Legacies

"Nice to have breakfast out here!" the elderly gentleman remarked to us as we sat in the sun at an outdoor table. It was so much better out here in the beautiful spring air than inside the McDonald's where we had stopped so Howard could get a cup of coffee. We were on our way this morning to Charlotte, NC, to see the Billy Graham Library, leaving before breakfast so as to be on time to meet our kids, Mark and Rhonda, there. Thinking we could grab something along the way, we had forgotten that there is nothing for miles along the high mountain roads except for dizzying heights and scary curves.

I realized this was the road we'd been on about 5 years ago when I saw the sign, "Sam's Gap", a deep valley below this mountain of over 3900 feet elevation. As on that occasion, we had become nervous about gasoline and stopped at the self-same rustic, log, service station/eatery--the first beacon of hope we came upon. Unfortunately, the cafe was not open, so we foraged for snacks of a huge honey bun, a shared turkey and cheese sandwich, chips and a bottle of milk. It served to make my husband sleepy, and now we find this McDonald's only a little farther on.

The old man was wearing a WWII veteran's cap, and Howard soon engaged him in conversation about his military service. "I'm 92!" the friendly senior confided with a smile. My minister husband asked him if he knew the Lord, and he said he did. "I'm not afraid to die," he said confidently. He dropped a miniature tootsie roll on our table, and waved as he drove past us a little later. I think he saw our tag on the front of the car stating, "God is Bigger Than all my Problems". (Several times on this trip, we have gotten smiles and nods as people point to the tag in agreement--even though it takes me a minute to realize what they mean!)

The Library was awesome, as in awe-inspiring, with its huge, rustic barn complete with bathroom sinks big enough to wash milk buckets in (the senior Grahams were in the dairy business), snack bar with tractor seats on the bar stools, corrugated tin bathroom stall dividers, and other down-on-the-farm touches.

Of course, most inspiring were the "Journey of Faith" rooms depicting the life and ministry of Billy Graham, excerpts of his passionate sermons, a mammoth wall painting by Thomas Kinkade, touring the house that was the boyhood home of the famous evangelist, and the beautiful garden that is the resting place for his wife, Ruth. Ever the sharp wit, Ruth Graham had chosen as her own epitaph something she had seen on a road work sign, "Construction complete; Thank you for your patience."

I am enjoying her wit in a book from "Ruth's Attic", the bookstore, and the latest one by her husband, "Nearing Home". He was 92 in a featured news interview, his aged countenance in sharp contrast with the early, film-star good looks of his youth...the same age as the old soldier, both facing the future unafraid.