Sunday, January 22, 2006

Morris to the Mountains

God, Thank You SO much for John Morris and the extra time that Loren and I got to spend with him driving around Rocky Mtn. National Park! To spend time with someone who has touched Your refining fire is so neat to see! I hope to walk in that same strong faith that You alone can author. I only hope that the lessons and stuff from this day do not fade out from my memory.

Anyway, So after church today, Loren offered to haul John Morris around in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) for a while before he left. Loren was originally going with Janet as well, and he asked me if I would like to come. So I was like, "Ok!" It was actually a hard decision because I really wanted to watch the Broncos attepmt the AFC Championships. But hanging out in the mountains with a hard core Creationist and a new friend won out :)

Janet ended up not being able to come :( So Loren, John, and I hopped into Loren's car and we drove up to RMNP. John really liked going through Big Thompson Canyon and looking at all the rocks. He was trying to figure out what kind they were: igneous or metamoprhic. He finally decided that a lot were metamorphic. Loren and John talked rocks for a while. It was cool when we started talking about other stuff like the biblical basis for homeschooling (fathers teaching sons and daughters stuff about God, their trade which is somewhat applicable). I brought up the possible teaching of pantheism that I saw in a TV show over break and John said that it was good that I was sensitive to picking that up. John really liked going through the park and looking around.

The coolest thing was hearing John's stories about Mt. Ararat. We heard the lightning story (where he and friends were struck by lightning and lived) and a bit about the wolves, but he told us more about the wolves. He said that they would circle him and his friends and they had to throw rocks at them to get them to leave their trail. Once John said that a shepherd came and chased the wolves away. Then he told this way cool story about how two paramedics came on the climb and they were able to treat all these people from surrounding villiages with just the first aid stuff. There was one girl who had gum problems that they had to turn away that John still remembers. Just thinking about how their mission wasn't quite accomplished because they didn't find evidence of the Ark (yet), but they still were able to serve all those people was cool.

Then we talked about the diversity of the human races because the people that lived on the top of Mt. Ararat were darker than those that lived at its base. That was interesting. We talked about how evolution reinforced existing racism, but creationism erased it.

Loren and I got to share our testimonies and ask him for some advice about a few things. It was really neat. Loren and I felt like for a while, we had a Christian parent or as we put it, "A Christian adult to talk to." We got to share our stories and got to hear a Christian adult's perspective on our lives. We also got to see how God used him and all his colleauges. It was just so neat to see a side of him he couldn't show at the lecture, but it was the side of him that was most touched in his walk with God. We saw the John Morris that God sees when God looks at him one day and says, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And in a way, we got to let him see that side of us as well.

2 comments:

Edwin Smith said...

Katie, I don't know if that adventure was an answer to one of your prayers, but I bet that it was a huge blessing. I'm not even that familiar with Dr. Morris or his work, and I would have been thrilled to go around with him. I am so amazed by your faith and passion in this area, and not only in this area, but your zeal for the gospel and the glory and the sovereign creative hand of God. You are a blessing to many of those around you.

Anonymous said...

I just made a comment, but I think I erased it on accident. I just wanted to tell you how much of a blessing it was to row along side you at the rec today, and that you shared some joy with me in the excitement of your amazing day. God certainly knows how to bless His children : )