Day 2
Breakfast began at 6 AM this morning, and some of our group were actually there before breakfast began to be served. Our luggage was loaded, and we were lined up by 8:15 this morning. Carolyn Freeman greeted the group and led the reading of our morning prayer.
Ben Nimmer then prayed and asked God’s blessings on the group and the ministry we share together today. After our prayer, our group went into the lobby and sang a prayer of blessing, “May a Song Remain Within You,” for the desk clerk at our hotel. Her name was Stephanie.
We departed for Gettysburg United Methodist Church at 8:30 this morning. Pastor Rick Smith and music director Sharon Brown greeted us so warmly when we first arrived at the church. After putting our change of clothes away, we moved into the sanctuary and began rehearsing about 9:40. Rick was amazed at how beautiful the choir sounded in their sanctuary. The acoustics were fabulous for singing. Taylor and Melanie Baumgarner joined us for the first time at the church this morning.
The pastor, Rick Smith, did an outstanding job in his sermon and in leading the worship service. We got to witness the baptism of an infant this morning. It was really beautiful. The baby‘s great grandfather, who was the former pastor of GUMC, baptized him. He had also baptized all of his grandchildren.The pastor stepped away from the pulpit and preached a 25-minute sermon with absolutely no notes in front of him, and he did a beautiful job. Someone suggested that I tell John about him preaching with no notes and about him also leading the music. I said I was not mentioning him leading the music since that might jeopardize my position at First Baptist!
After worship, we went to eat lunch at Gateway Diner in Gettysburg. The staff there helped us get in and out very quickly. We were all surprised to see that the menu was exactly the same as the menu we had at the diner last night. The food was good, and the service was great! We got to our appointment at Gettysburg Battlefield on time at 2 PM.
Our guide‘s name was Bob, and he had a dry sense of humor. His presentation included lots of questions to our group, and it took a while for us to get used to the way he shared his information. We had a great tour of the battlefield, but it is hard to get a sense of what actually happened in that 6000-acre battlefield. There was no missing the fact that 60,000 young men died in those three days at Gettysburg. After the tour, several of us went to a brief movie and visited the cyclorama at Gettysburg, a 360-degree painting of the reenactment of Pickett’s Charge, which occurred on the final day of the battle at Gettysburg. This is the charge that handed the Union forces a victory, and General Robert E. Lee a defeat.
Andrew, our bus driver, took us through the country to Lancaster Pennsylvania after we left Gettysburg. It was a beautiful drive to the countryside. It was nice and comfortable on the bus, but really hot outside. Rick distributed our “Simply Blessed” cards so that people could write an a note of encouragement to one another on the drive to Lancaster. We drove straight to, you guessed it, another diner for supper. This is the third diner in a row in which we have eaten. We’re thinking we may rename this tour “The Diner Tour!”
At supper, we met a young waitress named McKayla who told us about the three numbers tattooed on her finger. She called them her Angel numbers. We had to look that up to understand what she was talking about. According to AI, Angel numbers are repeating sequences of numbers, like 111, 222, or 444, that are believed to carry spiritual or symbolic meaning, often interpreted as messages from angels or the universe. These numbers are thought to offer guidance, encouragement, or confirmation about one's path in life. McKayla is expecting so some of the group asked her about her pregnancy. She said she’s actually having twin girls in a few months. That led us to ask her if she has a church home. She is not currently involved in a church anywhere. At our devotional time tonight, we talked about the fact that there’s a spiritual hunger in people all over the country and how we need to engage with the world around us.
Ben Massingill let our devotion tonight and did a great job challenging us to be the light of Christ. He began with a golf analogy that hit home with everyone. He shared some experiences from their recent travels and said that if we would just allow the light of Christ to shine through us, there would be little need to sell Christ to others. They would be able to see him in our lives.
Carol Jo distributed our Simply Blessed cards tonight for the first time on tour. People really seemed to enjoy the encouragement they got from their fellow travelers. Since Dennis Gensler filled Carolyn Lesley‘s spot on the tour due to her being sick, we have jokingly called him Carolyn. When we distributed the cards, Carol Jo saw that her mother had received a card. Dennis, a.k.a. Carolyn, had written the real Carolyn Lesley a thank you card. We talked about our day tomorrow in anticipation of our visit with the Amish family and with our tour guide, Jane Barge.
God blessed us with another beautiful day!