Here it is Sunday again and today starts my least favorite week of the year (more on that in another post).
Since the kingdom of God is within you, you are His ambassador. You represent the kingdom to everyone you meet.
If you and I remember, give thanks for and live out the kingdom being in us then maybe, just maybe we will thrive this week instead of just surviving.
Yippee!!! After a 3-week rain delay, the Tour de Parks happened again this past Sunday. The park I walked is not one of the two places I wanted to walk, but it was where I needed to walk.
The park where this prestigious event was held was Plum Creek North in Brunswick, OH and is also part of the Medina County Parks System. Even though part of the path was paved, there were plenty of hills and flat surfaces. I need to find time to walk this one more often because walking it will whip me into shape in no time.
So without further adieu…let’s start our journey through Plum Creek North.
We will be walking the yellow trail.
Here is the entrance.
Our first glimpse of the North Pond
The North Pond in all her glory.
Before we head on down the path, anyone hungry?
Uh Oh! Look what’s ahead…
Well at least they apologized for the mess! Life does not apologize for the mess it leaves.
So put it in reverse, back up and let’s head up the stairs.
Here we are, at the top of the stairs and going to turn left.
This is where I got the idea for today’s post. It is dark along this path and it will get darker, but along the way you will see patches of light. Just like in life, when you walk the paths covered in darkness there are patches of light along the way. It is God working through the people in your life. They may only be there for a minute, day or the entire season of darkness but they are there, shining just as bright as the stars at night.
Here is where I leave you. As you walk this path to the South Pond and back, watch for the patches of light. And watch for the patches of light in your own life today and the rest of this week. I bet you will be surprised at how many you find.
The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?
Psalm 27:1
For you new readers: I am a member of Faithful Finish Lines an online faith, fitness, food, mission, and fun group. I’ve been a member since November 2014 and have had the time of my life. Every 7 weeks we set a new fitness goal to be done during the 7th week.
Earlier this year I came up with the idea of Tour de Parks – walking one park in Northeast Ohio every weekend. There were a lot of weekends weather and illness cancelled the walks, but this 7-week period has been a success. I only missed one walk and that was 2 weekends ago when I stepped on a bumblebee in my garage.
Exercise is important in recovering from grief. The endorphins help with your mood which helps you beat up on the grief monster. I wish this group existed when I first became a widow, the encouragement is awesome and it holds me accountable for my goals. When I fail, the members are full of grace. I just pick myself up and move forward.
And now on to this past weekend’s walk along the shores of Lake Erie.
Princess Ledges Nature Preserve is located in the northern end of Brunswick, OH and is part of the Medina County Park System. I took a picture of the sign at the park which explains the history, but it did not transfer from my camera to my computer.
The former land owner’s daughter was named Princess and she use to like to play on these ledges so the park was named after her.
Are you ready? We will be following the yellow ledge trail.
Into the woods we go.
Taking pictures in the woods is challenging because I am learning to shoot in manual mode and sometimes the pictures come out a little blurry and finding the right exposure has proved to be challenging.
Now I know you are wondering “Where is Lake Erie?” It is about 20 miles north of here but if you lived thousands of years ago these ledges would be Lake Erie’s shores, according to the Princess Ledge’s website.
“At one time thousands of years ago, these cliffs were the shore of Lake Erie.”
I take “selfies” of me doing these walks but am having trouble downloading it from my phone. I will publish them at a later date once I get a new transfer cable.
Now get out there and walk a park where you live. Stop and really take in the sights, sounds and smells.
See you next week.
Monument Park, Canton, OH
I am still a part of the Faithful Finish Lines fitness program. The program is built on 4 pillars – faith, eating, exercise and mission. It emphasizes taking small steps toward your goals instead of making drastic changes at once.
We get motivational emails from Sara Borgstede, fitness plans from Jill Csillag and have online chats via Facebook. The women in this group are wonderful faith-filled, grace-filled women. This past winter took a toll on everyone in at least one of the 4 areas.
My fitness goal was the Groundhog Day Marathon that would run from 2/2 to 2/28 and take place at the mall. I was to park in the same spot, at the same time every morning, put my parka in the same locker, and walk the mall the same way every day and take a selfie in the same spot.
Groundhog Tracks – 2/2/15
Well February in Northeast Ohio was what I was afraid it was going to be – crappy and not safe for driving. Also, I started back at my seasonal call center job and between those two happenings the Groundhog Day Marathon was grounded (pun intended).
Round 3 Fitness Goal
Round 2 has come and gone and no need for looking back and dwelling on what did not happen instead it is time to move forward. For round 3, my fitness goal is the Tour de Parks where I will walk one park in Northeast Ohio every weekend.
Ground Rules
I pick:
One of the things I found when I walked the mall for Round one’s fitness goal, I walked too fast. This time I am bringing my camera and taking pictures for a weekly blog post. Taking pictures will slow me down, help me enjoy being in the moment and let you walk beside me.
The Tour de Parks ends on April 25th.
North Park, Brunswick, OH
Weekend Wisdom
The posts for this weekend will feature pictures from one of the parks I visited last year during my 31 Days of Autumn in Ohio series that ran on OgleOhio.com. (Today’s pictures are also part of the ones taken for the series, but were not featured on OgleOhio.)
See you Saturday for Weekend Wisdom and next Wednesday for the first installment of Tour de Parks.
The best picture from my weekly park walk will be featured on my photography blog OgleOhio.com.
It is 66 degrees here in Northeast Ohio today. Normally it should be 36 degrees but not to fear, cold weather returns tonight.
I put aside all thoughts of the holiday season, grabbed my camera and headed out to Brunswick Lake. This blog’s header and background are pictures of Brunswick Lake taken in the early fall.
I could not get very close to the lake with out hip boots due to the ground being extremely soggy from all the rain we had during the past 2 days. There were big puddles everywhere with some of them forming another lake.
Here are some pictures I got today. All are of Brunswick Lake and not the puddles.
Also stop by OgleOhio.com for a picture of the beautiful sky.
Brunswick Lake 12/2013
Brunswick Lake 12/2013
Brunswick Lake 12/2013
