{"id":1879,"date":"2016-06-05T22:12:00","date_gmt":"2016-06-05T22:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/?p=1879"},"modified":"2016-06-10T11:35:30","modified_gmt":"2016-06-10T11:35:30","slug":"beach-glass-fort-church-and-sunset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/2016\/06\/05\/beach-glass-fort-church-and-sunset\/","title":{"rendered":"Beach glass, fort, church, and sunset"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Our campground was just a few miles from Fort Niagara State Park so we decided to take a picnic there and check it out. \u00a0We were expecting to pay for entry but when we arrived there was nobody at the booth so we just went on in. \u00a0There were only a few other cars in the parking lot. \u00a0We headed straight to the beach of Lake Ontario which had smooth stones just like the one back at our campground. \u00a0But as we looked closer we started finding beach glass&#8230;green bits, clear bits and brown bits. \u00a0Every so often you would find a nice dark blue or ruby red piece. \u00a0All 5 of us got so mesmerized by looking for the stuff that anytime one of us would say, &#8220;ok, let&#8217;s take a break and go eat&#8221; everyone would agree and then the next thing you know, we&#8217;re all heads down again picking up bits of glass. \u00a0I cannot tell you why it was so satisfying to search, find and collect that glass but it was. \u00a0It actually happens to us at most beaches but it&#8217;s usually shells that capture our focus. \u00a0There is a sameness at the same time that there is uniqueness&#8230;maybe that is what makes it so intriguing. \u00a0All the\u00a0glass is composed primarily\u00a0of silica and roughly the same size&#8230;but they are different colors and they are different shapes. \u00a0If each one could tell it&#8217;s\u00a0story. \u00a0The story about the bottle it once was, the\u00a0tragedy that caused it to break and the journey it has taken to arrive at this beach where it was rescued by someone who saw the beauty in its brokenness. \u00a0Maybe we are a bit like the beach glass and perhaps this is why we were so content to spend hours collecting the stuff.<br \/>\n<a title=\"Looking for beach glass\" href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/136797225@N05\/27572404195\/in\/album-72157669557661585\/\" data-flickr-embed=\"true\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/c4.staticflickr.com\/8\/7791\/27572404195_bf66f6c75b_n.jpg\" alt=\"Looking for beach glass\" width=\"320\" height=\"240\" \/><\/a><script src=\"\/\/embedr.flickr.com\/assets\/client-code.js\" async=\"\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><!--more-->We finally did have lunch and then Steph and Dacen went to visit the fort while Caden, Brielle and I played on the playground then spent more time searching for beach glass. \u00a0We were going to go play a couple of games we brought and when we walked through the parking lot (which was now beginning to fill up) a woman who hardly spoke any english and her son had a dead battery and needed a jump. \u00a0So we hopped in the truck, positioned ourselves near them and got them started. \u00a0They also wanted to know where the nearest grocery store was and we had just been the day before, so I was able to give them directions. \u00a0Our good deed for the day!<\/p>\n<p>The three of us found a table with a great view of the lake and played a round of war and then Martian Dice before Dacen and Steph showed up. \u00a0Then we went home for dinner. \u00a0When we arrived back at the campground the place was electric with families and kids. \u00a0It was Saturday, it&#8217;s camping season and the weather was awesome. \u00a0The campground had a soccer field and there was a group of boys playing. \u00a0After dinner Caden and Dacen went over and joined. \u00a0They had a blast and Steph and I enjoyed watching them play the sport that they love so much. \u00a0Brielle found a group of kids at the playground playing &#8220;Groundies&#8221; and was having an absolute ball. \u00a0We stayed until it was dark then went home to hit the sack.<\/p>\n<p>The next morning was a bit dreary but it did not detract from the excitement that Brielle lost a tooth! \u00a0We got ourselves all gussied up and headed to\u00a0Niagara Frontier Bible Church to get us some religion! \u00a0We were very warmly welcomed and being first time guests they had banana bread for us&#8230;.score! \u00a0We slipped in a bit late but still got to enjoy the worship music which was unfamiliar to us but upbeat and good. \u00a0It was a very laid back atmosphere, like a family, like Grace Place back in Colorado&#8230;.the old one on Mountain Avenue. \u00a0It was at that moment I sort of realized that as Grace Place has grown up and moved to a new location that we have transitioned from\u00a0a\u00a0<em>family<\/em> of believers\u00a0to a <em>community<\/em> of believers. \u00a0As any church grows I suppose it has to make this transition. \u00a0Small groups, Bible studies, and ministry opportunities still\u00a0give it that family feel but there are many such families now that make up the community\u00a0and diversity increases. \u00a0There is certainly nothing wrong with community. \u00a0The question is, what sort of community or neighborhood will it become? \u00a0Will it be the one with big fancy houses and manicured lawns that look perfect on the outside but are sheltering the occupants from their pains and shames&#8230;where people come and go through their garage in the protection of their 4 wheeled transport pod&#8230;where the only thing you have in common with your neighbor is the location and the paint color of your house that is enforced by the HOA? \u00a0Or will it be the one full of eclectic houses where doors and blinds are kept open for all to see the mess that may be inside&#8230;where multiple families gather spontaneously in someone&#8217;s\u00a0front yard to chat or throw the frisbee&#8230;where people walk more than they drive and as they do they interact with their neighbors? \u00a0Maybe that analogy doesn&#8217;t work, but it is helping me with the adjustment. \u00a0I am hopeful that we can find a spot at Grace Place when we return&#8230;that it is still the right place for us to serve for maximum kingdom impact. \u00a0Change can be hard but change can be good.<\/p>\n<p>Anyway, the sermon was on communion. \u00a0It was really well done as he admittedly leveraged heavily from one of Charles Spurgeon&#8217;s sermons. \u00a0The best part for me was was when he unpacked the symbolism of the broken bread&#8230;<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Bread has to pass through many tortures before it becomes food to us. The wheat was sown in the ground. It was buried, it sprang up, it was exposed to cold winds and to hot sunshine before it ripened\u2014and then it was cut down by a sharp sickle. After being cut down, it was threshed, then it was ground into flour, then the dough was kneaded into bread which was baked in an oven and cut with a knife\u2014all of which processes may be used as images of suffering. So the broken bread which we eat at the Communion sets forth the suffering of Jesus.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>I had never thought of the breaking of bread that way before. \u00a0Of course we finished the service by taking communion&#8230;with oyster crackers! \u00a0I was expecting the old school loaf getting broken after that sermon.<\/p>\n<p>After church we ran a couple errands (I finally got a replacement water pressure regulator) and fueled\u00a0up the truck for the long drive day tomorrow. \u00a0Back at home we chilled most of the afternoon then had dinner and then went out to enjoy the sunset once again. \u00a0Caden used his camera to capture a time lapse of it&#8230;.next time we have free WiFi I&#8217;ll upload it for your viewing pleasure. \u00a0We really enjoyed our time here and so glad that the kids got a chance to play with a bunch of kids their own age. \u00a0If you are visiting Niagara we recommend Four Mile Creek.<\/p>\n<div id=\"flickr_72157669557661585_6055\"><div class=\"slickr-flickr-slideshow landscape medium \"><div class=\"active\"><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7791\/27572404195_bf66f6c75b.jpg\" title=\"Looking for beach glass\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Looking for beach glass<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7465\/27538117716_dc60922cc8.jpg\" title=\"Have to get wet\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Have to get wet<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7405\/26962550994_96ce4d3744.jpg\" title=\"Kids at Lake Ontario\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Kids at Lake Ontario<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7059\/27473496662_036d802245.jpg\" title=\"The dudes\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>The dudes<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7687\/27572401875_2bc95f50a5.jpg\" title=\"Picnic\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Picnic<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7358\/26963719083_b99302eb6d.jpg\" title=\"Big flag\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Big flag<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7451\/27572407095_f7c2162778.jpg\" title=\"Canon\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Canon<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7409\/26963717733_d47d39b9a1.jpg\" title=\"Fort Niagara\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Fort Niagara<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7194\/27572406115_afb4de6ed6.jpg\" title=\"Soccer game\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Soccer game<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7626\/27499717611_871f0a86b5.jpg\" title=\"Fort Niagara\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Fort Niagara<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7289\/27572396025_92c52b3b03.jpg\" title=\"Dinner\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Dinner<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7210\/27572391505_d2da5455c7.jpg\" title=\"Groundies\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Groundies<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7575\/27499710301_8cf8a14f38.jpg\" title=\"Weeee\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Weeee<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7370\/27499712381_0d5388339e.jpg\" title=\"Soccer\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Soccer<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7431\/27295467270_7bca8743f4.jpg\" title=\"Ready for church\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Ready for church<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7329\/27572385535_ff37c53934.jpg\" title=\"Lost tooth!\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Lost tooth!<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7345\/27572387265_eaecb7a03d.jpg\" title=\"Church\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Church<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7195\/27473494092_4f1c5a245a.jpg\" title=\"Worship\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Worship<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7621\/27572384315_a8e7288041.jpg\" title=\"Heading to the lake\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Heading to the lake<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7413\/27473474082_811b44d2e5.jpg\" title=\"Dead minnow\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Dead minnow<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7680\/27473473492_c25a38cd41.jpg\" title=\"Dacen\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Dacen<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7641\/27538119236_d573c7ff64.jpg\" title=\"Caden\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Caden<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7247\/26963715693_25667a22f5.jpg\" title=\"Colored clouds\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Colored clouds<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7065\/27473472902_f1367f2aea.jpg\" title=\"Sitting on a log\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Sitting on a log<\/p><\/div><div><img src=\"https:\/\/farm8.static.flickr.com\/7380\/27473492582_87e2920701.jpg\" title=\"Blazing sunset\" alt=\"\"  \/><p>Blazing sunset<\/p><\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\">jQuery(\"#flickr_72157669557661585_6055\").data(\"options\",{\"delay\":3000,\"autoplay\":true,\"transition\":500,\"link\":\"next\",\"target\":\"_self\",\"width\":\"\",\"height\":\"\"});<\/script><div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Our campground was just a few miles from Fort Niagara State Park so we decided to take a picnic there and check it out. \u00a0We were expecting to pay for entry but when we arrived there was nobody at the booth so we just went on in. \u00a0There were only a few other cars in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[62,61],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1879"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1890,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1879\/revisions\/1890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/thewachs.com\/wachsacrossamerica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}