We were blessed to be able to visit the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter with my parents, as well as with my mom’s sister (Lisa) and two of her grandchildren. It was an extremely full two and 1/2 days, but I am so glad that we made the effort to go to these places. Our kids have already been to the Creation Museum twice, but this was their first trip to the Ark. It was an amazing experience to see what the Ark might have been like and what life might have been like on the Ark. Truly these moments are when the “Bible can come alive” for both our kids and for me. I only wish these types of things weren’t so expensive for larger families! Truly one of the biggest hinderance to having more of these types of experiences where the kids can learn about our nation’s history or the Bible is the cost! I’m thankful that my parents see the value in taking our children to the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, as we all created some wonderful memories. I will say that both of these places involve A LOT of reading! It would be nice if they offered some type of audio tour via an app with headphones or something. July is a busy tourist season, and Emma had some moments of distress on the Ark when she lost sight of me a few times. However, we did manage to keep track of seven kids, two adults and two seniors-Hooray! The Ark encounter also has a very nice gift shop, and my sister (Jen) had thought ahead to give each of the kids some money to spend at the gift shop if they would like. Travis picked out a notebook, as he has been writing all kinds of notes this summer. Emma picked out a stuffed snake. Wyatt picked out a hat. Garett picked out a rope bracelet with his name on it. And Chandler decided that everything was overpriced, and that he would save his money-no surprise there!
We all traveled down, over or towards the museum area on Monday. Myself, Travis and Emma were the last to arrive as we had waited for the mini van to be fixed. Then on Tuesday we spent all day at the Ark Encounter, and we spent half of a day at the Creation Museum on Wednesday before each of us heading back to either Wisconsin, Maine or North Carolina. I’m thankful that our kids were able to spend some time with their second cousins, and for the extra time with my parents and my aunt.
We left the Creation Museum on Wednesday around one pm, and everyone was tired before we even started driving! Its about 17 hours from the Creation Museum to home in Maine, and I knew we would need at least one hotel stop. The traffic was pretty terrible so we actually only made it to outside of Cleveland before stopping for the night. I’m thankful for hotels with swimming pools! When we woke up on Thursday morning, we still had about thirteen hours to home. That’s a long day of travel with five tired kids and one tired mama. I remembered that I have a college friend that lives on the outskirts of Boston, and that would only be about a ten hour drive. I sent Carrie a message asking if we could stop by to visit and telling her that we could get a hotel near her. She graciously called me back and said that if we didn’t mind a small house, we were welcome to stay at their house. Yes, praise the Lord! We traveled pretty steady all day long and arrived at their house a little after seven pm. Chandler was suffering from a migraine which I’m pretty sure was caused by not enough water and car sickness! Carrie had made some chicken soup for supper, and the kids were thankful for food and to be out of the car. It was a short visit as we were on the road again by 9;00 the next morning but I am so thankful for Carrie’s hospitality. Chandler hadn’t slept good, so he was ready to head home. I was also ready to be home, sleep in my own bed, and just enjoy not quite so much snug time in the car with our children! We did stop at Aldi on the way home. If you’re not familiar with that, it’s a fabulous grocery store. We don’t have any Aldi stores in the entire state of Maine, so I wanted to stop and get fruit, vegetables, milk, eggs, and other staples before leaving the area. We made it home in the early afternoon, and we were all delighted to be home! I’m thankful for God’s protection, His safety, and His traveling mercies.
It has been good to be home, and adjust to life at home again. Emma had another screening for kindergarten today, and I was pleased to hear that she has improved by leaps and bounds! She did a great job, and passed with flying colors- thank you, Jesus! The boys have enjoyed puttering around the year, building and creating stuff, and living outdoors. It doesn’t seem possible that school will be starting up again in a few short weeks, but we are almost there again! I will be teaching music again, so Ive begun the process of reading through many, many Christmas programs! If anyone knows of a good one, please let me know! Roger has been working pretty hard and steady. We arrived home on Friday afternoon, and he was working. He worked the next three days, but we are thankful that he has off on Tuesday and Wednesday this week.
You know what else I’m thankful for? Godly counsel. “In the multitude of counselors, there is safety”. I had recently confided in some dear friends about a decision that I was needing to make. It was one that would have affect our family financially (in a positive way), but the other affects might not have been so positive. It was a position that I probably would have been very good at, but through a series of conversations and many, many conversations with Roger, we decided that it was not “for such a time as this”. Maybe at another time, another year that door of opportunity will open again, but for now we both have peace about the decision. That is not to say that it was an easy decision to make-it was not! However, God gives peace for every step as we walk in His ways. (Perhaps I will write the story behind that someday).
God is so faithful to us.
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