I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
Today – June 14TH – we observe Flag Day here in the U.S.A. It commemorates the adoption of our flag – our “Stars And Stripes” – “Old Glory” – on this date in 1777.
For more on the origins of Flag Day – click here.
All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This is a continuation of my post from last week when I wrote about meeting my family at Disney’s Coronado Springs at Walt Disney World. My sister-in-law and two nieces headed for Orlando International Airport (#MCO) – on their way back home to the Dallas Texas area. My brother came with me, and we spent a few hours at Disney Springs before driving southward to Highlands County, Avon Park, and Sebring.
Day 2 begins now, and on that Wednesday we did more shopping at my brother’s request. We ate lunch at my favorite Asian restaurant in Sebring – Cang Tong. (It’s really my only Chinese restaurant here, as I haven’t visited any other.) We saw a fun “action on an airplane” movie at the mall – “Fight Or Flight” – starring Josh Hartnett. And we made a Starbucks run.
Day 3 (Thursday) consisted of breakfast at Avon Park Diner (one of my favorites), more shopping, and then our monthly Sebring Historical Society spaghetti dinner fundraiser at our Charles F. Weigle House Museum. My brother got to meet some of my museum friends, and we both enjoyed being served a delicious spaghetti dinner. (Normally I’m preparing the desserts or in the kitchen helping prepare the meals, but on this special night I was a paid customer.) And we made a Publix run.
Day 4 (Friday) consisted of lunch at Olympic. Everyone I know seems to love Olympic, and so do I. The first time I ate there was back in June 2022 – 3 days after my 55TH birthday – after I had toured my 55+ dream neighborhood for the very first time and determined that I wanted to buy and live there forever. Olympic serves all kinds of great food for lunch and dinner, and I believe it’s one of the longest-running restaurants in the area. It’s been there with the same name for 47 years – since 1978. The left / west side of the building has been there since 1951 – when it opened as a different restaurant. There’s a lot of history there at that corner of U.S. 27 and Circle Street in Avon Park.
We went to another historic business down the road after Olympic – Maxwell Groves Country Store. Unfortunately they had a sign up at their door stating that they were closed due to minor repairs. So no soft-serve / dairy-free orange ice cream for us. Maybe next year.
We saw another movie at the mall on that Friday afternoon – the # 1 movie of the weekend and perhaps my favorite movie series of all-time – “Final Destination Bloodlines” – the 6TH in the series since 2000. I’m looking forward to # 7 in a few years.
On Day 5 (Saturday) we headed back north to the Orlando area. We ate an early lunch at Skyline Chili – one of my brother’s favorite fast-food places from when he lived in Ohio near Cincinnati and Columbus. After that we went to a couple of sports card stores – and then The Florida Mall. This mall is thriving and bustling – unlike many malls around the country. There were thousands of young locals and tourists at the mall on that Saturday afternoon.
I dropped my brother off at the airport (#MCO), and then I headed back southward to my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida. My brother made his way back home to Texas via an unplanned (weather-related) trek through Houston’s Hobby Airport.
That ended an unusual span of 10 out of 19 days with my brother since the end of April – 5 days in Texas and 5 days in Florida. In summary – we did a lot of shopping (my brother’s favorite thing to do) and eating (my favorite thing to do). It’s what we’ve always done together for the past 40+ years in Virginia, Florida, Ohio, Texas, and beyond.
And this concludes my 6-part blog series on those 10 out of 19 days with my brother. It was a lot of fun to write, as it brought back great memories with my brother, sister-in-law, nieces, and sister-in-law’s parents. Next #TravelThursday I’ll put on my Meteorologist hat and look back at the cold Winter of 2024-2025 here in Sebring Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.
All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from the previous week. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back almost 50 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday June 08TH 2025 – the 434TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:
| TW | LW | WKS | SONG TITLE | ARTIST / SITE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 12 | You Never Gave Up On Me [2ND week @ # 1] |
The Afters |
| 2 | 3 | 11 | Oh Death | MercyMe |
| 3 | 2 | 11 | Unashamed | Matthew West |
| 4 | 4 | 5 | The King Is In The Room | Phil Wickham |
| 5 | 5 | 19 | Money Can’t Buy | Cochren & Co. |
| 6 | 7 | 3 | God Did It | Micah Tyler |
| 7 | 8 | 10 | Jesus Loves | Zach Williams |
| 8 | 6 | 8 | No Fear | Jon Reddick |
| 9 | 9 | 2 | I Know A Name | Elevation Worship Ft. Brandon Lake |
| 10 | 10 | 15 | A Lil Church (Nobody’s Too Lost) | TobyMac |
# 1 This Week In:
2024 – “Beautiful Life” – Pat Barrett
2023 – “Cornerstone” – TobyMac Ft. Zach Williams
2022 – “Sunday Sermons” – Anne Wilson
2021 – “Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight)” – TobyMac
2020 – “I Will Fear No More” – The Afters
2019 – “Born Again” – Austin French
2018 – “The Way (New Horizon)” – Pat Barrett
2017 – “Live Like You’re Loved” – Hawk Nelson
PHIL WICKHAM – His 11TH hit on my chart could be one of the hottest hits of the summer. It’s actually my early pick to be # 1 soon – and # 1 for the entire summer. A couple of summers ago (in 2023) Phil sang my # 2 hit of the season – “This Is Our God”.
SPOTIFY – You can hear “My Top 10 Hits” anytime by accessing my CountUp playlist on Spotify. All 10 hits are there from top to bottom. You can hear them in order from # 1 to # 10, or you can shuffle them. My playlist will be updated every weekend (usually before the actual chart is presented here on Mondays). You can link to it here.
Your likes, follows, and comments are always appreciated. Thank You for being part of my online ministry to share God’s Good News and win souls for Christ through His music. God used loud music on the radio in South Florida to reach me in August of 2006. I’ve been testifying about Him ever since.
Be blessed my friends ! May our God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
Greetings my friends. It is Sunday June 08TH 2025, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this great new day of believing, following, trusting, loving, and being more like our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. Let us love our neighbor as ourself.
I looked back at my Sunday blog post from exactly 17 years ago today on Sunday June 08TH 2008. I starred in a promotional video following Praise & Worship and Communion that morning that was “absolutely gut-busting hilarious (and yet strangely informative at the same time)”. That’s how I described it back then. It was done in a “Wayne’s World” style, and I was the guest being interviewed. (I played myself.)
The Pastor’s message that morning was about loneliness. Here’s what I wrote on here post-service:
Everyone has been lonely at some point in their life, but when you have a personal relationship with God you should know that although you may be alone – you are never lonely. God will never allow you to be lonely. God is our Father, our Son, and our Holy Spirit. We must have a ‘Gospel Partnership’ with Him where He is the center of all of our relationships. He must always be our # 1 priority above everything else. Our human relationships should be patterned after our # 1 relationship with God. The Good News says ‘Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” (Genesis 1:26 NLT)
That’s some Good News from 2008 – back when I was nearing the end of my 2ND year of salvation. My first church met at the local movie theatre back then. We leased it out every Sunday morning for about 10 hours – from 2 AM to 12 PM. (Setup was done in shifts from 2 AM to 8 AM.)
I served with my brothers and sisters of my church family at the front door, at our information booth in the main lobby, at the door leading in to the sanctuary (one of the theatres), and in various other areas of hospitality. I learned the importance of a church family. That’s the key to avoiding loneliness – serving God and living life with others who are also serving God – and knowing that God is always there for us – and with us. He lives in us – if we believe and follow Him.
My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, a testimony, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord – and get closer to Him with each new day.
If you wish to learn more about the God I know – then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. The best is yet to come !
Thank you for reading my blog for this day, and may:
The LORD bless you, and keep you.
The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp
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