Favorite Foto Friday (#2)

There was a captain of a ship that was sailing on a dark, pitch-black night. The captain suddenly noticed a bright light directly in front of him, and he knew that his ship was on a collision course with the light.

He rushed to the radio and sent an urgent message demanding the vessel change its course ten degrees east.

A few seconds later, he received a message in return. The message said, "Cannot do it. Change your course ten degrees west."

The captain got angry. He sent another message, "I am a navy captain. I demand you change your course."

He received a message back :" I will not change my course. You change your course."

The captain was now furious ! He sent his final message " I am a battleship and I am not changing my course !"

He got this message back " I am a lighthouse. It's your choice, sir."

This picture is from when my friend Amy and I went to Spain in the summer of 2004. We rented a car one day and drove to the coast and came upon this lighthouse. Everytime I see a lighthouse, I remember this story that I heard in church camp as a teenager. I didn't quite get the story for a while... how it related to God. But as I grew up, I started understand God as the steady and firmly placed guide that I must orient my course around. It will never be vice versa. When I choose not to do so, the only option is to crash.

White Clay Creek

The weather here today was amazing. It was sunny and breezy and not so humid. We are always tired after church and we laid around watching Winnie the Pooh for a while. Noah took his nap and we realized we HAD to do something to enjoy the weather. We rallied and took Noah and Sophie to the local state park and went on our first family hike! It was really wonderful. Noah was such a trooper. At first he wanted to be held but we wouldn't do it and he managed to trot along behind us. We didn't hike very far, but it was far for him. We finally went off trail down to the creek and Sophie jumped right in. Noah was thrilled at the sight of rocks AND water in the same place (both of which he is obsessed with). He and Paul spent time throwing rocks in the creek and then we went for a nice long creek walk.



We had dinner on the banks and Noah was thrilled to pick up the biggest rocks he could and dump them in the water to get the best splashes. I was giddy at the sheer joy of the afternoon... it was really perfect.


Of course I had my camera with me and when I looked up the creek at the tree line, the way the sun was shining it looked to me like a cross, reaffirming the incredible peace I felt with all that God has provided.

If only every day could be so great!

Ceciltucky, I mean Cecil County Fair

Last weekend we headed to the Cecil County Fair (MD). They have this huge event every year and we haven't been around in previous years when it was held. We thought it would be a good and fun diversion for Mr. Crankypants. Nope, we were wrong.

In any case, I had never been to a fair before. I think I have only been to carnivals and festivals, but a full blown fair with animals and judges and all of those sorts of things was new to me. I marveled at the beauty of the prize winning steer. Never before have I thought pigs and roosters could be absolutely stunning. For a brief moment I understood the love and care that some of my farmers have for their animals.

(I loved the stripes on these piggies!)

As we walked around we saw some people we knew and started chatting. As it turns out there was to be a demolition derby wedding. Unbelievable. We walked over to the field to see the two cars -- decked out with a tiara and a top hat. The couple would wed that night at the fair where they had been engaged the year before. Their family members lulled about wearing "Wedding Crasher" t-shirts. We were stunned. (Wedding Crashers ABC Interview)


We next moved on to see some bears in the distance. Noah loved the bears at the zoo so we thought it would be a hit. As we got closer we realized how scary the place was. Two men with coonskin hats were pulling 3 bears around on leashes, making them sit in silly cars and go down big metal slides forward and backward. The bears were in costume and had tight harnesses on. Children and adults alike oohed and aaahed as the bears did stupid tricks for their masters. We were apalled at the treatment of the bears and were reminded why we aren't really fans of the circus (I think the circus was super animal friendly compared to this).

We decided to end the strange day with a few rides for Noah. We paid the crazy price for tickets to ride. We walked up to a car ride and the sign said "Under 36 inches must ride with parent" so I got in line with Noah and took him up to a two seater car. I tried to get in with him when I realized that the cars weren't meant for adults (and everyone was staring at me like an idiot!). I asked the man running the ride if I could walk next to it and he said no. I asked how I was supposed to ride with him then... he just told me to get out. Ok.... So, Paul and I waited outside and watched Noah go around for half a turn. The ride stopped and the same ingenious man realized that a small child was standing up in her car and starting to get out --- while the ride was running. I guess he didn't do the seatbelt check. Well, Noah got upset that the ride had stopped and tried to get out too. He got twisted in the seatbelt backwards, started screaming and managed to pee all over the car and the same man (who tried to help him turn around). We yanked him out of the car and gave our remaining tickets to the next person in line.

Needless to say we have no desire to return to the Ceciltucky fair!!!