September 7, 2008 (Sunday): Ludington to Grand Haven

This morning we worshiped with the First Baptist Church of Ludington. The building that they meet in was constructed in 1894, but this congregation was formed in the mid 1970’s by the SBC. The service was led by their bivocational pastor Tom who was also the band director for the local school system. The service opened with a discussion about praying for protection for those in harm’s way from hurricanes in the southeast so I liked him right away. We sang wonderful hymns to rich piano music played through speakers from a recording, and listened intently to the message from Acts 20 on Paul’s following of God’s leading even through the difficulties. At the end the small congregation responded by sharing how God was moving in their lives. As always, it was good to be with God’s people.

The people were very friendly, and one of the men was a retired ship captain from The Badger which we had seen docked next to the marina in the harbor. The Badger was the 410 foot ferry which takes cars from Ludington across to Manatowoc, Wisconsin. The church man told us that the ferry originally carried train freight cars across the same traverse when the railroad ran through Ludington. He recollected how the ship with 7000 horse power engines could cut through the ice in the winter.

We set off for the afternoon’s cruise, and met a continuation of yesterday’s wind and waves. It took us four long hours to arrive at Grand Haven and find a place at the Grand Isle marina. Here we were greeted by a beautiful white swan who stood her ground (or water as it were) in the middle of the passageway as we docked the boat.