Category: Nature

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Nature, Spiritual growth, Traveling

Sword and Shield

Ephesians 6 teaches us about the full armor of God to use for spiritual warfare. Paul wrote that we should not only dress in our armor, but “take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God and the shield of faith with which we can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”

This is not the sword of King Arthur. These weapons are “mighty for the pulling down of strongholds.” (1 Corinthians 10:4) There are several ways to memorize the verses about the armor. One is to recite them while doing something like exercises you must count. Another is to envision dressing yourself in them every morning. I like to put them on head to toe and then the hand pieces. Some teach the belt comes first.  I envision the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, and gird your loins in truth (as if putting on panty hose, you remember those, right?). Shod your feet with the preparation of the Gospel of peace. Put on the robe of righteousness that Jesus bought for you. Take up the sword and shield and stand. And having done all, stand and pray!

Once we were in Smoky Mountain National Park driving the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail just outside of Gatlinburg. This is a spectacular drive that begins up in the mountains and follows Roaring Fork river. There are many parking areas to get out and explore spectacular views of rivers, rocks, tumbling water, old buildings, overall fun.

Imagine my surprise when we parked and stepped out in the parking lot to this rock: IMG_2333

After years of putting on the armor this is an image I will never forget. Truly a treasure in plain sight!

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Posted on in Amazing Creations, Nature, Spiritual growth

Quietness? Trust?

Isaiah 30:15a is what Baptists would call my “life verse.”

In returning and rest I am saved; in quietness and trust is my strength.

The remainder of the verse says “BUT YOU WOULD NOT.” Daily I am challenged to enter the morning this way or stick in the WOULD NOT arena.

For example, the dryer broke last night and there were two loads of wash waiting for it’s warm air to fluff them. I hung wet sheets on the basement lines and began to ponder with my husband what to do about the situation. We found no obvious cause for the failure to work.

Posted my situation on Facebook. One friend came up with a trustworthy repairman to call.

This morning I wondered how to proceed? I have a birthday lunch appointment in another area of town at 11:30. Cancel? Proceed? Pray and get quiet. And here came the Isaiah verse. “In returning and rest I am saved; in quietness and trust is my strength.”

Inhale in returning and rest I am saved. Exhale in quietness and trust is my strength. Quiet my   mind. Quiet my heart. Listen and rest. Glancing out the window I saw a white cloud scudding across a brilliant blue sky. High winds in the forecast today and that cloud was bookin’ it. And then the cloud was gone.

poof… as if it had never been here. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” NIV Ps 19:1

Return to the quiet Molly Lin. Rest and trust that my life is in His care. Quietly push back the cares and concerns and stay present. Here. Now.

There is a quote attributed to both Winston Churchill and Mark Twain, so obviously, no one is certain who said it first! “I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them never happened.”

So took my shower and decided to adopt that wait and see attitude towards the day. Called repairman and left a message to please call me. Another friend offered to dry the soaking wet towels at her house. Set that up. Repairman called and could meet me late this afternoon after my luncheon appointment. Sweet! And there was still time left in the morning to write this.

The God of Creation has me and each situation I face. If only I will return to Him to rest in quietness and trust I will find salvation and strength to meet each situation.

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Hillsong United states it so very well for me. Enjoy!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Humor, Nature

Not Quite Plain Sight

… unless you travel out a ways by boat.

We went out on the Sanctuary Cruise in Moss Beach, California to whale watch.

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The white plume to the right is a whale exhaling. The naturalist on board taught us to look for bird activity, with seals and stirred up water. Shortly the whales would appear. They stirred up food from the bottom and that attracted the birds and seals. These were humpbacked whales and not seal eaters.

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This one shows the seals and other activity. Sadly the man taking photos next to me is blurring the left side. I am not accomplished enough to remove him from the photo and keep the left whale.

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And the fun continued! The mist from the plume drifted our way. The captain asked how we liked liked whale breath! It was fishy and fun in a whale sighting kind of way!! My favorite is the one minute video I took, but I have to pay lots more for the blog if I post videos. The video went to my facebook account.

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Our trip was worth every penny. We had such fun. I marveled the God did not HAVE to allow us to see theses fantastic creatures. And yet, He did! So with the flip of the tail I say good day!

 

 

 

Posted on in Memories, Nature

Missing my Dog!

Strolling © 2011 Molly Lin Dutina

Strolling down the street today with the dog
a north wind came to refresh our part of the earth
and summer
gave way
to autumn

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Instead of humid stillness packed
with dense air you could almost “see”
we were graced
with cool breezes
puffs of refreshment

And I found myself in the path of
one hundred
thousand
golden
falling
leaves

Thank you north wind for sharing the locust shower
Praise You , Lord, for the joy of changing seasons

Posted on in Nature, Spiritual growth

Grow On!

Grow On! ©1994 by Molly Lin Dutina

 
Wild the wind that sends the leaves aloft
Gleefully they chatter, “I’m free! I’m free!”
‘Falling’ leaves of autumn
Travel far from their beginning
Mixing with a flock of birds
As we, all earth bound, fail to see
Which is bird and which is leaf.

Mighty Force of God, capture me in Your updraft
Hurl me headlong in Your love
Drift me sideways with the angels
Take me far from all complacency
Where the familiar dulls my senses
Gently land me back at the place
On my Pilgrim Journey path where
You meet me with new courage
To grow on.

wild (2)

Posted on in Nature

Autumn 2018

Today, October 2 the woods are reflecting my house! My favorite colors are yellow, orange, green and brown for my living area. Outside it is no longer just the edges of the maples that are yellow! The entirety of the leaves is turning.

A recent fact list about autumn stated: “Yellow, orange and variations thereof always reside in the pigmentation of tree leaves, but they are just overpowered by the abundance of green from the chlorophyll in the leaves. When the sun weakens and days grow shorter, the amount of chlorophyll in leaves diminishes, allowing the other pigments in the leave to show through.

Guess I likely learned that in school, but I am delighted to think about the other colors residing there all year long and just masked by the green of the chlorophyll.

Rabbit trail: Do you remember Clorets chewing gum? Creators maintained it cured bad breath. The actual ingredient was chlorophyllin. Scientists are now looking at that chemical in the possible treatment of cancer and burns.

The autumn fact list article goes on to say red and purple leaves are actually caused by the presence of sugars from sap that is trapped inside of leaves. Well, there you have it!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Nature

Lillies With Magic Powers

There is a plant I have never grown, though many people in the area have them in their yards. This pink flower shows up with a cry of “Surprise!” After the foliage has died away. They have several names.

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Surprise Lily, Magic Lily, Resurrection Lily and Naked Lady because the leaves die back before the flowers emerge. These flowers are part of the amaryllis family. I enjoy those flowers in January! Researching this I discovered resurrection lilies can be used as cut flowers! Oooh, I “may have to get me some of those!”

Posted on in Humor, Nature

Vine Fantasy Weird Brain #3

I planted three varieties of sweet potato vine in the back garden this year.

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One was rather puny and the bright green one outshone the other two and began to take over the garden wall. One day I noticed the puny vine had begun to climb the hill into the woods.

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Have you seen areas where English ivy has grown unabated?
English Ivy

I have this fantasy that the sweet potato vine up in the woods is going to be gargantuan and take over the back hill. Of course, it will be too mannerly to interfere with our hundreds of daffodil bulbs. Other than the daffodils, look out!

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Nature, Traveling

Smoky Mountains in Spring

We love to hunt wildflowers in the Great Smoky Mountains national park. One of the most elusive is the Lady’s Slipper. I will never tell you where we found these, as folks tend to want to steal them, hoping they will grow in their garden. Well, frankly, that is against the law and most likely they will never grow at your house as they need very specific conditions to grow and then to bloom.

According to the U.S.D.A. Forest service “In order to survive and reproduce, pink lady’s slipper interacts with a fungus in the soil from the Rhizoctonia genus. Generally, orchid seeds do not have food supplies inside them like most other kinds of seeds. Pink lady’s slipper seeds require threads of the fungus to break open the seed and attach them to it. The fungus will pass on food and nutrients to the pink lady’s slipper seed. When the lady’s slipper plant is older and producing most of its own nutrients, the fungus will extract nutrients from the orchid roots. This mutually beneficial relationship between the orchid and the fungus is known as “symbiosis” and is typical of almost all orchid species.

“Pink lady’s slipper takes many years to go from seed to mature plants.  Seed-bearing harvest of wild lady’s slipper root is not considered sustainable. Pink lady’s slippers can live to be twenty years old or more.”

So we go to the Smoky’s to relax.

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And we hunt for these.

And even the ones that are wilting bless our hearts!

Then back to the river for more refreshment.

And maybe one more surprise !

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