Last Wednesday while on vacation we drove into Kentucky and visited The Creation Museum. The museum holds a young earth position, but whether one holds to a young earth or an old earth position, the main point is that God is the Creator. The museum takes you through what it calls “The 7 C’s of History” to highlight God’s plan: Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, and Consummation. It was really neat walking through the story of God in history and seeing the displays of such things as the Garden of Eden, Noah’s Ark, etc. The the museum itself, as a museum, was very well done. It’s definitely worth a trip if you’re in the area. Oh yeah, and a walk through the gardens, a visit to the petting zoo, and of course, a ride on the camel makes the day complete.
2 Books I Just Finished
Happy Birthday to My Babe!
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| Natalia with pitching rubber and home plate from Homer Bailey’s perfect game on July 2, 2013 before it goes into the Reds Hall of Fame |
Meeting Up with Another Bible College Friend
Yesterday we finally enjoyed a much-needed day of sleeping in. We then went for lunch at a Cincinnati favorite, Skyline Chili with an old Bible college buddy, Todd Porter. Todd is a long-time youth pastor who just transitioned into a new role as connections pastor at his church. We had a fun time catching up. We then went for dessert at another Cinci favorite, Graeters. Wow! Their famous black raspberry chocolate chip ice cream was to die for! Incredible! After saying our farewells, Adriana and Natalia went for manicures and pedicures, and I enjoyed some reading in Barnes and Noble. We then went and saw Monsters University – Natalia’s 2nd time. Very cute and enjoyable! For dinner we went out to eat at Abuelo’s Mexican Restaurant. A very nice and relaxing day. Claudia is having a blast at Camp Electric!
Dropping Off At Camp, Cincinnati Reds, AND Randomly Running Into Relatives 670 Miles From Home!!!
On Friday night we arrived home from our Georgia Missions Trip. On Saturday evening, at 6:30pm, after Adriana finished work, we loaded the car and hit the road. We drove to Pittsburgh, checked into our hotel at 2am, got 3 hours of sleep, then got up and hit the road again early Sunday morning, driving to Ohio where we dropped Claudia off for Camp Electric at Cedarville University. Adriana almost cried as it felt like we were dropping her off at college (which we will be doing in just 3 short years!). We’re excited for Clau and praying for a great week of not only honing her musical skills, but also of an awesome encounter with God and building friendships.
After saying farewell to Claudia we drove to Cincinnati where Natalia and I went to a Reds game I sent my parents a picture of Natalia at the stadium. Mom then texted her sister Sarah (who used to live in Cincinnati, and now lives in Indianapolis) to tell her that we would be in Cinci for a few days. My Aunt Sarah texted her back saying that, coincidentally, she and my Uncle John were actually in Cincinnati, and were at Great American Ballpark watching the Reds play the Pirates with some of my other distant relatives. WHAT? Yep! We were both at the stadium! We got on the phone with each other and soon I spotted them waving at us just above the 3rd base dugout. I snapped a pictured of them waving at us, and Aunt Sarah said that while she was waving, they actually projected them on the jumbo tron, which we were unable to see as it was above our heads. We met up, and they actually had 2 extra seats, so we went down and sat with them for the rest of the game. Afterward we met up with Adriana and all enjoyed dinner together. So fun! I was wondering, what would the betting odds be that an aunt from Indianaopis and her nephew from New York would wind up in Cincinnati, on the same day, at the same stadium! As my wife put it: Either the world is too small, or the Larkin family is too big. lol!
Georgia Mission Day 6 … Home Sweet Home!
Yesterday after packing, cleaning, and a quick visit to the bookstore, we were off at 11:30am. We stopped by Chick-Fil-A and had lunch – the first time for many to enjoy the nectar of the chicken gods! There were no seats available, so we had lunch picnic style under the trees. We arrived at the airport right when we were hoping to, returned the rental vans, and got everyone checked in. We discovered that our flight had a 2 hour delay, so that gave us more time together. We got all the kids dinner, and the flight home was smooth. It was neat watching the lightning storms out the windows as we navigated around them. All luggage arrived and everyone was picked up by very happy parents.
See all the trip pics here.
Georgia Mission Day 5
Yesterday morning we loaded up and drove to another women’s rehab center (by the way, yes, these have all been different rehab centers!) to help sort donations and do yard work. We were able to help the ladies out a lot.
We then went to the Tallulah Gorge and hiked down. It was stunningly beautiful! Hard work climbing back up, but well worth it. I told the team that sometimes you have to work hard to see something beautiful! We then drove back to the college, grabbed our swimming gear, and went to the Cannon’s home for dinner, swimming, a concert by the Cannon boys, and a final night of sharing. Of course, we had to make a couple of videos as well. We got home at about 11:30pm and did some initial packing.
This morning we had breakfast then finished packing and cleaning. The team is now in devotions and then we are stopping by the Toccoa Falls College bookstore and heading home. It’s been an incredibly awesome trip! Thanks for your prayers as we travel home today. See you all in just a few more hours!
See all the trip pics here.









































































