Category: Amazing Creations

Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Faith, Just do it, Memories, Nature, Thanks, Traveling, Yield

Too cold. Too hot.

Awoke with ceiling fan and floor fan on full blast. Legs and feet frozen. Temperature outside 62.

Same morning worked in yard and along entrance sidewalk for about 1-1/2 hours. Drenched. Every. Single. Stitch. I was wearing. August in Ohio. Was 76 degrees and humid when I came indoors. Bob says my thermostat is broken.

Here is my new favorite perennial.

Hibiscus or Mallow Shrub

Yes, they are like day lilies in that they drop their flowers every day, but what a delight!

This rabbit is certain if he sits tall and still I either will not see him or think he is a wrought iron statue. (two slots left of Mallow.) Then he turned and ate a pyracantha leaf. No wonder that shrub does not flourish!!

Yes, I know, not the best focus. So far he has not eaten the mallow shrub to the left!

This what I got from an entire package of nasturtium seeds. Lousy ground and lousy year for gardening! Perhaps the wood chips are to blame as I now hear they make terrible mulch for growing things. Ugh!

Yes, the leaves are supposed to be mottled.

Perhaps it is because we did not sow seeds until after May 19th when we returned from Maui? So sad the happenings in Maui. Each time we watch the news we are just stunned. Those poor people. Most of them got out with their lives, but now not only the clean up but questioning if it will be safe to live there with all the chemicals in the soil. Land grabbers trying to buy up the land. The spiritual center of Maui in ruins. Lord may those who lost their lives rest in peace. May those who are still missing loved ones have Your comfort. They say identification may take months or years as in most cases the pathologists are working with dust.

The opening photo was our dinner in Lahaina at Kimo’s restaurant. Totally gone now.

Online photo. Now I wish we had taken more photos of the street!

Scanning videos and photos on line, trying to decide what best to show you. This one photo certainly sums it up. Front street as it is now. And then I find myself overwhelmed with grief for the people there.

Never mind. I have nothing to complain about. We have been told the Red Cross is the best place to give donations. One of the airlines that I had accumulated miles on asked if I wanted to donate the miles to the cause. I responded absolutely! My friend who ministers in Nepal said this Hope Force International is also quite reputable. 

https://hopeforceinternational.app.neoncrm.com/forms/general-donation-form

Whatever you do , try to give to something to the rebuilding of Lahaina. Such terrible loss.

LORD, uplift and sustain the people of Lahaina and those who love her. Send the comfort of Your Spirit to them. Show each of the readers how to best support them in their losses. May Your will be done in our hearts and in our giving.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Humor, Nature, Thanks

Bathtub Joke

Do you remember the childhood joke about the bathtub? “How do you know there is an elephant in your bathtub?” Answer, “You can smell the peanuts on his breath.”

On a recent trip to Rocky Fork Lake, Bob caught this shot of a heron wading in the bathtub of the Canada Geese.

How do you know there is a heron in your bathtub? The long legs and no splashing.

photo by r m dutina

Some things just make me laugh out loud!! Heron likely just wanted lunch. Maybe she was hoping the geese would stir up the fish?

We will never know for certain!!

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth.” 23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.

Genesis 1:20-23 NIV

And He knew there would be a woman in Ohio in 2023 who would laugh!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Yield

Like Breath of God

Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash

Thus am I, a feather on the breath of God.

Hildegard of Bingen

I heard this quote many years ago at a retreat. I was so inspired I actually collected feathers and made some note cards with the quote.

What does it mean? The breath of God is a powerful thing. Can you be as moveable as a loose feather? Can you be willing to go where He asks you to go?

This quote is from a blog, written by Jean Wise, (interesting name!) She was so succinct that I cannot improve on her writing!

God calls each of us to be His feather – responding to where He calls us. To be responsive to His nudges. To be open to His grace.

 I want to live as a feather. Not burdened down with the heavy concerns of my heart, but focused, surrendered, dependent entirely on God for every moment. Ah, to be a feather. What a lovely image this is.

https://healthyspirituality.org/a-feather-on-the-breath-of-god-hildegard/
Photo by Hari Singh Tanwar on Unsplash


I pray a gentle breath from God is all it takes to move me. I hope I can be a feather under His direction, doing His bidding.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Thanks

Rest Here A Moment

“May I rest here a moment”, asked the tree?

“Certainly”, replied the rock.

The tree placed it’s hand-root upon the rock. Fifty years later it was still there.

Found during hike at Hocking Hills

Have you given yourself a time to rest in the LORD?

He is the rock of our salvation.

Psalm 62:6

He said to them, “Come with me privately to an isolated place and rest a while.”

Mark 6:31a NIV

Jesus our rock tells us to rest. Enter His rest. Be restored. Are we doing those things? They are all to our benefit.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Thanks, Traveling, Worship

Massive Tree!

We went searching for this tree when we were on Maui.

Banyan tree of some repute!

There is only one banyan tree in Banyan Tree Park in the middle of Lahaina.  But it is the largest banyan tree in the United States and one of the largest in the world.  Lahaina’s giant banyan tree is 60 feet high and 200 feet wide, filling most of the block that makes up Banyan Tree Park on Front Street, behind the Lahaina Harbor.

https://www.mauihawaii.org/sights/banyan-tree/

So here she is!

Here is my video to try to capture just how enormous this tree is!

Of course, Wikipedia had lots to say about this tree. Here is a portion

The banyan tree in Lahaina, in Maui, Hawaii, United States, was planted on April 24, 1873, in Lahaina to mark the 50th anniversary of the arrival of first American Protestant mission. The banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) known in Hawaiian as paniana, located in the Courthouse Square, which was renamed Banyan Tree Park covering 1.94 acres, is not only the largest in the state but also in the United States. The tree was a gift from missionaries in India. A mere 8 feet (2.4 m) when planted, it has grown to a height of about 60 feet (18 m) and has rooted into 16 major trunks, apart from the main trunk, with the canopy spread over an area of about 0.66 acres (0.27 ha).

In 2023 Lahaina will have a birthday party to celebrate the Banyan Tree being planted 150 years ago.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banyan_tree_in_Lahaina

16 major trunks?!? 1.94 acres!! That is larger than the lot our home is on!

Praise God for such tree wonders, joyous travels and His glory in a growing tree.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Nature, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Worship

Randy Alcorn and Zoon

While writing the post about White tailed deer I came across this post and enjoyed reading parts of it. There is some fantastic art work full of imagination, none of which I chose to post. So with full credit to Randy Alcorn I bring you portions and the link.

Throughout Scripture we read that animals praise God. I don’t know exactly how animals praise God, but our inability to understand it shouldn’t keep us from believing it.

Consider the psalms. Psalm 148 commands all of creation to praise the Lord, including the animals: “Wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all nations, you princes and all rulers on earth, young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for his name alone is exalted; his splendor is above the earth and the heavens” (vv. 10-13). If in some sense fallen animals, shadows of what they once were, can praise God on this fallen Earth, how much more should we expect them to do so on the New Earth? “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Psalm 150:6). Since animals are said to have breath, they are included among those directed to praise God.

Passages in Revelation also indicate that the animals will praise their creator: “Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!'” (Revelation 5:13). What are these “creatures” said to do? To sing praises to God in worship. If “every creature in heaven and on earth” includes animals, then animals praise God.

https://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Jan/18/are-animals-capable-praising-god/

I sometimes read “every creature” to mean human, but no, it means every creature, Molly! in heaven, on earth, under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them.”

The most striking example of animals praising God in Heaven is often overlooked because of word selection in our Bible translations. We’re told eight times in Revelation of “living creatures” in the intermediate Heaven: “Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.’… The living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne” (Revelation 4:8-9).

The word translated “living creatures” is zoon. Throughout most of the New Testament the word is translated “animal” and is used to indicate animals sacrificed in the temple and wild, irrational animals (Hebrews 13:11; 2 Peter 2:12; Jude 1:10). In the Old Testament, the Septuagint used zoon to translate the Hebrew words for animals, including the “living creatures” of the sea (Genesis 1:21; Ezekiel 47:9). In extra-biblical writings, zoon commonly referred to ordinary animals and was used of the Egyptians’ divine animals and the mythological bird called the Phoenix (1 Clement 25:2-3 1 Clement 25:2-3 ). In virtually every case inside and outside of Scripture, this word means not a person, not an angel, but an animal. The King James version translates zoon “beasts” in Revelation, but the negative connotations of that word led subsequent translators to settle on “living creatures.” The most natural translation would be simply “animals.” That word would likely have been chosen by translators if it didn’t sound so strange for readers to envision talking animals praising God around his throne!

https://www.epm.org/resources/2010/Jan/18/are-animals-capable-praising-god/

I love it! I just love this sort of Bible study where I learn something I never knew before. I was taught and believed that the ‘living creatures’ around the throne ‘look like a lion, ox, a man, and an eagle’ but Alcorn purports that they are more than just what they look like. They are animals. Now that gives us something to ponder!

“Talking animals praising God around his throne!” Sweet. In the Episcopal church years ago we had a casual Sunday evening service and we were so few in number that we would circle the altar table for communion. The information from Alcorn’s teaching and that Sunday evening experience let me envision praising God with talking animals in an intimate circle of communion.

Yes, the creatures described by Ezekiel come to mind, but as one commentary notes, “The description in the vision cannot be taken too literally, for the prophet constantly reminds his readers that the images used to describe the vision only approximate what he actually saw. The visionary combination of vague, evocative images with concrete but fantastic objects helps the prophet to describe the divine reality that he saw but that cannot ultimately be described.” Harper’s Study Bible

I praise God saying whatever the Zoon are, bring them on LORD. Come quickly I pray! Let’s get Your victory party started!!

Somehow we have failed to grasp that the “living creatures” who cry out “Holy, holy, holy,” are animals—living, breathing, intelligent and articulate animals who dwell in God’s presence, worshiping and praising him. They are greater than the animals we know, and they preexisted the animals we know. Perhaps they’re the prototype creatures of Heaven after whom God designed Earth’s animals. But even though they’re highly intelligent and expressive, they’re still animals; that’s what Scripture calls them.

Randy Alcorn
Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Just do it, Memories, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Thanks, Yield

Go Outside!

When was the last time someone told you to “Go outside and play”? So often we take topics like faith so seriously that I think God is telling us to go outside and play with Him. Perhaps this is something you need? Even if your access to the outdoors is restricted by health, you can still have a playtime.

Ponder for a few moments the Scripture John 3:8. Here is the NIV version

Jesus said, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

Reading Sensible Shoes and Two Steps Forward by Sharon G. Brown, I found great images about play and flowers. I will retell it in my own words as I do have permission to copy large portions of the books.

Hannah (a busy Christian servant) saw herself as a child running in and out of the throne room bringing flowers to Jesus. Then later she saw herself running in and out of the throne room taking flowers from around Jesus to others. Both times He stopped her, scooped her up and wanted to just spend time with her. He also told her in the second scene that the flowers were for HER! Later in Two Steps Forward she saw a pinwheel and realized it looked like the flowers she had seen earlier.

I have a large pinwheel and several small ones in our yard. A pinwheel can sit still all day or spin frantically in a heavy breeze. It helps me ‘see’ the wind and reminds me of the Spirit of God.

In Two Steps Forward Brown wrote

“There’s nothing useful and productive about pinwheels. They serve no practical purpose. They just wait for the wind without striving. An image of receptivity. And fun. Whimsical delight and wasting time. What a growing edge for me! And to have a pinwheel combined with the image of a flower is perfect. Thank you, Lord. The flowers are for me. The Lover’s gift to the beloved.”

Hannah in Two Steps Forward by Brown

In my Transfiguration Associates fellowship group I shared these ideas and passed out pinwheels for each person. I wish I could hand one to each reader right now! I bought ours at The Dollar Store which is now $1.25! I encouraged each person to go play, (but not to put them out the window as they were driving home.) You see, that is one of my first pinwheel memories, a summer day in the car having the X-mph wind blow my pinwheel.

I encourage you to play with God this week. If you do not have a pinwheel perhaps you could make one? https://www.wikihow.com/Make-a-Pinwheel

Can you relax with God and rest in His love enough to just have fun? He has so many aspects to His personality that you will never know all of them. How about learning more about this one? Remember that when you have a fun time with an earthly friend you have a deeper bond. Just imagine how having fun with God will deepen that relationship! Go play!

God is the fountain of life. The only fountain of life. His glorious life is meant to flow through us every day – healing us, filling us with creativity, courage, joy, playfulness, and resilience. It comes through attachment, bonded love, the soul’s union with God.

John Eldredge “Resilient”

The wind is His, but He lets us see it and use it. The wind is one symbol of the Holy Spirit! Go play! The pinwheel brought all sorts of things to mind such as the song “Breathe on Me Breath Of God.” Sit with God and the wind, play and discover where He will lead you. Just don’t put your pinwheel out the car window while driving!!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Beagle, Challenge, Faith, Nature, Thanks

White Tailed Deer and Other Critters

Monday afternoon before I could grab my camera out of the corner of my eye I saw a large doe walking down our street with 2 fawns behind her. The fawns were larger than I usually see, but still had their spots. In one sense the sight was breath taking, in another scary.

If you are a regular reader you might remember I posted a week or so ago how deer came in the night and mowed down (ate) sunflower heads and roses and neighbors rare day lilies and all manner of garden flowers. I hoped this doe was not ‘casing the joint’ for tasty flowers. Last evening I went out and sprinkled repellent pellets on the flowers. They were all intact this morning. One neighbor feeds the deer on a platform feeder in her front yard. Not many of us are happy with her about that.

This one in our backyard, but you get the idea.

Deer trotting down the street in afternoon sunlight.

There are times I take Lucky out for her evening walk and the air is rank with the smell of skunk (which some peculiar people like m husband think smells good). There have been a few times when we have the bedroom windows open at night and I can smell skunk. My next door neighbor has a driveway camera. She told me the skunk is a little one but he travels all of the yards in the dark. We know from camping that you can smell skunk without them spraying. Like Pepé Le Pew they just radiate that stench! Please Lucky, do not get sprayed by that thing! That is one of my concerns when Lucky gets out and takes off.

Skunks roaming our property at night.

Did I mention the rabbits? The web says that cottontails only get about 2-3 pounds and 15-18-3/4 inches long. The ones in Sherry’s yard look huge. Like as big as large cats get! These things can move or just sit so perfectly still that unless they twitch an ear you might not see them. They are out grazing morning and evening. I wonder what their burrows are like. Instead of a drone I would love to get a tiny camera in their nest to watch what goes on. Maybe I can attach a GoPro to one and get the hopping action? A few visit the garden and likely eat the plants. One more reason not to try to garden next year. Otherwise the rabbits are lovely and peaceful.

Lucky has occasionally found toads or frogs along the sidewalk as we walk in the evening. I am guessing the drought conditions this spring led to the death of many tiny frogs. Lucky finds them dead along the edge of the grass or occasionally on the sidewalk. Like Grogu, Baby Yoda, she would like to eat them. She never forgets where she has found them either! I am kept on my toes trying to remember so I can warn her to “Drop it!” or “Leave it!” One day someone left a large dead crayfish on the edge of their driveway. That she did not like! Jumped in the air and backed up in fear.

Maybe the death of the baby frogs explains the huge population of crickets?

A few neighbors have seen snakes. I am afraid of snakes. A very primal, visceral fear that brooks no explanation. I know they eat mice and other things. Perhaps one would like to consume the chipmunk that taken up residence under the deck, runs tunnels through the gardens,etc? I just do not want to come upon it catching, eating or digesting! Or even resting.

We live in suburban Amelia, Ohio yet the wildlife are right here with us. Deer, skunks, frogs or toads, snakes, oh my! All manner of things reside here and we are in their midst. I have not seen a single coyote recently? No explanation for that. I hope the Canada geese stay gone. The sidewalk around the retention pond is much neater without their droppings. Only a few rabbit pellets lately.

Treasures in Plain Sight! What have you seen in your neighborhood recently? I praise Him for all of creation.

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Challenge, Faith, Humor, Just do it, Listen, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Traveling, Yield

Hawaiian Chickens

and roosters, and chicks. They are every place you go. I even stopped at a grocery store Starbucks. When I came out the people on the porch sipping their beverages were amazed at the hen and chicks that were passing through looking for bakery crumbs.

We stopped at one overlook to take some photos. There at our feet was a rooster. Bob captured this portrait.

Chickens have been on the islands for decades. Storms caused many of their coops to be destroyed. After their escape they have found life on the islands rather easy. There are no natural predators in residence! Talk about free range chickens!

We even walked the jungle trail to Honolua Bay on Maui where the snorkeling is said to be tremendous. Guess what?

You can easily see 7 chickens here! There were many more around our feet!

I often wondered if I caught a chicken and took it to a restaurant would they kill, clean and cook it for me for lunch? Does any one harvest the eggs?

Some of our neighbors here in Ohio keep chickens. The crowing of the rooster always makes me smile. The by-laws of our subdivision prohibits the keeping of chickens on our property. I wonder how these residents would view free range chickens!

I wonder if Jesus told every church leader in the greater Cincinnati area that Christians were to keep chickens, how that would go over? His words in the New Testament are

 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”

Matthew 23:37 and Luke 13:34

Jesus longs to gather us to Himself. Just as in Isaiah 30:15 there is that haunting phrase, “But you would not.” Are you resistant to Jesus’ call to come to Him?

All four Gospels refer to the crowing of the rooster when Jesus is speaking to Peter about denying Him. Can you imagine how Peter felt when He heard that crowing?

So the next time you hear a rooster I want you to ask yourself if that is Jesus calling you to His side like the hen gathers her chicks or is it a reminder that each of us has the propensity to deny knowing the Lord Jesus? Either way I urge you to be willing to go to His side. He will lead you in paths of righteousness. Do not be a free range chicken. We, unlike the chickens in Hawaii, do have an evil predator seeking to destroy us and our faith.

Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Faith, Family, Memories, Nature, Thanks, Traveling

The Place in Hawaii Where I Cried

Most of my life my mother worked at a florist in Norwood, Ohio called Dorl & Fern. I met Mr. Dorl a few times. For years my mother told my sister and I how much she wanted to visit the Hawaiian islands in order to see the flowers. (Also, her only sister lived there.) Many times the arrangement designers in the shop would use flowers shipped from Hawaii. She was delighted with those arrangements. She especially like the idea of orchids growing along tree trunks. There was much delight as she worked with the local California florist to design my wedding bouquet. Sadly, she died before she was able to go to Hawaii.

Our wedding 1970

When we were planning our visit to Hawaii (the Big Island) and Maui we told our friends Dan and Betty that we definitely wanted to see the flowers. They directed us to the Botanical Garden just north of Hilo, officially called the Hawaii Tropical Bioreserve & Garden.

The folder they gave us when we paid our admission describes the place as “a garden in a valley on the ocean.” The land is ‘held in reserve for future conservation, protecting the beautiful Onomea Bay forever.’

I was not disappointed. The beginning of the trail was a downhill boardwalk among fascinating plants, many of which we had never seen before. We were also entertained by tiny colorful geckos along the way.

Anthurium I have seen in floral shops in Ohio but never in lavender!
Geckos often lose their tail when fighting, but can grow them back!
“Pink Maracas”

Bob and I were amazed later when we compared our photos. Some were duplicates and some were things the other had not noticed. My photos of the orchids were the most abundant of all the photos I took. If you are familiar with house plants you may see some growing in the photos. So here is photo album of my still shots. By the time I would learn to make a video from still shots I could likely write 3 blog entries. Hard to teach old dogs new tricks!

If you paste the link below into your browser you can see slides from the garden posted on the Bioreserve website. Sadly, they do not identify the plants.

https://bigislandguide.com/hawaii-tropical-botanical-garden

And then there were the orchids! You have most likely seen orchids in grocery store floral departments or big box discount stores. They are nothing like these orchids!!

See photo to right
Orchid rooted on tree
What we know as house plant called Peace Lily.
Anthurium rooted on tree truck
Bob’s favorite orchid on tree
I do not know all the names
rooted some place on that tree!
delicate colors
Splatter painted?
Splotched white area unlike below
My thumb is to show you how tiny this one is!
Not identical to white ones above.

Okay, so by then I was weeping. Truly weeping over the beauty my mother missed. Weeping over the beauty of God’s creation and how He arranged for us to have the privilege to see it. I swear at one point it was as if the man who walked away from me in the garden resembled Ted Dorl. I cried because in some way this has been a deep link with my memory of my mother. And now, I had completed it. We sat on a bench while I tried to compose myself. Two women walking past surely looked bewildered by my tears. Bob gladly indulged me while I walked among the orchids again, then I found more plants and started taking photos all over again.

My Christmas tree wish
Look closely!
There she is, tucked away!
At first glance looks like a pansy to me!

You know how people print photos on mugs and phone cases and all sorts of things? I think I want this printed like that!

The flight over the volcano was stunning along with flying over the coast and the waterfalls, but this is my best memory. It was hard for me to leave. It was getting very hot and humid. I was wrung out from the emotional experience. Rarely have I felt so close to my mom since she passed. Our daughter turns 48 this week. That means mom died 48 years and two weeks ago. May she be surrounded by Jesus and flowers in all of heaven!

The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it,
    the world, and those who live in it,
 for he has founded it on the seas
    and established it on the rivers.

Psalm 24:1-2 NRSV