4.) Narnia

On Tuesday of our vacation a group of us took a hike to Narnia. Narnia is a magical place near Cedar Campus that makes you feel like you’ve stepped out of the wardrobe and into C.S. Lewis’ imagination. After a quiet and picturesque journey through the woods you find yourself walking in between massive moss-covered boulders and in and out of more trees. Keep walking and you’ll eventually come to the turquoise waters of Lake Huron. Narnia was discovered by Cedar Campus (perhaps even Grandma and Grandpa Hunt, though I’m not sure), on part of protected state lands next to its property. They have since received permission for their campers to enjoy the place, as long as no one wrecks anything.

I have always loved walking to Narnia (well, hiking in the woods IS one of my favorite things) and enjoyed taking Olivia to one of my favorite places.

I wish I had taken photos of the paths between the boulders. Another time…

They recently replaced the old Narnia lamp and sign with this. Tacky. I checked eBay for a better one. No dice. Someone may have to go to England and get a real one to bring back.

Austin jumping off of a boulder into the shallow bay. Very safe. Correction: very safe if you’re crazy like Austin.

A pair of swans visited us in a little inlet. The one in front was hissing at us a lot. Probably because three of us were pointing cameras at them and trying to get close. But still. We were there first! They just floated on up to us and then copped an attitude. Rude swans. But still pretty. Someone pointed out how perfectly clean their bodies are, but how their necks are dirty because they can’t reach them to clean them. Interesting.

8.) Hearing Chris speak at SLT

My favorite kind of preaching is Bible Exposition. For those of you who aren’t hip to the Believer community, Bible Exposition is taking a specific text of the Bible and breaking it down. It is not topical preaching. It is not preaching that pulls verses from here and there, with the verses sometimes being taken out of context. It is what I consider a pretty pure look at the Bible.

However, a lot of churches these days don’t do Exposition. The mega-churches of today seem to draw crowds by speaking on topics. Some churches even thrive on the “prosperity” gospel. Which is just a man standing in front of a group of people each Sunday telling them that God wants to bless them, and that if they stick with Jesus, their lives will be happy and shiny. It seems as if these guys haven’t heard of this thing called the BIBLE. Jesus’ life was not happy shiny. People were mean to him. People constantly pestered him to heal them. He had no privacy. In the end, he was nailed to a tree and left to suffocate to death. If being a Christian meant that all your troubles would go away, everyone would be clammering to do it, even if Jesus meant nothing to them. That’s not how God rolls. He promises peace and rest and contentment. Not eternal sunshine and $$$.

Anyway, my life is deprived of good exposition, so I was thrilled to hear Chris speak at what was originally the School of Leadership Training (SLT) at Cedar Campus. InterVarsity apparently has changed the name to Leadership Institute. Lame. “Hey man, you going to LI this summer?” “Oh, yeah, LI is so awesome!” Sorry guys, but SLT sounds way cooler. Fail.

Chris spoke on Acts 19 and 20. Olivia let me listen to the Acts 19 part. That was nice of her. Grandma Marian had to miss that, though, while she walked her around outside. Then I had to take her. I sat with the Bird in a nice Adirondack chair on the backporch outside the meeting place and tried to listen to the Acts 20 part while I nursed the baby. While sitting there, two beautiful swans swam up to the shore that was about 30 feet away. Nice. (They paid us another visit in the Vacation Top Ten’s number 4.)

Fortunately, Chris had a handout for everyone, so I could piece together parts that I had missed.

Chris and his wife Liz are also good friends with the Hunt family, so we saw them more than on that Sunday morning. He is also the man who married Austin and Lauren. He is a lover of the water, and the Hunts have dubbed him “swims with loons” after he did just that. It seems that no water is too cold for Chris, who took a dip on our Narnia walk and enjoyed the canoe at the cabin. He also sat next to me for the Top Ten’s #2, which I was grateful for because of his swimming abilities.