Relevant theology from the man outside the Family Dollar

Here's how the conversation went:

Older Man walking by my car in the parking lot: "Hey girl, why did you make it snow today?"

Me: (somewhat surprised) "Oh, you can't blame me for that. Plus, it's not a bad thing. There's always a winter before every spring."

Man: "Yeah, I was teasing you. I love the weather, I love the snow, I love rain, I love tornadoes, I love hurricanes. Why? I'll tell you why -cuz God makes snow, and hurricanes, and tornadoes. If He sent a wild tornado through here, I'd love it. Do you know that God causes hurricanes?

Me: (wondering if this conversation is heading towards a theological standpoint of God causing hurricanes to topple houses and destroy lives...so i decide to play it safe) "Well, I know God is in control."

Man: "Yes, that's right He is. (At this point, he walks towards me and stands about 8 inches from me for the rest of the conversation.) "Now, I don't know where you stand with the Lord, but I'm gonna tell you that He saved my wretched soul. Now, I was just a wretch. A plain wretch. Why people say, 'how could you be a wretch, a good man like you?' But they don't know that I sin every day. That's what I tell people, I sin every day. You know what will get you sent to Hell?

Me: (I'm feeling like I'm in for a sermon, so I decide to beat him to the punch) "Yourself, your own decisions."

Man: "Nope."

Me: "Sin."

Man: "Nope."

Me: "Yourself" (trying again to prove my point...and I'm also mentally guessing where he goes to church. I think it's the fundamental church at the top of the hill.)

Man: "It's the devil. He'll do everything He can to tempt you with something small....and you know how he tempts us - by whispering in our ear. And then we do it. And God says we've got to be forgiven. Even if we haven't done anything wrong that day. Now how can we be forgiven if we haven't done anything wrong?

Me: "Our sin nature."

Man: "Why do we need to be forgiven if we haven't done anything wrong?"

Me: "Sin"

Man: "Why do we need to be forgiven?"

Me: "Our hearts"

Man: "Nope. Your head. That's where the devil works...(and 15 minutes later, he's finishing up his conversation. I'm warming my hands in my pocket and eating a piece of candy I bought earlier...) and you know what I told that preacher? He ain't a preacher. Boy, he looked at me and started in on me, but I said 'the Word of God says Jesus lives in us and that Jesus is the preacher. He might preach for a living, but he's not the Preacher."

Me: "Yes."

Man: (as he's walking away) "You know you better believe everything I said, cuz it's the Word of God. That's how you know it's the truth."

Me: (smile)

AT adventures

I love the Appalachian Trail. I don't know if I'll through-hike it, but I love every mile that I've been on so far. This weekend, I trekked 20 miles near Pearisburg, Virginia. Here's my weekend in pictures...


I awoke on the second day to this amazing view...

The previous night, I ended up hiking late into the day. I was rewarded with this awe-inspiring sunset...

There are no words...