Christ Loves His Bride

[This is my Faith Post for September 2024. It is a bit longer than normal because it is adapted from a sermon I preached at Grace on 8/25/2024. The text for the day was Ephesians 5:22-33 and it touches upon the all-important topic of marriage.]

Here is some good news for you: “Christ loves the church.” What wonder of wonders to hear and to inwardly digest such a thought. Now consider: "how do you know Christ loves the church?” Can you list in your mind the various things that Jesus has done, and still continues to do, to show how He loves the church?

Klamath River Overlook Trail

As my wife and I continued our Northern California tour we made it to the coastal section where we were driving south from Crescent City eventually heading to Sacramento. The Klamath River overlook was one spot which drew our attention for its scenic beauty of seeing river meet ocean. Upon arrival we found a nice parking lot with great views from there. Though when we arrived the river outlet was a bit fogged in.

I found the trail to be a fun option to try while we were there. It leaves from an obvious location on the southeast side of the parking lot with a sign there to help. It was very overgrown on the sides but enough opening in the middle to see dirt trail below feet. The vegetation was brushing up tight most of the way. In the first couple tenths of a mile I found numerous blackberry plants.

Cleetwood Cove Trail (Crater Lake NP)

One of the highlights of our Crater Lake visit was to do the Wizard Island Boat Tour they offer. This entailed a 2-hour tour of the lake itself and then 3 hours on Wizard Island for further exploring and hiking. We had scored tickets for the 9:45am tour and we made our way over to the parking and trailhead. We were disappointed that morning that we woke up to white-out conditions around the lake. At first we were just worried about the views. We didn't exactly consider the worst that could happen. Sure enough, when we arrived at the parking we went up to the ticket booth to check-in for our tour, as many others were doing, and we were told the morning tours were cancelled due to the weather. It was surprising. We had held hope things would clear up but apparently this is how they operate.

Garfield Peak (Crater Lake NP)

As my wife and I drove up to Crater Lake I was listening to some podcasts on the park to help pass the time. One of the notable hikes mentioned was Garfield Peak. Its not the highest point in the park but its up there. Also noteworthy was the fact that the trail starts from the edge of the Crater Lake Lodge. This was perfect for me as my wife and I were fortunate to be staying there. I began to plan out when in our busy itinerary I could sneak away for an hour or two to make the hike. It turned out this would work right upon arrival as my wife was wishing for a nap.

Sand Harbor - Lake Tahoe

One of the more popular places to stop and explore around Lake Tahoe is at Sand Harbor in Lake Tahoe-Nevada State Park. It is a popular beach area with other recreation opportunities as well. We took it as a quick stop on our tour of Northern California and on today's agenda Lake Tahoe. We paid our entrance fee for the park (cash only) and found parking in the main lot. We hopped out along the beach and took this over to the boardwalks. The evening we stopped in there was a Shakespeare event going on closing some of the boardwalk. We made our way around the north and west sides of Sand Harbor taking in beautiful views of Lake Tahoe. There were a number of beautiful large trees that dotted the path. With more time we might have worked to find the East Shore Trail that hikes up the east side of Lake Tahoe from this location up toward Incline Village.

Trip Info:
Trailhead Elevation: 6,234 ft.
Distance: 0.88 mi. 
Elevation Gain: 35 ft.
Start Time: 6:30pm
End Time: 7:02pm