Awe.

This past Saturday, I took David on a "birthday adventure," if you will. The plans had been in the works for a while and I was more than excited for them to actually happen. A few weeks ago, my dad sent me an article that appeared in our school's alumni magazine about a man named Don Lewis. Mr. Lewis is an incredibly skilled potter who owns a gallery in Cleveland, SC. If you are ever anywhere close to Cleveland, plan a trip to the Wildwood Gallery. It would be worth your time. If you can make the trip at night in April (to be extremely specific), it would be even more worthwhile. The reason being that Mr. Lewis' land is home to some pretty rare critters- blue ghost fireflies. They only show up in certain places and come out during the month of April. So, I planned for David and I to visit Mr. Lewis' land. I put together a picnic dinner with the help of my wonderful grandmother, threw some blankets in my car, and we were off. The entire ride up, I was praying that I had the right address and that we would actually make it there while David tried to deduce where we were going. Thankfully, we made it. Also thankfully, we found a spot to hang out and eat dinner. And we got to meet Mr. Lewis! Which was cool. We also made friends with his dog. David fed him chicken.

Then it started to get dark so we meandered over closer to Don's house and began to follow the trails. We picked a bench and sat in hopeful expectation. Slowly, one by one, the forest began to light up with small and steady blue lights. Blue ghost fireflies don't blink like normal fireflies. Their light is steady and they hover slightly above the ground. We sat and watched the forest come to life. It was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen. Being there was a moment you can't capture (and believe me, I tried). The best description I can give you is: you know in Avatar (the James Cameron movie, not the TV cartoon) when they're in the forest towards the beginning before things get ugly? Basically, that's where we were. It felt like we were surrounded by stars. It was so peaceful. And such a beautiful reminder of the awesome wonder of our God. I was in complete awe. It was a wonderful way to spend an evening in the midst of finals and be reminded of God's power and love.