His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. The mountains melt like wax before the Lord, before the Lord of all the earth. The heavens proclaim his righteousness; and all the peoples behold his glory. Psalms 97:4-6
(Photo: Sunrise over El Paso)
This is a photo of an unnamed slot canyon near Las Cruces New Mexico. We found it by quite a coincidence. We had decided to visit a winery after we finished hiking on the last full day of our trip. In talking to one of the owners of the winery, she asked if we had hiked the nearby slot canyon. Turns out it was only about a five minute drive away so we went there because we had been hoping to find a slot Canyon to hike and all of the ones we had found were either further than we wanted to drive or too difficult (or both).
Often, what we most desire is exactly what God also desires. Unfortunately, we often want it right here right now. Fortunately, with God it’s going to be “right place right time.”
This photo was taken near Las Cruces, New Mexico. The clouds were astounding throughout the day. So many different patterns; I looked across here and saw waves crashing on the beach.
God has given us a wonderful and powerful gift of imagination. One way to use this gift is imaginative prayer, where you picture yourself in a scene from the Bible. This Lent would be an excellent time to practice this form of prayer
If you are like me, when you look at this photo, you think “that looks very hot!” Seems like a good illustration of the saying that looks can be deceiving (it was actually chilly). Beyond that, it represents how our expectations and preconceived notions can mislead us.
Discerning God’s direction for our lives can be challenging. Because of our expectations and preconceived notions. Going beyond those requires patience and humility – two things that seem to be in short supply these days.
(Photo: White Sands NP)
Age to age shall proclaim your works, shall declare your mighty deeds. They will tell of your great glory and splendor, and recount your wonderful works. They will speak of your awesome deeds, recount your greatness and might. They will recall your abundant goodness, and sing of your just deeds with joy. Psalms 145:4-7
(Photo: White Sands National Park)
This is a photo inside the Carlsbad Caverns, near the entrance. The Caverns are difficult to capture with photography, in large part because It’s hard to gain perspective on the size of the Caverns. In fact, after our tour of the Caverns, I still don’t have a good concept of how large they are. For some perspective in this photo, there are a couple of people who you can see if you zoom in just to the left and below center of the photo.
In a similar way, it is hard to grasp the magnitude of God’s love. 1 Corinthians 13 describes God’s love, but it is hard for our minds to fully grasp something so far beyond our limits.
This is the McKittrick Canyon Trail to The Notch. This particular hike was somewhat of an afterthought. When we were planning our trip to Texas, we knew that we wanted to spend most of our time at Big Bend. We decided that we also wanted to go to the Carlsbad Caverns. Guadalupe Mountains National Park is not far away. So we decided to spend a day there and picked this hike as one that looked promising.
Turns out this was our favorite hike of the trip. So many colors! Challenging but not too difficult. Beautiful scenic views at the top (and on the way up).
God pleasantly surprises us, often when we least expect it!
Signs Along the Way 