A New Family Tradition

     Earlier this week our family celebrated the last day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread while we rejoiced in the resurrection of our Savior.  Every year we enjoy this as a day of rest, but this year we did something different.  The weather was absolutely beautiful, so we packed a lunch and headed for the Tennessee side of Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

     Our picnic was not an ordinary picnic.  We were eating only unleavened bread, so I had to get creative.  I couldn’t prepare the usual sandwiches for an outing like this, so we had tacos!  I can honestly say that I have never in my life had tacos on a picnic, but it was a nice change of pace.  It doesn’t matter what kind of food it is, for some reason food eaten outside at a picnic table surrounded by trees always tastes better to me.  What made it even better was that we got to listen to the sound of the Little Pigeon River as we chowed down.

     After lunch we set up our lawn chairs by the river and just enjoyed the sites and sounds of the water flowing by.  I think our son sat in his chair for about five minutes, then he decided that he would like to maneuver his way up the river on the huge boulders that dotted its path.  David convinced his dad to join him, and declared as they moved out of site, “We’re explorers!”  Lewis and Clark reappeared about thirty minutes later, and Dennis was ready for some relaxation.

     David started a hunt for unusual rocks in the river.  He found about ten rocks that were all different, and I must admit – very pretty. 

     It is interesting to me that at a campground, people will just strike up a conversation with perfect strangers.  I love that! We met a family that had children about David’s age, so they waded in the ice cold river together looking for rocks while the adults talked.

     This was the most memorable Feast of Unleavened Bread we have ever celebrated.  Being in God’s great outdoors on this feast day really made me feel closer to Him and closer to my family.  I have a feeling that we just started a new family tradition.