I’ve been quite remiss in my blogging lately. I could blame working and traveling, but it seems that I’ve allowed facebook to eat up my blogging time. It’s easier and faster…and fun too. Although it doesn’t take that much time (I’ve limited myself to 15 minutes per day), it still take me away from blogging. That said, I thought I take a few minutes this morning and post one of the many things I’ve been thinking about.
This past Sunday my daughter Elizabeth and I had the opportunity to go to church in Conway. It was an exhilarating experience for us for a couple of reasons. It’s always spiritually uplifting to worship with like-minded people, especially those who genuinely care about you. That’s the way it is in Conway. We know and love most of the people there, and I’m sure that if we lived there, we’d grow to love them all. Some of those people have known Lib since she was an infant and one man in particular still refers to her as “Elizabeth Sue.” I won’t mention any names; I’ll just say that we used to LOVE to hear him sing “Master, the Tempest is Raging” when he was the bishop of the Myrtle Beach Ward.
The other reason that Sunday was so uplifting is because of the phenomenal growth that the church as experienced there. In the late 1990’s our family was one of the few who began attending the Conway branch. We were small in number but strong in spirit. At that time we met in a modular unit, and then in 2003, we moved into a newly constructed brick and mortar building. In 2006, the branch became a ward, and a couple of years later the growth necessitated an expanded facility. Consequently, the Conway ward met in Myrtle Beach for about a year until this past Sunday. With the newly expanded church completed, the members met in it for the first time. Knowing about this event ahead of time, I couldn’t resist topping off my weekend trip to the beach by worshipping in this beautiful building with my fellow Saints and friends. Who knows? Maybe that ward will one day become a stake center.
Okay, I’ll add another reason why Sunday’s service was so memorable: the speakers, the music, and the lessons. I’ll expand on some of what I came away with at another time, but for this morning I’ll be content to mention a scripture that’s found both in Isaiah and in the Doctrine and Covenants: “Come now, and let us reason together.” (Isaiah 1:18). The spiritual uplift I got from “reasoning together” with the Conway folks on Sunday is still with me today.
One last thing. I’m writing this from the Johnson City, TN Public Library. DH is playing golf, and I drove to the library to look for information about the area. Earlier this morning, I drove through the campus of ETSU, and I wrote in my journal while sitting in a parking lot there. Overlooking the beautiful mountains and surrounding scenery, I was reminded of something one of the speakers said Sunday. He mentioned that it seemed to him that when God wants us to see things, he sends us to a high place (think Moses) so that maybe we can see things the way He does. Interesting thought, huh?
mom's musings 
skyline where the land meets the sky and you see everything on all sides art the same time