Have your sound on … and listen closely.
Praying for the drought and the many cities affected by the scorching heat… the only thing that refreshes is the HEALING RAIN.
Oh Lord may we all rejoice in the washing of the water… sometimes we are annoyed by it but most times it is refreshing. Have mercy on us Lord and bring the rain.
Day two on the river was much nicer for all of us.
The clouds were light and fluffy with no rain in sight.
The rivers edge was warming up and the outside air was in the high seventies maybe even eighties.
The scenery was awesome.
The landscape was beautiful.
We were amazed at the beauty from the rivers edge.
The quiet of the outside was a great lesson for us all to slow down and truly listen.
I always love the clouds and the pictures I can find within the contrast of blue and white.
The geese swam close by as long as we were quiet and non intrusive to their place of quiet.
The water was so calm and peaceful and all we could do was sit in the silence and enjoy God’s creation.
The deer in the brush looking at us as if to say ‘why are you out there on the water watching me’ then it quickly ran away into the trees for safety and shelter.
A mamma duck and her babies swam alongside the rivers edge. They were so cute I couldn’t get a picture close enough without scaring them.
The wilderness so beautiful on this warm day on the water.
I was so glad we stayed for another adventure on our canoe.
We would have missed so much if we would have gone home too soon.
God was showing me that after a storm there is always beauty and calm we just have to see it and observe the creation around us. During this two day trip my camera had 268 pictures on it.
After what seemed like a long day on the river we returned to the camp to get ready for our dinner.
First thing on my agenda was to get out of the wet clothes I was wearing and into warm ones.
It is always nice to find warm sweat pants, sweatshirts, warm socks and heavy duty hiking boots for the very
cold feet.
The camp fires felt good as we waited for our feast to begin.
Dinner was a great success.
We served taco’s for 18 with leftovers for another day.
After we burned our dishes and cleaned up a little we settled around the campfires for snacks and conversations.
Night time came and my hubby went to bed first.
After talking till near ten I decided it was time for sleep too.
Looking forward to a nice warm night of sleep I opened up my sleeping bag and realized it had been rained on. My pillow, egg crate mattress and sleeping bag was soaked as well as half of the cot too.
I woke my hubby up and told him about my situation and he gave me his extra sleeping bag and a spare blanket. (The sleeping bag was very light weight and was used as an extra blanket)
I threw the wet ones onto the tent floor and then made myself a bed finding a towel rolled up for my pillow.
Folding the sleeping bag in half I curled inside it. Then I folded the bottom half to cover me up more.
Not sure if sleep would come I laid there in the dark and wondered
what ever made me say YES to this adventure.
After a few hours of sleeping someones baby in camp woke me up.
The night air had dropped and I began to realize how very cold I was becoming.
Problem solving again I found my coat with a hood and wrapped it around me and then climbed back into the sleeping bag till morning.
My first thought when I woke up was to go home.
After a hot cup of coffee and realizing the sky was bright and beautiful full of warm sunshine my attitude changed and we began day two on the river with the feeling of good day ahead of us.
{I do have to say my hubby did not realize the night was so cold for me. Also a few of the other campers did have sleeping bags available. I just didn’t want to wake anyone up.}
Photo’s by Sharon or Larry O from Oregon.
I am always unsure at first.
My first step into the canoe is one of nervous beginnings.
This trip a new life jacket helped with my confidence.
The positive affirmations from many around me that it would be a good trip helped too.
The coolness was a bit of concern and then as we moved into the darker sky it made me wonder what was ahead of us.
Above us the darkened sky opened up and about three quarters into our trip we were rained on.
It poured a torrential rain soaking up everything in sight.
We grabbed rain gear and tried to keep dry.
It poured and pounded and with the wind at our backs we had to row to the shores edge.
There was nothing anyone could do but to keep a ‘positive’ attitude and get to a dry place as quickly as possible.
Our hopes for a nice ‘day outing’ changed to a wet and damp boats interior.
Along with wet clothes and shoes and soaking hair too.
There was an opening along the bridge and we stopped to take cover and eat our lunches.
At first I thought we were done and thought to myself… “wow that was quite an adventure.”
Then they reminded me our cars were far away and we had another two hours on the water to get to them.
This is not a good picture of me.
I was wearing wet jeans, soaked coat and was trying very hard to be kind to everyone.
This is a no makeup… no fancy… anything look.
The life jacket makes me look huge.
I am wearing my hubby’s extra large rain coat and had a firm grip on my camera bag.
The plaid hat is my ‘canoe hat’ tradition.
No one will let me on the canoe unless I have it with me.
After we ate a bit and the rain slowed to a nice ‘mist’ we had to return to the river.
Singing hymns and songs of praise we rowed to our next destination.
God is good and every circumstance we encounter is a teachable moment for us.
The key is our reaction to it.
James 1:2-4
Consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have it’s perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Lord we trusted in you and we had your protection.
Your majesty and greatness was all around us.
We praised you even in our storm.
Simplicity
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