Days 176 to 178 | Eastern Tennessee, My Birthplace
When we decided to make the drive from Washington, DC to home in Oklahoma, we knew we wanted to go through Great Smokey Mountain National Park and eastern Tennessee. Not only is it a beautiful sight to see, but it’s where my life began.
I was born in eastern Tennessee and lived there for the first seven years of my life. Even though I was young when my family moved away, I still have lots of special memories from there.
For about two days I got to show my husband and kids where it all began for me. I showed them where I had birthday parties and church cookouts and the place where I fell and hit my head on a rock resulting in getting my first stitches. I showed them the place I once saw a pack of bear cubs in a tree.
We saw the yard where I got stung by a bumble bee on the lip and went sledding on a cardboard box and watched my baby brother come home from the hospital.
We drove by the second house at which I remember burning sticks in the fire and writing on the concrete with the charred pieces. It was also the house where an opossum (I thought it was a giant rat at the time) met me at the front door as the bus dropped me off after school and the place I fell in love with my neighbor’s tiny white kitten, Snowball.
We continued to the church building I spent time at. I remember the people there. I remember the lady who always had a piece of bubble gum to give to the kids after church and the pastor and his wife and so many others. I remember the VBS songs and the hymns and the first time I consciously “heard” the harmony part as the congregation sang in worship.
I’m so thankful for those bits of life that have stuck in my head, and I’m even more thankful for the love and care that was given to me in those places. The love from family is what really made those houses a home. The love from people at church that took the time to share the love of Jesus with me is what really made the church building a place that is special to me today.
This is where my journey of life began.
What a gift to be able to visit here and be reminded of God’s goodness and faithfulness in my life even at a young age. I didn’t realize it then, but He was there. He’s with me now. And He’s been with me and will be with me along the entire journey.
I’m very thankful for that.
