Pinnacles National Park – California

Yesterday we went to Pinnacles National Park for a Sabbath morning hike. Per the Ranger’s suggestion, we hiked the Bear Gulch Cave loop (3 miles). There was water on the cave floor in some places and a small waterfall which sounded bigger than it looked. Talk about a hidden gem. It was amazing.

I am so proud of K for her efforts today. The poor girl was so nervous about going in a cave. We got off to a rough start, complete with wails of “I’m never going hiking again!” The anticipation of the cave was miserable for her. I had foreseen this as a highly probable situation. For weeks, I had been thinking about how to successfully complete my mission of helping/making her do the thing that she was afraid to do. Hallelujah, God can do anything! With a combination of deep breathing that we learned from Elmo on a Sesame Street worksheet, memorizing the same Bible verse for 2 weeks, wearing daddy’s special head lamp, and some divine intervention with my patience level, we did it. After conquering her fear, on the return trip, she was chiming in with, “I heart caves!” and “This was the funnest hike ever!” I am just so grateful that she was able to experience that feeling of doing something that you’re afraid to do and coming out stronger on the other side of it.

“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.” – Psalm 56:3