Different Worlds

I experienced some very different worlds yesterday, and I never left the state of Texas. Truth is I only ventured into two different counties.

The first world I experienced included a trip to Fort Worth. I saw heavy traffic, massive freeway systems, toll roads, neighborhoods with manicured lawns sandwiched together on busy streets. It is a concrete world. A brick and mortar world. A hustle and bustle world. A confusing world if you don't know where you are and how to get to where you are going.  This is a world I frequent, but am never at home in. I am not a big city guy. I grew up in what many would call a small town. I have spent my whole ministry in small towns and love it. I can enjoy some of the things big cities offer, but I am ready to leave it behind me at the end of the day.

I also experienced the world of an assisted living facility. David, one of our deacons, and I visited a long time Spring Creek resident battling cancer. If I understood it correctly, this man is battling three different kinds of cancer all at the same time. He reported he often wakes up screaming from agonizing pain. This is a sad world. Filled with pain, suffering and loneliness. It is a world where people slowly fade into eternity. It not a world many voluntarily frequent.

Later that day, I experienced another world. My favorite world of the day. We came back to the country. David took me around his family land. Breathtaking. We drove in beautiful pastures. I saw mules, horses and cattle. Earlier in the day David saw 16 wild turkeys. We walked in barns, saw where the cows used to get milked, walked among cattle, including one nervous momma cow who eyed me suspiciously as I approached her new calf. I saw an old cemetery hidden back in the pasture mostly unknown to people and a family cemetery. It's a world I am increasingly drawn to and want to learn. All the while the city is increasingly encroaching. David pointed out houses from a new subdivision on the back of his family land.

For the first time this week, I spent the night in the parsonage. I sure missed Brenda and our sons, but I loved sleeping out here. There is something special about the country. It is peaceful. The pace is a little slower. People take time to pull up and shut down their vehicle for a friendly visit. Neighbors help one another. Jeans and boots are common. Not those several hundred dollar fancy boots without a mark on them. Boots out here are scuffed and dirtied with cow manure. They wear working boots in the country. Sunday go to meeting boots are reserved for special occasions like worship or funerals. Denim is always in fashion in the country.

To cap off my day I watched a John Wayne movie as I ate my supper. A pretty perfect ending to a great day.

Out in the country people have a little elbow room as opposed to the big cities where houses are so close it feels like everybody is in your business. From the parsonage here, I can barely see another house. We all need a little elbow room. They pack them in like sardines uptown.

Don't mistake country people for dumb. They are smart. I saw David fix two broken pieces of furniture in no time flat. He sketched out the plans for his home and did much of the work on it. His neighbor Neal built his house himself. They can weld, construct, repair broken mechanical things, do plumbing, do electrical, fabricate anything and the list could go on. They are smart. Knowledgeable. They can grow their own food, Like the old song goes, "Country boys can survive."

I am honored to live and serve out in the country. Early this morning I caught glimpse of the sun peeking over a little bluff. Between me and that sun rise all I could see was rolling hills of pasture. I worshipped right then. I got caught up in the wonder of God and His creation just viewing a new dawning of the day.

I get to travel in different worlds. It is this country world I cherish most.