Renewed Relationships
What a great week! Last Monday Peggy and I left home about 3:00 a.m. to deliver a trailer in Nashville. Just 3 miles from the drop we picked up a trailer loaded with video equipment bound for a festival in Muskegon, MI. Monday night we parked near the festival grounds at a hotel with a marina on Lake Michigan. Tuesday morning we met the crew, assembled from around the USA: from Tucson, Flagstaff, Oklahoma City, Dayton and Nashville. We moved the truck to the main stage area and waited for them to unload it. I sat on a bench under a tree overlooking Lake Michigan to fiddle while waiting. It just seemed exotic & cool to talk to these guys who travel around the country to run TV cams, recording & sound equipment for big name bands at large venues - not that I'd ever like to do that. It would be very cool however to drive a truck for Garrison Keilor, or even better – Chicago Symphony! On the other hand, I think our lives are exciting enough as is. After Muskegon, we picked up in Detroit and delivered in Bettendorf, IA at midnight the same day.
Wednesday morning we picked up in Oregon, IL – just 85 miles from Bettendorf and drove to the Canadian border at Houlton, Maine arriving Thursday afternoon. And it was time for a break. We had dinner at the Houlton Truck Stop. Our next pick up was in Boston, 350 miles away. After a few delays we finally got hooked up and chained. (We had a stack of 5 chassis.) We were able to deliver in Chicago on Saturday morning and pick up another trailer in Romeoville bound for Charlotte, NC.
Here's the best part of the week! Once we got the load assignment for Charlotte, with a lot of extra time to drive it before delivery on Monday, I started looking for someone to visit en route. There were two candidates: 1) James & Joan Werning in Asheville – exactly en route; or B) James & Seung Hyun Wanliss near Greenville, SC – a little out of route. I emailed to James Wanliss but didn't expect much from a busy physics professor whom we haven't seen for 12 years. Sunday morning we were positioned just west of Asheville and were figuring out how to get parked with truck & trailer near 'The Body' – James & Joan's church. We didn't phone ahead to them, but would've just gone to their church & hoped to see them there... But then I saw James Wanliss's reply to my email. He is in Korea for 4 weeks, but he invited us to meet Seung Hyun at their church, and gave us detailed directions, so we decided to head for Greenville. (Sorry Wernings.) We were 30 minutes late for the 10:00 service. Fortunately there was a perfect place to park our big rig right in front of the church. As I drove, Peggy was checking things out on Google Earth, so we could see what to expect. There is a 10:00 service, then lunch, then 1:30 service. Most people stay through all of that. Some families come from far away for this church. It is Presbyterian, Free Scottish Reformed, or something like that – anyway, very conservative, evangelical. Most women wore a head covering, usually lace but could be a hat or scarf. There is no instrumental music, drama team, worship team or dancing. The singing is Psalm Singing, acapella. One man sitting in the middle of the church would start each tune by singing the first few notes. It is a powerful, austere sound. These folks sing with gusto, and the vast majority are in tune, so the off key ones (I could hear some) were decisively covered up. The preaching was very good. There was a catechism class between 1st service and lunch. Everything takes place in one large space – lower level of an office building, until the new space is completed mid-July. The people are very friendly. We especially loved seeing Seung Hyun and the two girls. We enjoyed telling the story a few times over: When Peggy and I lived in Seoul, Korea, James Wanliss got in touch with us somehow, to ask if he could stay with us to save money while in Korea to visit his fiance, Seung Hyun. James is white South African from Johannesburg. When we met him he was in grad school in Canada, where he had met Seung Hyun. He stayed with us 2 or 3 times in Seoul. Then they set their wedding date. But at the last minute Seung Hyun's parents would not give their approval, so the couple honored the parents' wishes and canceled the wedding. But James's parents had non-refundable airline tickets from Johannesburg, so they lost a lot of money. The wedding was rescheduled a few months later. This time James's parents could not afford to make the trip, so... James asked us to be his stand-in parents. That was about 1997. We participated in the wedding – a Korean style Christian wedding – some elements of western weddings with white dress and tux, but also some Korean traditions. We sat in special chairs in front of the church along with the bride's parents. The couple bows to both sets of parents, etc... My memory of that day has faded, but it was a little humorous to be so intimately involved in a wedding ceremony and not really knowing the couple all that well... After that day, we lost touch with James & Seung Hyun until now. I tried to locate them once after we had returned to the States, but he was no longer at college in Canada, so I mostly forgot about them and would occasionally wonder what ever became of them. Praise the Lord for renewed relationships! It was a very stimulating Sunday with these church folks. The lunch was pot luck. Every Sunday the church shares a meal and then comes back together for the 2nd service – all in one large basement space. I think this is an 'evening service' that is moved up to 1:30 because of the several people who come from great distances to church. Next time, we look forward to seeing James as well.
Wednesday morning we picked up in Oregon, IL – just 85 miles from Bettendorf and drove to the Canadian border at Houlton, Maine arriving Thursday afternoon. And it was time for a break. We had dinner at the Houlton Truck Stop. Our next pick up was in Boston, 350 miles away. After a few delays we finally got hooked up and chained. (We had a stack of 5 chassis.) We were able to deliver in Chicago on Saturday morning and pick up another trailer in Romeoville bound for Charlotte, NC.
Here's the best part of the week! Once we got the load assignment for Charlotte, with a lot of extra time to drive it before delivery on Monday, I started looking for someone to visit en route. There were two candidates: 1) James & Joan Werning in Asheville – exactly en route; or B) James & Seung Hyun Wanliss near Greenville, SC – a little out of route. I emailed to James Wanliss but didn't expect much from a busy physics professor whom we haven't seen for 12 years. Sunday morning we were positioned just west of Asheville and were figuring out how to get parked with truck & trailer near 'The Body' – James & Joan's church. We didn't phone ahead to them, but would've just gone to their church & hoped to see them there... But then I saw James Wanliss's reply to my email. He is in Korea for 4 weeks, but he invited us to meet Seung Hyun at their church, and gave us detailed directions, so we decided to head for Greenville. (Sorry Wernings.) We were 30 minutes late for the 10:00 service. Fortunately there was a perfect place to park our big rig right in front of the church. As I drove, Peggy was checking things out on Google Earth, so we could see what to expect. There is a 10:00 service, then lunch, then 1:30 service. Most people stay through all of that. Some families come from far away for this church. It is Presbyterian, Free Scottish Reformed, or something like that – anyway, very conservative, evangelical. Most women wore a head covering, usually lace but could be a hat or scarf. There is no instrumental music, drama team, worship team or dancing. The singing is Psalm Singing, acapella. One man sitting in the middle of the church would start each tune by singing the first few notes. It is a powerful, austere sound. These folks sing with gusto, and the vast majority are in tune, so the off key ones (I could hear some) were decisively covered up. The preaching was very good. There was a catechism class between 1st service and lunch. Everything takes place in one large space – lower level of an office building, until the new space is completed mid-July. The people are very friendly. We especially loved seeing Seung Hyun and the two girls. We enjoyed telling the story a few times over: When Peggy and I lived in Seoul, Korea, James Wanliss got in touch with us somehow, to ask if he could stay with us to save money while in Korea to visit his fiance, Seung Hyun. James is white South African from Johannesburg. When we met him he was in grad school in Canada, where he had met Seung Hyun. He stayed with us 2 or 3 times in Seoul. Then they set their wedding date. But at the last minute Seung Hyun's parents would not give their approval, so the couple honored the parents' wishes and canceled the wedding. But James's parents had non-refundable airline tickets from Johannesburg, so they lost a lot of money. The wedding was rescheduled a few months later. This time James's parents could not afford to make the trip, so... James asked us to be his stand-in parents. That was about 1997. We participated in the wedding – a Korean style Christian wedding – some elements of western weddings with white dress and tux, but also some Korean traditions. We sat in special chairs in front of the church along with the bride's parents. The couple bows to both sets of parents, etc... My memory of that day has faded, but it was a little humorous to be so intimately involved in a wedding ceremony and not really knowing the couple all that well... After that day, we lost touch with James & Seung Hyun until now. I tried to locate them once after we had returned to the States, but he was no longer at college in Canada, so I mostly forgot about them and would occasionally wonder what ever became of them. Praise the Lord for renewed relationships! It was a very stimulating Sunday with these church folks. The lunch was pot luck. Every Sunday the church shares a meal and then comes back together for the 2nd service – all in one large basement space. I think this is an 'evening service' that is moved up to 1:30 because of the several people who come from great distances to church. Next time, we look forward to seeing James as well.
posted by Trucking Fiddler at 4:30 PM
1 Comments:
Kenneth E, king of "renewed relationships"! But why would you like to drive for Garrison Keillor? And did you see the Black Hawk statue, overlooking the Rock River, just outside Oregon, IL?
Post a Comment
<< Home