Fossils and Fun

This past weekend, my family decided to explore more of the wonderful state of Indiana, in which we reside. My husband really likes to drive, so we sometimes hop in the car with a picnic lunch and see what we can find. We visited the Falls of the Ohio State Park, which is a large fossil site near Louisville, Kentucky (although the site is actually in Indiana). The fossil beds themselves are located in the river, so what is exposed depends a lot on the river level. Due to recent rain, the river level was high, but we were still able to see the uppermost layer of fossils. I was amazed at the size of the fossils—large chunks of many different types of coral were easy to find. We look forward to returning in the fall when the river level is lower to observe the lower beds, and maybe see a Trilobite fossil!

We also had the opportunity to visit the Interpretive Center. We watched a movie that tells how the falls and fossils came to be. Of course, the movie talked about evolution, millions of years, and multiple ice ages. As you can imagine, I spent most of the time re-interpreting the movie—beginning with God’s Word—for our six-year-old daughter. The rest of the center consisted of exhibits showing various fossils and what the organisms might have looked like when they were living. Again, it was all centered on the concepts of millions of years and evolution. However, it was interesting to learn the more recent history of the area, and even about the famous naturalist John James Audubon.

It was sad to see a public school group there and know that they were not being taught the truth about how the fossil beds came to be. The museum, their textbooks, and unfortunately many of their teachers were starting with man’s word as “truth” about the past, instead of God’s Word. Remember, parents, no matter how you choose to educate your child, it is your responsibility to teach them about the truth of God’s Word as it relates to this world. Please take advantage of the many resources we have available and equip them with answers so they can defend their faith in this very skeptical age.