Spring flowers, trees are in bloom

VISIT TO CEMETERY

We made a visit to the River View Cemetery in East Stone Gap last weekend on a beautiful sunny day. The mowing has not begun yet this year.

This was a sight to behold. The flowers looked like purple creeping phlox and it covered large portions of the grassy areas. Creeping phlox are very plentiful but they only last a few weeks and they are gone.

ANOTHER SPRING BEAUTY

Another spring beauty is the dogwood trees. They are in full bloom in our area, white and pink blossoms. Sunny, windy, cold days, spring is a beautiful time of year.

SCHOOL FUNCTIONS AND EVENTS CANCELLED

This spring we have had our world turned upside down. School functions such as graduations, proms, sports events, these mean a great deal to Seniors of 2020. An even that cannot happen for them. We don’t know how these high school and college seniors are handling this crisis in their life.

So many weddings have had to be cancelled for this spring. This virus has affected all of our lives but some have lost loved ones due to it so now we do what we are told to help keep it from spreading. Stay in and be careful.

No church meetings due to crowds so we make our home our place of reading, praying, and asking God’s help with this terrible virus. God’s word tells us in Luke 21:19 “In your patience possess ye your soul”, so let’s practice patience. That  is a hard one for me. We are not alone, it affects our whole world.  June 15th is a long way off.

Funny STATEMENT

In talking to Bruce Large last week he mentioned a true but funny statement. He said gasoline is cheaper now than ever he remembers. He said he feels like a “teenager” again when gas was cheap but he had to stay at home! Now this is a true statement, different circumstances.

PHONE CALL FROM KENTUCKY

It was good to have a phone call from a former Appalachia resident, David Fraley in Moorehead, KY. David had found a web page on his computer, www.madeforthejourney.com. All the printing on the shirts and hats said “Appalachia Strong”.

Now this would probably be of a great interest to lots of people who are proud to be associated with Appalachia.

Part of the proceeds from these sales goes to Appalachia Regional Hospitals.

The Appalachia Mountain Range begins in Pennsylvania and runs all the way to Alabama.

David saw a variety of tee shirts and hats and they all looked very good. Check it out.

CONDOLENCES SENT

We send our condolences to the family of Ray (Junebug) Worley. He made his crossing at his home with his family on Thursday, April 9. Ray had lived in Appalachia all his life. He and Calaie would have been married 58 years this August. They raised five children together. He always had a smile on his face and funny story to tell you each time you saw him.

He and Calaie attended the Appalachia Pentecostal Church.

We also send condolences to the family of Carl Messer. Carl was a resident of the Appalachia Towers. He passed away Friday evening at Holston Valley Hospital.

CHURCH IN NEW LOCATIONS

It was a great opportunity for many of us people quarantined at home to be able to be in church services from our home on Easter Sunday morning.

Zions Church in Wise had a beautiful Sunrise service in their parking lot and yes, the people were in their cars and the sun coming up in the sky was a sight to see. A great service!

Mt. Olive had their 11 a.m. service at the Wise County Fairgrounds and the people were in their cars. A message was brought by the pastor and singing was also done on the stage. Different but it was a blessing.

I understand Esserville Church in Wise held their Easter service at the Blackwood Drive-In. There was a large crowd in their cars.

Where there is a will, there is a way!

The rain held off until 1 p.m. and the churches were able to have church on Sunday morning in different locations but together they were able to worship. Now this was a first for a number of people including myself and is “Not” attending a church service on Easter Sunday morning in their church building.

As a child my sister Leona and I always had an Easter dress and most of the time our Grannie had made the dresses for us.

I was looking at some “old” pictures from my past years and we always had a basket with Easter eggs and we always had an Easter egg hunt in the afternoon. Our parents hid the eggs and we hunted util all were recovered. We were in church and to the best of my memory I never missed an Easter Sunday when we were growing up and when our children were born they too attended  the services with us. This is a part of our life that always came first, attending church on Sunday. Now temporarily we cannot assemble in a congregation but we can read our Bible, pray and ask God’s help, sing songs. We keep seeing and hearing people say we are not alone, we are in this together and this is true.

Easter was different but we did at home what we would do “if” we were in a church service.

REMEMBER IN PRAYER

Please remember our people in prayer who have lost a loved one due to death. A funeral has to consist of a graveside with only 10 people attending. Now this is a hard thing to accept also. This applies to all funerals for now, 10 people at a time is a different thing to have for funerals.

CENTRAL PARK SERVICE

Sunday morning I turned the channel on the TV to Fox News and was I ever surprised! Franklin Graham was ministering “live” from Central Park in New York, and Easter message to the TV audience. One man on the keyboard, 6 feet away from him did the music and songs. Twenty nine years earlier Rev. Billy Graham had stood in the same place but it was full of people in the Central Park area. He was Franklin Graham’s father.

I am thankful to Fox News for bringing the public the good news on Easter Sunday morning.