Coal Miner’s Daughter

We set off our adventure on Saturday a little later than expected with traffic heading through the mountains of Virginia, and then West Virginia. It was slow going. We stopped halfway in Beckley, West Virginia to stretch, grab a bite to eat and have a little adventure. Poncho & Lefty’s was a great find, with a unique variety of tacos.

We wanted to learn a bit about coal mining and Beckley was the place. We visited the Beckley Coal Mine, where they have a museum.  We saw coal mining houses that rented for $4/month, learned how the miners stayed in debt to their companies, and rode a train 2 miles into the mine, where a former miner told us chilling stories about death. We saw how dark the mines were without light, and how much risk these men took with their lives daily. I was was reminded of the old Loretta Lynn song, A Coal Miner’s Daughter.

We also learned to breathe deeply when in tight places to avoid panicking! And that looking at pictures on cell phones can help to calm little nerves.

Tuesday’s With Morrie

During our time together we listened to the audiobook (yes, the complete book because it took that long), Tuesday’s With Morrie by Mitch Album. I read this book years ago and thought it was such a gift. With tearful eyes, we listened as Mitch Album described lessons he learned from his “coach,” Morrie before he died. We talked about what we learned.

Giving is Living – Two Thoughts

Morrie shared that the more we give away in life, the more alive we become.

1. Giving is living, and taking is death. We talked about ways that we can give…our time, our toys and books, our joy, ourselves, and our resources and that holding onto “stuff” by definition, is a “Taker.” Our prayer is to to live a life of giving.

2. He also taught us that we need people when we come into the world to help take care of us, and when we leave the world approaching death, as he was stricken with ALS. In life, we talk a lot about taking care of babies and those near the end. But, we don’t talk about the middle. We all still need others in “The Middle,” and we don’t know when death will arrive, but it’s a guarantee.

God’s Gift

Deep thoughts were with the Rhodes family, as we approached Ohio and were given the beautiful sunset.