - Of the
Smithsonian Museum offerings, the Air and Space Museum is
the most popular. - The capitol building was built on Jenkins
Hill. And the grounds were designed by the same man who
designed Central Park in New York City.

In front of the capital building are statues of Peace, and of Grief.
- Freedom stands on top of the Capital building. - Union Station
has flags out front for each of the fifty states, and the territories.
- The Hope Diamond was sent to the Smithsonian very simply
in a small box, and was insured for one million dollars. - In
front of the Holocaust Museum is a sculpture of a broken
swastika. - The original mandate of the Secret Service was to
guard against counterfeit money. Well that’s just a few of the
things we learned, but I thought you might enjoy that bit of
trivia.

We also took the tour of Arlington Cemetery, watched the
changing of the guard , and enjoyed the view from Arlington
House looking out over the city of Washington D.C. We sat on a
low wall there and prayed for our nation, and especially the
capitol city.

Back at our car we headed out for Evelyn and Harri’s place.
Again Lady G did a great job, taking us on an incredibly scenic
route.

Harri did an outstanding job on the dinner again tonight. I’m
afraid I might put on a little weight if I’m here too long. But I’m
sure enjoying it. He’s a great cook.

I spent time on the computer getting this journal ready, and
checking my e-mail, and finally headed for bed.

GAP WALK JOURNALS - VIII

Sunday - October 12, 2008 Day 221 0.0 miles

Total Maryland miles - 68.4 Walking Days - 104

Washington D.C. miles - 4.6 Cumulative miles 1800.2

Here it is Sunday, and I’m hoping to get this onto the website
tonight. Harri, my cousin’s husband, is going to see if we can
get it connected somehow.

This morning Bonny and I went to the Potomac Presbyterian
Church where we enjoyed a wonderful service. Unfortunately
we didn’t have time to meet anyone beforehand, as we got there
just as it was starting. We sang some good old hymns, listened
to a wonderful children’s sermon, and then had a great adult
sermon.

Pastor Kerry Stolzfus gave a message on Matthew 21:22-46
titled, “Tenants, Owner, and the Mercy of God.” about the
vineyard owner who sent his servants to collect from the
tenants. After sending two delegations to collect, and then his
son, whom they killed, the owner of the vineyard had them
destroyed and gave the vineyard to another to take care of it.

Pastor Kerry told this in a way Bonny and I had never heard
before. But what he said made it twice as powerful, It showed
how great God’s mercy really is, and how sinful man really is.

Following the service we joined the congregation for coffee and
snacks. As we headed over we stopped to talk with the Pastor
briefly. He introduced us to Roberta, today’s Lay Leader, and
asked her to go with us to the coffee time and take care of us.
We were also introduced to Leslianne, the Associate Pastor. It
was such a blessing to talk with these two women and to see
how God was using them. Women, don’t ever think you can’t
do anything. God has a purpose for every one of you.

When Bonny and I left the church we drove back to
Montgomery Mall to eat lunch at the food court. Then we
stopped at the grocery store for a few things. As we drove in I
spotted it - you know, Starbucks. So after Safeway I got my
drink, then we went home to Evelyn and Harri’s. We got our
stuff put away, then I picked up the portion of Harri’s
manuscript that he had given me to read. He is writing a
Historical novel, and I’m finding it very interesting. I do hope he
will finish it. He said that he has been working on it a long time
- or not working on it a long time. So hopefully he’ll get back to
it.

Evelyn and Bonny went out to the yard to water the plants,
while Harri and I sat inside and talked. He is a very interesting
person to talk with, and I’m learning much about both him and
Evelyn. Evelyn is my cousin, but since we’ve never lived close
to each other we haven’t had a chance to really get to know each
other. I think this week will be a good week to get to know each
other.

Harri prepared a dinner of glazed chicken and a delicious rice
dish, with a great salad. We also had a good appetizer. I guess I
gave that menu a little backwards. Oh, well. The meal was
served one course at a time. Afterwards Bonny and I helped
Evelyn clean up. Oh, yes, we had Harri’s homemade lime pie
for dessert.

Now I’m doing my journal before heading to bed. I’m talking
with Dave on the phone with my headset while I’m doing this
journal. Harri just came in and looked at me quizzically, so I
stopped to explain to him that I was talking on my headset to
Dave.

Now it’s time to get this onto the website so I can do e-mail and
get to bed.