Reforming Families Conference ~ Creation Museum & The Ark Encounter

At the end of September our family traveled to Kentucky to attend the Reforming Families Conference being held at the Creation Museum.

This was the 6th year for the conference, but it was the first time we'd decided to attend. The theme this year was Finding Joy in a Gloomy World. All the speakers and messages were excellent, but we were hoping that a lot more families would be attending--not very many folks took advantage of this wonderful opportunity. Here's Ken Ham below, founder of the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, speaking during his main session and inviting everyone to the Ark and especially during the Christmas season. There were two full afternoons of free time to allow attendees to visit both the Ark and the Creation Museum while in the area, which we did visit even though we'd been to both before: We wrote about visiting the Creation Museum back in 2007, 10 years ago! And we wrote about our visit to the Ark Encounter just last August...in case you'd like to go back and see those blog pictures.

Here are Hannah and Jonathan at the Creation Museum picnic grounds where they had planned a welcoming cookout for us...the beauty of the gardens surrounding the area was amazing: Here's Tom standing on the bridge in the scenic gardens with the Creation Museum in the background: I thoroughly enjoyed walking through the lovely landscaped areas around the Museum property, and I also enjoyed reading the various Scripture plaques located all over the property: Here are Tom, Hannah, and Jonathan ready to attend one of the conference sessions: This unique fossil greets visitors as they enter the Creation Museum: During our free afternoon, we toured the Museum. Here we are strolling through the Garden of Eden, complete with animals and Adam and Eve: We were unexpectedly able to attend a Buddy Davis concert at the museum on Friday afternoon. He was headed back to his home after a long road trip and gladly played and sang for anyone who happened to be in the museum at the time: The last day of the conference ended at noon on Saturday, so we made plans to drive to the Ark Encounter, only 45 minutes away, for the afternoon and evening. The day was absolutely beautiful, and the Ark's landscaping was my favorite part! They had added much more since we were there last August: Several topiaries, sculpted wire statues filled with moss, were scattered around the lake in front of the Ark with more to come, they promise. I thought the giraffes were very majestic and unique: The camels also were positioned strategically in the gorgeous flower beds: Here we are just arriving on the scene after being dropped off by the Ark bus: Last year when we visited, the queue line leading to the ramp to enter the Ark was all dirt and nothing had been landscaped. Here's a part of that area with trees and flowers to enjoy while waiting in line. Since we arrived mid-afternoon, most of the crowds had already gone through: I didn't take pictures inside the Ark on this visit since I'd taken so many and posted them last year. However, Tom posted a lot of pictures inside the Ark on his Instagram account, so if you'd like to see them, check out pleasant.view.woodworks on Instagram.

We did have someone take our family picture at the door of the Ark that God closed when Noah and his family were all inside:

The last photo is one taken of the bow of the Ark after we had exited. It is definitely a majestic structure and well-worth planning a family vacation to tour it. We would highly recommend going! Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed being a part of our trip to Kentucky!

~Deb

Comments

[Carol Blair]

So glad you were able to attend this conference. I have seen the Creation Museum (7 or 8 years ago) but not the ark. Now that you have seen the ark twice, you may be interested in a book entitled The Coming Wrath, by John K. Reed. It’s fiction, and of course, all in the mind of the author, but I found it fascinating. It’s the story of Noah and his family, how they built the ark (and it goes into great detail), and the people who lived in the surrounding towns, with all the prevailing cultural norms. --How they mocked Noah and his family, tried to destroy them and the ark . . .
The author has a Ph.D. in geology. He is on the board of the Creation Research Society and is the geology editor for the Creation Research Society Quarterly. He has written or edited ten books and numerous articles. He has obviously thought and researched very deeply about Noah and the Flood. The book is available on abebooks.com and amazon.
And speaking of books, I have long been interested in the “Books We’re Reading” section of your blog. Have you ever thought about doing book reviews?

[victoria]

The gardens around the Ark and Creation Museum look so pretty. Glad to see you posted again. :) Hope more families will learn about and attend the next conference. It sounds like it was worth attending.

[Nix]

oh how wonderful! greetings to the whole family

[Barbara J.]

Y'all have had some interesting trips lately. I really like the theme of the conference - Finding Joy in a Gloomy World. We need to remember that. I enjoyed your pictures of the ark last year and the creation museum looks very interesting. Keep on posting - you keep the rest of us entertained.

[Barbara Cline]

I am hoping to go to the Creation Museum one of these days. Thanks for sharing.