Collecting Sticks

This weekend we went to a park to collect some sticks for a project. I'll post about the project later. We found plenty of great sticks and had fun playing at the playground too. We love this park because it has trails to walk on and the grounds are just beautiful. After playing for a bit we headed out on a walk to find our sticks. It was chilly! This State Park used to be a Catholic Seminary. I grew up Catholic and this is where our church was located. No one in my family is Catholic anymore but I think we all have great memories of church picnics here at this park. Even though I don't agree with a lot of the Catholic church I am grateful that my parents raised us in a church and on their own taught us about Jesus. My parents are wonderful Christians and they instilled in me a heart for service and for people. Growing up my parents were always serving others and volunteering. That has impacted me in so many ways and I hope to instill that in our children too. Here we are on one of the many trails. This one is heading down to an outdoor chapel that was used for priests where they could go pray and meditate. Here is Mark holding all our sticks. It's officially fall with all those beautiful leaves on the ground. Before we left we drove up to the church I grew up in. This is the church my parents got married in and my brother and I had our first communion. It is breathtaking and brought back so many memories. It's no longer a Catholic Church but a University. The only difference is there is no longer the crucifix hanging above the alter. Usually when you go back to places where you grew up the places seem smaller then you remember, but this church is still huge and just beautiful. Here we are up at the alter. Growing up there was actually another alter that the priest actually used in front of this one. I remember when it was time to give offering the priest would always have a child hold the children's offering basket up front. I always loved doing this and would just hope that he would pick me that Sunday. I probably got to do it a handful of time growing up......ahh the funny things that are so important to a child.Here is one of the many beautiful stained glass windows.This little area is in the very back of the church and I always wanted to sit here growing up for mass. But we usually sat up closer. It's probably a good thing we didn't sit back here or I would have never been picked to hold the offering basket. This is the view from the alter looking down the church. The old church was so fun to see and walk through. I had fun telling Mark stories of how my brother and I would run around playing in the confessionals and little rooms all over the place. Good memories!