**NOTE: Due to some computer issues, I was a day late in posting. My apologies. I will post one entry from my vacation per day from this point on. Also, as soon as Blogger will cooperate, I will enhance the entries with photos.**
Please bear with me at the beginning of this entry, as I detail the first couple of days of my vacation. After the first few paragraphs, I get to the point!
On the Road
David enjoying the Scenery
A chilly group of travelers
It’s always been hard for me to count the first day of vacation as “Day One,” because usually it’s spent driving some long distance. This time, it was nearly 400 miles, eight hours (if you include a few stops along the way), and finally we arrived at “our” Bed & Breakfast, La Vista Plantation in Fredericksburg, VA. This is our third time visiting this place, and after all the packing and driving and unpacking, it was nearly time for bed. Day One was in the books.
La Vista Plantation Bed & Breakfast, Fredericksburg, Virginia
Day Two, Sunday, October 8th, is another story. Today is my birthday (I’m writing this on the 8th, but it won’t be posted until I get back home later this week), and it’s the first time I’ve been away on my birthday. It is also the tenth anniversary of the passing of my grandfather. So, with my wife being out of school this week, my birthday, church homecoming next week, this was the perfect time to get away and clear my mind.
We found a church to attend this morning, and it was interesting as a pastor myself to watch another church honor their pastor. October is Pastor’s Appreciation Month, and most celebrate it today. While I was away from my own church, though, it was good to worship with more of the Family of God.
After church, we had a nice birthday lunch at the first restaurant my wife and I visited after we got married nearly six years ago. Then, it was back to La Vista for my 3-year-old’s nap. I told my wife I was going to take a walk around the grounds, to spend some time alone with the Lord, so off I went as the rest of the family began enjoying the “resting” part of the vacation.
I wandered the grounds, meandering through the “secret gardens,” little paths lined with various plants, all beneath a canopy of ancient trees. The plantation house itself sits a quarter- to half-mile away from the road, but it still within a mile or two from I-95, so there was the constant yet slight sound of traffic, inbound and outbound from Washington, DC. Nevertheless, it was tranquil enough to take me out of the stressful world for a little while.
Walking among so many trees and bushes this time of year is like running an obstacle course. The obstacles? Spider webs, those invisible strands that break with a little pressure but are strong enough to feel disgusting on your face. After destroying the good work of so many little spiders, I happened to glance to my left. From the sunlight coming from just behind and above, I saw three or four shimmering strands of yet another spider’s web. But this one was different. They were moving, pulsing in a semi-regular and rapid rhythm.
I could clearly see the anchoring strands, so I moved in very closely, and saw the small spider, about the size of a match-head. Usually I see a spider web in my path, I knock it down, move on. I see a spider in the house, I kill it and go on about my day. But this time, I did something I’ve never done before: I watched.
Granted, I’ve seen those high-speed videos on the Discovery Channel, images of lightning-fast spiders making intricate webs. This time, though, I just stood and watched. If you ever get the chance, even just once, I highly recommend it. I learned a lot about spiders today, but I also learned about the Christian life. That’s the beauty of the Lord: spend some time with Him, and He can speak to you in the most unexpected places and ways.
The little spider started in the middle, where the long strands converged. They were all connected with another strand at about a five-inch radius from the center, encircling the edge of what would become the web. And from that center, the spider began moving clockwise. It’s little legs would reach forward to grab the next long strand, would pull it closer, attach a new piece to one of what I will call the “spokes”, then moved on to the next spoke, repeating the process, lap after lap, using the previous line as a guide to place the next strand.
I noticed that the distance between the spokes was growing wider the further out the spider moved. I noted how it seemed to struggle just to reach and complete the next step. After about half the web was done (at least to my view) the spider could no longer reach the spokes. It was then that it changed directions, began moving counterclockwise, the spokes now within reach. After several more minutes, the spider had reached the outer loop; it looked complete. Then, the spider continued.
It began moving back toward the center, more laps, now filling in the spaces in between the strands it had just spent a half hour or more laying down. This time, though, as the spider moved, it tightened the web, pulling all the strands tighter and tighter, sealing the connections with sticky web, then moving on. Closer and closer to the center, the spider web, once about ten inches across, had been reduced to a compact five or six, with just millimeters in between each strand. Then, it was over. The spider had returned to the center, had placed its legs on different spokes, and waited for dinner.
Now, most people would say, “Spiders are usually considered negative little creatures,” and until today, I would have agreed. Sure, I enjoyed looking at the dew-covered webs on crisp fall mornings, but after watching this wonder of God’s nature being created, I learned a lot about how the Christian life works.
There was no way the spider could see the plans, could view the overall project, as the web was many hundreds of times larger than itself. But within the spider was the instinct of what to do, how to move, and so that’s what it did, focusing on the problem in front of it: making it to the next spoke, spinning its web, moving on. We don’t know the whole plan, which is infinitely larger than ourselves, but inside us, we know we have to keep moving, meeting each individual challenge, then move onto the next.
When the spider could no longer continue clockwise, it turned and moved another way. In this, I learned that sometimes, we realize we can’t just keep going the way we have always gone, doing things the way we’ve always done things. No matter how much we try, how much we stretch, it’s just not going to work. So we shouldn’t be afraid to turn around and move in a different direction. Remember the big plan: we can’t see it all, but we know we have to keep going. Sometimes, though, it just requires that we try a different approach.
As the spider moved back toward the center, I realized that as good as things may look, as good a job as we have done, we need to remain vigilant in our work, and tighten things up. We can always be better, we can always fill in the gaps and make life more of what God wants it to be.
And then, as the spider settled into the center of the web, I realized that we need to keep our feelings in tune with our life and the lives around us. We need to feel what kind of impact we’re making on the world around us. Our awareness includes knowing when areas of our life our damaged and need immediate attention, or when someone comes into our life and needs our help. The spider is waiting for a meal to fly into the web, but we are also being nourished through our work.
By not paying attention to the intricate latticework of our lives, we might suffer damage that can cause our life to fall apart. A person whom God sends our way, someone who can be helped by God using us in a special way, might go away from us empty because we were unaware of the opportunity, or we simply didn’t care enough to make the effort.
There was so much more the Lord showed me through this one event on Day Two of my vacation. I may have stood there for an hour or more watching this display of God’s majesty at work in one small creature, and the whole time the Lord was ministering to my soul. While there was so much more, I don’t have the words to express them. Perhaps they were just for me, just some kind of spiritual awareness that I need to meet my challenges. But I am grateful nonetheless. I look forward to what more the Lord has to show me during this time of refreshing.
Check back over the next several days, as I will be posting more of my observations from my vacation. Special thanks to the kind proprietors of La Vista Plantation, Michele and Ed Schiesser. God bless!
© 2006, Chris Keeton and Soulscape Press. All rights reserved. All material printed on this site is protected by the copyright law of the United States. It may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Chris Keeton and Soulscape Press, obtainable by writing to soulscape@alltel.net. Altering or removing any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content is not permitted. Any and all portions of material copied from the Soulscape Blog must be properly attributed to Chris Keeton and Soulscape, and cited with original blog web address.
Please bear with me at the beginning of this entry, as I detail the first couple of days of my vacation. After the first few paragraphs, I get to the point!
On the Road
David enjoying the Scenery
A chilly group of travelers
It’s always been hard for me to count the first day of vacation as “Day One,” because usually it’s spent driving some long distance. This time, it was nearly 400 miles, eight hours (if you include a few stops along the way), and finally we arrived at “our” Bed & Breakfast, La Vista Plantation in Fredericksburg, VA. This is our third time visiting this place, and after all the packing and driving and unpacking, it was nearly time for bed. Day One was in the books.
La Vista Plantation Bed & Breakfast, Fredericksburg, VirginiaDay Two, Sunday, October 8th, is another story. Today is my birthday (I’m writing this on the 8th, but it won’t be posted until I get back home later this week), and it’s the first time I’ve been away on my birthday. It is also the tenth anniversary of the passing of my grandfather. So, with my wife being out of school this week, my birthday, church homecoming next week, this was the perfect time to get away and clear my mind.
We found a church to attend this morning, and it was interesting as a pastor myself to watch another church honor their pastor. October is Pastor’s Appreciation Month, and most celebrate it today. While I was away from my own church, though, it was good to worship with more of the Family of God.
After church, we had a nice birthday lunch at the first restaurant my wife and I visited after we got married nearly six years ago. Then, it was back to La Vista for my 3-year-old’s nap. I told my wife I was going to take a walk around the grounds, to spend some time alone with the Lord, so off I went as the rest of the family began enjoying the “resting” part of the vacation.
I wandered the grounds, meandering through the “secret gardens,” little paths lined with various plants, all beneath a canopy of ancient trees. The plantation house itself sits a quarter- to half-mile away from the road, but it still within a mile or two from I-95, so there was the constant yet slight sound of traffic, inbound and outbound from Washington, DC. Nevertheless, it was tranquil enough to take me out of the stressful world for a little while.
Walking among so many trees and bushes this time of year is like running an obstacle course. The obstacles? Spider webs, those invisible strands that break with a little pressure but are strong enough to feel disgusting on your face. After destroying the good work of so many little spiders, I happened to glance to my left. From the sunlight coming from just behind and above, I saw three or four shimmering strands of yet another spider’s web. But this one was different. They were moving, pulsing in a semi-regular and rapid rhythm.
I could clearly see the anchoring strands, so I moved in very closely, and saw the small spider, about the size of a match-head. Usually I see a spider web in my path, I knock it down, move on. I see a spider in the house, I kill it and go on about my day. But this time, I did something I’ve never done before: I watched.
Granted, I’ve seen those high-speed videos on the Discovery Channel, images of lightning-fast spiders making intricate webs. This time, though, I just stood and watched. If you ever get the chance, even just once, I highly recommend it. I learned a lot about spiders today, but I also learned about the Christian life. That’s the beauty of the Lord: spend some time with Him, and He can speak to you in the most unexpected places and ways.
The little spider started in the middle, where the long strands converged. They were all connected with another strand at about a five-inch radius from the center, encircling the edge of what would become the web. And from that center, the spider began moving clockwise. It’s little legs would reach forward to grab the next long strand, would pull it closer, attach a new piece to one of what I will call the “spokes”, then moved on to the next spoke, repeating the process, lap after lap, using the previous line as a guide to place the next strand.
I noticed that the distance between the spokes was growing wider the further out the spider moved. I noted how it seemed to struggle just to reach and complete the next step. After about half the web was done (at least to my view) the spider could no longer reach the spokes. It was then that it changed directions, began moving counterclockwise, the spokes now within reach. After several more minutes, the spider had reached the outer loop; it looked complete. Then, the spider continued.
It began moving back toward the center, more laps, now filling in the spaces in between the strands it had just spent a half hour or more laying down. This time, though, as the spider moved, it tightened the web, pulling all the strands tighter and tighter, sealing the connections with sticky web, then moving on. Closer and closer to the center, the spider web, once about ten inches across, had been reduced to a compact five or six, with just millimeters in between each strand. Then, it was over. The spider had returned to the center, had placed its legs on different spokes, and waited for dinner.
Now, most people would say, “Spiders are usually considered negative little creatures,” and until today, I would have agreed. Sure, I enjoyed looking at the dew-covered webs on crisp fall mornings, but after watching this wonder of God’s nature being created, I learned a lot about how the Christian life works.
There was no way the spider could see the plans, could view the overall project, as the web was many hundreds of times larger than itself. But within the spider was the instinct of what to do, how to move, and so that’s what it did, focusing on the problem in front of it: making it to the next spoke, spinning its web, moving on. We don’t know the whole plan, which is infinitely larger than ourselves, but inside us, we know we have to keep moving, meeting each individual challenge, then move onto the next.
When the spider could no longer continue clockwise, it turned and moved another way. In this, I learned that sometimes, we realize we can’t just keep going the way we have always gone, doing things the way we’ve always done things. No matter how much we try, how much we stretch, it’s just not going to work. So we shouldn’t be afraid to turn around and move in a different direction. Remember the big plan: we can’t see it all, but we know we have to keep going. Sometimes, though, it just requires that we try a different approach.
As the spider moved back toward the center, I realized that as good as things may look, as good a job as we have done, we need to remain vigilant in our work, and tighten things up. We can always be better, we can always fill in the gaps and make life more of what God wants it to be.
And then, as the spider settled into the center of the web, I realized that we need to keep our feelings in tune with our life and the lives around us. We need to feel what kind of impact we’re making on the world around us. Our awareness includes knowing when areas of our life our damaged and need immediate attention, or when someone comes into our life and needs our help. The spider is waiting for a meal to fly into the web, but we are also being nourished through our work.
By not paying attention to the intricate latticework of our lives, we might suffer damage that can cause our life to fall apart. A person whom God sends our way, someone who can be helped by God using us in a special way, might go away from us empty because we were unaware of the opportunity, or we simply didn’t care enough to make the effort.
There was so much more the Lord showed me through this one event on Day Two of my vacation. I may have stood there for an hour or more watching this display of God’s majesty at work in one small creature, and the whole time the Lord was ministering to my soul. While there was so much more, I don’t have the words to express them. Perhaps they were just for me, just some kind of spiritual awareness that I need to meet my challenges. But I am grateful nonetheless. I look forward to what more the Lord has to show me during this time of refreshing.
Check back over the next several days, as I will be posting more of my observations from my vacation. Special thanks to the kind proprietors of La Vista Plantation, Michele and Ed Schiesser. God bless!
© 2006, Chris Keeton and Soulscape Press. All rights reserved. All material printed on this site is protected by the copyright law of the United States. It may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of Chris Keeton and Soulscape Press, obtainable by writing to soulscape@alltel.net. Altering or removing any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content is not permitted. Any and all portions of material copied from the Soulscape Blog must be properly attributed to Chris Keeton and Soulscape, and cited with original blog web address.
1 comment:
Hey, Chris! This is Jennifer from DP's website.
Tim and I were married in October of 1997 and we went to Jamestown, Virginia and Washington D.C. for our honeymoon. We travel to Williamsburg now every couple of years (or more often if possible). We are so attached to that place. I feel at home in Virginia and yet I've always live in southern Ohio my entire life. Of all the places I've been I would most like to live in Virginia!
Great blog post, by the way. ;)
Jennifer
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