Dillon State Park, Nashport, Ohio
. . . and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, “Let me go for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”. . . “What is your name?” “Jacob” . . . Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel (means he struggles with God) because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.” . . . “Please tell me your name.” . . . “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel (means face of God) saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.” . . . and he was limping because of his hip. ~ Genesis 32: 24b-32 Israel seems to be an appropriate name, as the nation has struggled with God since the beginning. But what do we make of this wrestling business? Jacob was at the entrance to the Promised Land, but God wanted to see change in Jacob before He allowed him entrance. Jacob needed to change from the ‘heel catcher’ or ‘deceiver’ (the meaning of ‘Jacob’) to a person who struggled with God and overcame his own character and drew close to God. There are no firm answers for who this man was that Jacob wrestled with all night. Some say it was an angel. Others that it was the pre-incarnate Jesus. Still others that it was a different form of God Himself. I tend to lean towards preincarnate Jesus. First of all, there’s Jacob’s revelation that he was face to face with God, and no one can see God and live (Exodus 33:20). Second, the name change itself. Third, there is nowhere in any scripture that talks about God having any other form on earth than that of Jesus. So God allowed Jacob to wrestle with Him for a long time. He allowed Jacob the belief that he was winning. And then, God disabled him. Possibly permanently. And when Jacob finally relented to God’s will, he was blessed. Think of your life. What have you struggled against God about? What was the outcome? Are you still struggling against Him? What will it take for you to give in to His will and His way?
On Monday morning, we left Mogadore, Ohio and family and friends and drove 118-miles to Dillon State Park sorta kinda near Zanesville/Columbus, Ohio.
I have no idea what we did all day Tuesday. Most likely the day was filled with cleaning (not much has been done in six weeks – YUK!) and packing for our trip via Jeep on Wednesday to spend two nights in a cabin in the woods.
setting up their Halloween decorations. : )
And where better to spend the days leading up to Halloween than in a wood cabin, in the middle of the woods, in the middle of nowhere (the closest grocery store – or any store! – was a 15-minute drive away), in the dark, in the rain, that’s decorated with all manner of sharp tools that could be used in a horror slasher movie? Sounds like the perfect set up. Good thing we’re not dimwitted teenagers!
Our longtime friends Rich and Martha (the ones who show up periodically in photos at our lunch spots),
rented the cabin and invited us to spend two nights with them and one other couple. Unfortunately, the night we arrived, they got a call that Kellie was very sick and they wouldn’t be coming. We felt so bad for them!
Let’s back up a few hours. Rich and Martha showed up at our place early afternoon on Wednesday and we fed them dinner and took a walk around the campground. It was far and away too wet to walk the trails, but we did get to see several people setting up for the big Halloween weekend the campground is hosting.
R&M left, and we cleaned up, loaded up our bags and headed out as well. We were ten minutes from the cabin located in Frazysburg (at least that’s their mailing address) when Blaine suddenly realized (Thank You Father!) that we’d forgotten the syrup needed for his infamous waffles. That’s when we discovered there were no grocery stores around – except that Dollar General. And he had to drive to the top of a hill to get enough cell service to research stores!
At any rate, the four of us had a great time, and had to eat extra food since Bob and Kellie didn’t make it. Darn! (can you say, “Gluttons!”?) We had a bonfire complete with chicken sausage sandwiches and s’mores, played in the pool (which had no shallow end), watched a Halloween episode of Magnum, PI while in the pool, played Scrabble, and went for a wonderful 12-mile bike ride.
Oopsy-daisy! 
You can always count on R&M to come up with fun and unusual things to do!
She and Blaine had a hard time getting rid of it! lol
Heading back 
And we celebrated Martha’s birthday (was supposed to be Kellie’s too ☹) with a Giant Eagle cake and homemade ice cream.
While it was a gorgeous day Thursday, the rain started in the evening, rained steadily all night, and only let up long enough for us all to get packed up, before starting back up again, with no intention of letting up for many hours.
Blaine put the address for the campground in our gps, and off we went – down very small dirt covered backroads! It’s always an adventure! We crossed two flowing creeks and crawled the Jeep over a small log before we got back on a main road. What fun!
Once we got home, we packed up for the move in a hurry because Blaine had a long drive ahead – 252 miles in about 5 hours to get to Lexington, Kentucky. He did not have a good drive since it rained the entire time, and was even windy some.
So yes. For the first time in 4 ½ years, you get two (well, technically three) moving days in one post! Whoo Hoo!! 😊
Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Kentucky
