Camp Meeting Time

Brittany and Amy Greene,Tim's daughter and wife, me and Hannah Beth


Hannah Beth with our friend's the Hembree's in front of the Biltmore Inn

I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps." Jeremiah 10:23

Dear Friends,
How I thank you so very much for your prayers for us this past week! Hannah Beth and I both stood in awe and amazement at the way the LORD led and guided our paths and provided for our journey up to North Carolina this past week...thank you and GOD truly answered your prayers "exceeding abundantly beyond all we ask or thought."

A couple of weeks ago, I bought a bookmark with the verse from Jeremiah 10:23 ..."I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps." I've been thinking a ton about that lately, and the older I get, the more I realize that GOD does direct our steps even when we are clueless...He's in control. This past week, was another example in our lives of GOD directing our steps in some very pleasant and not always pleasant ways to accomplish HIS plans and purposes. Earlier this year, when I found out about the Greene's (www.thegreene'sgospel.com) Jubilee, GOD put a desire in my heart to go. I knew I'd have to wait and see what the LORD had in store for that week...we never know from day to day what the LORD has planned much less months in advance:). So many of you have prayed for my friend Tim Greene through the years, who suffers with problems similar to mine, and you know how much this dear family has meant to me ever since I met Tim at my doctor (www.ehcd.com) 5 years ago. Now Tim's brother, Tony, is having very difficult health problems, having suffered renal failure over the 4th of July weekend and is awaiting a kidney transplant. Please continue to remember the Greene's in your prayers. A few days before the Jubilee, GOD made the way for Hannah Beth and I to go with Johnny's blessings and hard work to provide for our trip. Amazingly, we found out that some friends from Mobile, friends we had met together with in Gulf Shores a few months ago, were going to be staying in that same area up in North Carolina...and they had just planned their trip, "spur of the moment."
Hannah Beth and I got up bright and early last Thursday morning, after Johnny had checked the oil, and got the car ready for us the night before and we began our drive up to close to Asheville, North Carolina. We started out in one direction heading toward's Chattanooga, Tenn, and I forgot one of my shots. We came home, retrieved the shot, and then took off toward's Nashville, a completely different route from the one we were going to take... we'll never know this side of heaven what that change of direction may have saved us from. HB drove to Nashville, where we switched drivers, and I took the wheel from there. As we traveled down the road, I began to feel bad, having been caught in the spray of a mosquito truck a couple of nights before, so I told HB I really would feel better if I could sweat. She knew what that meant, and what a good sport she was...I was in my shorts, but she was in a dress and looked really nice. We turned the air conditioner off and cranked up the heat, that's right, it was in the 80's outside, but it quickly got up to 100 or more inside, and we began sweating... unfortunately HB sweats a lot faster than me, so she had already worked up a good sweat and her dress showed it, when I started to sweat good. She gave me her blanket to help heat me up, and it worked. I started feeling better after I had sweat the chemicals out, and HB was left trying to dry her dress by the air conditioner to get the sweat stains out:)...I knew after an hour and a half of sweating going down the road, I owed my daughter something, and that something was to go and visit our friends in Asheville the next day that were visiting up there the same time we were. I don't think there are many 16 years olds who would do that for their Mom....and just an aside, the amazing thing about traveling with my daughter, is that we can take all of her friends with us, through text messaging and never have to pay their way into anything! It's amazing...they were with us in the car sweating,(I think 3 at one time), in the Jubilee, (3 or 4 at a time) in the motel room, on the Blue Ridge Parkway...they're like Master Card or Visa-we don't leave home without them:)...we did manage to sqeeze in some Mother -Daughter time between texts:).
The LORD took us safely up to North Carolina, after having to stop once after I hit a wall...not literally, but how I felt. I thought,"Oh no, I'm in for a long weekend if this is an indication of the way I'm going to feel." Thankfully, after our stop, taking a shot, and drinking some tea to wake up, we found the campground where the Jubilee was without any problems. We got our tickets, put out our lawn chairs under the large covered pavilion and then headed to find a motel room. As we headed up the hill in our car, something in the hood started making a clanking noise. We looked at each other and thought, "Oh no." We pulled in the camper office, and I asked the lady there about a place to get the car checked. She was very helpful and gave me directions...and then I asked her about a motel, and she went "above and beyond" the call of duty, calling motels out of the yellow pages to help us find a place. Because of the Jubilee, all the non smoking rooms in town were booked, but she called one place that had a room that night so we went for it (we later found out why they had a room that night:)...she was so kind when we left she even asked us to come back the next day to see her...which we didn't I'm sad to say. Thankfully, the car quit making that noise, for the most part, so after we got our room, we went back to the Jubilee and enjoyed watching the Primitive Quartet, the McKamey's, the Greene's, and Brian Free and Assurance. After the singing, a man got up and preached. The highlight was getting to visit with our friends there, and getting to see Tim's wife, Amy, and their daughter's Brittany and Brooklyn. The whole Greene family, along with several volunteers worked very hard cooking, cleaning, singing, and doing whatever needed to be done...thank you for praying for them. Carolyn Greene, Tony and Tim's Mom, had over an hour drive each night to get home to Boone, after she had worked so hard cooking and keeping things going in the kitchen...and the food was delicious-pinto's and cornbread, peach, sweet potato, blackberry and chocolate cobbler, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, etc...all home cooking and it was delicious!
The first night at our motel wasn't too hot,well the temp outside was:)...the motel was pretty run down, smelled smokey though it was a non-smoking room, and we just didn't feel too safe because of some folks hanging around. We both were exhausted so it didn't take us too long to go to sleep. I made it half the night inside and headed to the car to finish sleeping the rest of the night. We could only stay one night because they didn't have any non smoking rooms available the next night (and man am I glad the LORD directed our paths elsewhere). I wasn't at first, but as always, HE knows what HE is working out for our good.
HB and I got our stuff packed up and we were more than happy to leave there....only thing is we weren't sure where we were headed to find a room. She called a place about 25 miles in the opposite direction than where we were headed towards Asheville and we made a reservation hesitantly. As soon as we made the reservation, which they said we were locked into...we passed an exit that listed several motels that we thought might be reasonable and humbled ourselves and called the motel back to see if we could cancel our reservation. The lady was very kind and we canceled that reservation in faith, believing that we would be able to stay at one of these motels near Asheville. We were due to meet our friends, so we didn't have time to stop and check out the motels. In fact, HB was waiting in the lobby to check on one motel in Asheville, and I was getting all uptight in the car, and all of the sudden the LORD gave me peace and told me not to worry...not audibly but in my heart. We went on to meet our friends who were staying at the Biltmore Inn ( a little beyond our "girls trip budget"), and just oohed and awed over the bellboy's, the lobby, and the whole scenario we found ourselves in. We had just left the "__ __ dump" as HB called it, and suddenly found ourselves with dear friends, beautiful mountain scenery overlooking the lobby, and all the comforts a person could ever want...it was amazing. We had a really special time with our friends, the Hembree's, who wined (not literally, come to think of it, I did have a free wine tasting ticket but didn't use it:) and dined us, and paid our way in for a tour of the Biltmore House (www.biltmore.com). If you've never been to the Biltmore House, it's really worth the trip to Asheville. The mountains alone are worth the trip to Asheville. We had a great afternoon and enjoyed seeing all the luxury that the Vanderbilt family lived in in the early 1900's. It reminded me of what heaven must be like, but it also reminded me that we can't take anything to heaven with us, except the investment in eternal things as CHRIST lives through us to love others. All those material possessions that George Vanderbilt collected from around the world were left behind when he died...and I couldn't help but wonder if he knew the LORD JESUS as his personal LORD and SAVIOR.
After we left our friends about 5:30 p.m.-they were excited about the Steven Curtis Chapman concert that evening at the Biltmore, we headed down the road in faith to check out these motels we'd seen coming in...we went to one, and then decided to try the Motel 6 across the street. Yes, that's right, we just left the Biltmore Inn to check out the Motel 6 and this was the place! It was nestled in the mountains, near where the Billy Graham Training Center is called the Cove. They had vacancies and we were never so glad in our life to have a motel to stay at... Didn't matter that we had just left the extravagance of the Biltmore...the night before at the "___ ___ Dump" had left us really appreciating simple but neat and clean. I was ashamed of myself for complaining because the night before wasn't that bad, especially when you think about the KING of KINGS being born in a stable...and we were thankful to have a place to stay. We could have always camped at the Jubilee campground, but one of us, wasn't in the camping notion. We got unpacked, and headed back to the Jubilee where it was a great night of music with the Hoppers singing, Kim Greene Hopper is the Greene's little sis, and it was great to hear them, Greater Vision, Ivan Parker and the Greene's and great preaching in between. Several people accepted CHRIST as their LORD and SAVIOR that night. After visiting with friends some more...we headed back to our motel near Asheville and I had some difficulty with our room with smoke from next door, so I spent the night in the car, and HB slept soundly in the room. The next morning I asked the clerk about changing rooms and he was very kind, so we had our 3rd room in 3 nights coming up, and I am happy to say, I slept all night inside...Praise the LORD:).
HB and I rode up the Blue Ridge Parkway Sat. morning, after riding around downtown Asheville and checking it out. We tried to drive through the Cove, Billy Graham's training center, but it was closed to the public that day. The mountains along the Blueridge Parkway were absolutely gorgeous! We rode up to Craggy Gardens and had a picnic up there. I sure was hoping and praying that GOD had healed our car (we asked HIM too), cause it was kind of isolated riding up the mountain and I sure would have hated to break down up there. Thankfully, the car did fine,(we later figured out it has something to do with the air conditioner), and after our scenic ride along the Blue Ridge Parkway, we went to our new room at the Motel 6, and took a nap, and slept so good. It was back to the Jubilee that night...where the highlight of my weekend at the Jubilee occurred: For the first time in four years, I had forgotten Belle's (Tony and Taranda's little girl) birthday in July and so i took her present with us up to the Jubilee. Every other night was busy and I didn't get to see Belle much, but she came running up to me as I walked around the pavilion and asked, "Where's Hannah?" Hannah Beth was sitting in her chair listening to the music or should I say "texting" probably while the Jubilee was going on:). Belle just melted my heart, and I told her I had a birthday present for her. She was so excited even though she'd been celebrating her birthday the whole month of July, Tony told me earlier. I went to get her present and we sat down on the grass close to the where the Jubilee was being held under a covered shelter at the campground. There sitting on the grass for that few minutes was Belle Greene, 4 years old, a baby who the doctors said would never be born because Tony and Taranda weren't supposed to be able to have kids, now they have 2 kids (above in the picture) Isabella (Belle) and Josie, 4 months. Beside Belle was Brooklyn Greene, 3 years old,(she's the dark headed little girl in picture above) Tim and Amy's miracle baby due to Tim's health issues, and Lexi Hopper, 3 years old(Kim Greene Hopper and Dean's little girl) who was born several weeks premature and had to spend several weeks in the hospital. As we all sat there on the grass, gathered around Belle and watching her open her present, I realized what a special moment this was from the LORD to give me my own private birthday party with these dear little girls. GOD has given me a special love for the Greene family, and a desire to pray for them for the past 5 years. Because of distance, I don't get to see them very often, or talk with them and Brooklyn I've only seen twice in her life...what a special blessing from the LORD for giving me that precious time with the Greene little girls, and the Greene big girls, Amy, Brittany, TaRanda and Kim and my daughter, Hannah Beth...and friends:).
The next day, HB and I headed to Dollywood in Pigeon Forge and our friends the Hembree's met us there. We had a great time getting to know them better, and that evening after we checked in our motel, the 4th room in 4 nights, and I slept great inside:), HB headed up to Gatlinburg to eat with the Hembree's while I sauned up on top of the mountain. I felt really good up in Asheville, but man, the day at Dollywood about got the best of me. I met them at the restaurant after I sauned, and we all returned back to our rooms exhausted. The next morning, our friends led us to a new restaurant for us for breakfast, and what do you know but the apple orchard behind the restaurant was being sprayed when we pulled up. I panicked as usual, but HB volunteered to drop me off and go and park the car...she did, and we made it, and the Hembree's treated us to another wonderful meal. Over breakfast we marveled at how GOD had led both of our families together that weekend, and what a special blessing it was to be together...we enjoyed each other's fellowship so much...even though I kept calling my friend, Linda, "Susan" because I couldn't remember her name. . After breakfast, they checked out the gift shop, while I "sauned" in the car and then we all headed to Smoky Mountain Knife works to finish up our time together...well sort of...with the text messaging going on, the visit continued, just in another way, all the way home!
As I mentioned earlier, I had gotten a book mark that has the verse on it, "I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for a man to direct his steps."Jeremiah 10:23. I took that book mark with us and had it riding with us on our dash so we could look at it this past weekend and we did marvel, over and over how GOD led our steps and directed them...and as I look back, I can see how HE has been directing them all of my life. What a special joy to be with special and dear friends, like the Greene's, and get to know friends better like the Hembree's who were so kind and gracious to us. It's fun to see how GOD directs and leads in special times like last weekend taking us from home to North Carolina, to the Biltmore to the Motel 6... giving us the desires of our hearts...and how very precious those times are when they have come after years of waiting and prayer. Once again, I saw the faithfulness of GOD that HE continues to grow the "garden behind the wall"..and it gives me faith that HE will continue to work in special ways and asks me to trust HIM in the waiting period to work out HIS plans and purposes.
But... what about those times, that aren't so special, times when GOD leads our steps off to war, like our friend John who had to leave his young family to go serve in Iraq, or GOD leads our steps to the bed of sickness or the graveside in the death of our loved ones, or leads our children off to college, or leads us to reach out to a friend for CHRIST that we are afraid of loosing if we do share CHRIST with them? That little verse, and similar ones to it bring me great comfort when I realize that GOD is in control of all of the affairs of my life, and even though we think we are..."a man's life is not his own; it is not for a man to direct his steps."Jeremiah 10:23. HE tells us to "give thanks in everything"... including those times we had just soon not go there, times we are baffled...like trying to find the right motel room, but trying to trust that HE knows what is best for us, and those our lives will touch, that "HE leadeth" us...in this journey, in the fun and joyous times like this weekend ( and part of the joy from this weekend came from the time of waiting...waiting to see dear friends that we love) and difficult times... It is the difficult that makes our joy so much greater when we come out on the other side and look back and see what GOD has done "Underneath the Mulch."
I read a devotion from Oswald Chamber's for August 5th that speaks of the "Baffling Call of GOD." There are just some ways that GOD leads me, that do baffle me...like when we went to seminary and nursing school to prepare for the mission field, and then I got sick and instead of going to Tanzania, Africa, GOD led us back home to Athens, Al with my health broken. Did HIS call change...nope, He just directed us in a different path than the one we thought HE was leading us...and HE still calls us to share CHRIST with those around us, and encourage believers and serve HIM right where HE has placed us, not in a church pastoring like we thought, but in the restaurant business, through our church, at home, and wherever He leads our steps, like to Marion, North Carolina this past weekend. Those steps are a little bit harder to accept, than the ones up to North Carolina, and take time to get used to, but as I look back, and I am so thankful for the way GOD has directed our lives instead of me at the "steering wheel." We sure would have missed out on so many dear blessings through the privilege of knowing so many of you if the LORD had taken us to another country to serve HIM there. What seemed to me for a long time like a failure in our lives, was GOD calling and directing our steps home, where HE meant for us to serve HIM...HE also meant for us to be in Texas for 3 years for what HE had for us there, and Billingsley for two years... preparing us to serve HIM and learn to love HIM along each step of the journey, and the people we meet...each day.
Oswald Chamber's shares in "The Baffling Call of GOD" that "GOD called JESUS CHRIST to what seemed unmitigated disaster. JESUS CHRIST called HIS disciples to see HIM put to death; HE led every one of them to the place where their hearts were broken. JESUS CHRIST's life was an absolute failure from man's standpoint but GOD's. But what seemed failure from man's standpoint was a tremendous triumph from GOD's because GOD's purpose is never man's purpose. There comes the baffling call of GOD in our lives also. The call of GOD can never be stated explicity; it is implicity. The call of GOD is like the call of the sea, no one hears it but the one who has the nature of the sea in him. It cannot be stated definitely what the call of GOD is to, because HIS call is to be in comradeship with HIMself for HIS own purposes, and the test is to believe that GOD knows what HE is after. The things that happen do not happen by chance, they happen entirely in the decree of GOD. GOD is working out HIS purposes."
I can tell you this...the more I am "baffled by the call of GOD," the more I take great comfort in knowing that my heavenly FATHER who created me, called me to be HIS own, provided HIS SON to pay my debt for my sin, has a Master plan for my life, your life, and the lives of those we meet, and nothing happens by accident...HE leads us each day, day by day, and calls us to follow HIM, where HE is working. Sometimes it's difficult when GOD puts a call in our heart that we don't understand, much less those around us. HE leads us, calls us and compels us to follow HIM, even a trip to North Carolina this weekend that GOD had orchestrated long before we made plans to go. As our friend, Mr. Hembree shared over breakfast Monday, "There are no coincidences with GOD's children." In fact, there are no coincidences, period.
This week, I wanted to share the song with you "Old Camp Meeting Time," that Tim Greene wrote while he was on his sick bed remembering the times their family had sang together at "Old Fashioned Camp Meetings." Tim grew up in a family where the LORD led his Dad to start his young children singing together at an early age. Their Daddy, Everette, played the piano and sang, while Mom did everything behind the scenes to keep things rolling (and still does) and the kids sang along with their Daddy. The Greene's were and are known for their beautiful harmony. They sang in their church, and then around the mountains there in Boone, NC. Then the LORD led them eventually to sing all over the United States. Eight years ago, Tim developed severe mold allergies when he was poisoned with mold in his car and he had to give up singing with Tony and Taranda on the road. GOD had another plan, another calling for Tim and his wife, Amy, sometimes, baffling, but the Greene's know that just as GOD called them to sing and share CHRIST around the United States, that now GOD has called Tim to serve at his church in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he is the associate pastor and leads the music. What a joy it was to spend time with Tim's wife, Amy and Brittany at the Jubilee...and little Brooklyn. Tim wasn't able to attend due to struggling with pnuemonia, but his little 3 year old daughter Brooklyn helped fill her Daddy's shoes when she sang 'You Are My Sunshine" on stage with her Uncle Tony.


Old Camp Meeting Time by Tim Greene

The spirit is moving, blessing everyone
Hearts are full drinking from that heavenly cup
Hands are a-clapping, even mine
We're just having an old-fashioned camp meeting time

Chorus
We're having an old-fashioned camp meeting time
The saints are a-praising, the preacher's preaching fine
The Holy Ghost of Heaven is wonderful divine
We're just having an old-fashioned camp meeting time

You can join us in the special day-revival is stirring
Friend don't be late when JESUS comes in
Your light will shine and you can have yourself
An old camp meeting time

With all HIS love,
mitzi