WEST
VIRGINIA
As we drove into West Virginia we noticed several things –
beautiful little mountains everywhere, “hollows” everywhere with little homes
and towns in them, no big cities,
beautiful scenery, no flat land.
Unfortunately we also noticed immense poverty everywhere. West Virginia used to have many active coal
mines and so many forsook an education for working in the coal mines. Then when the coal mines closed, their
livelihoods ended. Like the Northern
states, it appears their main source of revenue is tourism from the big city
dwellers. But unlike the Northern
states, there seems to be a lot of poverty here – people living off
welfare. The land is absolutely
beautiful though! Colorful trees
everywhere over rolling hills! But it
isn’t agriculture land because it is filled with large rocks and it is too
hilly to get equipment on.
October 31,
2017
Tuesday we woke up sadly as it
was our day to say goodbye to our dear family and friends. We sure had enjoyed spending a few days in a
home again and being able to sleep in a normal bed without the sounds of trucks
driving by, taking a long hot shower, doing laundry in the comforts of a home,
sitting as a big family at a table together, etc. We drove to Beckley Coal Mines in Beckley, WV
and had a coal mine tour. It was very
interesting to see the coal lines laid in the mountain. It is so obvious there was a global flood
that set these layers of vegetation down and turned them into coal! Working in a coal mine was very hard
work. They laid on their sides and took
picks and shovels and then loaded the coal cars while continuing to lay on
their sides. It was very dangerous work
also and many died from lack of oxygen or the mine collapsing on them. We also toured some more old buildings. We are studying the different arts of log
cabin building and contemplating giving it a try on our property. We drove that evening to Appomattox, Virginia
November 1,
2017
Wednesday we went to Appomattox. I don’t know why it was stuck in my head “the
courthouse” because in reality – nothing happened there in history! But we did start our tour in the courthouse
and watched a film on the closing scenes of the civil war. We then walking out into the village and met
a young man who thought it was November 1, 1869 who was from Appomattox, had
fought in the civil war for 4 years, and been there the day it ended. It really brought history alive. We did go into the McClean house where the
surrender did take place, and the tavern where the parole passes were printed. Afterwards we had some delicious veggie
burgers at the motorhome and headed to the Civil War Museum located there in
town. We were able to learn a ton of
interesting facts and see a lot of weapons, uniforms, and other artifacts from
the war including General Lee’s uniform and sword he had at time of surrender.
Interesting facts about Civil
War: 90% of able-bodied men who lived in
the confederate states fought in the war; this was the most militarized country
that ever existed. 700,000 Men died in
the civil war – a very high price to pay…
And the age old question – what was the war fought over? The states wanted to be able to make their
own laws rather than the federal government in regards to slavery. The southern states were the wealthiest by
far and it was because of the large amounts of slaves they had. Interestingly enough though, only 25% of the
Southern population owned slaves. When
Lincoln was assassinated, it was actually because the Southerners had a plot to
kidnap Lincoln and bring him to the South – but when the war ended a few days
before their plot to kidnap him, they instead assassinated him.
We were all very impressed at
General Grant and the Union’s terms of surrender. In history, when somebody had lost, they had
been killed, taken prisoner, or hung in town as an example to everyone else not
to rebel. But Grant saw the Southerners
as erroring brothers and desired to be peacefully reconciled. The surrender happened because Grant was
asking Lee to please surrender to prevent the loss of any more lives. Unfortunately many lives were lost in those
last 3 days of negotiations – when they almost saw peace. When the Confederate troops came in to
surrender their weapons and retrieve their passes, they were saluted with Union
soldiers lined on both sides. They were
allowed to take their horses home if they belonged to them and many were
allowed some of their weapons. There
were some Southerns who wanted to go to guerilla type warfare and keep the war
going forever, but the transition happened pretty smoothly. A few people committed suicide who were not
willing to live under the Union and there were some who moved to other
countries all over the continent, but by and large the country moved on. We learned the Klu Klux Klan initiated from a
group of whites in the South who were afraid the African-Americans would run
them over now that they had freedom and they wanted to take the upper hand.
Once more, as Serenity quickly
discovered, the civil war was about rebellion.
This war on earth started with rebellion of Eve toward God – claiming
her rights to eat what appeared good to her and not trusting that God knew best
– and it has continued throughout history.
Rebellion is a seed that never reaps a good fruit, and the cost is
always high. For worship that night in
our daily devotional we read the following words that all of a sudden meant a
whole lot more to us: “In the world you will have tribulation: but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world. John
16:33. The world’s Redeemer presents to His followers the plan of battle in
which they are called to engage, and He bids them count the cost. He assures them that angels who excel in
strength shall be in His army, and will enable those who trust in Him to fight
valiantly. One shall chase a thousands,
and two put ten thousands to flight – not through their own strength, but through
the power of Omnipotence. The Captain of
the Lord’s hose is with them, taking the command of the armies, and leading
them on to victory. Because of their
human frailty, because of their sinfulness, they may fear and tremble as they
view the vast hosts of the powers of darkness; but they may rejoice as they
look upon the angels of God ready to minister to those who shall be heirs of
salvation. They may rejoice as they
realize that the Captain of the Lord’s host will lead them forward in every
conflict against natural and supernatural foes.
Your Leader is a conqueror.
Advance to victory. How precious
are these assurances that we shall never be left to take one step in our own
finite strength, for He has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ We are fighting in the presence of invisible
hosts. Unseen intelligences survey the
whole array of evil, and help is at hand.
We shall not only be provided with that which is necessary but shall be
placed upon vantage ground. To ever
Christian comes the word that was addressed to Peter, ‘Satan has desired to
have you, that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for you, that your
faith fail not.’ Thank God we are not
left alone. This is our safety. Satan can never touch with eternal disaster
one whom Christ has prepared for temptation by His previous intercession; for
grace is provided in Christ for every soul, and a way of escape has been made,
so that no one need fall under the power of the enemy.” ONWARD AND UPWARD ME FELLOWS IN THIS WAR FOR
OUR SALVATION! IT CAN BE WON!!!! HEAVEN IS CHEAP ENOUGH IN THE END!!!! WE KNOW RESULT IN THE FINAL BATTLE!!!! WE KNOW WHO WINS!!!!!
November 2,
2017
You know you are in the South
when you hear the drawl, you can get 6 bags of groceries for under $30, bananas
are 25cents a pound, and when you check leave a store you are told “Have a
blessed day.” What didn’t we move to the
South again? Dave says it is because of
the humidity. Lol Well, at least today is a beautiful fall
day. From snow on Monday, to 80 degrees
and sunny today. 😊 Last night was a rough night at Walmart
though – between people driving in and out, and a big group of people deciding
to have a fun gathering in the parking lot at about midnight… I am ready for the quietness of a country
night at home.
We went to Petersburg, VA today
to continue our study of Civil War. We
are kind of going backwards in time – we began at Appomattox (the surrender of
Lee on April 9, 1865). The battles of
St. Petersburg are really what caused the end of the Civil War. Grant was trying to figure out how to get
this war ended with the least amount of casualties, and he decided to go to the
heart of the Confederates – their capitol – Richmond. He came marching south towards Richmond but
continued to meet Lee’s battles.
Finally, they decided to go to the south of Richmond, circle around
Petersburg, and cut off their supply line because all their supplies for their
army were coming through Petersburg: 4 railroad lines and 2 roads. While Petersburg had 70 miles of trenches and
earthen works built around it, they were greatly outnumbered. On June 15, 1864 Grant attacked Petersburg
and made a 1.5mile way in. Not knowing
how many soldiers there were, he stopped at the line. If he had continued, he would have taken
Petersburg full force, but this allowed the Confederates time to reorganize and
this began an over 9 month siege. One by
one they began to cut off the supply lines.
The forests were cut down for over 30 mile radius for lumber and
firewood purposes. The confederates grew
desperate. Almost everyday there was
some fighting. The Union had a cannon
called “The Dictator that used 14 pounds of gunpower to launch a 225pound mortar
ball towards the city. But they could
only launch a few before it overheated.
The cannons didn’t do a lot of damage either.
One crazy tactic they a coal
miner came up with was to dig a trench under their lines and then ignite gun
powder – the dug a 500ft+ tunnel and planted gunpowder. They ignited at about 4am in the morning and
it created a large crater killing many Confederate soldiers. As the Union raided the line, the stopped to
stare at the crater, and their opportunity was lost. The Confederates had time to reconvene, and
by the afternoon they had reclaimed their territory. It made me think of our spiritual
battles. These two times when the Union
could have persevered and gone through remind me of our spiritual battles. How often do we have a great idea, begin it,
and just at the point before we would claim total victory, we back off either
amazed at the events, or thinking we have gone far enough, or afraid of the
future.
This 9 month siege ended as the
Union got control of the last line of supplies into Petersburg. With this General Lee could not hold his line
any longer and he retreated to the capitol of Richmond, and within 7 days had
surrendered at Appomattox. Interestingly
enough this goes back to my theory in regards to industrialization and the
depression – those who survive are those who have natural resources – not those
living in the city.
President Lincoln came down to
Virginia and stayed for 2 weeks seeing the war for himself – he quickly
remarked that he had seen enough; his eyes and heart could not bear to see the
devastation of the people and land.
President Lincoln was the one who said that when they surrendered, he
wanted them to be able to return home with their horses to plow and with their
shotgun to shoot the crows. His goal was
a healing of the nation. I know there
are some people who wish the war were still on – but when you really stop to
consider how recent this war was and how devastating it was, our country has
recovered remarkably.
We then headed to City Point to
the East. Here was where General Grant
had set up his headquarters and was his supply center. The Union brought in
supplies by boat and then only had about 15 miles to get it across land, which
they had laid railway for that purpose.
It was a beautiful piece of land!
It actually is the piece of land that has been owned the longest
continually by 1 family is the U.S. A
family lived on it before the Pilgrim’s even arrived in the U.S. and they owned
it until the late 1900’s when it was given to the park service. The family owned 4 different plantations at
the time of the civil war. When the
African-American’s were freed the family didn’t know how to make money; it was
a scary time for them. But they managed
to hire workers and move on in life.
One interesting story about the
wharf in City Point is that a Confederate put a timed bomb in a big boat full
of gunpowder. When it went off it killed
many people and made a huge mess of the wharf.
Levi and Lucas spoke with their
biologic grandpa on their bio-dad’s side this evening. They discovered they are relatives to Robert
E. Lee. The boys’ great, great, great
grandfather is Robert E Lee’s brother. No wonder there is civil war in the
family! Lol j/k
70,000 people died in the
battles in Petersburg. What casualties! Had they really counted the cost? Was it really worth it to them? In the battle with the crater, the bodies
rolled down into the crater as they were shot – the bodies were 4 deep. The horrors of war that go on – definitely
not God’s plan. There is a reason God
says “Thou shalt not murder.” I think of
these soldiers’ lives, the ones that survived and went home – but the memories
of close combat and killing each other must have lingered in their minds
forever. And yet they both thought they
were not only doing what was right – they both prayed and thought they were
doing God’s will. This leaves me to
ponder, they couldn’t have both been doing God’s will – but they were both
sincerely convinced. We may be sincere –
but sincerely wrong. How important it is
that we read our Bibles thoroughly, regularly, keeping that close relationship
with Christ so that we may be sincerely grounded and on God’s path at all
times. We need not be deceived. We are promise “You will find me when you
seek me with ALL your heart.” It does
require an entire heart devoted to God – not a divided heart where we want our
own agenda and want to figure out how God backs up our desires.
November 3,
2017
Friday we spent the day in
Richmond, VA at Tredegar Iron Works, 3 civil war museums, and a tour of the
Confederacy White House where Confederate President Jefferson Davis lived
during the Civil War. Tredegar Iron
Works was an iron mill in downtown Richmond that during the Civil War produced
over half of the cannons and ammunition used by the confederates. It was a huge brick building and they have a
replica watermill that was used to run a lot of their machinery. This is the current office for the National
Park and their Richmond war museum site.
We also visited the next door private civil war museum and walked 2.5
miles roundtrip to see the white house and a 3rd civil war museum.
The tour of the white was
interesting. The life of Jefferson David
is kind of sad. His wife appeared to be
more of a yankee than a rebel, but she was loyal to her rebel husband and her
duties to her country that came with it.
David had immense pain in his life.
He married and after 3 months his wife died of malaria. He was deeply depressed for over 8 years
before his brother set him up a young upcoming lady from Washington D.C. who
was the life of the party there and very educated and loud spoken. After 2 years of courting they married when
he was 36 and she 18. They had 6
children – 1 died of disease before the civil war, 1 died falling off the
balcony while president (interestingly enough president Lincoln also lost a son
during the civil war), and all of his other children except 1 died before the
age of 21 from disease. When they fled Richmond, he went on the run. The couple
sent their children to Canada and they were captured further south. Mr. Davis was put in jail for 2 years and
then he lived in Canada and Europe for many years before returning to the
U.S. Every business adventure he
attempted was a failure. He went from
being one of the richest and most famous men of the south, to one of the
poorest. At long last a rich Southern
lady gave them a home in her plantation and when she died gifted it to him –
much to her descendant’s anger that resulted in a court battle.
As we saw all of these museums a
couple thoughts overwhelmed me – first of all the amount of people who died,
were injured, and lived through horrendous battles is awful. The cost in humans lives was atrocious. At one point 50,000 people slaughtered in a
battlefield in 1 day. And to think many
of these were friends and family fighting each other. At night after a battle the men living in
their tents could hear the cries of the mortally wounded laying on the
field. Sometimes someone would go with a
light searching through the bodies fort their missing loved one who had been
fighting next to them.
We found a SDA church parking
lot after driving down a little neighborhood with beautiful similar brick homes
with white column entryways and a street lined with gigantic trees.
Going back to the beginning of
the civil war history, we have to begin at the founding of the
constitution. At this time, the 13
colonies joined together not because of their love for one another, but because
of their desire for independence, freedom, and liberty from England. As they wrote the constitution, they had a
challenge in that the Northern and Southern states had very different economies
and ways of life. The South was
dependent upon the enslaved for their economy and thus were concerned at the
writing of the constitution that their rights to own and operate slaves would
not be impeded. Because of this, the in
the constitution it listed slaves as property, not people. However, in regards to representation for
Congress and the House, the South had a black man count as 3/5 of a man so they
could have greater representation and control of the government. As the years went by, multiple issues
happened that caused the slavery issue to come to a climax. The South felt the Northerner’s push for
abolition and the South did not think they could survive without it. Another issue was the westward expansion and
the South’s fear that soon the unslaved slates would outnumber the slave
states. At that time each person felt
more loyal to their state than to the nation and people believed the
constitution allowed for states to recede when their rights were violated. When Abraham Lincoln ran for president the 10
states in the South didn’t even put him on the ballet. When he won South Carolina immediately
receded. Shortly after more states
receded. These states believed they were
fighting for their liberty just like George Washington had done in the
Revolutionary War. These states then
began to forcibly take over the military forts located in their states. President Lincoln ordered that the Northern
states use their militaries to take care of the rebellion, and a few more
states receded when at this order to bear arms.
President Lincoln vowed to not shoot the first shots. The first shots were fired at Fort Sumter as
the Confederates claimed it. And thus the
war began. Many thought it would involve
one major battle and be over – nobody ever guessed it would take 4 years and
take 700,000 lives.
Each battle can basically be
summed up the same way. They dug
trenches like crazy to hide themselves.
There would be a field between them.
Sometimes it would be 200 feet, sometimes 1,000 feet. One army would decide to get out and charge,
the other would slaughter them, usually it would result in vicious hand-to-hand
combat, and many times at the end the bodies would lay 3 and 4 deep. And this went on for 4 years.
An interesting note is that the
first battle was fought at the battle of Manassas. A cannonball dropped through the kitchen
fireplace into the McLean’s house that was in the area. Mr. Mclean then moved his entire family to a
tiny little carriage stop to get away from the war: Appomattox, VA. He never guessed his house was the home where
the last shots were also fired and Lee surrendered to Grant in his living
room. So they say the first shots and the
last shots were at the Mclean’s home.
There is a repeating cycle I
continue to see…. Once more there is the
bottom line that natural resources are always most important. During the war
many moved into the cities for protection, but then found starvation. The armies struggled for supplies and to feed
themselves. The war was finally won by
Grant who directly went after supply lines and laid siege to Petersburg and
Richmond while General Lee and his soldiers were undoubtedly the better
fighters. In the 1830’s there was a
depression similar to the 1930’s that was brought on by the same cause:
industrialization. And during this time,
it was food that was most important.
Again, what is liberty? The right to be able to do whatever I want
when I want. Serenity brought up a very
interesting point – the South was fighting for their liberty, but when a draft
went into affect to fight for liberty, then they wanted their liberty to not be
forced to fight. Truly, there is no
government that gives liberty – no government would function if each person did
whatever they wanted. We are not a
government of freedom – we have rules.
I also notice a
war/tax/rebellion cycle. When a country
goes to war, then it has to raise taxes to pay for the war, which then causes
its citizens to become unhappy and rebel, which then causes more war, and more
taxes, etc. We are no better off in
taxes than we were under England. I am
getting really curious about Canadian history now. How did they gain their independence from
England without ever fighting?
In conclusion, war is plain and
simple awful. With a new understanding
today I understand “Thou shall not murder.”
It might seem in our hearts and minds that we are killing for a good
cause – but I don’t think the cost is ever worth it unless we are actually
defending the LIVES of our family members.
Exodus talks about it being ok to kill someone in self-defense who
enters into your home at night. But
really, what freedom did the South gain, and what happiness did the North gain
by keeping the Union together with the loss of so many precious lives? Was it really worth it? So many times war is truly about selfishness, pride, control,
personal gain, personal rights (yet as Christians we are dead to self and
property of Christ), liberty (whereas in Christ we have given up our rights to
be loyal subjects of Christ), and rebellion towards leadership.
I am thankful emancipation of
the African-Americans came from this war.
It is sad to think how many slaves there were and for how many years in
a supposed “God-fearing” country. A
reminder to ask ourselves how God-fearing are we really? What is our true heritage? There were a few God-fearing people that
came, but as is always the case there is much evil where there is much good attempting
to be accomplished. Unfortunately even
with the emancipation proclamation the black had a long way to go. At the end of the Civil War the United States
of America went from a plural noun to a singular noun. The federal government became the controlling
power of the power of the individual states.
They made clear laws that gave all black people their freedom and voting
rights. But the Southerners still found
a way to rebel – they created segregated schools, would create tests or a fee
for voting that would eliminate the black people, etc. And when the law went out that no schools
could be segregated anymore, Virginia ceased all public school education for 5
years. It all begins and ends in the
“heart and mind.” No law can cease
rebellion and cause a change of heart.
I am praying that God will write
His law upon my heart and that of my family.
I see how rebellion has spread through my heart and mind like a cancer –
through our society. It is vicious; it
kills, and yet for some reason we call it good to be independent, free, and
living liberally. I see my heritage – a
few people seeking religious freedom to follow God with their whole heart,
soul, and mind, and a ton of people seeking their own prosperity and
adventurous life. Nothing has changed –
but I want to convert from a person of seeking my own prosperity and
adventurous life to one whose whole heart, soul, and mind is in complete
submission to the word and law of God.
The battle to convert may seem impossible – but with Christ as my
commander I will win! It may seem like
an impossible battle, but the choice is in my heart and mind.
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