In Heaven...

Well, not quite... but it is beautiful up here, in the mountains of North Carolina... 10 minutes from where Billy Graham lives! The accomodations are nice here at the Ridgecrest Ministry Retreat Center, too... I'm really enjoying my restful stay.

The only downside of this excursion was when I was checking in... a yellow piece of paper caught my attention... and it wasn't because of the color, it was what the paper said:

WARNING... BEAR ALERT!!!!!
Bears have been spotted near these facilities.

Now, I'm from Takoma Park, MD, and I don't know all there is to know... but I DO know that bears are not one of my core values! Other than at the zoo, I'm not partial to ever seeing them. I won't be upset... won't fuss... won't lose any sleep from never having seen a bear in person.

And the instructions on the yellow paper seemed to go beyond logic:

Stay calm.
Don't run.
Continue facing the bear.
Make lots of noise (ya think????), and...
Back up slowly.

WHAT?!?!?!?!? I WILL make lots of noise, as I scream at the top of my lungs, and do my best interpretation of Carl Lewis!!!!! Don't run. Give me a break...

Actually, they say bears can outrun humans, so those directions are probably for the best. I had planned on going higher up on the mountain to the prayer garden that's here... but I figured that God doesn't hear me any better when I'm in the woods... close to bears. :-)

On a different note, tomorrow is Elevation Church day! Their Executive Pastor, Chunks Corbett, is meeting me so he can show me around before the service. Hopefully, I'll have some pictures to post soon!

And, hopefully, I can leave this mountain without seeing any bears!