Sunday morning we considered looking for a church, but ended up just taking it easy and having a quieter morning. We had breakfast and hung out in our Airbnb, and then once the weather improved a bit, we drove about an hour to the Redwood forest to do a short hike. The drive was really pretty, and then we got to the trailhead, and the parking lot was full! We debated what to do for a bit and then thankfully a few people left, opening up a few spots! We parked and got our bug spray on and headed into the forest.
Javi immediately expressed his frustration at having to “stay on the trail.” He’s a “go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail” kind of kid. He said he wouldn’t have any fun, but it turns out that the Redwoods are really fun, and there were lots of little offshoots for them to explore and get inside the trees which was really cool. Kind of like magical treehouses! We hiked the Lady Bird Johnson trail, and it was flat and wide and easy. The sun coming through the trees was so pretty, and the forest was shockingly quiet. We saw little to no wildlife, and barely heard any birds. It’s an old, silent forest; such a neat new experience. So glad we did this hike.
On our way back, we stopped at a family restaurant that was doing dine-in for dinner. We ordered a bunch of “American” food (kind of a departure for us when we aren’t doing fast food) and it was all very pleasant. Nothing was soggy, too bland or too terrible. 🙂
In the evening, we discovered a show called The Floor is Lava, where grownups try to navigate through an obstacle course, and if they fall, they go into the “lava!” The kids thought it was awesome, and it inspired several floor is lava games in real life.
Sunday morning Lover and I were both feeling discouraged about the future. We still don’t know what we are doing in the fall, and that’s unsettling! While we were driving to the Redwoods, God reminded me of 2 Chronicles 20:12 – “we do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” That so sums up how we are feeling, and it was a great reminder of where to put our focus. We read through the whole chapter together, and what really stood out to us about that story is that the people seek God, and then they immediately praise him for how He will care for them, before they even have an answer! We determined to do more praising – we’ve been trusting, but not necessarily praising him for whatever He has planned for the fall.