President Abraham Lincoln...

Marty left yesterday to go back to Atlanta. It's always so bittersweet when he leaves. I want him to go back to his family and fellow church members because they really need him back there, and I want him to get there safely. However, despite it all, I already begin to miss him terribly when he pulls away from the house... thankfully, he arrived home safely!

Yesterday was also our 2-year anniversary of our first meeting! I can't believe it has been 2-years!

In honor of both of these strong and amazing INTPs (Abe and Marty!), on Saturday, we spent the day by visiting the President Abraham Lincoln's Museum in Springfield, and what a extraordinary museum it was! The holograms, the Gettysburg Address AND the handwritten Emancipation Proclamation, the artifacts, the interactive theatres, we poured through every part of this museum. It was a wondrous and very humbling experience that I will not soon forget.

Because we were really running out of time, we zipped through the presidential library and headed to view his quaint home, just blocks away, that he and his family shared while he was a lawyer. Before the darkness took over, we headed to visit his tomb. We didn't get to go inside due to the late hour, but we did marvel at the beautiful structure.

We witnessed 3 wonderfully educational yet sobering shows at the museum. The trials this amazing man endured was staggering. My favorite show was a heart-breaking and emotional one called "Lincoln's Eyes"; the 2nd very moving show was called "The Civil War in 4-Minutes"; the last was called "Ghosts of the Library". Here's a REVIEW I found on the Internet from someone that explains this awe-inspired journey much better than I could have, and like him, this exceeded all of my expectations!

SONG ON MY MIND: After witnessing this museum and the unbelievable loss this country faced because of the Civil War, the song I have added, BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC, seemed fitting for this particular blog. This particular song was made in 2001 and is sang by the Harmony Plains Singers on the CD called Triumphal Feast with Marty Smith singing the solo...

BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPULIC - Julia W. Howe

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord
He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword
His truth is marching on...

(chorus)
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!
His truth is marching on...

I have seen Him in the watch fires of a hundred circling camps
They have builded Him an altar in the evening dews and damps
I can read His righteous sentence by the dim and flaring lamps
His day is marching on...

He has sounded forth the trumpet that shall never sound retreat
He is sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat
Oh, be swift, my soul, to answer Him! be jubilant, my feet
Our GOD is marching on...

In the beauty of the lilies CHRIST was born across the sea
With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me
As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free
While GOD is marching on...