Warning: Lots of photos
Saturday after lunch, we went to the Refection Riding Arboretum
at the foot of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga.
We so enjoyed walking it’s 3 mile loop which you can drive, bike or walk.
These horses reminded me of a Canadian TV show we've been enjoying, Heartland.
The cool spring breeze was so refreshing.
Had to get one more with the mountain in the background. :-)
The Arboretum has a has a level 4 rating which means
it has labled at least 120 different species of trees.
Everything is colored with missing Joel now.
We could not help thinking about how much he
would have enjoyed the hike as we walked along.
He would have loved everything about it.. the beauty, the adventure, the history, the day.
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| Wild hydrangeas. |
As I snapped photos, I wondered if Joel and Jesus went on hikes together
and if they ever had any need for photos or scrapbooks.
One room cabin with spring feed water basin.
This cabin was dedicated to John and Margret by their grandchildren with
Psalm 19:1-3
The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words; their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.
Favorite flower picture.
I hear that the colors in Heaven are even more amazing than any we've ever seen.
These flowers were growing on a Florida Anise Tree
These mushrooms reminded me of our very first real nature walk together
at OP Schnable Park in San Antonio. The Lord so blessed us that day with tons
of different mushrooms, bees and mating garter snakes.
Pages from Joel's Nature Journal
Joel was 10 years old.
We all took turns using our first digital camera.
Joel's version of what the snakes were doing below. :-)
We had to look up what kind of snakes they were
We were all amazed by God's creation.
The one below was from a different walk at OP Schnable.
We went there often; there was so much to see
and it was an easy drive from our house.
We met our good friends, the Chagoyas, there just last May.
Back to the Arboretum..
We've been to St. Augustine. Glad we didn't have to walk here from there.
Cherokee monument.
Joel so enjoyed taking nature photos.
Will I get to see all the scrapbooks he’s collected when I get there?
About halfway through our hike we came upon this rock.. it amazed me..
I took half a dozen photos and still could capture the wonder of it so I took a video.
There was water springing up from the rock.. it reminded me of the water God provided in the wilderness for the Israelites and these verses from
Revelation 21
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away,
and there is no longer any sea...3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying,
“Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be
His people, and God Himself will be among them,4and He will wipe away every tear from
their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying,
or pain; the first things have passed away.” 5 And He who sits on the throne said,
“Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”
6 Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.
I’ve wondered many times how spending time with Jesus will work in Heaven.
Will thousands of others be sharing my long, quiet walk with Jesus?
In Revelation 21:22 John says,
“I did not see a temple in the city, because
the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.”
I was glad when I read in Anne Graham Lotz book, Heaven My Father’s House, last night
that I wasn’t the only one who’d wondered.. and who’d selfishly not wanted to give up
the wonderful, intimate, daily, individual, fellowship that we enjoy with Him now.
Anne believes that “There will be no place in Heaven
where God is not physically, actually present!
Because He is omnipresent,
He will live fully and completely with me every moment,
as though I were the only resident of Heaven!
And He will live every moment fully and completely with
you as though you were the only resident of Heaven!
What a wonderful place Heaven will be!”
Mike noticed, while on our hike, that sometimes the path would disappear beneath
the forest overgrowth and we would have to look up ahead to find where to go next.
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| Mike at edge of a bamboo forest. | | | | | |
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He said that in life we can get so focused on the here and now
that we feel lost and have to look up to find eternal perspective again.
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| Beekeeper hives center right. |
I’ve been meditating on Colossians 3:1-4 lately.
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above,
where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above,
not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
I meditated on it before.. to keep myself in check that I didn’t love earthly things too much;
now because earthly things are too unbearable.
Mike's view.
My view.
Wild flowers and dandelions.
Yet another view.. what's that in the distance?
Turtles enjoying the sun.
So nice to take time and listen to the heavens
and the earth declaring God's glory.
Dogwood tree.
And for a grand finale an Azalea bush.
Looking up,
Jenny
A nice engraved stone showing where each state is for those of us who have gotten turned around.
Alabama 25 miles south and Georgia where we were standing. 
Maybe my favorite photo. 
