One Year Ago
Oct 15th, 2009 by Lyn Hanush
October 13, 2008 - Monday
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.
