Category: Amazing Creations

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Thanks, Yield

Mercy

Anchor devotional is published by The Haven of Rest, better known know as simply Haven. I receive one devotional booklet per month. The theme for the month of July was fishing, written by “Pastor and outdoorsman, Brian White.”

Vintage engraving of Fishermen baiting the lines, North Sea fishing boat, 19th Century. Long line fishing for cod in the North Sea, Victorian, 19th Century

Friday July 29 was entitled “Mercy to the Deepest Depths.” In this entry Pastor White wrote about deep sea fishing. “Some anglers will ask if they might hit the bottom.” He basically tells them not a chance. His writing reflects the heart of “the Fisher of men.”

The prophet Micah declares that while the sinfulness of those that rebel against God is great, His desire to show mercy is even greater. His compassion has a depth that we cannot truly begin to comprehend, and He displays it to us when we turn to Him seeking forgiveness.

Brain White, writing in Anchor Devotional July, 2022

As I draw closer and closer to my Savior I am more aware of my sinfulness. Things I might previously have thought of as errors are brought into sharper focus in light of the righteousness of Jesus. I fall short of His likeness, but His mercy shines more brightly than ever before. I am made aware of my propensity for sin. Brian White is correct. I cannot truly comprehend His compassion. White goes on to say:

The judgement of God was carried out at the cross, where Jesus took it on our behalf. Because of this, we experience a depth of God’s compassion and mercy that truly has no bottom. Conceiving of the oceans’ depths is hard for many of us; grasping the deep, deep love of Jesus is greater and more wondrous still

Brian White

The devotional ends that day with this prayer. “Father, thank you that through Jesus we can know that the depth of our sin is not greater than the depth of Your mercy. Amen.”

Have you recognized the depth of your sin? Have you taken it to the Father asking for forgiveness? Why wait? Paul urges us to keep a short list with the Father. (2 Corinthians 13:5)

While reading this Anchor entry Matt Redman’s song rang through my soul. Enjoy!

https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcps8EQUOt4&feature=share
Posted on in Amazing Creations, Cooking, Traveling

Hatch Chilis!

First time we visited Betty and Dan Cooksey in New Mexico they took us to Wagner’s Produce where they were roasting green Chilis.

Last year, 2021, the local Kroger store advertised that they had Hatch Chilies. Hatch is considered the best of the green chilis. They grow in one area.

The New Mexico tourism site says:

30,000 people flock to this small community situated along the fertile Rio Grande river valley in southern New Mexico. Any time of year, visitors can find stockpiles of roasted chile. During harvest time, you can hear the sizzle of chile skins searing and smell the sweet roasted fruit pods with every inhale. You can see ristras being made and may catch a glimpse of the glamorous Chile Queen.

Well, phooey! New Mexico tourism spelled it chilie. I thought it was chili. Anyway you spell it, think TASTY! ( by the way, ristras are the string of drying chilis.)

Hatch or otherwise, once you get a hankering for the taste of chili in your food, you know nothing else is like it! Theses are not the peppers that roast your tongue (unless you choose hot or extra hot which I never have). You are likely thinking of jalapenos.

Green chilis are large, growing to 6 inches long, with a blocky shape that narrows at the end. “Jalapenos” are very small, rarely growing longer than 3 inches. They have a more uniformly narrow shape.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/difference-between-green-chillies-green-jalapeno-peppers-75402.html

When the Kroger advertisd arrived with the announcement that the Chilis were in I bought about 6. Unfortunately we forgot to take them out of the plastic bag immediately once I got home and one spoiled within a couple hours. I put the remainder on a paper towel with the reminder to roast them the next day on our grill.

So above is the progression. When they were fully charred I put them in a plastic bag to rest on the countertop. Wish I could have sent you the fragrance.! Yum!

When I was peeling them I tried to remember if the heat was in the seeds or membranes inside the pepper pods? I think Dan told us membranes, so I tried to remove both. I am after the flavor not the heat. While I had the grill turned on I cooked burgers for our supper. Bob had a piece of chili on his and loved it.

Last time I roasted them I froze on sheets of waxed paper. Bad news – the waxed paper stuck to the chili, so this time I tried plastic wrap instead.

Opening the wrap for the second photo about had me drooling! I forgot to tell you! The chilis get peeled and seeded with GLOVES ON! The active ingredient is capsacian. You might have heard about that from pain relieving rubs? I tasted a frozen bit of chili juice when I unwrapped the ones above for the photo. Rinsed my fingers, but did not scrub with soap and water. Just rubbed my eye a few hours later. Ouch! Heat!

In case you think this is only a New Mexico thing, for several years now Kroger’s has been selling green chili bagels in Cincinnati. Dan makes the best ones though. Toast the bagel, add chili, bacon and cheese. Heat until cheese melts. Yummy! In Albuquerque MacDonald’s sells green chili hamburgers. There is even green chili ice cream in a few places.

I think I need to make some mac ‘n cheese with chili. Yep, I feel the craving growing!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Beagle, Faith, Memories, Nature

Driving Last Weekend

When I was a child we would occasionally got to Rocky Fork Lake. An uncle had a boat and I would try, but never succeeded, in water skiing. As young adults Bob and I would go fishing there (or drowning worms!) We were poor and it was cheap entertainment.

Last week we took the dog on the drive with us to visit Rocky Fork Lake again. We only went to the camping side this trip. I was delighted that there were water lilies all over the place! I had absolutely no memory of those plants. I thumped around a little bit with my orthotic boot. Bob and Lucky explored places and took photos.

Another glorious July Day!
White Egret!!

Lucky sniffed at a frog and it “eeked” as it jumped into the water.

Towards the end of our visit we were blessed to see my favorite – a great blue heron in the distance on the lake! Photo did not work well as too far away! We will return another day for certain.

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.
6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
    your judgements are like the great deep;
    you save humans and animals alike, O Lord.

7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
    All people may take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8 They feast on the abundance of your house,
    and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
9 For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light we see light.

Psalm 36:5-9
Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Nature, Poetry, Yield

Giants Among Us!

Recently we watched a National Geographic program entitled the “Green Planet” showing plants from all over the world. They emphasized how plants grow to obtain the best sunlight. Theses lily plants are the largest in the world. They begin very small and unfold to cover the most pool surface and the most sunlight. As the pond fills in with lily leaves, the other water plants die off, starved for sunlight. I was so excited during this program I almost sounded like Bob watching FC Cincinnati when they “SCORE!!!” (Imagine man screaming and dog terrified.)

Yes, they are approximately six feet across and can support a grown man! Can you imagine? That is a plant I would love to see in person! No, these lily plants do not grow on stalky stems like the ones that grow at the Nature Center of Cincinnati. As you can see the flowers are on the water surface, too.

If you have followed my blog you have likely read my poem about Lily Pads. In case you missed it:

Perhaps I Could Ask You Just to Stand and Tip? ©1990       Molly Lin Dutina 	
Lily pads at the pond		
Grow on stalky stems
Leaves unfold an opened palm
Cupped at center point
Summer shower starts to drop
Mercurial glistening spheres
Gathering in the center spot
‘til bulbous weight smears silver drops
Into glistening globs
And tips the leaves so full
To pour their contents overboard
And rising from the spill
Stately shielded lily-hands
Begin the cycle once more

Keep my stem flexible, Lord
My hands open and cupped
Eager to receive Your all
Questioning not Your skill
Only trusting the power of Your love
To melt my rigid will

Drench me Lord 
In Your shower of love
Let me gather and drink my fill
Then spill over on those around
And rise to await Your will

Send water of Your Spirit
To tip me over, pour me out
Then wash over me once again
Fresh cleansing by Holy Words

Shine Your light through
This enshrouding mist
Color me with covenant this:
Abiding presence and constant love,
Indwelling grace that conquers sin
Transfigured rigid I
Yielded and bent
In Your service	
Spilling forth rivers of living water	
And giving rest to croaky voiced frogs	  
Who, when Spirit-kissed,
Become priests and kings	
Singing their praises to You.

Perhaps You ask me just to be Your lily leaf
Stand and tip
Now that is a monster lily leaf!

Unlike the giant lily leaves, I do not want to crowd out the other plants from the sun. Instead, I want to direct others to the Light of Christ, the best Sun/Son of all. Seek Him. When you seek Him, you will find Him, if you seek Him with all of your heart.

 You will seek me and find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the Lord

Jeremiah 29: 13-14a
Posted on in Amazing Creations, Faith, Spiritual discipline, Yield

Flesh and Spirit

Are we fascinated with bubbles because we cannot see the wind? Yet these wondrous things help us to see the very thing we cannot capture with our own eyes!

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.

John 3:8 NIV

Look back at the first photo. We have special rocks here in the Ohio river valley. Fossils decorate almost every stone in a stream here. This site identifies many of them. https://faculty.msj.edu/kritskg/evolab/Site/Cincinnati_fossils.html#:~:text=The%20rocks%20of%20Cincinnati%20are%20450%20-%20443,is%20the%20fossil%20of%20its%20long%20straight%20shell

We are fortunate to live on one of the world’s famous fossil localities.  The rocks of Cincinnati are 450 – 443 million years old and contain several different types of fossils.  Each of the species shown below are extinct. 

horn coral
Brachiopod
Cephalopod
Trilobite and bryozoan

As a child I played with these all the time. Only later in life did I find out they were unusual.

Those stones remind me of flesh. Stones, fossils and flesh all have sharp edges. Whether we admit it or not we are stuck in our own ways and want our own way with God and man. Then comes the wind of the Spirit, blowing upon us to bring change, help and relief. How can wind change a rock? Being born of the Spirit changes a person both immediately and gradually. Yield to God Almighty and discover how!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Humor, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Thanks

Repeat: Another Treasure in Plain Sight

This post has been republished due to a technical issue preventing some followers from seeing the initial publication…. So I guess the pressure to write this week has been taken off!

So did he hitch a ride from the flower grower to the flower shop at Kroger’s to my house or come in to find this fragrant place from outside in our yard? I will never know. I was delightfully surprised when I found him, snapped his photo, then caught him in a tissue and sent him on his way in the yellow begonias outdoors.

Where are you from tiny guy?

I will never know his origins or destination!

Jodi Picault wrote a novel entitled Small Great Things. In it was this quote which had me pondering.

I hear the flow of the fountain behind me, and I think about water, how it might rise above its station as mist, flirt at being a cloud, and return as rain. Would you call that falling? Or coming home?

Jodi Picault
water as vapor

These are the kind of thoughts that make me praise God. We have had severe humidity, then thunderstorms, then water flowing from the yards. Is it falling, or coming home?

“Water flirting at being a cloud” thunderstorm brewing
water on the earth – storm runoff

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 

Matthew 5:45b NIV
Photo by Molly – He causes His sun to rise on all

Ponder this and share your own discovery in the comments section!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Cooking, Faith, Humor, Nature, Special Event

Once Again, Anchovy Rain

This post has been republished due to a technical issue preventing some followers from seeing the initial publication…. So I guess the pressure to write this week has been taken off!

Did you hear about the glut of anchovies in Marin County, California? To me it would just stink. To Bob it would be like quail in Numbers 11:31-32!

Bob said just put down a pizza crust and let him bake it! Ugh!!

Not raining quail, but something like that!

Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction. All that day and night and all the next day the people went out and gathered quail. No one gathered less than ten homers. Then they spread them out all around the camp. 

Numbers 11:31-32 NIV
Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Humor, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Thanks

Another Treasure in Plain Sight

So did he hitch a ride from the flower grower to the flower shop at Kroger’s to my house or come in to find this fragrant place from outside in our yard? I will never know. I was delightfully surprised when I found him, snapped his photo, then caught him in a tissue and sent him on his way in the yellow begonias outdoors.

Where are you from tiny guy?

I will never know his origins or destination!

Jodi Picault wrote a novel entitled Small Great Things. In it was this quote which had me pondering.

I hear the flow of the fountain behind me, and I think about water, how it might rise above its station as mist, flirt at being a cloud, and return as rain. Would you call that falling? Or coming home?

Jodi Picault
water as vapor

These are the kind of thoughts that make me praise God. We have had severe humidity, then thunderstorms, then water flowing from the yards. Is it falling, or coming home?

“Water flirting at being a cloud” thunderstorm brewing
water on the earth – storm runoff

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 

Matthew 5:45b NIV
Photo by Molly – He causes His sun to rise on all

Ponder this and share your own discovery in the comments section!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth

Shepherd and Psalm 23

Our neighborhood study group was able to cover chapters one and two in one meeting – barely. We do like to talk! A couple of the gals grew up on farms or with actual sheep. They added a lot to our meeting.

This week we will try for chapters three and four. Three is really long by comparison and I doubt we can get through it. Then when I read four I realized it was rather short. We will see.

Some of my notes from the book in chapter three include:

Keller wrote that “it is almost impossible to make sheep lie down unless they are

  1. free from all fear
  2. free from friction with others of their kind
  3. free from pests like flies or parasites
  4. free from hunger”

Certainly sounds like people, huh? He continues saying “It is actually the owner who makes it possible for them to lie down, to rest, to relax, to be content and quiet and flourishing.” Do you look to our great, good Shepherd for these needs? Do we truly see Jesus as your owner, shepherd? He will even help us when conflict arises from other sheep!

There was a time when it was Christian fashion to wear a collar or lapel pin of an angel. They were readily available. I positioned mine on a cork and sat it in my kitchen windowsill as an object lesson for myself. (I just LOVE a kitchen windowsill!)

I named her ANN, not necessarily after my mother, but to remind me to be Anxious for nothing, to be NOW Here and to Not jump to the furthest negative conclusion. I was trying to hone those skills. I had learned anxiety, mind racing and negative thinking so very well that it took a lot of effort to unlearn those things. I still have times I must work at it.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

2 Tim 1:7 NKJV

To enjoy the above mindset, I must allow the Holy Spirit not only access to my thinking, but permission to change my thoughts. I must learn to live and move in “a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind.” The Shepherd bought this for me, and I must choose to live in it.

Chapter four is “He leads me beside quiet waters.”

“My people have committed two sins:

They have forsaken me,

    the spring of living water,

and have dug their own cisterns,

    broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”

Jeremiah 2:13 NIV
Broken cistern

Keller wrote, “It is a compelling picture. It is an accurate portrayal of broken lives – of shattered hopes – of barren souls that are dried up and parched and full of the dust of despair.”

He gives an example of watching native herds in the ‘blazing equatorial sun of Africa’ being led to clear water in deep cisterns that were like huge rooms dug out of the rock and out of the sun. The owner had to get in there and bale the water into a drinking trough for the animals. Keller was impressed again ‘by the fact that everything hinged and depended upon the diligence of the owner, the shepherd. Only through his energy, his efforts, his sweat, his strength could the sheep be satisfied.”

He draws the parallel that when we are in deep, dark places, Jesus, our Shepherd is there with us in it. “It is His energy, effort, and strength expended on our behalf that even in this deep, dark place is bound to produce a benefit in us.”

Are you trusting Him in all things?