Aug
24
2017
It Is Well
Posted in Worship 6 Comments
It was decided months ago.
My daughters and I would plan a mother-daughter trip.
Actually, it did not start out that way.
It started out to be a trip for sisters; the oldest and the youngest.
When my oldest daughter asked her sister where she would like to go, she said Nashville.
She picked that place without skipping a beat.
Do you want Mom to come? My oldest daughter asked her sister.
That would be fun, my youngest said.
When you have three daughters, you cannot have a mother-daughter trip with just two of them.
There was no purposeful exclusion of my middle daughter.
It’s just that she and her husband had just returned from a month long cross country trip.
Two teachers can take a trip like that, since they have summers off.
I asked my middle daughter if she would like to join us and she gave a resounding, Yes.
I remember the night we sat at the kitchen island as my oldest daughter booked the trip.
With my husband’s blessing and his airline points from business travel, tickets were purchased.
The hotel was chosen and the car was rented.
My youngest daughter was serving for twelve weeks as a mercy ministry intern.
She finished her summer internship on a Friday and that Wednesday we flew to Nashville.
It was so wonderful to be together.
We even had our own tour guide.
My daughter, who is a teacher, lived in Nashville for an entire summer.
She did volunteer work for two organizations.
She was able to sight-see as well.
Many of her favorite places were ones that we visited on our trip.
I wanted to go to the Grand Ole Opry.
There was no show on the day we planned our backstage tour.
We still enjoyed seeing everything from the eyes of the performer.
We were thrilled to stand in the circle.
The circle is a six-foot circle of wood that sits center stage at the Grand Ole Opry.
This circle was cut out of the floor of the Ryman Auditorium, which once housed the Opry.
The circle was removed from the historic building and placed in its new home in 1974.
A flood in 2010, with water as high as a chair rail in a dining room, destroyed much of the Opry.
However, the circle is indeed unbroken, as the song says, and survived the flood.
To stand on that circle, where so many have stood before, was thrilling.
We walked on the Walking Bridge over the river and listened to music downtown on Broadway.
It was the second day of our trip that was my favorite.
A book, that was made into a television series in the 90s, blessed my heart.
The book was, Christy, by Catherine Marshall.
Christy was a young girl from Asheville, North Carolina who leaves her home to teach.
She travels by train to the Smoky Mountains to teach in a backwoods mission.
It is a story of faith; it is a story about overcoming fears.
It is a story about being used by God among a people who are very different from yourself.
It was the friendship between Christy and a woman named Fairlight Spencer that struck me.
One scene in particular lingers in my mind.
Fairlight has a special place that she finally brings Christy to see.
Christy taught the mountain children at the church, which was also a school.
Christy also taught Fairlight to read.
Fairlight treasures her teacher friend and shares her special place with her.
Look Rock is an actual place in the Smoky Mountain State Park where the series was filmed.
I remember the scene as the two friends sat on that rock.
The vista all around them was incredible.
You could see Tennessee and across the river you could see North Carolina.
I wanted to go to Look Rock with my daughters.
I wanted to see that incredible view.
I wanted to share with them something that was very dear to us as they were growing up.
So we drove three hours, one way, to the Smoky Mountains.
The series was filmed in the state park and the set was built there.
The church building, that was also used as the school, sat back in a field.
That building remains but is now on private property.
My daughter knew a road that would allow us to see it from a distance.
We saw the train station when Christy first came to the Smoky Mountains.
We saw the El Pano Tea House, which is now a private home.
However, it was Look Rock that I needed to see.
We climbed over a half mile, up in the mountains to get there.
Look Rock was not easily accessible but we came this far.
The trees have grown so much since the scene was filmed on that rock.
We reached our destination.
We saw it.
My girls climbed over the rocks first and held out their hand for me.
I took their hand and climbed from rock to rock.
We were there; in the place where Christy and Fairlight sat.
The view was magnificent; no words could adequately describe it.
We stood there and marveled at God’s creation.
It is impossible to stand there with such beauty all around you and say there is no God.
God whispered through the trees.
God made Himself known by the beauty He created.
My heart was full.
We reluctantly left after quite a while.
We traveled the 11 mile one-way loop road around Cades Cove.
We drove, stopped, walked, climbed, and saw glimpses of life the way it was.
Then we saw the church.
The Primitive Baptist Church was established in 1827.
The initial log cabin was replaced in 1887 with the building we entered.
The church was closed during the Civil War.
Official correspondence after the war explained the reason.
“We the Primitive Baptist Church in Blount County in Cades Cove, do show the public why we have not kept up our church meeting. It was on account of the Rebellion and we was Union people and the Rebels was too strong here in Cades Cove. Our preacher was obliged to leave sometimes, and thank God we once more can meet.”
The early settlers lie in the cemetery.
We walked and looked at the tombstones and grave markers.
I thought of the North and the South.
I thought of divisions that still exist.
I thought about how this Southern congregation supported the North.
Generations have come and gone but the problems are still the same.
There are always sides.
There is always a dividing line down the middle.
The simple wooden pews and large planked floors echoed with the voices of the people.
There was a small pulpit and a railing with old Bibles open on the wooden beam.
There was a place where the wood stove once burned during the cold mountain winters.
In a second church we visited in the cove, there was a piano.
My youngest daughter sat on the piano bench.
There was an old hymnal lying open.
She began to play.
She played a hymn we all knew so well: It Is Well With My Soul, by Horatio Spafford.
When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul
It is well
With my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul
Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, o my soul
It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul.
The music seemed to echo over the Cove.
It was a holy moment.
The peace that passes all understanding crosses over any dividing line.
God is on His Throne in majesty and power.
It is well with my soul.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:7)
Beautiful, just beautiful.
Thank you sweet friend!
Thank you for your prayers as we traveled.
Gina
This reminds me of my 2nd great-grandfather, Harrison Yoho, who was a circuit minister for the Christian church in West Virginia (part of Virginia at that time. In 1978 my Dad, daughter Linda and I took a trip to WV to do ancestry researching. We visited Harrison’s home church, where he is buried, as is his father, George Yoho. George’s father Henry Yoho fought the Indians out there in the Revolutionary War. We also drove along Fish Creek, where the Yoho’s lived. It was so meaningful to be in the exact places where my ancestors lived and to trace my Christian heritage as well.
Sue,
What a blessing to have such a Christian heritage as you just described. We stand on the shoulders of those that came before us. Treasure your family history.
Gina
Great story. So great to see you and your daughters!!!
Thanks, Melt! We loved spending time with the both of you! I finally got to see your state and thoroughly enjoyed it. God willing, I will visit again. Blessings, friend.
Gina