Category Archives: Outdoor world

Frosty Frosting

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Today when we left church we were treated to an unusual sight: snow frozen in a mid-melt slide off the roof, fringed with icicles. I’ve tried to make cake frosting look exactly like that and know how difficult it is to make it stay. This mid-plummet freeze was truly beautiful.

Frosty Frosting

Later, I watched a short online video of something else that’s been frozen mid-tumble: the mighty Niagara Falls. Due to unprecedented sub-zero temps, the crashing water at the bottom has morphed into massive marshmallow-like sculptures of ice like never before.

Frozen falls.Our Creator keeps the whole world running, and most often he does it by way of his own natural laws. When it gets cold, water freezes. When the air warms, it melts. And sometimes I wonder if he looks at the dramatic effects of his seasonal extremes (like the frozen Niagara) and admires his handiwork.

Surely it brings him joy when we admire it.

Frozen falls..But we shouldn’t stop there. Looking at a frozen waterfall ought to prompt our admiration of not just what’s been created but of the One who created it. As we see photos of the falls, we ought to quickly breathe praise to God: “You’ve made a spectacular world, Lord! You are awesome!”

Without doubt this would please him.

Psalm 104 is a detailed description of God’s daily involvement in our physical world. The writer admires the way things grow, the behavior of wild animals, weather patterns, movements of the sun and moon, and God’s relationship to all of it.

Toward the end, after giving much thought to what’s been made, the psalmist writes, “May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.” (v. 34) He implies that thinking about what’s been created not only pleases God but wells up in his own heart as rejoicing.

And if we’re wondering what the Creator thinks about all this meditating and rejoicing over his world, the author writes, “May the Lord rejoice in his works.” (v. 31) So apparently He’s rejoicing, which means we should, too.

Freezing climbThis afternoon I enjoyed my virtual trip to Niagara Falls. Some people, though, want to do more than that. This month a professional ice climber named Will Gadd decided to be the first-ever to climb the ice-falls, and he carefully picked his way from bottom to top. I heard him marvel over the astounding beauty of his experience. He labeled it, “one of the highlights of my life.” Surely this brought a smile to the Creator.

As for me, I’m content just to praise the One whose natural laws formed the frosty frosting sliding over the edge of our church roof.

“How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all.” (Psalm 104:24)

 

“Hay” there!

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Back in the 1960’s, I spent 3 summers in California with dad’s brother’s family. My Uncle Edward and Aunt Joyce were always welcoming, not just to me but to many young people.

During those teenage summers, my cousins and I spent most of our time in a very small desert town named Hesperia, where my aunt and uncle had a vacation home. Just a few short blocks off Main Street, we were in the wilds of the Mojave Desert: tumble weed, cacti, Joshua trees, and endless sand.

When we weren’t working our day jobs, we took advantage of the wide open spaces to ride horses and then after dark, would pile into pick-up trucks to hunt kangaroo rats and rabbits.

Mojave Desert.

All this was heaven to a girl from the Chicago suburbs.

Hay buckersOur guy-friends worked as hay bucks, hooking 100-pound bales and stacking them in neat rows on a flatbed truck.

We girls often visited them on the job, bringing chocolate milk and cookies to wherever they were working. Sometimes they’d let us ride atop the bales, an experience much like leading a parade on a decorated float.

 

The other day while driving on a Chicago expressway, I spotted a truck piled high with hay bales, triggering the memories of those unforgettable summers in the ’60’s. As I drove along, I had fun reminiscing.

Hay.

Many people say that as we get older, we’re tempted to spend too much time looking back. Soon I’ll turn 70, which means more than 70% of my life will be history. But dwelling on that only leads to believing the lie that my “best years” are behind me.

None of that lines up with the way God wants me to think.

The Bible talks honestly about growing older and how our physical lives inevitably become more difficult. But he also shows us there’s a big difference between an oldster who partners with him and one who doesn’t.

If we’re following him, he wants us to have his perspective: that eternal life begins at the same time earthly life begins. Once a new life has been conceived, the soul never dies. And understanding this puts all of life on a smooth timeline moving seamlessly from life-now to life-then. If we believe this, the emotional burden that aging often brings is lifted, and every year can be a “best” year.

God also offers a deep inner calm, separate and apart from whatever the calendar says we ought to be feeling. And though reminiscing is fun, we should never shy away from eyeing the future… with confidence. As we follow God’s lead, we can continue learning and growing without any gaps — right into eternity.

Cousin GloAs for bales of hay in the Chicago suburbs? One day after those 3 spectacular summers had ended, our mailman brought me the best gift ever: a 100 pound bale of hay, sent all the way from Hesperia!

“He will not much remember the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with joy in his heart.” (Ecclesiastes 5:20)

Stopped Short

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It’s the middle of February, and here in Michigan we are in the firm grip of winter. Tonight’s forecast is for 9 degrees, and the road in front of my house is coated with clear, crunchy ice. Though our 16” of snow has compacted itself in recent days, outside the windows it’s still a winter wonderland.

Fudge ripple beachThe beach is especially striking in winter, looking every bit like a movie set with its frozen hills and icy creek. Wild winds have blended sand and snow till the landscape resembles chocolate ripple cake batter.

Amidst all this frosty splendor I was recently amazed by a winter-time sight along a Wisconsin expressway.

Frozen mid-streamThe highway was framed by rocky cliffs that had had water gently flowing in mini-waterfall fashion. Because of low temps, the water froze mid-drop, creating striking sculptures of ice. I could hardly stay on the road for wanting to stare at these remarkable formations.

They reminded me of the way God sometimes stops us in our tracks. Maybe we’re heading in a wrong direction or making an unwise decision that will lead to no place good. In trying to spare us heartbreak or failure, he thwarts our plans in-the-now. We get frustrated and feel exactly like those icy waterfalls look: completely stuck.

Though we thought we’d been on our way to something good, changing circumstances rearrange our plans, and we get stopped short of our goals. Then, when we can’t see beyond our jammed-up present to a free-flowing future, we feel trapped. And when that happens, it’s easy to blame God:

We say, “You could have made a way for me, but you chose to stop me instead, and that makes me mad.”

The reality is that somewhere down the road, when we’re in the middle of unique circumstances we couldn’t possibly have foreseen, we’ll look back at our anger over being stopped “prematurely” and be grateful we were.

Winter timeThough we may not arrive to God’s good plan quickly, he does promise he has plans that will “prosper us and give us a hopeful future.” So, since he said it, we believe it…. even when everything around us is still frozen solid.

“Be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and per- fect.” (Romans 12:2)