Day 1: July 4th, 2013
It was a last minute decision to go on this trip. God was
gracious in providing us with good deals. We stayed in Nashville for a fairly
decent price and in Pigeon Forge we paid almost nothing.
Nashville was our first stop. On our way to Nashville which
happens to be around a 10 hour drive we decided to memorize scripture. We
picked 1 Pet 1:3-9. It was such an encouragement as we were driving to think
about God’s amazing grace and the truth that through faith we are being
shielded by God’s power. Have you ever imagined yourself inside an invisible
giant bubble with super powers? And I mean not just physical protection but
protection in all realms of life. Because of God’s gift of His Son Jesus
Christ, we have access to an imperishable inheritance. Though imperishable and
inheritance don’t go together, in our case it is the truth and the reason for
our hope. When God called us to follow Him, he never promised us a bed of
roses. But He did promise faithfulness in providing for our needs in all times
(Isa 43:1-2). Rightly so Peter writes in his letter that in this we greatly
rejoice that even though now for a little while we may have had to suffer grief
in all kinds of trials, our faith, of more worth than gold which perishes even
though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in the praise,
glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Oh how wonderful to think of the
day when we meet our Savior face to face!
Vijay and I were talking about how gold is considered as one
priced possession in today’s world. In India gold is handed over from
generation to generation as an inheritance. We use the value of gold we have to
represent it in our personal property. Sadly we do see that the value of gold
never consistently rises. It does fall too. Also it perishes as time passes by.
But do we realize that our faith is more precious than gold? Sit back and
meditate on this fact that your faith is more valuable than gold and that it
never ever perishes. You will be amazed to see how as Christians we fail to
remember the power of Christ in us. Our faith leads us to the salvation of our
souls. Our faith has the power to defeat darkness, sin and death. Our faith can
change the lives of those around us. Our faith can produce a master piece from
a sinful life when the Day of Judgment comes.
We expected very little at Nashville. It is the “Home of
Music.” To be more specific American music and to be even more specific it is
the home of country music. Like other places in this country, there were
advertisements and the hype about Nashville displaying the largest fireworks.
So we geared up to watch this highly anticipated event. Not forgetting to
mention the big bands that came to perform live music on that special day.
Nevertheless those names really did not matter to us. Vijay or I don’t know
much about the country music stars. It was raining all day. We were praying
that God would give us a chance to see the places around. 
We were at the Cheese cake factory in the evening to enjoy
one of my favorite delicacies. We had some nice samosas, pasta and cheese cakes
(the Mango key lime and the Chris’s outrageous!) When we were almost ready to
leave, the rain stopped! I mean literally stopped! Our hotel receptionist told us
that the city planned to cancel the fireworks because of the rain. But God
seemed to have other plans. We praised God that we were able to view the
spectacular display of fireworks. Whether it was the largest in the country or
not is debatable. It was so beautiful that it made us think that if our hearts
felt so excited at this manmade display, how much more glorious heaven would
be(Psa 19:1-6). Would we be able to even contain it? We all will have to wait
and see when that day comes!
The place was crowded with people because the rain stopped
and the live music was on. After the fireworks we decided to walk down the
street in the downtown area. There were all kinds of people. I mean really all
kinds. We walked into the Hard Rock Café which people talk about so much. It
was more like a curious visit than a desire to visit. It was filled with smoke
and the smell of alcohol. In between we could also smell some delicious food
too. We wanted to pick up a souvenir and went to the shopping place. We were
not surprised to see all these symbols of darkness in there. It reinstated the
fact that there is nothing there that either Vijay or I would want to touch or
pick up. We walked through the place and looked at all these clothes and
letters some of the great singers have left. It surprised me how people adore
these singers when in reality they get nothing out of it. I mean may be some
entertainment and pleasure to an extent but can they truly fill the void in
their lives? (Prov 21:2) Anyways as we walked up we saw all these scribbled
letters of singers, their shoes, torn outfits and even their hair!? All of them
nicely boxed in glass and kept for audience to WOW at!
We walked up to the place where the live music was being
played. We had to get some stamps on our arms after showing our ids. This was
to ensure that we were above the permitted age. I guess they needed licenses to
lead people to destruction ( Ecc 12:14)! When they began to sing, we were
amazed at the wonderful voices and gifts those artists possessed. What good is
i
t for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? (Mk 8:36) However
we felt sad that they were not using their gifts for the sole purpose they were
created for. To praise and glorify God! We were feeling uncomfortable after
sometime and so left after our tour was over. 
Tired and sleepy we decide to go back to our hotel and when
we came out we saw cops everywhere. One boy was surrounded by 5 cops as they
were trying to stop him from escaping. We did not know what happened but it was
something serious because there were lot of cops and cop cars around that area.
We saw long lines of people desperate to get into the night clubs. We saw cops
trying to check on those who were under 18 to leave the place. We saw people
who were drunk and trying to get their act together. On the whole it was an
interesting experience. That brings to an end our first day.
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