May Travels

May was a full month for our family with many exciting learning adventures...

We traveled back in time to tour the Nina and Santa Maria - two of the three Christopher Columbus ships (replicas) - with some fellow homeschoolers. The day was unusually warm...more like HOT, but it really gave us perspective on conditions that the crew must have encountered on their journey across the Atlantic.

May marked the close to orchestra for our second oldest son - a terrific first year of learning cello and playing in several concerts during the season. So many lovely pieces learned from classical to some more modern selections. The Youth Orchestra program has been a blessed addition to our learning and one in which he can use the skills learned for 'praising the Lord' in the years to come.

"Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp! Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe! Praise him with sounding cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!" Psalm 150:3-6

The morning after concert, we arose VERY early to head out on a two week journey through TN, KY, and NC. The van packed ever so carefully - the two littlest ones, loaded right from their beds to car seats and off (in the rain) our family of 8 1/2 went. The excitement of all the plans our two weeks would hold could be sensed in the fullness of the van...friends to see, the wondrous hand of God's handiwork to be seen and so many places to visit! We managed to "squeeze" our 10 hour trip into 12 1/2 hours. :-)

Our first stay was in the beautiful mountains of TN. Cades Cove was a splendid highlight of our short stay there. The tranquility of the cove, the many black bear we saw and deer that so peacefully wandered throughout and the historic buildings that we toured have always been a joy to experience...just to let our minds wander back to days gone by when times were simple, work was hard and the days were far from frivolous...our not so long ago ancestors who lived and worked in those very mountains. How dependant on the Lord previous generations were...how fewer the distractions away from Him were...

A couple days in TN was enough time to visit some of our favorite places and then we were off to KY. Friends, the Creation Museum and new activities to experience. Although, I was suffering by the end of the week with a severe sinus infection, the Lord was merciful to be an ever-present strength to press on and the Provider of my needs...daily reminders of His faithfulness, mercy and goodness through the encouraging times of fellowship with friends and filling my need for treatment - antibiotics called in by a doctor friend of the family...an answer to prayer.

The Creation Museum was such a blessing and visual of Biblical truth...a walk through Genesis! The grounds are beautiful, with water features and lovely garden walkways. The petting zoo was a hit with the children! Another day the boys took in the Air Force Museum in Dayton with the men and then Mark and the boys enjoyed another outing to a Cincinnati Reds game...how exciting and even more exciting was the fact they took home a foul ball! Worship was spent with friends at Bible Chapel of Delhi Hills - the Word was preached, worship was God glorifying and Memorial Day was honored. I will try to add a slide show of pictures on the blog for this portion of our trip.

That covers our first week...a short version of week full of blessings, refreshment and the gifts of the Lord. Part II will be up and coming about our time in NC.