Pop Pop Epistle #138 – About Zermatt

Dear Grandkids,

I have had the blessing of being able to travel this earth probably more than most people. My Mom instilled the travel bug in me when I was young and it never went away. One of my most favorite places is Zermatt Switzerland. I first became acquainted with Zermatt when I was in high school. My Mom sent my brother and I to a month long ski camp in Zermatt. I have had the opportunity to return twice since then. After I graduated from college, a buddy of mine and I traveled by train all over Europe – and Zermatt was one of the spots we hit. And then in 2014 Nona and I went there when I was on my Sabbatical.

On this last trip, one of our favorite memories is a hike that we took on our last day there. We took a cable car from Zermatt up the mountain toward the Matterhorn and then spent most of the day hiking back to town. Recently I was asked if there was a day in my life that I would like to re-live if given the chance. This was the first day that popped into my mind. Here are a few pictures and a few thoughts about each one that might explain why. The picture on the right above was 34 years in the making. Nona and I were dating when I had last been to Zermatt and I came back from that trip with a promise that one day I would take her there. And then when we finally got there we weren’t even sure that we would get to see the Matterhorn because it was shrouded in clouds and rain the first 2 days we were there. When the sky finally cleared, we skedaddled up the mountain as fast as we could to take advantage of the short break in the weather.

1 & 2 – The Rocks of Remembrance are akin to what Joshua had the Israelites do in Joshua 4. They are a testimony to God’s goodness and faithfulness in our lives, specifically in regard to our kids and grandkids. You will notice that there are 8 rocks in the stack. The first 6 represent your parents: Christy and Chad, Scott and Mary, and Tucker and Danielle. The biggest rock on top represents Grayson because he was the only one of you born at the time. The smaller rock is for Bowen – though at the time all we knew was that Christy was pregnant. But the monument serves also as a reminder to us not only of what the Lord has done but also of what He is going to do – and is in fact already doing through each of you. Before we continued our hike we prayed for you and asked that the Lord’s blessing would be upon you. And even though we did not know all of you yet we had full confidence that the Lord would honor our prayer for all our grandkids.

3 & 4 – As we trekked down the mountain we came upon these two things that made us smile. The first was the cow with a cow bell. We heard him long before we saw him. The scene just seemed so vintage Swiss to us. The 2nd was a small little mountain village with a restaurant where we stopped, rested, and enjoyed a refreshing beverage.

5 & 6 – The Gorner Gorge is a beautiful crevice in the mountain that we hiked down into. It was like this spectacular surprise that we came upon on what was already a spectacular day. And as we came up out of the gorge we came across this plaque which when translated very appropriately says, “All the land adores You and sings praises to You.” (Psalm 66:4)

I hope that one day you get a chance to travel to Switzerland. It is indeed a gorgeous country. And if you go to Switzerland I hope you get to go to Zermatt. And if you go to Zermatt perhaps you can take a hike down the mountain like we did. And perhaps you will even come across our Rocks of Remembrance – and perhaps you can pick up in prayer where we left off – praying God’s blessing over your own kids and grandkids.

Never ever forget that you are very loved!

Pop Pop