Monthly Archives: June 2019

Scenery

The Wind

This photo was taken on our last morning in Jamaica. This spot is one of my favorites at Galina Breeze, especially to watch the sunrise. We had a couple of days with beautiful sunrises, then 3 or 4 in a row that were very cloudy (ie, you couldn’t even see the sun rise). On our last day, I remember looking out our window and commenting to my wife that it should be a good sunrise because there were no clouds overhead. When we got down to the “beach”, there was this dense haze on the horizon. I can’t remember ever seeing so much haze there before.

After we got home, I began wondering if the haziness had anything to do with the winds. Every morning, it had been unusually windy. So much, that it was actually comfortable (whereas I usually sweat through breakfast). A quick internet search found that the source of the haze was …(dramatic pause)… dust from Africa. Blowing across the Atlantic sea into the Caribbean.

I certainly didn’t need a reminder of the power of the wind, but it was a nice reminder of the positive effects of the wind. God’s spirit is described as wind many times in the Bible. I like to think of the Holy Spirit as a cooling breeze. Refreshing.

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Scenery

Impending Storms

We were in a relatively small boat down in the Virgin Islands when we saw this storm in the distance. It reached us a few minutes later, but fortunately, we didn’t get too wet.

I must confess, I have mixed feelings about rain and storms. I know that we need rain. Thousands of people die each year around the world due to drought. On the other hand, we’ve recently seen the effects of too much rain with flooding and crops being ruined. There are many things in my life with obvious issues involving too much, too little. Like work. Too busy and I feel overwhelmed. Not busy enough and I get bored. Or people. When I have no one to interact with, I feel lonely. In a large gathering, I sometimes feel the need to find a quiet space.

We often hear about moderation but the word I prefer to focus on is balance. Finding the “middle ground.” While there are plenty of things we can’t control (like the rain), there are plenty of other areas where God leads us to find the balance between enough and too much.

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Scenery

Wild Flowers

Learn from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work or spin. But I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of them. If God so clothes the grass of the field, which grows today and is thrown into the oven tomorrow, will he not much more provide for you?

Matthew 6:28-30

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Scenery

Amazing!

“I can’t believe what I just saw!” Jack Buck, radio broadcast of Kirk Gibson Home Run in the 1988 World Series.

Flying home from Utah, I was looking out the plane window and saw only a layer of white clouds. Just a little bit later, I looked out and saw something I had never seen before. I’m really not even sure how to describe it. Somehow, while the sun was still shining above the clouds, it was also shining through from below the clouds. Fortunately, I took a picture so you don’t really need my description. God continues to amaze me!

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God in all things

God only knows

I chose this photo to share because it makes me think of all the trees that were uprooted or broken in two by the tornadoes on Memorial Day. Viewing the damage to homes and property is heart-breaking.

Why does God allow these things to happen? The short answer is “I don’t know.” The longer answer is “only God knows, and I’m not God.” I do know that we tend to focus on the temporary and immediate. There have been times in my life when something happened that I believed was bad. But in hindsight, I am able to see the good that came as an outcome. Other times, things have happened and I never understood why or what good came from them. But I am able to believe there was good that resulted.

(Photo: Bandelier National Monument)

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