What A Beautiful Day!

I’m not exactly sure why, but as I peeked out the windows first thing this morning I was reminded of our fledgling family’s camping trip to Jedidiah Smith State Park at the northern tip of California, just a hop, skip and a jump from the Oregon border.  The park is located approximately nine miles east of the coastal city of Crescent City and tends to get a thick layer of morning fog drifting through the canopy of the old growth redwoods that line the Smith River.

Piper and I had loaded up our flaming red Datsun 4X4 pickup, hitched up our Starcraft tent trailer, strapped in the two kid’s and headed north!  I wanted to see what the redwood groves north of our regular haunt of Richardson’s Grove State Park near Garberville, California looked like and I was not disappointed with their majesty and the sense of awe and enchantment as you drive literally for miles, under their towering forms in groves that block out the sun!  It is like being in a whole different world!  From what I understand, much of the northern California’s coastal area was like this when the Spanish explorers first stepped off their ships there.

It was probably the fog that seemed to envelope the thicket of pines outside our patio in an atmosphere of white that brought me back to our vacation that we enjoyed in the 1980’s.  What a difference from yesterday when we woke up to crisp blue skies with only a whisper of clouds!

I was really tired when we got going for the day as Piper had begun stirring around 6:00 AM and I had a hard time going back to sleep.  I am thankful though, that I did finally slide back into slumber for about an hour before I arose for the day!  By the time we finished breakfast and getting ready it was early afternoon and I was not feeling too rambunctious about doing anything!  But I felt the urging of the Lord to get out and go for a ride.

So we went for a quick walk to exercise the dog and then jumped in the Mustang and headed west!  The gal who had trimmed our hair on Friday had mentioned the little town of Pittsboro and it had peeked my interest and we thought we’d go check it out.  It turned out to be a quaint town that was established in 1785 with a current population of about 4000 folks.  The main downtown street still has a turnaround that winds around its old courthouse.  It is also near Jordan Lake which looks to be a beautiful place filled with pines, campgrounds, fishing and other recreational pursuits.  That will go on our list of exploration sites!

Once we got to Pittsboro we took down the top on the car and left it that way for the rest of the day.  Well, it turned out to be a fantastic day!  The adventures of the day turned out to be just what the doctor ordered!  On the way home we stopped at Bojangles, a real southern fried chicken eating establishment and purchased an eight piece tail gate special for our evening meal.

As we motored down the open road with the top down, I could not help but sit back and begin to praise the Lord for His goodness!  Piper had been pretty quiet and was dozing in and out until I put down the top.  Then as usual, she sat up a little, opened her eyes and seemed to enjoy herself as the wind twirled around the cockpit!  The temperature was in the mid-seventies and was it was simply heavenly to be at one with the scenery that surrounded us!

2 Corinthians 2:14 in the Modern King James version talks about how Papa God “always causes us to triumph in Christ, and is revealing through us the odor of Him in everyplace.”  Yesterday it felt like He was revealing Himself to us through all our senses in the warmth and beauty of the afternoon.  Then near the end of our journey, as we sat at a stoplight, a gentleman in his large silver Chevy Tahoe next to us leaned over and looked down at Piper and I and commented on how gorgeous the weather was.  We spoke for a few moments, shared a few laughs and as we drove off I had the distinct feeling that the Lord was also revealing Himself through us to that man and his kids in the back seat!

Ah… a beautiful day enjoying the beauty of God’s creation, driving a beautiful car with a beautiful gal at my side and getting to share with friendly folks passing us by… it doesn’t get much better than that!  And you know… it may be overcast today, but His warmth and His beauty is still there and I am ready to have Him reveal Himself through me today as well.  How about you?  Have a terrific day!  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself.. “What or Who’s beauty am I expecting to share today?”