Category Archives: Outdoor world

Adventureland

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A year ago when I was visiting my Florida family, the grandchildren and I went on several little-kid adventures. Two blocks from their home was a multiple-acre property with a dilapidated old barn on it, along with scattered debris that all belonged in the trash but fascinated the children: a discarded tire, a deflated Mylar balloon and it’s dirty ribbon, a cracked bowl, a broken brick, etc.

We fantasized about each item and about the barn. We named the terrain as we walked along: Midgee Mountain (small hill), Skylar Pathway, Micah Rock Pit – our own Adventureland. It was the kind of fun kids hope goes on forever, a simple activity they wanted to repeat again and again.

Open field

But between then and now, the landscape has changed. Giant trees have been removed, the barn bulldozed away, and the land leveled. All the “treasures” are gone, making it just an empty, open field with no personality at all. But we went to Adventureland anyway.

This time, though, the kids did spot one exciting find: a yellow road sign that said, DEAD END. I told them that if I’d have come across it when I was young, I’d have taken it home and hung it on my bedroom wall. Linnea quickly discouraged such a possibility, but I had a twinge of wishing it would fit into my suitcase.

Dead EndIt’s funny how the passing of time brings new trends and fads. During my college years, I had a number of road signs in my room, each with its own unique story of acquisition. All my friends admired them. But these days, that kind of thing seems silly. Times have changed.

Thankfully, some things never change — like the things God puts into place. Take character qualities, for example: being kind, loyal, gentle, fair, and so many others. These never go out of style. That’s because they’re God’s ideas for how we should behave. He’s programmed all of us to be capable of them and to respond positively to others who demonstrate them toward us.

Jesus modeled every positive character trait known to man as he dealt with the people of his day. And when we’re willing to try, it brings satisfaction to him and to those around us, and even to ourselves. It’s not always easy to be cheerful, honest, grateful, dutiful, polite, and lots more, but even a little can mean a lot. Best of all, Scripture says that if we practice even one good character trait, it’ll lead to another… and another.

As for the road sign, maybe it’ll come into a new life with the owners of our old Adventureland.

“Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” (2 Peter 1:5-7)

Praising with Mary

Blood work done on March 10th brought the good news that my cancer is growing only slowly. The bottom line remains the same, but this report was the best we could hope for. And your prayers have a lot to do with it! Thank you!

Pour on the Power

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LightningLast summer during a wild electrical storm, a lightning bolt struck a tall tree in our subdivision. Its electric current entered the tree with such force it split the whole thing in two, slicing from top to bottom and sending massive chunks of wood flying.

Much of the bark exploded off the trunk, and we clearly saw where the lightning had entered and exited, leaving a charred hole three feet tall.

After studying the ravaged tree, we went home and researched on the internet. Now I know where the phrase “lightning speed” came from. One bolt of lightning races a distance of several miles from a storm cloud to the ground in milliseconds, packing a punch the equivalent of an atomic bomb: over 100 million volts of electricity and a trillion watts of power.

BarkMoist tree sap becomes vaporized by temperatures above 60,000 degrees, which is 5 times hotter than the sun’s surface. The resulting steam is what blasts the bark right off the trunk.

What an incredible display of power! And all of it originates with Someone we know personally: our Creator-God. He uses his power in lots of different ways, and amazingly, uses it for good in our lives when we ask him.

 

lightningTo see the result of one lightning strike is to be visually reminded that our God is indeed powerful beyond imagination. No one can come up against that kind of power and win. No one can out-do God. He can use his unmatched power to do anything he wants, and incredibly, what he wants to do is help us.

But that raises some important questions: “If he’s so powerful, why doesn’t he answer all my prayer requests? Why didn’t he prevent that accident from happening? Why didn’t he heal my loved one from cancer? Why didn’t he stop me from making that terrible mistake?”

God is, indeed, omnipotent. No force in heaven or on earth is more powerful than he. But just because he possesses such power doesn’t mean he always has to use it.

Lifting.I think of a young daddy who works out regularly at the gym and has enough muscle-power to lift a barbell with hundreds of pounds on each end. When he goes home to cradle his newborn, however, he keeps his power in check.

God is careful with his power, too, and doesn’t always give us the reasons why he does or doesn’t use it. He simply wants us to trust that his judgment is superior to ours. This isn’t easy, but it stretches our faith and coaxes us to depend on him more as we endure.

photo 1(3)I like knowing my Father is omnipotent. And if I ever doubt it, I can walk down the road and look at a certain tree.

 “Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty.” (1 Chronicles 29:11)

Dogged Determination

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Snow dogOur dog Jack loves the snow. His bear-like coat makes summers difficult, but once cold weather arrives, he’s a contented canine. Despite his waning energy and joint pain, he’s always up for a walk outdoors and often balks at going back in, even in sub-zero temps.

If I was Jack, snow would frustrate me. After all, dogs love to “catch a scent,” and taking a walk in a snow-covered neighborhood doesn’t leave much for a nose to do. That, however, doesn’t stop Jack.

Knowing the good smells are under there somewhere, he plunges his muzzle into one drift after another with dogged determination. And without coming up for air, he enjoys nosing around beneath a foot of snow until we finally tug on his leash, coaxing him to continue walking. His face comes up covered with snow as if to say, “Hey, I’m busy here!”

I admire Jack’s tenacity. He knows what he’s after and is willing to dig deep to get it. I wish I had that same dogged determination in my quest for more of God.

Back in the 1970’s there was a phrase of “Christian-ese” popular in youth groups around the country. A teen who was fully committed to Christ was said to be “following hard after God.” It meant his highest priority was to learn more about the Lord and how to obey him fully.

The Pursuit of God.Recently I discovered that “following hard after God” didn’t originate in the ‘70’s after all, but was part of A. W. Tozer’s book, The Pursuit of God, written in 1948. His first chapter is titled, “Following hard after God,” a discussion of the deep satisfaction that comes in seeking God above all else. He says the results of such a pursuit include unique manifestations of Christ that can’t be had any other way.

 

From Tozer I learned that the expression “following hard after God” wasn’t original with him, either. He found it in the King James Version of the Bible: “My soul followeth hard after Thee.” (Psalm 63:8)

These were the words of David while he on the run in the wilderness, feeling an intense need for God. He wrote that he was “thirsty” for him, recognizing that “following hard after him” was his only hope. Pursuit of God was #1, and as we see his life played out in Scripture, his thirst for God was deeply satisfied.

Snowy walk, Jack and Nelson

In Jack’s pursuit of earth-scents, he isn’t exactly pursuing God. But he’s doing what God made him to do, which brings him deep satisfaction. And I know that if I would faithfully pursue God with that same dogged determination, my gains would be even greater than his.

“You, God, are my God; earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you. Your love is better than life. I will praise you as long as I live. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods.” (Parts of Psalm 63)