Surprise Gifts

Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above,

coming down from the Father of lights,

with whom there is no variation of shifting shadow.

James 1: 17

I have been sharing this week pictures from my recent visit to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

On Saturday the group I was with went to Cade's Cove.  Now if you are at all familiar with the Smokies you know that they are the most visited National Park in our nation.  And you know that many of those 30 million annual visitors like to come in the fall.  You also know that Cade's Cove is one of the most popular places to visit in the fall.  Finally, you probably know that the road through Cade's Cove is a very narrow, one way road.  I have seen it take eight hours to make the eleven mile ride around the cove.

Our group did not have eight hours!  We had other things on the agenda.

What a relief to arrive early and find that the traffic was moving well through the Cove. Those of us who had been there before were grateful for the gift of easy flow through the area.

But, God had a bigger, better treat for us!

Our first stop was at the Primitive Baptist Church.  It was my first visit there in a long time so I was excited to have the opportunity to photograph it.  As I made my way toward the front door, I heard the most wonderful music emanating from inside.




On the front pew sat Charlie playing a bowed Psaltery.  Charlie comes to the church several times a week just to enjoy playing and sharing his music with visitors. He was more than kind to play for us.  He was even gracious to move to another location in the church to accommodate us photography nuts with better light.

Not one photographer in our group went to Cade's Cove expecting to photograph people.  We were, after all, landscape photographers!  In addition to the glorious colors of the season, God chose to give us what we did not expect.

If we look for them, we can find gifts like that from Him every day!  Keep your eyes open.

#GreatSmokySummit