Stuff Worth Remembering

We're trying to visit all 50 states as a family before the girls are out of high school / college. If you know anything about us as a family, you know this is a big dream of ours. As I write this, we're sitting in Sioux Falls, SD. Tomorrow morning we are heading to Mt. Rushmore. When we realized how close we were to Minnesota, we decided to pop over and have lunch. We discovered a cool little town called Luverne.

We had lunch a fabulous local restaurant, and popped over to a great little store next door. Our plan was to head back over to Sioux Falls and chill for a while, but the store owner enlightened us to a couple possibilities of seeing a bison herd or two. We were down for that! We headed over to a local state park. Along the way, we found a delight...

Before enjoying the treasure we saw, we thought we'd better head on over to the park, because rain was looming over us in some rather ominous clouds.

But, just a little while later, we came back. You see, right there on State Highway 75 North, just a couple - three miles out of Luverne, MN there was this....

We learned this fine little spot was built in 1963, and in its first year, over 40,000 people stopped in.

It was chocked full of tracts and devotionals and Bibles. It was clear all of those items were meant to be enjoyed and taken by anyone who felt so led.

As you can see, it's not meant for many people (note the size of the bench on the outside to get an idea of the scale / size of the building):

Of course, being the big mouth that I am, I felt compelled to lead a time of reflection and worship: 

As you can see, it's not meant for tons of people, but it was perfect for our family. 

Before long, though, Rachel felt compelled to offer some leadership. She thought she could lead us in a short service of testimonies and Bible reading and singing. So, she did... 

She started by asking if anyone had a testimony, or "something you want to share with us." We all shared. Then, she moved to her first Bible reading.

Her first selection was from Ezekiel 34 (she wanted to warn us about poor teaching) (please see the short video linked below to hear Rachel reading to us): 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZZloarFD4A&feature=youtu.be

We then sang, "Jesus loves me." After that, Rachel led us in reading Mark 16, and singing "Amazing Grace." She then called on me to pray for us all. Rachel closed the service with the familiar call and response and benediction I often offer at our local church.

Rachel: "God is good!"
Us: "All the time!"
Rachel: "All the time!"
Us: "God is good!"
Rachel: "Go in the grace and peace and love and favor of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." 

For the record, as the Spirit led, she added "and love," and I'm thankful the Lord gave it to Rachel to give it to us in a slightly different way. She was leading, not simply trying to do from memory what was in her mind. She was leading us. 

There you go... 

Thank God for the church who had the vision to prepare that little place 40 years ago. Thank God for leading us to a worship service on the side of State Highway 75 near Luverne, MN today. Thank God for our precious children, who often lead us in the way of the Lord. 

We've seen much of God's good creation. We've talked to His people all along the way. We've met evangelists and we've gone to several churches. We went to a Sunday worship service. I went to a Sunday mass. We went to a church that holds a 24/7/365 prayer and worship meeting. 

We've covered nearly 2000 miles (so far!). 

This afternoon, in that little wayside chapel...now, THAT was the best. That's the stuff worth remembering.