If you go to breakfast at a McDonald’s or a Hardee’s or almost any fast food restaurant that sells sausage biscuits and coffee you’re likely to see a table of old timers sitting around, chewing the fat.
That’s the setting for a story Viking told me one day when we were hiking the Appalachian Trail, on the way to Maine.
He said his daddy, whose name is Richard, lives in Pennsylvania. He’s a farmer, a dark-to-dark kind of job for a good part of the year, but not in the winter. In the winter Richard drives to town most mornings, meets up and eats breakfast with other old farmers, friends of his, and they talk about this and that.
Porcupine
Viking said one morning they were sitting around having breakfast when his daddy told them, “I shot a porcupine yesterday.”
One of his friends said to him, “Richard, porcupines are protected.”
“This one wasn’t,” Richard said.
NOTE: Later on the Pennsylvania Gaming Commission changed the rules, allowing porcupines to be hunted part of the year.
I used to be a newspaperman and before I interviewed someone, I learned everything I could about them. You know the adage about old habits dying hard, so, the other day, I googled “Carrie Fisher, N.C. Baptists.”
I plan to interview Carrie early next year for a story about the need for volunteers to repair Down East homes damaged by Hurricane Florence and other storms. A lot work has already been done, by Baptists on Mission and other groups, working together. A lot remains to be done.
I already knew that she is the site coordinator of the Baptists on Mission rebuild site in New Bern, N.C. I had been there twice, in July and November, working with the team from my church, Trinity Baptist in Raleigh. On those trips I had heard Carrie pray six or eight times. She talks to God like she knows Him well, and He knows her.
Paul Fisher: “Jesus loves you and He’s got a plan for your life — a good one.”
Someone told me that her husband, Paul, died while they were on a mission to Puerto Rico but I didn’t know when or how. Or why.
When I Googled Carrie I found a video of her testimony, honoring her husband and praising God. And the more I thought about it, the more I thought how appropriate it would be to share it with you today, at Christmas.
Hurricane Florence Update: Hurricane Florence [Landfall, Sept. 14, 2018] is the most devastating natural disaster North Carolina has ever experienced.
Feeding Summary
Baptist of Mission kitchens prepared a total of 1,057,623 HOT meals for Florence survivors at 10 locations.We are still feeding volunteers.
Long Term Response
This disaster is so big that it will require a long term rebuild response, two to three years, and require thousands of volunteers. We are setting up four rebuild center sites [New Bern is one] where we can house and feed volunteers.
