09/28/08

Just a few different pics of our crazy Thursday with all of the bad weather. We went to the Ripley's Aquarium. Let's just say that if I didn't get in free and my family at a discount because of the convention, we would not have gone there. It is nice, but not worth all of that money. We went 4 years ago so the kids enjoyed it with "new eyes" but other than that, it was the same as it was before. I will admit that this time I had a bit more fun taking pictures. lol

The aquarium had a Pirate exhibit so I thought this picture was pretty cool. Not bad for a quick shot before people kept crowding in again. lol

One of the fish tanks that I thought was so pretty.

Mikayla touched this horseshoe crab.... just this once. lol

Wesley enjoyed touching it a little more than Mikayla. :) Steve helped, of course.

The kids got "inside" one of the aquarium areas. Too funny pic...

This was the tunnel of the aquarium that was my favorite part. I liked how you could walk underneath all of those fishies... and such. I must say, though... I looked hard at the thickness of that glass. A lot of water pressure on that glass. It was VERY difficult to get lighting right in this area. The water/lights made it hard to get the right color for the picture. This is pretty much what it looked like with the eyes, though.

I also realized I have never shown a picture of my niece from her Senior pics I took last weekend. I thought I'd share one today. :)


I wanted to post the words to this song that is one of my favorite hymns. We actually sung it at one of our general sessions at convention and it was fitting for the weather as well as what we may or may not have in our own lives!!

I decided I'd post the story behind it before the hymn "It is Well With My Soul." I thought it would be interesting to see the background of it.

When the great Chicago fire consumed the Windy City in 1871, Horatio G. Spafford, an attorney heavily invested in real estate, lost a fortune. About that time, his only son, age 4, succumbed to scarlet fever. Horatio drowned his grief in work, pouring himself into rebuilding the city and assisting the 100,000 who had been left homeless.

In November of 1873, he decided to take his wife and daughters to Europe. Horatio was close to D. L. Moody and Ira Sankey, and he wanted to visit their evangelistic meetings in England, then enjoy a vacation.

When an urgent matter detained Horatio in New York, he decided to send his wife, Anna, and their four daughters, Maggie, Tanetta, Annie, and Bessie, on ahead. As he saw them settled into a cabin aboard the luxurious French liner Ville du Havre, an unease filled his mind, and he moved them to a room closer to the bow of the ship. Then he said good-bye, promising to join them soon.

During the small hours of November 22, 1873, as the Ville du Havre glided over smooth seas, the passengers were jolted from their bunks. The ship had collided with an iron sailing vessel, and water poured in like Niagara. The Ville du Havre tilted dangerously. Screams, prayers, and oaths merged into a nightmare of unmeasured terror. Passengers clung to posts, tumbled through darkness, and were swept away by powerful currents of icy ocean. Loved ones fell from eath other's grasp and disappeared into foaming blackness. Within two hours, the mighty ship vanished beneath the waters. The 226 fatalities included Maggie, Tanetta, Annie, and Bessie. Mrs. Spafford was found nearly unconscious, clinging to a piece of the wreckage. When the 47 survivors landed in Cardiff, Wales, she cabled her husband: "Saved Alone."

Horatio immediately booked passage to join his wife. En route, on a cold December night, the captain called him aside and said, "I believe we are now passing over the place where the Ville du Havre went down." Spafford went to his cabin but found it hard to sleep. He said to himself, "It is well; the will of God be done."

He later wrote his famous hymn based on those words.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows, like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
"It is well, it is well, with my soul."

My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin not in part but the whole
Is nailed to the cross And I bear it no more.
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

O, Lord haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound and the Lord shall descend
"Even so" it is well with my soul.

It is well, it is well, with my soul, with my soul, It is well, It is well, with my soul.