I [heart] State Parks!

Today was a gift! My youngest and I were able to take the day off and drive 3 hours to one of our state's many glorious state parks. My goal this summer has been to visit as many of them as I can. With a simple purchase of a $25 park permit, I figured I had some pretty inexpensive entertainment lined up for the summer. I knew I'd like it, but I didn't realize how much I'd love it.

State parks for me are the perfect mix of nature and civilization. I LOVE nature and all of God's glory that shines throughout it, but don't get me wrong. Using outdoor toilets, hiking through tick-infested tall grasses and getting lost in the woods are NOT things I even remotely like. Nope, I want my nature with just a touch of modern convenience. Give me flush toilets, maps with clear directions, fun little info signs along the path and even benches to sit on for short rests, and I'm happy. Let me explore nature for 3-4 hours and then hop back in my car and drive to my comfortable bed. Maybe someday, I'll go all out and actually spend a night in the woods, but for now, this is exactly what I need/want.

Walking on the well-groomed trails, decked out in all my nerdy hiking gear (boots, walking stick, hydration pack and wide-brimmed hat), I feel like queen of the trail. Although today, I'm pretty sure a preteen was laughing at my bear spray hooked to my hydration pack. So, in reality, I'm probably more like Queen Dork than like Queen Elizabeth. Doesn't matter to me!

So, in my mind, the state park is kind of like God. It meets me where I'm at. It has lots of options for different levels/skills, but it's ready for me whenever I show up. God is a lot like that. He's there ready for any of us wherever we are and whatever level we're at. I know that God wants us fully and wholly and completely, but if we're not quite ready for that, He takes us as we are. And once we take those first tentative steps, we realize how amazing He is and we want to dive in even deeper.

Not sure if this means someday I'll actually be hiking into a park with only my backpack and a compass, but it does remind me that God is always there, waiting for me to take the first step into His world.

Warts and all...

Nobody likes warts. I know I don't. They're bumpy and weird and everyone thinks if you touch them, you're going to die or something! (OK, not that bad but you know what I mean.) Especially as a kid, there's almost nothing more embarrassing you can have on your body.
So, when my lovely, beautiful daughter developed a wart cluster on her toe the size of nickel, I broke down and brought her to the doctor to see what she could do about it. We were both hoping we'd walk in the doctor's office, and the doctor would use some magic potion (or freezing liquid nitrogen would do) to make them disappear in a snap. But, nope, that's not how this story goes.
Instead, when my daughter showed her Dr. the warts, the doctor gasped, covered her mouth and said she'd never seen anything like that. And then, and then... she proceeded to tell my daughter there was nothing she could do for it/them. She simply suggested my daughter try to get rid of them on her own, maybe try some Duct tape or something.
WHAT?!?
Now, I'm not saying that's bad advice. Maybe that's the best chance we have with the warts. But my daughter was more embarrassed than ever and now walks around with duct tape around her big toe trying to hide her warts.
It reminded me of sin. Especially that really BIG personal sin that each person has. It seems too "big" or too "gross" or too "weird" for us to think God can handle it. We think God will be like this doctor and when we present it to Him, he'll turn us away and say "you better just go fix that on your own. It kind of freaks me out."
So, even if we are Christians, we keep refusing to surrender this sin to him. We hide it under Duct tape and hope we'll figure out how to fix it on our own. But when we lift up that Duct tape, it's still there. As big and ugly as it ever was.
I will admit, I have a sin wart like that. In fact, I have a couple. They're usually hidden away, but they're always there. Why don't I trust God with them? I don't know. I should know better. In fact, I DO know better. But it doesn't stop me from hoping I'll straighten them out on my own and not need God's help with them.
How about you? Do you have any warty sins? Things you've been hiding away under Duct tape? Let's make a vow to acknowledge that our God is bigger and better than my daughter's doctor. He won't be squeemish or turn us away. He has the best liquid nitrogen out there. It's called GRACE.

Blogging Baby

That would be me. Never blogged before and have only read a few. But God spoke to me (or so I hope it was Him and not just my ego) and told me to try a blog. 
How do I know it was God? Honestly, I don't. It's one of the things about Him that drives me crazy! Life here on Earth would be so much simpler if He simply used an email or even some snail mail to tell me what exactly He'd like me to do. Heck, even a falling star or a bird song would do. But, nope, as I've learned in life, that's not how God communicates with me.
Sometimes it's an inkling, sometimes it's a nagging, sometimes, honestly, it's just a hope that He's leading me. Today, it's an "inkling." A feeling that maybe this is a good way to honor Him and all He's done in my little, insignificant life.
So, this is where I begin. I hope to continue to honor God and God alone in my blogs, but I'm pretty sure I won't always be spot on. I tend to go my own way a lot. Luckily, He's forgiving and patient and also, correcting. I tend to believe He'll show me if I start to head down the wrong path. In other words, I trust Him. Trust Him completely and that's what makes this somewhat scary journey OK with me.
So if you'd like, follow me along on this journey. Let's see where and how often we can discover God. I think we all may be surprised at the places He'll show up at. And I can't think of a better surprise. For where there is God, there is Joy.