2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the LORD of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The LORD be with you all.

2 Thessalonians 3:16

Now may the LORD of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways.  The LORD be with you all.

Greetings!  Hopefully some faithful reader out there has been wondering where the heck I’ve been!  Just returned from a week in Branson MO.  A dear friend and her hubby have a timeshare there and graciously shared their three bedroom bit of paradise with my hubby and me.

I had heard of people my age taking their parents to Branson, so I figured I’d get to feel like a young’un in that crowd.  Turns out that Branson is in transition.  A drive along the “yellow” route or the “blue” route or the “red” route reveals grand, theatre type buildings housing talents that are “hot” or “have had their day.”  Jim Stafford’s building is run down and forlorn.  The Dutton’s theatre, hotel and Tourist Trap are hopping.  To cater to the kiddies, there are water parks, go carts (“Don’t act your age, just drive!”) and various putt putt golf options.  Silver Dollar City is a theme park with Ozark crafts that appears to be thriving.  Shepherd of the Hills stands speaking of a past heyday with acres of blacktop, faded flags for the fifty states, and nobody home.

The weather and the people were divine:  mild, warm and welcoming.  The timeshare business is fierce with offers of free show tickets and low pressure sales pitches.  What did we do while in Branson?  So glad you asked!  Sunday morning we went to the Grand Country Gospel Jubilee, followed by wine tasting at Stone Hill winery.  Monday we had Breakfast with The Stars, where performers gave us samples of their musical talents, to help us decide which shows to see.  Stormy Point resort (where our friends have a timeshare) treated us to an outdoor BBQ, with music.  That evening we saw The Duttons.  Mercy me, what a family!  They all sing, dance and play the violin (and tons of other instruments!).  One young fella, all of eight years old, played his violin (fiddle?), while bending over backwards until his head touched the floor behind his heels!!!  One ubertalented family.  Several shows in town featured families that had appeared on “America’s Got Talent” and “American Idol.”

Tuesday was spent on the pontoon on Table Rock Lake, followed by a show by The Chinese Acrobats.  Wednesday we went to a sales pitch for a timeshare, said “No, thank you,” got our free show tickets and fled the premises.  It was an hour and a half of our time and easily $200 worth of tickets.  And an education in sales techniques.  First, you meet with a friendly, open fella who visits with you as you wait for the group presentation.  Then, there is the group presentation with a charming, somewhat forthright sales lady, and then you meet one on one with another sales person, trying hard to be your good buddy.  Our good buddy didn’t know what to do with us when we forthrightly shared we usually go on mission trips, not vacations.  He called his boss over.  His boss realized we had no “vacation dollars” to “invest” in places to stay on vacation, rather than “renting” places to stay.  Oh well.  The boss instructed our good buddy to proceed with the pitch procedure.  Our good buddy proceeded, we said No, and our good buddy was done with us.  Off to “gifting” for the tickets.  Mercy what a way to make a living!  Good thing I hadn’t begun knitting a Christmas sweater for our new, dear bosum buddy…

Thursday was “Jonah” at the Sight and Sound Theatre.  The place is huge.  I thought we took a wrong turn and had landed at the Taj Mahal in India.  I expected “Jonah” to be an IMAX production, with a drive-in sized video screen.  Well, they did incorporate the video screen into the show, but most of it was live.  It was a stunning presentation with a large cast, colorful costumes, and an imaginative sharing of the whale and Jonah’s time within.  Very original.  I won’t give it away, but THAT’S 3D!!!

Friday was Ayo and George Dwyer.  More singing, dancing and incredibly talented families.  These shows played to audiences of about 30 – 40 people each.  The performers seemed like real folks like you and me.  That happened to have been featured on American Idol and to have performed in operas.  

Oh, and did I mention, at the beginning of the trip I bought a little sneeze along with me from Bismarck that tried its best to become pneumonia?  And our hostess took a little trip to the Emergency Room on Wednesday night, due to abdominal pain?  She had an appendectomy on Thursday morning.  Thankfully, our men remained healthy and all turned out well.  God is good and it is good to be back in Bismarck!