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Blogging Driving Food Geography History Military Travel

Fort Meade Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. For 50+ years – Fort Meade was a military post and town that I grew up near in the 1970s. It’s in Anne Arundel County Maryland – between Baltimore, Washington, and Annapolis. It’s named after U.S. Civil War Union Major General George Gordon Meade (1815-1872).

But then this past year I was made aware of another Fort Meade – 30 miles away from my current home here in the Heartland of Florida. Fort Meade Florida is also named after George Gordon Meade. After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy in West Point New York in 1835 – he served in the Second Seminole War here in Florida from 1835 to 1842. He continued his service in the Mexican-American War from 1846 to 1848.

Fort Meade Florida is a small historic city in rural southwestern Polk County. It’s the oldest city in the county – with origins dating back to 1849. (Happy 175TH Anniversary !) It was established along a new military road (a portion of modern-day U.S. 98) that was constructed between Fort Brooke (Tampa on the west coast) and Fort Pierce (on the east coast).

Fort Meade’s population has held fairly steady over the past 60 years – between 4,000 and 6,000. I’ve driven through Fort Meade a few times recently – on my way to and from Bartow and Lakeland to the north (along U.S. 98). Kiki’s Egg House is a wonderful diner along the main road through downtown. They serve breakfast and lunch, and you’ll find a lot of the locals there. Every future drive through Fort Meade will probably include a hearty meal there for me.

I have not yet visited the Historical Society Of Fort Meade Florida Museum – which I had hoped to do before publishing this blog post. But there will be plenty of opportunities to do so. They are currently open 3 days a week – on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays – from 10 AM to 2 PM. I actually have it on my schedule to visit today, so if I actually do so then this will become a 2-part series, and I’ll write all about it next – #TravelThursday.

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All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 397

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 over 45 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday September 22ND 2024 – the 397TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 5 Up + Up
[2ND week @ # 1]		 Colton Dixon
2 2 7 Count ‘Em Brandon Lake
3 4 20 Beautiful Life Pat Barrett
4 5 22 Somebody Like Me Caleb & John Ft. Cain
5 3 16 Take You At Your Word Cody Carnes
6 9 2 That’s Who I Praise Brandon Lake
7 10 2 People Like Us Micah Tyler Ft. Emerson Day
8 7 3 Won’t He Do It We The Kingdom
9 – 1 Worship Through It Tasha Layton Ft. Chris Brown
10 6 7 Do It Again Steven Curtis Chapman

# 1 This Week In:
2023 – “Praise You Anywhere” – Brandon Lake
2022 – “Good Morning Mercy” – Jason Crabb
2021 – “Into The Wild” – Josh Baldwin
2020 – “God So Loved” – We The Kingdom
2019 – “Nobody (But Jesus)” – Casting Crowns Ft. Matthew West
2018 – “Only Jesus” – Casting Crowns
2017 – “Broken Things” – Matthew West

COLTON DIXON – In a rarity – every # 1 smash this week in history (since 2017) – was also # 1 the previous week. No changes. And there’s no change at the top this week, as Colton Dixon holds steady with his 2ND # 1 smash and 4TH hit overall. It’s a song that reminds us that – if we get down – He picks us up – from the ground – He gives us love – that don’t give out – give in no condition. He lifts us up and up again !

TOP 40 OF 400 – We are now just 3 weeks away from my momentous 400TH week of this current chart era (since February 2017). My Top 40 hits cumulatively of the first 400 weeks will be presented here on Tuesday October 15TH 2024 at 3 AM U.S. East Coast time. 2 hits on my current chart will appear on my Top 40 chart.

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 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) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday September 22ND 2024, 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.

Last weekend (on Friday morning) I got the word to preach the sermon at my longtime home church in Homestead Florida on that Sunday morning. (It was a previously-scheduled visit that coincided with my Pastor’s vacation with his family.)

I preached on God’s “Music & Lyrics”. It was based on Psalm 40:1-3, and it included the following Scripture (in order): Matthew 6:14-15, Luke 23:34, Psalm 118:24, Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 + 8:5b-6, Colossians 4:5-6, 1 Peter 3:15-16a, 1 Kings 4:32, Psalm 95:1-3, Ecclesiastes 7:14, Philippians 4:12-13, and Numbers 6:24-26 (Benediction).

It was also based on the current song “Beautiful Life” by Pat Barrett.

Due to unforeseen circumstances – I was without the use of our 3 big flat-screen monitors for my sermon, so my prepared PowerPoint Presentation was rendered useless. In fact – our Praise & Worship consisted of 3 of us singing along to selected songs via Spotify on my cell phone – with the wireless microphone placed at the end of my phone (to project the sound throughout the sanctuary).

My Pastor has some work to do when he returns from vacation – fix the laptop and its connection with the monitors. I’m not as technologically savvy as he is in that area. Electronics confuse me.

Back home here in Sebring Florida my Pastor was absent as well – on his way to a church conference in Indiana. We had a special guest Pastor preach the sermon, and I got to watch that on YouTube once I returned home. (You can watch it here.) Strangely – there were also computer gremlins in action during the service. I think one of the monitors was down, so for Praise & Worship our singers were not on stage. They were singing from the crowd, or as I like to refer to it – “the orchestra section”.

And so it was a unique Sunday morning last week at both of my churches. This morning should be normal, or as normal as God allows it to be. We know that He’s got a sense of humor, and He wants to keep us on our toes – not knowing what’s around the winding curve of His fantastic journey for us. He wants us to have faith in Him in all that He creates for us.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, 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) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging History Travel

Pioneer Daze 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. We are exactly one month away from the biggest event of the year for the Sebring Historical Society – “Pioneer Daze”. It’ll be held at the Alan Jay Arena – adjacent to the Highlands County Fairgrounds / Firemen’s Field – at the corner of Sebring Parkway and Kenilworth Boulevard near downtown Sebring Florida.

It’s our 2ND annual event, and it’ll be bigger than last year. You’ll want to get there early, as the fun starts at 9:30 AM. Enter at the Blue Streak Boulevard gate off Kenilworth Boulevard. My volunteers will get you, your party, and your vehicle to a great parking space. (I’m in charge of parking.)

Admission is free !

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll tell you all about Fort Meade Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp