Lions & Tigers & BEARS, OH MY!

This past Sunday our church met at Lazy Daze Campground in Tennessee for a picnic at noon followed by some good preaching by our Pastor!  It was so fun to fellowship with each other and of course we roasted some more marshmellows and drank some more coffee that Rance made on the fire!

Hanging out!

Lil Frank, Lindy, Irvin, & Hamilton
(our 4 adopted children!)

Jinny & Rance roasting marshmellows! :)
(Yes, this is the lovely lady that I adore, who LOVES the Lord and the Titus 2 woman I prayed for for years! I just want to soak up all of her wisdom)

After our picnic & church service, we strolled on over to Cades Cove!  Cades Cove is one of the most visited areas in the Great Smoky Mountain's National Park and for good reason.  It's the most incredible scenic beauty and full of wildlife.  My main goal on this stroll through Cades Cove was to SEE A BEAR.  And yes, Rance and I actually PRAYED specifically that I would.  Don't laugh people - God's Word says "And whatever things you ASK in prayer, BELIEVING, you will receive."  Guess what?  We believed.  Wholeheartedly.  Okay I doubted slightly but not my husband.  NEVER.  



SO here we go around Cades Cove:

Some of our bible study group & cousins in the back of the truck :)
They were on bear patrol too!



This was an actual cave.  INSANE!  Noone knew this cave existed but our Pastor did (the one climbing in the background).  It was back in the woods and we hiked to it.  When we got to the opening we tried to see if we smelled a bear before going inside this cave!



Lindy and I

Living on the edge :)

Remember Cody, our cousin?  The funnest kid ever! :)

This was the opening of the cave we went down into! 

Turkeys!!!  This is one animal that you see EVERYWHERE!  Rance puts out corn in our yard daily so we pretty much have pets that are turkeys!

Worship His Majesty!

Homies! :)

 

*Hoppin' through the fields*

So many people would pull off the road to watch DEER.  I'm sorry but we have deer everywhere out east so I'm not so much amused by deer.  WHERE ARE THE BEAR AT?


THEN IT HAPPENED!  As we are driving we see all these people pulled off on the side of the road and so we immediately pulled off and jumped out to see what everyone was staring in amazement at.  SURE NUFF, it was a BEAR in the TOP of an oak tree.  UNBELIEVABLE.  We must have stared at this bear for 30 to 40 minutes!   As we got back in the truck, I admit, I was still praying "Lord, please let me see another bear but on the ground this time PLEASE.  Pretty please.  I want to be close to the bear like on the ground close."

 

BREAK - PB&J time!

 

More turkeys! 



We got all the way around Cades Cove and we did not see another bear.  I was slightly disappointed (about the bear part) but it was a great day so I was NOT going to dwell on it.  However, Rance was convinced that we all HAD to go drive around all of Cades Cove again because it was getting dark and he was 110% SURE the bear (meaning more than one) would be out and about.  Honestly, I thought he was crazy and I was getting tired; however, the Bible says "wives submit to your husbands as to the Lord" so back around Cades Cove we went. 

AND GUESS WHO WAS RIGHT???

Can I get a drumroll PLEASE???????????

Tons of cars/trucks stopped & parked.  We knew something was up.  Rance spotted him.  YES A BEAR ON THE GROUND.  He is silently yelling "JENNI JENNI JENNI."  I literally cannot get out of the truck fast enough.  We saw a park ranger that was BLOCKING people and making them stand behind him.  On our side, noone was blocking!!!!!  When I saw this bear, honestly, I just about died.  I had no fear.  It was like I was David getting ready to fight the giant GOLIATH.  (AND IF OUR GOD IS FOR US, THEN WHO CAN EVER STOP US, AND IF OUR GOD IS WITH US, THEN WHAT CAN STAND AGAINST???).  We were trying to get as close as we could to this bear and the park ranger had not spotted us to scream STOP to us yet. 

Here's a glimpse...   

 

(my thoughts) "Hey bear!  I've been looking for you!  God knew this morning I was going to see you!  Maybe we can be friends?  I don't have a gun or anything and I'm wearing the brightest shirt possible right now so I'm certain I don't blend in with the trees or anything and that you clearly see me.  OMG I can't believe I'm standing this close to you.  It's a dream  come true.  Man, my husband is so smart he knew we would meet you today.  Gosh be still so I can take your picture.  Could you look at the camera PLEASE????"



OH.MY.GOSH!!!
(picture taken by Rance!)

And he's moving!  About that time the park ranger screams "EVERYONE GET BACK NOW."  Within the blink of an eye he DARTED across the street to the woods on the other side.

I love this face!

BEAR ALERT!!!  (yes, there was MORE than ONE bear).

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! 

"Hi, look at me!  I'm up in the tree" :) 
If you look dead center in the middle of this picture you will see another bear's head hanging out in the tree!

About that time, we see a TINY BABY CUB up in a tree that the park ranger said probably only weighed about 20 pounds!!!  THE CUTEST THING EVER.  He ran down from the tree and to see him hopping on the ground was priceless.  Then I spotted the mama bear running towards us.  Uhhhhhh she was clearly making her presence known so we backed off a little bit. 

We ended up seeing SEVEN!!!  Yes, seven!  (Yes, that number has significance in the Bible).

Can you find me?  Look for my ears sticking out! :)



JESUS, YOU ROCK MY WORLD!


So as we are heading home, we are all exhausted and we are going around these mountain roads and it's pitch black outside.  Back home (out east), dark roads with woods on each side are referred to as 'deer roads'.  It's just one of those things - you know the roads that you just expect Rudolph to jump out and play peek-a-boo.  So as these thoughts are going through my mind I say, "Gosh these roads are dark and scary and totally DEER ROA....OH MY GOSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH."  Thankfully Rance didn't jerk and swerve the way I would have or we might have gone over the mountain and died but walking down the CENTER of the road was a VERY LARGE BEAR.  HUGE.  BIG.  Did I mention he was GIGANTIC?  Keep in mind we never came to a complete stop and we are flashing our lights at everyone coming to BEWARE THERE IS A LARGE BEAR TAKING OVER THE ROAD. 

 These aren't deer roads round here, they're bear roads.

And that's my story.