Hummers and Space Shuttles

Our vacation is nearly over. We had 2 events happen, one at the beginning and one near the end that were incredible "bonuses". On our first day, we spent part of it with Kathy's brother in Nashville, Tennessee. We had never been there and we wanted him to show us the city. On Thursday night we spent some time in the Opryland Hotel and then set a time to meet on Friday morning to "see the town". Imagine our great delight to see a 40' Hummer limo pull up to our hotel on Friday for our tour. Kevin, Kathy's brother drives part time for a limo company and he drove us around Nashville in style. We had a blast! Our two boys thought they were hot stuff as people pointed and stared. We made a Starbucks stop and two people asked to take pictures inside and outside the limo. What fun, but very "heady". I can see how people who have sudden upward life style changes can go somewhat wacko. After a few limo rides you could start thinking you were really someone special...climbing back into our junior-high-boys-locker-room-smelling mini-van brought us right back to earth.

May 31st was our first full day at New Smyrna Beach in Florida. NSB, as the locals call it, is a wonderful little town, somewhat protected from the hordes of Florida beach tourists. We rented a condo right on the beach. We were blown away to find out that on that Saturday the Discovery shuttle would be taking off from the Kennedy Space Center, just a short distance away from NSB. At 5:02 PM on Saturday, we stood on the beach with hundreds of other local residents and watched Discovery take off. It was incredible to hear the roar of the engines, watch the entire engine burn and then watch the booster rockets fall away. Being there was a once-in-a-lifetime experience! What a marvelous human accomplishment. And yet, later that evening, looking at the stars and looking out to sea, I realized again how small we really are. Earlier in the week I had been reading about our lives being a vapor, just a wisp, and then we are gone. We think we are the creative ones, completely independent, doing the things that amaze and astound the world. Yet, it is God who allows it, and gives us a small measure of His creativity. Someday, when we see the fullness of His creation, we will be constantly blown away by what He's done.