Good morning, and welcome!
Twenty eight of us were in attendance
this year, which is fewer than normal.
If we all show up, there are upwards of fifty of us. Seldom, however, in the decades past, has
that happened. Usually we’re about
thirty five or so. The camp provides
buffet meals, clean sheets, and plenty of places to gather and just visit.
Decades ago, following the passing of
our parents, the six of us siblings decided we would do everything within our
power to maintain the family relationship, including nieces, nephews, grand kids,
in-laws, out-laws, and those who just sort of hang on to and around the
family. We’ve been rather successful at
it, I believe.
We seldom lack for something to talk
about or visit about, and we seldom, if ever talk of politics or religion. We will at times harken back to our roots in
the Mennonite church, singing songs from that era or otherwise visiting about
those times. However, we are a very diverse
lot nowadays, both in faith and in politics, so we stay away from those topics.
On our way to Illinois, the wife and I
stopped in Branson for a couple of days.
We’ve been there several times before, and sort of know our way
around. We stay in a hotel just a block
or so from the old downtown, so we usually don’t have to travel the strip much
or get caught in traffic.
We perused the old downtown…the Five
& Dime, the quilt shop, a restaurant, and some other places of
interest. We also walked the Branson
Landing, not buying anything there. We toured
the Butterfly Palace…the second time we’ve been there…and attended a showing of
“David” at the Sight & Sound Theater.
I always leave that theater…we’ve seen
several shows there…wondering how they accomplished some of the special effects
that we saw. This time it was the
waterfalls on stage as well as the animatronic Goliath who was slain by David
the shepherd boy. One of these days, I’d
like to get a back-stage view, but I also know that won’t happen anytime soon.
One evening, we ate at an Italian
restaurant off of the strip. The place
was recommended by my brother as a good place to eat. We went in and were seated within just a few
minutes, even though they were busy. Our
waiter got our drink order and brought them for us. We then ordered our meals and waited. While waiting, I happened to look down the
aisle at another table a couple of tables away.
I saw a waiter kneeling in the aisle beside the table, holding two meals…one
in each hand. He was motionless…just
there with the meals. I had no clue what
he was doing there. I wondered if he had
dropped something, or if he may not have been feeling well. As I watched, he just remained there in that
pose.
I then looked at the couple at the
table. They were praying. The waiter had evidently come to the table at
or close to the time the couple began praying, so he knelt beside the table
with the meals, participating, I believe, with the prayer, then served the
meals when they were finished.
In all my years, I’ve never seen such
a thing. I’ve seen wait people just not
approach a table where prayer was going on, or quietly serve, refilling drinks,
etc. But never have I seen a wait person
participate in a prayer time in a restaurant like that. To say I was impressed is a gross
understatement.
All in all, it was a good week away
from the routine, and a time of refreshing family relationships. We’re back, now, in the routine of life…washing
dishes, going to work, cooking, cleaning, taking care of family business, and
all the other things that make up life now.
I trust your summer is going
well. May God continue to shine his
grace upon you as you navigate these next days in your life.
No comments:
Post a Comment