Since I’ve been a slacker and haven’t updated this blog since February I figured I take some of my downtime while on vacation and catch you up a bit.
We are on our yearly vacation to the beach with my parents. We are at Holden Beach, North Carolina which is a sentimental favorite in our family. It’s a very low-key, family-style beach. So, if you’re into excitement and a night life, Myrtle Beach…about 45 minutes south of here…might be more your style. If you like the laid-back approach to vacation then Holden Beach might be a good fit for you.
We came down on Friday as Eddie was scheduled to teach at Baptist Librarian’s Conference at Caswell Baptist Assembly at Fort Caswell. He taught an assortment of technology-related sessions and did a great job. He really enjoyed it too. He may be asked to come back and teach a general session next year.
Fort Caswell was built in the mid 19th century but never saw any real battles. At the tail end of the Civil War Fort Fisher….which is several miles North…was taken by the Union Army. The Confederate Army then sent orders to Fort Caswell to abandon the Fort, but first they were told to destroy as much of the fort as possible so the Union Army wouldn’t be able to utilize it. Well, the soldiers that manned the fort weren’t the sharpest crayons in the box and threw all their ammunition and gunpowder into the midsection of the fort and ignited the whole mess. This resulted in an explosion that did considerable damage to the fort but also killed several of the soldiers and blew out all the nearby windows in homes up to five miles away.
After the Civil War the fort changed hands between government ownership and private ownership until shortly after World War II when the Baptist Association bought all the land and structures on the property for $86,000. That was quite a steal since a hundred years earlier it cost over $400,000 to construct the initial fort structure.
Camp Caswell is now a wildly popular destination for many Southern Baptists. In fact how I grew up as a Southern Baptist kid in North Carolina and never went to Caswell until this week is some sort of anomaly. Most SB kids went to “Camp Caswell” at some point in their childhood.
We are now at Holden Beach for the rest of the week. So far the weather has been a bit stormy and windy. Yesterday morning the storms that produced the deadly tornadoes in Mississippi rolled through here, and it felt like a hurricane here. The storm passed, but it has remained very windy. Still, a windy day at the beach beats a day in the office anytime.
There has been lots going on in my life in the last few months both with work an in my personal life. Four weeks ago last Saturday Eddie had to undergo emergency gallbladder surgery to remove a gangrenous gallbladder. His recovery has been slow but steady, and we’re so thankful that he is regaining his health.
Last week we also celebrated the grand re-opening of the Billy Graham Library. I had the awesome privilege to serve at the re-opening dinner and got to see Dr. Graham in person one more time. If you’ve never been to the Library I highly recommend that you come by. Even if you have been there before there are lots of new things to see including a beautiful new mural created by the famed artist Thomas Kinkade. (you can see the image of “The Cross” on the Thomas Kinkade website).
That’s all for now. I’m going to enjoy the rest of my vacation!
