This past week, we had the opportunity to go to Gatlinburg for Thanksgiving. It was the first time that I have ever traveled on Thanksgiving. I figured it would be like a ghost town. I thought most people stayed home with their family. I tend to forget that most families are spread abroad since mine is not. In case you are wondering, Gatlinburg is the farthest thing from a ghost town at Thanksgiving! There were people everywhere! Apparently lots of people travel for the holidays. Many are probably meeting family halfway and things like that. I even heard one man say that he and his wife went there for their honeymoon and have been every year since. It has become a tradition. This was not the only thing I learned while I was gone. Please allow me to share a few.2. Hearing people say the word "you-uns" never gets old. I don't even know if that's how you spell it or not. I think I have seen it like this also "y'uns." Either way, it makes me laugh. I'm sure people laugh when I say y'all, so we can just laugh at each other.
3. False teeth entertain small children. This man who stayed at the B&B with us was very good with kids. Hudson took an immediate liking to him. Later on, he decided to show off one of his tricks. Every time Hudson would squeeze his nose, he would pop his bottom row of teeth out of his mouth and right back in. I must admit it was pretty funny. It definitely never got old to Hudson!
4. NEVER forget the stroller. We ended up spending $13 dollars in stroller rentals. Plus a dollar and some change at the candy store right beside the stroller rental station to break a twenty to get $1 bills to go in one of the rental machines.
5. People will lie in order to keep their children from finding out the tooth fairy isn't real. One of the ladies that worked where we stayed was telling us that her son looked in her jewelry box and found teeth amongst the jewelry. He couldn't believe it. He asked his mother where all those teeth came from and she said they were from an old halloween mask. Seriously?
6. Blue Mountain Mist is a great bed and breakfast to stay at. It is right outside of Pigeon Forge. The owners are good Christian people. I would be shortchanging you if I failed to tell about "temptation station." That is the area by the kitchen where they put out the delicious desserts. Probably around 6 or 7pm every day they put out two or three tasty desserts for you to snack on when you get in from supper. They also make one fine breakfast! I highly recommend it!
7. The Legend by Max is one bad Italian restaurant on the strip in Gatlinburg. When we got hungry, this was the closest place by to eat. My wife didn't really want it, but I convinced her that it would be good. WRONG! It was terrible, even the spaghetti. An Italian restaurant with bad spaghetti has no business opening its doors. (That should be a law.)
8. There are no coincidents. As we were eating at Italian nastiness, my wife got up the nerve to ask where our waiter was from. Due to the accent, we knew it wasn't from anywhere around here. Turns out he was from Russia. Of course, that is where our son, Hudson, is from. As we shared our adoption story, we were able to talk about the Lord.
9. There are lost people every where. At some point as we talked about the Lord, he claimed that he "was not very religious." To that I asked what he meant by religious. From there we entered into a discussion about creation, morality, humans, and Jesus. He didn't accept Christ but it was clear that he was searching for truth and purpose. We can only pray that we either planted or watered a seed. I hope to see him in heaven someday.
10. You can witness anywhere you are. Although I am always trying to think of ways to share the Gospel in all situations that I am in, I never expected to be doing it in an Italian restaurant in Gatlinburg with a man from Russia. It doesn't matter if you are getting your haircut, standing in line at the store, at work, at a ball game, at a family reunion, or sitting down to eat in a restaurant, people in those places need Jesus. No one is excused. No one can make their own deal with God. There is only one way to heaven.....through Jesus Christ.
11. We are weird. Ok, I already knew that but I didn't realize all the different ways. 1) We tell people about Jesus. We live in a day where this is rare, even for Christians. I don't know of very many Christians who talk about Jesus or the Bible or faith outside of the church walls. I can't help but wonder why this is. 2) We don't do santa or the easter bunny or the tooth fairy. Basically, we don't pretend that something is real when its not. Because of this some people look at us funny or think we are bad parents. More on this later.......
We can always be learning. It might be from a book, a person, a movie, or from vacation. Just like we can witness anywhere, we can learn anywhere. All you need to do is pay attention!
