We went...we drove...we conquored!

This weekend Shan and I got to take our own road trip! Just the two of us. Last weekend we decided that since we would have an entire weekend and she had off from work Thursday evening until 4pm on Sunday we should take a trip.
Our original plan was just to drive an hour or so to Charlottesville and browse antique stores. Well Shan came up with the idea of going to Washington DC, which turns out is only 4 hours from Lynchburg. My first reaction was a fear of driving in the nation's capitol. But we went to Barnes and Noble, read thru the tourist guides and devised our plan. We knew our time was limited and no way could we see it all, so there was no since in making ourselves and each other miserable even trying. We came up with a list of things we wanted to see and then proceeded from there.
That turned out to be quite easy! We both wanted to see Washington's National Cathedral and the Vietnam War Memorial. She wanted to visit the Holocaust Museum but I knew I would have great difficulty getting thru that without Bob with me. But I wanted to go to one part of the Smithsonian.
We got directions off mapquest, packed our bags, had our snacks and got up at 5:30AM on Friday. We were actually on the road by 6:30 and drove right to the National Cathedral without any difficulties. Parked on a side street and then spent almost 7 hours at the museum. Part of the time we were together, and alot of the time we each did our own thing. Ate our sandwiches outside on the lawn on a wooden table with a black squirrel providing entertainment. Turns out squirrels, or at least that one, don't like candied ginger!
My main reason for wanting to go to the museum was for the stained glass windows. Several of the windows were created by Lawrence Saint. He is the father of Nate Saint, who along with Jim Eliott and 3 other missionaries was killed in Ecuador in the 50's. I bought a book in the bookshop when we first got there that described the windows and gave their locations. I walked upstairs trying to get myself orientated. Sat down on a chair and looked up and right straight ahead was the circular window that Lawrence Saint created called "the Last Judment". To say it is beautiful doesn't even do it justice.
I was also able to buy a small pamphlet style biography of Lawrence Saint that was compiled and written by one of his granddaughters. What really impressed me was that Lawrence Saint had a very strong Christian testimony and devoted his life to creating beautiful Christian art; three of his 8 children were missionaries in foreign countries; his son, Nate, and daughter, Rachel, both died on the field; Nate's son, Steve, ("End of the Spear") has gone back and lived with the very natives who killed his father; Steve's children have both lived with and served the Waodani Indians. What a family legacy!
The ironic part of the whole thing...here is this beautiful cathedral, all these stained glass windows, many with Biblical themes, etc. and downstairs in the bookstore were books on mysticism, Buddhism, the Muslim faith, and all sorts of other 'isms';even a book called "The Spirituality of Wine". Not just a book or two, entire bookshelves and displays! But actual Christian books were very sparse.
The last 90 minutes we were there a rehearsal was taking place in the main part of the cathedral. I sat looking up at "the Last Judgment", listening to over 100 teens and an orchestra (with lots of string instruments) singing hymns like "It Is Well With My Soul", etc. i sat there listening to the music, glancing up at the window and reading several Psalms. What a very encouraging and blessed time!
Will write more later....