[you can read another story of my trip to MB at my "Faith Hope & Love" page]
For
a long time, I groaned and moaned about not having been to the beach in
so long. I think it was five or more years that I did not make a trip
to the beach. These recent days have made up for that, and then
some. I joined a Launch Team for a new church campus that we are
starting in Myrtle Beach. It is located on Highway 707 near Murrells
Inlet on the south side of Myrtle Beach. We actually stayed in North
Myrtle Beach this last trip. So far, I've been down there three times
this summer already, with several more trips expected.
It hasn't been the type of beach
trip, however, that you might imagine. One of the trips saw me inside
our church building for about seven hours non-stop, without any trips or
sight of the ocean or beach. The last trip down, I made it down to the
beach for about two minutes, just long enough to take a couple of
pictures.
Here are some pics of the beach... what I and some new friends of mine saw in our brief times there. The first two pics were taken by a girl named Heather. I believe these were taken in the evening around 10pm.
The next two pics were taken by myself, on a quick walk down the 4-5 blocks to the beach at around 6am the next morning. I got lost on the way and was late getting back to our bus, which was leaving at 7am to go to our meeting destination. It was a beautiful view, and no matter what anyone else says who was waiting for me, it was worth it.
To me, this is a favorite pic from the trip. The bus ride was fun-- in a way, but it was long, and tiring at times. We had air conditioning and TV's on the bus, but that still did not make the trip any shorter. To top it off, on the way back home, we got lost, and it made a four-hour trip into a six-hour trip.
However, Bella was one of the joys of the trip. She is the daughter of Daniel and Brittany Bishop, who I met on this trip. Her daddy was often sitting up front with the bus driver and every now and then, Bella would miss her daddy, and start rambling up the aisle toward the front. I was sitting in the second or third seat from the front. Once, she surprised me (remember- I hardly knew her) by coming up to me and giving me a great big hug.
Later- I asked Bella if she would
mind taking a picture with me. She kindly obliged. I am so happy to
have Bella as a new friend from this church beach trip! She is a real doll... don't you agree ?
Aug. 10, 2013
I took my second trip to Myrtle Beach in three days today. On Wednesday, I was down there on a work trip at our church building. People that I told about my trips said, "Oh, I wish that I could go.. Have fun!" We had fun alright. Six hours with no air conditioning, measuring and cutting carpet and linoleum for kids' classrooms, pastor's studies, and bathrooms. No swimsuits, sandy beaches, and ocean waves. I changed clothes three times from being soaked with perspiration. I'm almost sure they wouldn't have made those statements if they knew what we did that day. But it was fun- but the fun was in the fellowship- working together with 25-30 church folks from Salisbury and Kannapolis, NC, and today with sixty (60) folks from Salisbury and Lexington, NC, and Myrtle Beach.
Right now, 23 of us are traveling down on a bus. 36 of us are staying together tonight at the Myrtle Beach Christian Retreat Center in N. Myrtle Beach, which is 3/4 of a mile from the beach. [ see beach pics above ]. Some of them are driving down in cars and meeting us there, or already live in Myrtle Beach.
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| Bob with Jess & Jon Allen |
We meet tonight at 6:30 for dinner together, a tour of the new campus building (which I'm already somewhat familiar with), and then a prayer and planning meeting. Tomorrow, we are meeting at the St.James Middle School for breakfast together, and then the very first preview service in Myrtle Beach! We will be volunteers- greeting visitors, serving coffee & water, seating guests, teaching kids, operating sound and light equipment, and playing music and teaching from the stage. It will be a wonderful and marvelous experience for all of us! And all for the glory of God-- dedicated for the purpose of sharing with others God's wonderful Love, and the second chance that He offers all of us through His Son, Jesus Christ.
