Nature

Spring has sprung……NOT!

See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves is heard in our land.
The fig tree forms its early fruit;
the blossoming vines spread their fragrance.
Song of Solomon 2 11-13
Well, not quite yet. The weather report called for a chance of snow in San Francisco last night! About 50 insomniacs gathered in the Twin Peaks area around midnight, but no snow! However, right now it is only 48 degrees in Mesa, Arizona which is highly unusual! I have had my heater on more than I ever have this year. I confess I have enjoyed it. It has felt a bit more like winter.
I remember growing up in the farmland and orchards of the San Joaquin valley of California; I used to love it when all the cherries and almonds would blossom. After months of fog, rain and dampness, the sun would shine forth in brilliance and infuse people with false hope. Everyone would go out and start working in their yards, looking for rakes and garden tools long buried under Novembers mulchy leaves. We would glory in it, our faces upturned toward the sun……
Mom and I would go downtown to JC Penney and shop for my Easter dress, matching patent leather shoes of course, and the louder the better. Easter Sunday could not come fast enough. We would eagerly watch the weather the week before, hoping and praying for sun. Many times we would wake to ferocious biting winds with enough force to blow a hat clear into the next town, or a cold pelting rain. We would dash from the car to the church, fighting vociferously with inside out umbrellas. All the blossoms would be blown off the fruit trees.
Every now and again it would happen though…..we would get that perfect day.
For now though, I am enjoying the nice change. I am sorry for all of you dealing with more snow and ice and all the problems that brings, but when our summer starts and I walk outside at 5:00 AM and it is already oppressively hot, I will remember this wonderful winter!
I know that Spring will come, and on its heels the beginning of a long hot Summer, but that is as it should be. Even that will bring it’s own rewards. The seasons are God’s way of reassuring us that life does go on. It is reliable, this marking of time, this rhythm.
God’s rhythm. And it is very good.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years……Genesis 1:14
photos taken from publicdomainpictures.net

Look to the animals…….

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Job 12:7-10
In my devotional today I read of the remarkable characteristics of the bombadier beetle. This African insect shoots two common materials, hydrogen peroxide and hydroquinone from two storage tanks in it’s back. Apart, these substances are harmless, but together they are lethal. One shot of this toxic blend blinds the predator of this insect. A special nozzle inside the beetle mixes the chemicals, enabling it to bombard its foe at amazing speeds.
When I think of the creatures that surround me in this desert, I am equally amazed. I took the above shot on a morning walk. This female dove sitting on her nest, totally protected by the thorns on this Saquaro cactus. She stared at me from her safe vantage point as to rest in the knowledge of her protection….
I am totally convinced that if a person really studies just one aspect of creation, one aspect of our own bodies, we would throw away all thoughts of evolution forever. Instead this theory, this lie, is taught as fact in just about every classroom. How does this happen? It takes much more faith to believe in evolution than God in my opinion. The evidence of a loving Creator is overwhelming to me when I study nature.
I remember being taught evolution back in the sixties but I didn’t pay much attention to it, I chose to believe what I was taught in church and the Bible, and my parents. To me it made much more sense.
What do you think? Is belief in evolution compatible with Scripture? I know some Christians believe that God used evolution as His method of creation. Does it matter how it came about anyway?
Information on the bombadier beetle was supplied by Dave Egner, Our Daily Bread devotional
koala photo from Google images

Wish you were here!

As for God, his way is perfect:
The LORD’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
For who is God besides the LORD?
And who is the Rock except our God?
It is God who arms me with strength
and keeps my way secure.
He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
he causes me to stand on the heights. Psalm 18:30-33

Sorry everyone! I had my post all done this morning and poof! It was gone and no getting it back……..I had a wonderful post all ready about worry and how I do too much of it……but it wasn’t meant to be and now you came for inspiration and all you get is this picture of me on Monday’s hike! The weather here in Arizona is a bit of heaven right now. It makes up for the months of living like you are inside a pizza oven in summer. I wish you all could have this weather…….72 and sunny right now.

Well, the inspiration of Psalm 18 is more than enough to set you in those high secure places….Blessings and peace from the desert.

I was happy to see the bench empty…..

all pics from iphone

Get thee up into a high mountain…..

Or even one that is not so high, but high enough……

You who bring good news to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good news to Jerusalem,
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
“Here is your God!”
Isaiah 40:9
There is something very good and healing about climbing a mountain, even a hill. You get a clearer perspective on things, you see things down below, sounds rise up as you climb higher, and you forget your problems for a bit, they tend to shrink while you are up there. Your eyes are on the trail. Where I live you have to watch for rattlesnakes sunning themselves on the rocks.  Believe me, my eyes were peeled yesterday. It was a gorgeous day in Arizona, the sun was shining brightly and there were many out enjoying the day and I was sure the snakes felt the same way……but there were none that I could see.
It was so what I needed. With my first step I felt lighter, with every step I felt my heart lighten, my spirits lift.
The Bible talks about going up to God’s holy mountain…..that captures my imagination because I love hiking. I grew up in California, hiking the Sierra Nevada in Yosemite.
The desert is a bit different, but the feeling I get is the same. Climbing for the joy of it, the view all along the way.
Channels of communication tend to open up……..You don’t have all the interruptions, the telephone, computer, chores, television….it’s just you and your companion and the sound of footfalls. You hear a birdcall you may not have heard before and you ask, “What was that?” In a few short moments you are reconnected with someone and something you have missed…..maybe without even realizing it. Conversation flows freely.
The time is precious and I feel I something has been redeemed……I have been redeemed.
Thank you God for reminding me again why I need to do this….
Here is Elaine on the trail……she insisted that i was trying to kill her for taking the Huff and Puff trail, yes, it is actually called that…..She thanked me later!
It was a very good day.
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31
 
 
all photos taken from my iphone

And it was Very Good…….

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. Genesis 1:31

I  like to think of that first day after creation, when God paused and called it very good. The Bible says He rested, but we all know that God neither slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4) so it wasn’t that He needed a rest. He did it for us. To show us the pattern we needed to live successfully on this earth. So today, I pause as the Trinity did on that day. I like to imagine that day and when I do, I imagine all three members of the Holy family in a circle with Adam and Eve, the animals looking on curiously from the fringe……

I imagine them dancing in the sunlight, and yes a bit of resting too, as they sat back to enjoy the fruits of their labor. That was the first Church service for Adam and Eve as they reveled in everything they saw around them. As they praised and thanked their Creators for giving them life, lavishing on them, loving them…….It was a perfect day.

So today, I pause and thank Him for all of the same. Bringing me to the end of yet another week in good health…..able to enjoy some time off and remember where all this comes from. To praise Him, to thank Him yet again. To remember that He could have created all this in a nanosecond, but instead He did it in seven days just for me and all of us. For us to remember that this day is different from all the rest……
 

Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:1-3

photo credits: google images

Who is in the boat with you?

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mark 4:35-41

They had already seen multitudes healed, and the command and depth of knowledge that Jesus had in the Scriptures, but was it possible that they weren’t really sure who Jesus was until He calmed that sea? Imagine being in that boat, small boat I should say, they didn’t have cruise ships back then, and being tossed by a violent storm. It must have been bad, for they feared for their lives. These were men who were used to being out in a boat. This had to be something like a Perfect Storm.

Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.

He wasn’t worried, he was fast asleep on a comfortable cushion no less……..He knew who He was. But when He calmed that raging sea, something clicked for the disciples. Nobody has that kind of power, that even nature itself obeys. But Jesus is the creator of everything, He created nature and everything in it, along with the Father and the Spirit. All three were present at creation.

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness……” Genesis 1:26

I don’t blame the disciples for being afraid. I am always just a little uneasy in boats, I tend to get seasick. I have felt the panic, the clammy skin, the feeling you may have to head for the side of the boat…quick!

When storms rage in life, it is easy to forget who is sleeping in the boat with you. He taught the disciples a valuable lesson that day, and I don’t think they ever forgot it.

No matter what storms rage in your life today, remember He is in the boat with you. I pray calm and peaceful waters for you today, may you enjoy the view of the sunlight sparkling off the water, the warm breeze and the cry of the sea birds, the sun on your face, the lapping of the gentle waves against the side of your boat.

Let Heaven and Nature Sing…..

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth. Psalm 19:1-6
 
Many times I pray on the way to work, but this morning was different. I started out praying but as I prayed I felt like I had to lift my voice, so I did. I cried out for my family, my friends, and then I just lifted my voice in praise to the Lord…….Sometimes a quiet prayer just doesn’t get it. I had my own min-revival there in the car. I thought of all that this season means and all that God has done for me and my spirit collided with His Spirit in one voice……How many times do we raise our voices for other things, a shout-out at a sporting event, a “whoop-whoop” for everything under the sun these days. God deserves it more than anyone.
 
Our very creation does its own version of a shout-out if we open our eyes long enough to see it.
 
The animals cry and sing just for the joy of singing…….they sing their own praises to the Lord, for they know who created them!
 
Joy to the World , the Lord is come!
Let earth recieve her King,
Let every heart prepare Him room,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven and nature sing,
And Heaven, and Heaven, and nature sing!

Isaac Watts, 1719
A very Merry Christmas to all…..

God’s Blueprint

Eagles in falling snow, h.d. wallpapers

Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents.
It was loaned to you by your children.
Kenyan Proverb

“If you placed all the pieces of a watch into a shoebox and shook it for ten minutes, do you believe it would shake into a functioning watch? Of course not. What if you shook it for a year? Would a functioning watch then come out of the box? Say you were able to shake it for five billion years; would you then have a functioning watch? There is no possible way for that to happen. And if it couldn’t happen by chance to something relatively simple like a watch, it most certainly couldn’t happen by chance to our magnificently complex universe.” One Heartbeat Away, your journey into eternity by Mark Cahill

How did we get here?
What happens after we take that last breath?
What is the purpose of all this?

The Bible provides the answers and in his book, One Heartbeat Away, Mark Cahill lays it all out in a wonderfully systematic and logical way in light of what Scripture and our own universe actually tells us. Our Creator has left so many clues behind in nature itself; we have only to open our minds and hearts to see them. God has left us a blueprint to find Him in everything we see around us, and yet so many times we seek other explanations and alternatives that are grounded in theory and speculation, but not proof.

I am looking forward to reading the rest of this book…..

 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom
and spread its wings toward the south?
 Does the eagle soar at your command
and build its nest on high?
 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night;
a rocky crag is its stronghold.
 From there it looks for food;
its eyes detect it from afar.” GOD 
Job 39:26-29
 
Continuing the gratitude count today……..snow flakes gathered on pine branches, suns rays slanting through pines, more rain in the desert, exhilaration of the trail and the view from the top, crunch of frozen leaves underfoot, nature moments that catch your breath, jumping fish in a still lake, seeing so many bald eagles in Alaska I didn’t know where to aim the camera….. recognizing God’s footprints in everything I see, knowing that same God wants to know me…..#549-559

holy experience

Ask, seek, knock…..

Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.
Corrie Ten Boom

He who hung the great lights and set all this in motion still has everything under control…….We get hung up on the hows and whys of everything, but there are some things we don’t need to know. Even if He did supply us with the specifics they would be way beyond our grasp anyway. We like to congratulate ourselves on our own intellegence, but our knowledge next to God’s is puny. We think we have everything figured out, but go outside and gaze at the harvest moon as it climbs into the sky and see if you still do……The only thing we need to know is the One who started all this. Once we know Him, the hows and whys don’t really matter anymore.

Ask……Seek…..Knock…..

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7,8

Get close to the One who breathed into you the breath of life and you will begin to live the way you were meant to all along……

Sing the song of the morning stars and be thankful this day that you are breathing air, that you get another day to live, and wake and work. Know that any problem you have can be worked out, worked through. Hope is there as long as you have breath, and there is always more than enough hope when we know the Hope-giver.

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew {their} strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; {and} they shall walk, and not faint. Isaiah 40:31

A man can no more diminish God’s glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word, ‘darkness’ on the walls of his cell. C.S. Lewis

Rhythms of life…..

Greer, Arizona

Ah……Finally there is a chance to “feel” Fall. Crisp days and cold clear nights are something we wait for anxiously here in our part of Arizona. While most of the U.S. is dealing with their first snow storms and freezes, we are feeling like October in November. Finally I am getting in the mood for pumpkin pie and chili, and Christmas baking, and warm fires. It’s funny how even though you move away from a place, that place stays with you. I am remembering Northern California and stacking wood with my Dad and sitting on the floor cracking walnuts with my Mom, getting the worn flannel shirt out of the closet for the first time. Endless leaves in profusions of color, wet and soggy from the rain, sticking to everything they touched. Bach’s concerto number 3……which to me only and always means fall.

When I moved here I thought that maybe I would lose the rhythm of the seasons entirely. But I have been here for years, and I have noticed that a pattern of seasons all its own emerged anyway. Fall here means something a bit different than what I grew up with. It means sowing the winter rye if you have lawn, and buying flowers you can’t grow in summer…..There is a rhythm, really, to the whole universe wherever we are, we carry it with us. It’s a part of Gods grand design. There is a steadiness to dawn and dusk, summer and winter……reassurance that all will go on as it has before.

Since I started having a regular morning prayer time, I have noticed a pattern emerge within myself. It feels steady, and right…..it’s as if I am mirroring the bigger pattern that is happening all around me. It’s a way of setting things right in my own world, or rather, laying everything at God’s feet once again, my small offering of praise.


Tlaquepaque Chapel, Sedona Arizona

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8