What you believe about who you are, where you came from, affects your whole worldview. -Ken Ham
I am back dating the publishing date this to when I started this post rather than when I finished it, because over a month flew by and much happened in that time. So here is the rest of the story of our vacation.
Having settled ourselves in downtown Cincinnati suite, we well were poised for 25-30 minute drive to the main attraction of our vacation: the Creation Museum. We arrived an hour before it opened because we did not check the times, but there were no barriers or guards once we were inside the main gate, so we walked in the gardens as it was not raining, although it was a bit cool. Such lovely colors and textures that I would like to incorporate in my own gardens!
Even local wildlife got into the act! We spotted a wild rabbit and a bird nest.
What can I say? You just never know what to expect with a teenager in the wild.
Then it was open. Since the weather was good for it and my husband had this burning desire to do it, the first thing we did was buy tickets for zip-lining. (You may remember my aversion to heights, if not scroll down No Public School Day to The Really Crazy Thing I Did at Stone Mountain Park.) Tickets for zip lining can sell out quickly, but schools were still in session and we went on Wednesday so there were not that many visitors, let alone those wanting to zip line. I mean, there was a couple of buses with a large retiree group, maybe a bus full of teenagers from a Christian school with strict dress codes of skirts only for girls, a few families of homeschoolers, and perhaps a small group of Mennonite teenagers. We went for level 2 and were three of the four to zip line in our group, which has a ten person maximum.
Although I dislike heights still, I have gotten better since the SkyHike encounter at Stone Mountian years ago. Climbing up is not as much of an issue. Standing on a narrow platform a few stories up and having some time to think is a bigger issue.
Jumping off that first platform even in a secure harness over a large pond after having time to think was the biggest issue.
Then there was remembering how to slow down when I was still just dealing with the height thing, but all went well for all of us.
We actually did not go into the museum proper to see exhibits the first day but we did all that the second day. The museum is really great. I was hoping that they would have expanded a bit more on historical accounts of dragons in the displays, but it was well worth the two days we spent there. We listened to two lectures (one on the first day and the other on the second), bought some books, watched two free short videos on the first day, and walked through the petting zoo area on the first day. We did not get to the planetarium films and I would have liked to have spent some more time in the gardens, but at least we left some things to do for another time...since no one go this eaten this time.
The one thing that changed my perspective on creation vs. some form of Christian-based evolution is that I believed it really did not matter what a person beliefs about how God created the world or how long it took Him to do it as long as one believed God created everything. I personally have chosen to believe in a literal six day creation and a young earth. After going through the museum and hearing Dr. Terry Morterson's lecture covering some highlights of Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth (one of the books I bought), I came away with a sense of the importance of being grounded in that belief far stronger than I ever have in my entire life. He went through the history of how famous Christians bent their beliefs to accommodate scientific beliefs of evolution and I could have listened to him speak for at least another hour or two. Wow...just wow!
The exhibits for the last 3 C's
of the 7 C's of History are yet to be completed: creation, corruption, catastrophe, confusion, Christ, cross, and consummation. Then there is the upcoming Ark
Encounter exhibit, which is just Phase I of something more of a theme
park, is opening in early July. This life size ark is not at the Creation
Museum, but about 40 miles south of it. We probably will not go in its
first year of opening as it is expected to be very crowded, but next
year sounds promising. The museum even it its present state it is enough to wear out a teenager.
Having settled ourselves in downtown Cincinnati suite, we well were poised for 25-30 minute drive to the main attraction of our vacation: the Creation Museum. We arrived an hour before it opened because we did not check the times, but there were no barriers or guards once we were inside the main gate, so we walked in the gardens as it was not raining, although it was a bit cool. Such lovely colors and textures that I would like to incorporate in my own gardens!
Even local wildlife got into the act! We spotted a wild rabbit and a bird nest.
What can I say? You just never know what to expect with a teenager in the wild.
Then it was open. Since the weather was good for it and my husband had this burning desire to do it, the first thing we did was buy tickets for zip-lining. (You may remember my aversion to heights, if not scroll down No Public School Day to The Really Crazy Thing I Did at Stone Mountain Park.) Tickets for zip lining can sell out quickly, but schools were still in session and we went on Wednesday so there were not that many visitors, let alone those wanting to zip line. I mean, there was a couple of buses with a large retiree group, maybe a bus full of teenagers from a Christian school with strict dress codes of skirts only for girls, a few families of homeschoolers, and perhaps a small group of Mennonite teenagers. We went for level 2 and were three of the four to zip line in our group, which has a ten person maximum.
Although I dislike heights still, I have gotten better since the SkyHike encounter at Stone Mountian years ago. Climbing up is not as much of an issue. Standing on a narrow platform a few stories up and having some time to think is a bigger issue.
Jumping off that first platform even in a secure harness over a large pond after having time to think was the biggest issue.
Then there was remembering how to slow down when I was still just dealing with the height thing, but all went well for all of us.
We actually did not go into the museum proper to see exhibits the first day but we did all that the second day. The museum is really great. I was hoping that they would have expanded a bit more on historical accounts of dragons in the displays, but it was well worth the two days we spent there. We listened to two lectures (one on the first day and the other on the second), bought some books, watched two free short videos on the first day, and walked through the petting zoo area on the first day. We did not get to the planetarium films and I would have liked to have spent some more time in the gardens, but at least we left some things to do for another time...since no one go this eaten this time.
The one thing that changed my perspective on creation vs. some form of Christian-based evolution is that I believed it really did not matter what a person beliefs about how God created the world or how long it took Him to do it as long as one believed God created everything. I personally have chosen to believe in a literal six day creation and a young earth. After going through the museum and hearing Dr. Terry Morterson's lecture covering some highlights of Coming to Grips with Genesis: Biblical Authority and the Age of the Earth (one of the books I bought), I came away with a sense of the importance of being grounded in that belief far stronger than I ever have in my entire life. He went through the history of how famous Christians bent their beliefs to accommodate scientific beliefs of evolution and I could have listened to him speak for at least another hour or two. Wow...just wow!
The last day of our vacation, we planned to stay at a hotel just a couple hours from home. We wanted to hike and had a place in mind but it had been raining so much in the entire area from Georgia up through Ohio that we decided not take a chance that it would be miserably muddy trying to hike to the Chimney Tops in the Smoky Mountains, which would have also forced us to go east and have a longer drive home. So we found a fairly new state park along the way and that turned out to be more interesting than expected too. Actually, it was an adventure just to get into the park because Google Maps trying to get us in on a road that had been closed, so we drove around until Google Maps finally gave in about us not turning around and pointed us toward the main entrance way.
We were deciding on what walking trail to take from the Enterprise South Nature Park map, which was more detailed with a legend than the one on their website, and not paying attention to the other markings. As we walked along the level 4 trail in dark blue called Hawk's Ridge, we came across a mound that was too cone shaped to be natural. At first I thought it might be an Indian mound, but it was not as rounded or flattened at the top as they usually are. We could see a road beyond the trees so the Princess walked around and saw the metal wall with a door: a bunker.
When we saw the sign, I immediately thought military, but my husband speculated it could have been a place to store explosives for a mining company...I did not see anything that suggested there was mining in the area though.
When we took a better look at the map we grabbed when we came into the park, there were actually 100 of these bunkers! Some had a visible vent at the top of the mound and some had barred windows in the steel doors which just allowed us to peer into a dark, empty cement room. I have since looked it up. In support of World War II, the Army Corps of Engineers built the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant to manufacture TNT which was stored in these bunkers, an unexpected history lesson!
We had a nice lunch and drove the rest of the way home, arriving around 4:30. Our house sitter had left in the morning. She did great with the animals, but it seems she is not as much of a plant person, for while it rained and rained all around here for most of entire week, it obviously missed my little patch of the world that I call home and all my plants were in distress for lack of water, but most seem to be recovering now.
My Lord, thank you for providing a good time together and helping us to realize why Genesis is truly the beginning.
