Enjoying our Father's world

Stand still and consider the wondrous works of God.
Job 37:14

Goodness, did you midwestern folks experience the late September heat wave yesterday? Smoking hot here in Indy. 94º degrees, to be precise. The entire summer has been "super scorching hot" for that matter, and I've got the stubble-brush straw grass to prove it (we don't dare walk around on the lawn without shoes, since the experience can best be likened to walking on kindling. Ouch!)

I had a bit of a nagging headache on board for the day, but I wasn't about to let it stop me from enjoying what was, in all liklihood, the final "super scorching hot" day of the year. So after we picked my 3 year old up from his preschool, we headed to McCormick's Creek state park for an afternoon of hiking.

It was wonderful to spend our day together in our Father's world. The forest trees have lost enough of their leaves (even though they've just begun) to give us that wonderful crunch-crunch cadence as we walked along the winding paths. And the paths at McCormick's are so nice. All lined with stone and quite wide in most places. Just right for a tag-along 3 year old who did his best to keep up on the 2 mile hike.

We stopped when we got to Wolf cave (see next photo), enjoyed a drink of water, then got out our clipboards, paper and pencils and sat down to sketch together. There were benches along the side of the path, so we were quite comfortable as we rested in the shade, taking in the wonderful sounds and fall scent of the woods as we all studied our chosen subjects and penciled them in. I chose to draw a forest fern surrounded by dead leaves. Several others chose to sketch the cave and its wooded surroundings.


Gotta LOVE my 3 year old.
He asked me to sketch a spider web for him, then he enthusiastically took his clipboard and sat down, feverishly working his supplies as he swung his little leg back and forth in rhythm to an unheard melody that he was clearly enjoying in his head. When he finally stood up to talk about his drawing (our kids love to do that), he was so very proud of the chubby spider he had carefully sketched in place over the web. Of course, he added a bat and a rain cloud too, but hey, still not bad for our youngest nature participant, eh? ;)

After finishing our 2 mile hike to the Wolf cave and back, we decided to add an excursion, descending the steep steps down the cliff to the base of the waterfall in another area of the park. Normally, the river is much higher there, but due to the long dry summer, the kids were able to explore over the rocks and creek bed to their heart's content. Our boys even felt bad for the fish who were trapped in pools of water that were once a flowing creek, so they decided to pray for them right there.
3 year old: "Dear Lord, Fank you for da fishes. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen."
8 year old: "Dear Lord, please help it rain so the fish can get away. Amen."
Short and to the point, they were, lol.


My husband works in the airline industry, where schedules change constantly, as do days off. Currently, he has mid-week days off. While we miss him terribly on Sundays at church, we LOVE that we can get out and enjoy our favorite places without crowds. The state park was nearly empty today. All that beauty and warmth was ours for the taking. And take, we did. Praising God for the unique blessings that homeschooling and my husband's ever changing schedule have brought into to our lives. Today was that kind of blessed day for sure.

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~George Washington Carver

Live wise in Him!

~Toni~