Creation . . . from the crater to the Washougal

So this last week Lynsey and I spent some time down at Crater Lake (Oregon's only nation park, which happen's to be the deepest lake in the US--6th deepest in the world--and the clearest lake in the world). There are so many things that are truly breath taking about it. It is a must see if you are looking for a little vacation spot.

As I hiked the trails, and gazed memorized by the blueness of the lake and the surroundings I felt loved. Not only by my wife, but by God. I think God took great delight in not only creating, but recreating the world (in this case about 8,000 years ago). Years go by after creation, and God thinks "I want to create something new, something that will show humanity my love for them, and that will take their breath away." There are so many different places like this around the world. Crater Lake is one, and it had that effect on me.

Some thoughts on Creation . . .
God created us in is image, so it is only natural that we have the desire to create things within us. But there is a cycle to this. When we create we are recreated by our creation. Let me rephase that--the things we create recreate us. This was evident to me when Lynsey and I were on the washougal river with some of my favorite people, the Prutsmans.

There are two properties side by side on the Washougal, one belongs to John and Evelyn, and one belongs to their neighbors, lovely people, John and Evelyn have spoken nothing but the best of them. Though the two properties are very much the same, they are also very much different. Both have a beautiful view of the river, both have trees, ferns, happy owners, but there differences rest on what the two owners have choosen to create on their properties, and how their creations shape their experiences and life. For John's neighbors, it was a big beautiful house, with bedrooms, kitchen, very much like what I live in, only theirs was much nicers. For the prustmans they chose to create a campfire area, a solar shower, a shed to store things, and an very humble trailer. They cook over their fire in a dutch oven, or reflector oven, or maybe a grill on the fire.

Where am I going? We create, and our creations recreate us. Once we mold, or purchase something, and it interns redefines us. Based on the prustsmans creations, it formed the experience we would have that day, being outdoors, looking at God's creation, cooking over a fire, as we experienced community. We had one room, God's river. It was the kitchen, the family room, was almost the bedroom, etc.

I don't know what their neighbors did that night, but it was inside. Our houses isolate us from the world, our separate rooms isolate us from our families. Maybe it is not so much in terms of good and bad, right and wrong, but it made me realize that what we choose to make (or purchase) forms us to who we are going to be.

So I went out and bought a dutch oven, and want to make a fire pit in my back yard, so that we can have people over, cook with them, eat with them, do it outside in God's creation, and dutch oven cooking is the best! It might take longer, but if you do it together, slowing down is a good thing.

So visit the Washougal River, go see Crater Lake, remember God, be intentional about what you crate (purchase) because it will recreate you. Spend some time thinking about what you have bought, and how that has formed who you are, then go buy a dutch oven. =)

Blessings.