The Highlight of My Year

On May 25, the whole family once again piled into Grandpa's Suberban and spent our third and final day at Greenfield Village.

Staying with this year's tradition, we all took a Model T ride first, once again in the Depot Hack!! Then at Alison's request we all rode the Carousel. (I seem to remember that she rode it more than once! ;D).

Then we all traveled down to the other end of the Village to see the short play, "Tally's Tales" at Susquehanna Plantation. "Tally" was a slave cook at Susquehanna,

"We Can't Just Go Once!" Part 2: Henry Ford Museum

In the afternoon on our second day at "The Henry Ford", we went to Henry Ford Museum. Among other things, Grandpa and I especially enjoyed seeing the plane exhibit. :D

^^A real, Northwest DC-3.

Tried in the Fire

Recently my grandfather and I visited the glass shop in Greenfield Village. While we watched the craftsman at work, we saw how he fashioned the glass, until he had exactly the shape he wanted. Then the craftsman would take the glass and put it into the furnace (left). Sometimes the furnace temperatures will reach 1,600 F! Other times the craftsman would let the glass cool down.



When I thought about the craftsman/glass scenario later, I marveled on how close this story parallels our spiritual experience.



Similar to the potter and the clay, God is our Master Craftsman. We are His unfinished work. The Master Craftsman has a unique plan for each of our lives, and we need to let Him work on us, to mold us.



Sometimes in God's plan he sees that it is best for us to go into the furnace, maybe even up to 1,600 F. In other words, God's furnace is our varied trials. We may not like it, but we need to remember that God's plan is always best, and to trust Him with our lives.



"Consider it pure joy...whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance." ~James 1:2,3

"We Can't Just Go Once!", Part 1: Greenfield Village

If you don't know this already, a family tradition of ours is to go to Greenfield Village/Henry Ford Museum 3 times in a visit. So. On Sunday (May 23rd) the whole troop set out again for "America's Greatest History Attraction"

Greenfield Village: The Happiest Place on Earth

One of my favorite things on every Michigan vacation is going with Grandpa to Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum (AKA "The Henry Ford"). This year was no different.

Count!

Here's a really neat poem I found in a magazine recently. It's written by an unknown author. I found it in Young Disciple magazine, Volume 19, Number 20, on page 5.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Count your blessings instead of your crosses;
Count your gains instead of your losses.

Count your joys instead of your woes;
Count your friends instead of your foes.

Count your smiles instead of your tears;
Count your courage instead of your fears.

Count your full years instead of your lean;
Count the kind deeds instead of the mean.

Count your health instead of your wealth;
Count on God instead of yourself.

Houston, We Have A Problem: There are no more Apollo books in the Library!

As it is with most things, it was all my parent's fault. ;D Last October they took me and Alison to the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Seeing all the Apollo stuff there (authentic Saturn 5, Apollo 16 command module, more rockets, and more) got me and Alison both really excited about the Apollo program and outer space in general.

So. That said, when we were at the Space Center, Mom bought a book for me entitled The Last Man on the Moon by Gene Cernan, who was in fact the last man on the moon, on the crew of Apollo 17. I devoured the 348-page book in only a couple days!

Then...whenever I'd see a space/Apollo book I wanted to read/buy, Mom would say, "You should look in the library". Ok. But I never seemed to GET to the library! But in late January of this year, Mom made the grave mistake of letting me loose in our public library! ;) I found a whole stack of library books I wanted to read!

Shelter

It was one of those days when you didn’t really want to be outside working. I was working at our church cleaning most all of the doors and windows.

After I worked about 15 minutes or so, I heard some rumbling in the distance. As I always do, I hoped that what I heard was only someone taking out their trash can, but I really knew better. It was thunder-and I had to clean the outside of the windows on the doors as well. There was really no option—I had a job and I needed to clean the windows. More rumbling. Then the rain started coming down—lighter at first, then a downpour. I was very glad for the good-sized overhang that the church has all the way around the building. That way, while I cleaned the windows, I could stay safe, dry, and sound while the storm raged on.

When I reflected on my experience later, I thought it was quite remarkable how closely it resembled our spiritual life. We live in a storm, that’s no doubt. But we have a Shelter—and his name is Jesus. While the storm rages on, we can stay safe, dry, and sound in our Shelter.

“For He will conceal me in His shelter in the day of adversity” ~Psalms 27:5

“I would hurry to my shelter from the raging wind and the storm.” ~Psalms 55:8

“For You have been…a refuge from the rain” ~Isaiah 25:4

Beautiful May Flowers

Tennessee beauty still abounds in May! I personally think spring is one of my favorite seasons, for sure a great time to photograph flowers!
I hope you will enjoy the following pictures I have taken. The roses and peonies (sp.?) are in our yard; the rest of the pictures were taken on the Promenade last week. I was really excited when I got some bee and ladybug shots!

Chickamauga Battlefield

So I know the above picture may not look like it was taken in 1863…but I was sure trying! Last week Monday our family, for my late birthday present went to Chickamauga Battlefield in northwest Georgia, which is the country’s first National Military Park, established in 1890. Chickamauga is where one of the major battles of the Civil War took place.