Our Trip to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History

The kids and I took a trip to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History on Monday.  We've had a Carnegie pass for like a year now, but this was our first time visiting this particular museum, and boy am I glad that we did!

We were totally blown away by their dinosaur collection (and their gems and minerals collection which I'll post about later)!

Apparently, this museum is ranked in the top 5 Natural History museums in the U.S. and has the largest collection of Jurassic dinosaurs in the world (!) as well as the first T-Rex specimen.

It was great to get out and discover this treasure for ourselves. I'll post pictures for you to enjoy too.

So here's something quirky about me.  It's hard for me to believe in dinosaurs.  More specifically, the idea of dinosaurs has always unsettled me.  And I wasn't really interested enough in them to actually learn about them, so they just kind of remained a theory to me...a fantastical myth.  It doesn't help that every time we watch shows about dinos, scientists say "at least that's what we *think*" they did or looked like, etc! And since dinosaurs don't exist in our living world, there was no way for me to easily find proof for myself.

I told my friend this one day recently as we were hanging out together.  She reacted as you might expect a very logical and scientific person to react.  Sprinkle in a look of disgust at my attempt to be vulnerable with her and you'll have a pretty good picture of the exchange.  (Good times.)

But as I thought about it, I think my denial of dinosaurs (or at least my disinterest in them) is a lot like people's denial of God.  Sometimes the idea of God is so big, so other-worldly, that its too hard for our mortal minds to wrap around.  So, we're tempted to just let God remain an unexplored myth. 

I'm grateful that God is real to me.  I am grateful that there is proof of God all around us and that I've been willing to explore God in my life.  

Let us not shy away from having a relationship with Him because he seems too big, too perfect, too in the past, or for lack of *easily* attainable evidence.  He is worth the search.  And unlike the dinosaurs, He is alive and willing to reveal himself to us.

I'm happy to report that after encountering the largest collection of Jurassic dinosaurs in the WORLD, I am finally on the dinosaur band-wagon! :) Haha!

Some of us just need more proof than others.  And that's ok too, whether we're talking about God or gigantic reptiles.

If you get a chance to visit this showcase of God's creations, I recommend it!