"Growing up the son of a son of a Kentucky tobacco farmer and a former flower child mother who..."

“Growing up the son of a son of a Kentucky tobacco farmer and a former flower child mother who refused to set foot in an airplane or roller coaster, our family vacations were mostly spent hiking the mountains and lakes and rivers of Appalachia: North Carolina, Tennessee, and my father’s home sake, Kentucky. In my formative years, I refused prom dates to go backpacking and opted to canoe Florida’s most scenic rivers rather than a typical spring break week at a beach house. Every summer, my father and I would knock out a section of the Appalachian Trail or raft one of the raging white water rivers found in the mountainous southeast. From an early age my parents engendered within me a love and respect for nature, which blossomed into a passion for its exploration and experience. Creation was to be marveled at — the product of a mighty and “creative” Creator-God. Many of my spiritual mountain top experiences have indeed occurred on mountaintops. I can recall one of those summer trips spent with my father, after hiking to the top of Springer Mountain, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail, dad spread his arms to the panorama before us and opened into chorus of “How Great Thou Art” and in true Church of Christ fashion, proceeded to sing every verse. I doubt he remembers that, but I’ll never forget that moment of raw, authentic worship.”

- opening paragraph to my Theology of Ministry term paper, in which I base my concept of ministry in the eschatological significance of the ultimate hope for all creation found in Romans 8.18-25 (via passgasinbibleclass)