So, last week we decided to take the girls out geocaching. I have several friends who have done this with their families and really enjoyed the activity. "Geocaching is a real-world, outdoor treasure hunting game using GPS-enabled devices. Participants navigate to a specific set of GPS coordinates and then attempt to find the geocache (container) hidden at that location." (per www.geocaching.com) Last week was our first try on this treasure hunt and we had some mistakes. We went to the wrong part of the greenway and then when we found the right trail head there was no parking. Once we found a parking place and headed out on the trail with me using my phone to track the cache...or so we thought. We walked the entire trail and found nothing. I was so disappointed and frustrated. This was supposed to be the easiest type of cache to find and we could not find it. On our way back having given up I realized one small error on my part...I did not turn on the GPS mode on my phone. Ooops.
When I realized this and said it out loud my husband in love looked at me and said, duh. So, laughing I turned on my GPS and our mapping system began spinning and found our exact location in regard to the cache. We headed back down the trail and quickly found the cache. The girls were thrilled and I felt very accomplished as I signed the log. We marked it as a find in our geocaching account and looked forward to our next hunt.
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| Our first cache! It is the little brown film case the girls are holding. |
Our second try was frustrating because I had my GPS on, we were right in range but never found the cache. It was in a section of the city along a tree line so I know we must have looked silly traipsing up and down this tree line looking for something. Our second cache we gave up on because we could not find it and were not going to take the girls roaming through uncut woods. Upon later research I discovered that our second cache can be very hard to find it that section of woods is over grown, which it was. That made me feel a little better but we are excited to try again.
As I have been thinking back on our treasure hunting adventure I began to see some real applications with our personal walks with God. The Lord has given us the Bible which is our map and directions through our journeys of life, yet if our GPS or personal relationship is not working then we may find ourselves just wandering around not really finding anything. However, if we have a good active personal relationship with the Lord it is amazing the small little treasures you will find throughout your day and your life. This world has many things it calls treasures but once they are found they bring no joy or peace just emptiness and lack of contentment. The Lord wants us to seek him and the treasures of heaven so that we will find our joy and peace through him.
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and
broad is the road that leads to destruction,
and many enter through it.
But small is the gate and narrow the road
that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Matthew 7:13-14
My encouragement to you is that if you are looking for a fun new activity, geocaching is a great adventure to do with family or friends. It is also a wonderful way to find opportunities to share with your children, family or friends all the amazing wonders of our God. I love how the Lord is always providing us opportunities to talk about God with our girls and I don't question that he will share many more treasure with us as we continue to adventure as a family.
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