To end our birthday bash week celebrating all of our birthdays (in the month of June and July), Cody, me, Morgan, Mom, and Nana took the journey to Williamstown Kentucky to the place I have been DYING to visit for 3+ years, the Ark Encounter! Let me tell you, it was nothing short of a miracle and so worth seeing. This was the most amazing, unique experience I have ever had in my 25 years of life. I am already planning the next trip!
The Ark encounter is an exact replica of Noah's ark as it is stated in the bible. It is 300 cubits long, 30 cubits wide and 50 cubits tall. 5 feet= ~3.5 cubits for scale. A man ironically named Noah set out on this idea to build a replica of the biblical Noah's ark right in his backyard of Williamstown KY. The town is a small little desolate area with lots of cows and lots of land. The ark sits well away from any main cities (but 1 mile from the interstate). It is build well away from the hustle and bustle which kind of makes the beauty amplified in a way. This is a relaxing easy to maneuver "park" where even with the thousands of people that were there visiting with us that day, we felt like we were the only ones there because everything is so spaced out. Noah came up with this idea around 10 years ago and started planning and researching with his teams to create the ark.
So incredibly beautiful! I could sit here all day.
Inside the ark there is a LOT of data, research, time, lab work, 3D animal replication, and scientific vs. bible debate. There were years and years of research and planning of the ark that Noah had dreamed of. He felt the need to follow God's plan for him to build this ark in modern times to attract people from all over the world, christian or non-christian to display God's beauty and God's promise to us.
The ark is an amazing way to reconnect with your faith, the Lord, and to be able to step away from our day-to-day lives and crazy world. And it is true, while walking through the ark, not only was my made my heart still and my ears opened, but I was reminded of the amazing things God has done and all that he does for us. We are so very blessed. God gave us his one and only son to save us for our sins. God has the power to do ANYTHING. The story of Noah is a powerful testimony that when we follow God plan for us, he can use us to help make miracles happen, and show us much bigger and grander things he has/had planned for us. When we think of the story of Noah's ark from the bible, we think of Noah being ridiculed by taking his family and two of every animal on his the ark he quickly build in preparation of a big flood coming to wipe out all of creation to start anew from the wicked world. But in reality, it took Noah 50+ years to complete the ark with his family (it took 2 years to build the replica with all of modern technology), and it was a dark and harrowing time. It was such a lost, wicked world that God wanted to start again and promised to never flood the earth again.
When you pull into the ark, the parking lot is on a different site than the ark itself. You will ride in a bus they provide from your car to the ark to give it more of that feel when the ark finally landed on the hill top after the 40 day flood. The "park" not only has the ark but many delicious restaurants to eat at along with zip lines, a zoo, and fossil searching.
Just look at the front of the ark alone! The size of the ark alone is just incredible. It is so amazing to think that this really happened so long ago!
After coming inside, this is the massive structure in the center of the ark.
We spent 4+ hours inside the ark and 2+ hours on the activities around it!
Despite there being no windows, the ark was very well lit!
There were four stories in the ark, the first floor being the loading zone, the second (above) being the food storage, and small animal holding area, the third being the large animal holding area and the fourth being the families headquarters where the herbs were grown, the cooking and washing areas were, and the bedrooms.
Noah's family was very intelligent, Noah and one of his sons were the master builders. Noah's second son was the engineer who designed how the waste system from the animals would be installed, how fresh water was filtered to drink, how everything should be laid out, and how the animals should be stored, kept healthy, and fed. Noah's third son was a master welder. Through the modern day research scientists determined that the ark was designed with a mortar-like material and gopher wood which could help form and shape the outside structure of the ark. A lot of the historical facts about the ark along every wall in the ark have been thoughtfully calculated and thought through of how Noah and his family may have done these exact feats. As you walk through the ark, you will learn about a lot of the current day scientific speculations.
A lot of the 3D printed animals we saw inside of the ark looked a bit different than the typical animals that we would think of today. The different species have evolved over time to look like the giraffes we know and love now, instead of the giraffe in the picture where its neck is a lot shorter and its body being a lot smaller.
A cross sectional view of the ark!
These were the ark doors alone! So massive!
Do you spy the cross shadow on the door?
The living quarters.
Sewing quarters. The son's wives each had a perfectly designed skill set blessed by God. One wife had the skill of growing and preparing crops, one had the abilities to sew and make clothes, the other had the unique abilities of medicine, while Noah's wife had a keen understanding of animals! Isn't God's plan so magnificently perfect! It makes me think why we fight him sometimes in our life.
Yes dinosaurs were mentioned! There was a whole section on this along with the ice age debate and evolution debate.
After lunch we headed outside to search for fossils and see all of the animals!
Oh and of course we had to grab McDonalds breakfast on our way into the ark earlier.
After sadly leaving the ark, we drove the 3.5 hour drive back to Knoxville....and got Blaze pizza to end the night!
................................
The next day
After church the next day, we arrived back to Gigi's house and we had my birthday party! Mom surprised me with all of these decorations and Nana brought her delicious pound cake while Gigi made my favorite, Salmon and sweet potatoes!
My sweet Gigi!
Gigi and Granddad's new deck!
I felt so loved! Mama kills it with the decorations every year! It makes me so happy!
25!
Sparkling cider, fruit, and pound cake! The perfect day, the perfect dessert.
I love being with my family so much. It is always hard to leave them. But we always have adventures planned to look forward to.
Visiting the ark was such a unique experience that I look forward to sharing with my children one day. God is good! I highly highly recommend this trip with your family! I have zero complaints!
Love,
Kayla Raborn
8/28/18
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