the grand sequoias
So James and I went to the Sequoia National Park this past weekend and did a little camping. It was a grand experience to say the least. The Lord is amazing, and when engulfed in His marvelous creation, one can't help but reflect on His majesty.
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Psalm 19:1-3
We took our sweet time driving up, stopping at REI, getting lunch and of course some coffee, so by the time we got to the park it was completely dark, the moon was nowhere to be found. We stopped at the General Sherman tree, the largest tree in the world, and it was so captivating. Crisp cold air, smelling of pine and infinitely more fresh than our usual smog drenched atmosphere. We walked the half mile path a few times, once completely in the dark, taking our time, step by step, sometimes shuffling our feet, as there were stairs we didn't want to fall down that were sometimes hard to see. It left a lot of time for the camara to sit, shutter open, getting the picture above. We got back, I closed the shutter, and the battery died. A gift of grace, a shot of a lifetime. The spriritual principles we drew from that walk were interesting. Our eyes would adjust to the lack of light and we could make out the outline of the path and little else. At times everything would appear pixelated and granulated as if we were looking through a digital camara past its optical zoom and into its digital zoom. You know how the camara starts to create what it thinks the image to be at that point, well, our eyes would do the same thing, where they wanted to see a path, there the path would be. It was a little freaky to say the least, begging the question, how often is what we see and understand, a figment of our own imagination? Something we have created in our minds simply because reality is too much to handle. In some respects we are probably blessed that we don't know, yet of course life would be better for all if we were real with ourselves and those around us. Pretending is something children do. Needless to say, that night we prayed that God would open our eyes to see things the way that He does. It was a great experience.
The whole weekend was great. It had its trials too though. James lost his wallet along the side of the road when we got out to relieve ourselves, and by an extreme act of grace we found it a couple hours later after backtracking 15 miles on the windy road leading to the park. We were both tense, tired and trying not to be too upset and we roll around this corner, thinking it might have been the one we stopped at, and sure enough his wallet was lying on the side of the road. What are the odds? Our first nights sleep was the most ridiculous mockery of sleep ever. It was definitely below freezing and though our sleeping bags were good, they weren't that good. Instead of being fleece lined they're more of like a satin lined bag, and supposedly you sleep in them without clothes, as the clothes prevent the bag from doing its job. Well, that's not the case, and we found out the hard way. You would be warm for a few minutes and maybe sleep, but as soon as you shifted an inch the part of the bag that hadn't been warmed by body heat was there, freezing and uninviting, shocking you awake. It was a mockery of sleep. Needless to say, we left the mountain and went to the little village and bought blankets for the following night.
We had a blast though, did some hiking, took some pictures, and just played around like boys in the wilderness. We saw a 12 point buck not even two seconds after we drove into the park, and after that we saw bears, possums, foxes, and so much more. It was glorious. I didn't get to go fishing, though I took a pole, but maybe next time. Of course one thing James and I did was solve the worlds problems. We talked about everything from politics to family and of course girls, and if only we had a soap box from which people would listen... One thing I know is that we need to listen to our own advice before we even think to begin to tell others.
It was a great weekend, one I will remember forever and I can only thank God for the time away. Great is His faithfulness.
The whole weekend was great. It had its trials too though. James lost his wallet along the side of the road when we got out to relieve ourselves, and by an extreme act of grace we found it a couple hours later after backtracking 15 miles on the windy road leading to the park. We were both tense, tired and trying not to be too upset and we roll around this corner, thinking it might have been the one we stopped at, and sure enough his wallet was lying on the side of the road. What are the odds? Our first nights sleep was the most ridiculous mockery of sleep ever. It was definitely below freezing and though our sleeping bags were good, they weren't that good. Instead of being fleece lined they're more of like a satin lined bag, and supposedly you sleep in them without clothes, as the clothes prevent the bag from doing its job. Well, that's not the case, and we found out the hard way. You would be warm for a few minutes and maybe sleep, but as soon as you shifted an inch the part of the bag that hadn't been warmed by body heat was there, freezing and uninviting, shocking you awake. It was a mockery of sleep. Needless to say, we left the mountain and went to the little village and bought blankets for the following night.
We had a blast though, did some hiking, took some pictures, and just played around like boys in the wilderness. We saw a 12 point buck not even two seconds after we drove into the park, and after that we saw bears, possums, foxes, and so much more. It was glorious. I didn't get to go fishing, though I took a pole, but maybe next time. Of course one thing James and I did was solve the worlds problems. We talked about everything from politics to family and of course girls, and if only we had a soap box from which people would listen... One thing I know is that we need to listen to our own advice before we even think to begin to tell others.
It was a great weekend, one I will remember forever and I can only thank God for the time away. Great is His faithfulness.
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