Red River Gorge (2)

Last weekend (has it already been a week?) several of my family members and I went out with several others to the Red River Gorge, the same place we went earlier this year. And, as before, it was beautiful! I had my doubts before we left, as most of the leaves near our house were brown and dull. But that was not the case at this place!

The sky was blue, the vistas were grand . . . 

. . . and the fall trees were golden, orange, and occasionally red.

What is so beautiful about the Red River Gorge area is the abundance of cliffs and rock formations. The trees are beautiful, but you'd never be able to see the tops of them without the cliffs . . .

. . . or without hiking the cliffs. It took work to get these photos. It took strenuous effort to get above all the trees in order to look down on them.

The same goes spiritually, doesn't it. It takes work, effort, sweat, and prayer to go from looking up . . .

. . . to looking down.

We're all still on this hike, all still making our way up this cliff. We must not forget the unspeakably gorgeous vista that awaits us . . . 

"One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:13-14).

Fall

A blast of air breaths cold 'round my head,

With rumors telling fall is near.

A sudden wave of icy dread—

I've never felt this weight of fear.

The wind pulls hard on a leaf decayed,

And plucks it from its homey branch.

It then descends into the glade

Where move or blow in plainly can't.

I fear my demise to match this fate,

To fall with leaves and decompose.

Such dreadful end I fiercely hate—

To die like leaves at summer's close.

But there's hope for me, though all should end,

For I, through Christ, will rise again.

He Hasn't Changed Yet

     Today is my blog's first birthday. On October 24, 2009, I wrote my very first blog post. So many things have changed since then: we have changed, creation has gone through numerous changes, circumstances have changed, even this blog has changed. Time involves change. But there is One who never changes: God. He's the same today that He was a year ago. Exactly the same! All that has changed is our understanding of Him and our relationship with Him. “For I the LORD do not change” (Malachi 3:6). “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). He is the One Great Invariable.


     This is somewhat hard to understand, for we have become so very accustomed to change. Change is a way of life. There are things that have changed that we could never have guessed at only a year ago. How comforting it is to have Someone solid to hold on to in this constantly-changing world! No matter what may change, He is always the same. Always, forever.
     
     This is a hope to cling to when looking to the future. The future is uncertain, to say the least. With so much change in this world, life could be filled with anxiety and worry; but it need not be—we have an eternally unchanging God to cling to. Let us cling to Him with hope, knowing that He will NEVER change. His promises will never change. He will still never forsake us. His love will never lessen. His faithfulness will never fail. Everything He always has been He is still. This is the God we believe in. He NEVER changes.

In the Morning

Watoga, Day 4

With three great days behind, we began the journey home. We packed up VERY quickly and headed out. On the way we stopped in at one final place: the Cranberry Glades Botanical Area. Here was the sign welcoming us to this beautiful hike:

Needless to say, we weren't going to picnic on this hike :) It was beautiful, however. A great way to conclude our beautiful West Virginia trip.

After this, we climbed back into the van and finished our journey home. All-around, it was a wonderful trip, though it was also great to be home again.

Watoga, Day 3

Day 3 of our Watoga trip began with an early morning walk for Tyler and I. We went down to the nearby lake for some sunrise photos. This was on the way:

The sun was just about to come up and was lighting up the fall-colored trees behind Tyler. So, while he waited for the sun, I took pictures of him.

The sun finally broke the distant hill, and lit up the gently flowing fog above the surface of the water. It was unspeakably gorgeous.

Pics of Tyler continue . . .

Here's a panoramic shot of the lake surface. You can just see the fog floating across the cool, calm waters.

We left that position and moved a bit to get some different angles.

Here's the picture I used not long ago in a post for Psalm 68:19. It's titled "Daily" if you missed that one.

Tyler again . . .

We continued to move, and got this vantage point on the lake. How still and peaceful it was . . . until we started skipping rocks :)

After that trip, and sometime later into the day, some members of our family went on a 5ish mile hike.

The colors were beautiful. Eventually we came to this little cabin. Neat little building, called "home" by several families over the past few centuries.

Moving on . . .

Nearing the end. This is a panoramic image, so the trees didn't quite look this bent, but it was still beautiful.

Another beautiful day in Watoga State Park. However, it was the last day there, and the next day we would be leaving. But the fun wasn't quite over . . .

Watoga, Day 2

Day 1 behind, we got a goodish sleep and woke up ready for day 2. Below is a panoramic image of the inside of our cabin. Note that this image is somewhat distorted in order to capture more of the room in one shot. It was NOT a roundish building :)

After a morning bike ride for some of us, we had lunch and later set out for our first hike.

(Yes, my camera did tip over at the end of the video. That was my excitement for the trip! I was sure I was going to be camera-less after that accident. Fortunately, however, it was not damaged.)

The first location was Beartown. I never picked up why it was called bear town. Seems like I heard that it had something to do with the pits being their "homes" in this "town," but I'm not certain.

Hello Tyler!

It looked as though the trees were growing out of dirt/grass islands. Pretty weird looking.

We then set out to Droop Mountain, location of a Civl War battlefield.

A little nervous, Tyler?

This was a lookout tower from which you could see the locations of where the Union and Confederate forces were. It was a beautiful afternoon, and a beautiful view.

Hello Carrie!

Abbie walking down the tower.

And so ended that day, or at least the hiking of that day. But there will still two days to go . . .