Bobby posted a video
of Tennessee Ernie Ford on my Facebook page today in honor of our 1000-year
flood here in South Carolina.
He knew that I grew up listening to Tennessee Ernie Ford
sing “Noah Found Grace in the Eyes of the Lord” on an 8-track tape as our
family pulled our camper traveling as a child.
All of that family time in the car brought about a lot of
conversation and laughing. We did not have the “luxury” of electronic devices
to keep our attention… We had
imagination and creativity.
The one I remember BEST…. was watching for tags on cars and trucks
that we met and passed on the road. Our goal was to see if we could find a tag
for every state in the United States. Our eyes were always searching for the
unusual color or design so that we could add that “ one state” to our
list. I think one time we found 45 of
our 49 continental states and several of the Canadian Providences. It was always fun to find that “one more” on
our list.
To this day, when I travel, I have my eyes peeled for the
variety of different tags that are available.
I truly believe that not only did “Noah Find Grace in the
Eyes of the Lord”…. The Scurry family also found grace in the eyes of the Lord…
The time we spent together experiencing and appreciating the nature that God
created camping…. our “car” lessons and the family bond we built was life
changing but more important LIFE forming.
We did not all sit in the car and stay in our own little
world… there was conversation…including the sharing of childhood stories and
experiences. Our time together allowed
our family to share news events, activities of our community and more
importantly…. our DREAMS..
Our travels modeled our values, grounded us with the history
of our family and allowed each family member to truly connect and know each
other. We knew what each other’s favorite meal was… favorite color was…
favorite hymn was and of course their favorite trip in the car.
The games…. family singing alone with Daddy’s 8-tracks…. and
the stories were family times that will be always loved and cherished.
Not only did Noah
find grace…. The Scurry family find grace…. but Arlene found grace in the Eyes
of the Lord too…. Grace that is humbling… undeserved and precious….
