View From The Front Porch-Stan Hitchcock-January 20, 2013

48 degrees and Sunshine in a blue bird sky on the Deshea Creek in Sumner County, Tennessee. From the porch of the old farm house the sun is picking up the ripples of the creek and shining like diamonds. Ah, but when I dip my hand in the ripples, it's not diamonds I feel, but rather cold, clear Limestone washed water. And, therein lies a lesson, I suppose. God may not supply us with diamonds or gold, but He leads us beside the still waters and let's us lie down in green pastures. The water and the green pastures restores my soul...diamonds do not. Blessings are in the simple pleasures of life, and they are in abundance. Old Buck The Collie, lying at my feet, is a testimony of simple pleasures. He is sure of my love and care for him, sure that as the sunsets, Denise will have him his dog supper, and all will be well in his dog life.


To the right of the farm house, between here and the creek, lies a historic spring where the pioneers would stop to water their animals and themselves. It always ran brim full in the old days, but in recent years it goes out of sight when it gets dry. Right now we have had an abundance of rainfall so it runs on down to lose itself in the creek. In the year 1800, historians say that the Wilderness Revival was held around this spring, on the gentle slope in front of the farm house. Walter Durham, the State Historian, writes about it in his book, "The Great Leap Forward", which speaks of the settling of the Wilderness that is now Middle Tennessee. They say over 2000 people gathered for a week of preaching, singing, Holy Spirit filled times led by Methodist Circuit Riders, Baptist Missionaries and Presbyterians, that were bringing God to the Outer reaches of American civilization. And, so it goes, the world cannot keep God out, faithful bearers of His Word continue to reach the unreachable, through the wilderness or in our everyday life.

I have a sense of awe as I study the old spring, rocked up and flowing full, wondering at the times that happened around it. I'm thankful that God has let us live and enjoy our home for a time, never once forgetting that everything is a gift of God, and we don't possess anything but for a time as we live our life of Faith.

I know that before the white man came, the Native Americans in several different forms and lineage used the same sloping hillside and fresh spring water because I have found much evidence of their passing through. Perhaps a village occupied the site where the old farm house now sits, and a lifestyle we can only imagine lived here. Everything is for a season, nothing stays the same...except the love of God The Father and the Mercy He bestows.

The water rolls on over the limestone boulders and gravel, on to its joining with the bigger Bledsoe Creek, to flow on to the Cumberland River and from their to the Ohio River for a short while and then the Mississippi River to the Gulf.

An old man sits on his porch, contemplating in the warm sunshine, now turning to shadows along the creek, and feels a strange melancholy for the time that has passed so quickly, and knows first hand that nothing lasts forever, and the ultimate reward is never diamonds or gold, but the Peace that surpasses all understanding that is available to all that believe in Him.  Stan