Creation addition

I forgot to put the song with the creation story.  It is worth listening to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF9aY49oQTs&feature=related

Creation

The dvd on the heavens at the beginning of the year has taken me 

back to the first book of the Bible where I found some new treasures.

Genesis one starts out with the words:  “In the Beginning”--now I could camp right here for awhile--

”God created the heavens and the earth”  But our big ball was nothing to speak of 

UNTIL the Spirit of God moved across the waters, UNTIL God spoke:

“Let there be light.” Day and night; evening and morning, 

the first day. (But no sun yet!)

“Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, 

and let it separate the waters from  the waters”  

God called the expanse “heaven.”  

(I have never heard anyone preach on this. I won’t go there.) 

The second day.

“Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together, 

and let the dry land appear.” Earth and Seas. 

“Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed,

 and fruit trees in which is their seed...  The third day.

“Let there be lights in the heavens to separate the day from the night. 

Let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years, 

and let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light 

upon the earth. Two great lights: the sun and the moon.” 

And then it says HE MADE THE STARS ALSO.  The Milky Way 

and all the other galaxies. The fourth day.

“Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, 

and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of heaven.”

 The fifth day.

“Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds--

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, 

after our likeness...”  It is the end of the sixth day.

Papa, you are awesome!  There has to be another word 

for “awesome” to give greater honor to You for the way 

You created the universe but particularly our little ball. 

Perhaps a few cartwheels would help! 

Maybe some fire works? 

I wish I could have had a ring side seat to watch our world and 

the heavens unfold at Your Word. That in itself reminds me 

of the verse in John 1:1 where Jesus is called the Word. 

Genesis 1:1-3 reveals to me The Father, The Spirit, The Son.

.

CS Lewis did a wonderful job imaging the creation 

in The Magicians Nephew:  “Out of the darkness a Voice 

began to sing and over Narnia the stars appeared

 and joined together also in song, and the land put forth green things

 and animals were birthed as the children watched.”

 (Now that is a loose paraphrase.) What imagination Lewis had!  

He has helped me to imagine “the beginnings.” 

Thank you, Papa, for all You have done for us.  


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qF9aY49oQTs&feature=related-- Indescribable!

Trivia on the blog and website

I am learning all kinds of things about this website and perhaps you do not know all the ins and outs. I found out that there are actually two websites:  One is the blog and the other is a real website with pictures, stories, purpose and resources. You can't get on to the latter from the blog.  You can get to the blog from the website.   If you bookmark the website then it is easy to check for new stories which I hope to post at least once a month.  If you have a story contact me through the box at the bottom of the front page of the website.  I am looking for stories.

When you are on the blog, you can share it, and follow it by going to the very top of the page and clicking on those words.  There are letters and other things below each post which allows you to take the post to your Face Book page or hit "like." There is also a comment button.  Actually, it is a pretty nifty blog page but it is not user friendly unless you are a pro at this sort of thing.  I am learning but I am definitely NOT a pro.

It has been fun to see where the blog goes as people put it on Face Book and share it with others--actually, I have no idea where it is going!  I do enjoy the comments that have come in.  So, share it, take it to your inbox, comment.  

Blessings and Happy New Year!

Jake

Jake is our Mini Aussie and for his whole life he has been fed twice a day. This morning as I was preparing his food, he was sitting behind me waiting for what he knew would come. In all of our seven years together I have never seen my dog beating his head against the wall in fear that he would starve. Sometimes I am late and he reminds me by throwing the empty bowl up in the air, but never any signs of anxiety that I will not feed him. 

I am not so trusting that my heavenly Father is both willing and able to provide my daily bread. He says to me that I am to take no thought about food because doesn’t he provide for the sparrows in mid-winter? And in regards to clothing, does not my heavenly Dad clothe the Lilies with glorious splendor even though some species of Lily bloom and die in one day?

Papa, I have such a warped view of your ability to take care of me in times of want. I live in a culture of such plenty and that skews the picture.  As I look through the generations I notice that they have survived very well with much less. I confess my unbelief when things get tough, when I feel that I am not as important to You as my dog is to me.  Really, Papa, that is the core issue; how important am I to You?  Do you really care about these small things? It brings me back to the basics and I give You my nothing for your everything.  

The Love of God

The movie on the Universe keeps rolling around inside. I cannot get my mind around the vast dimension of what we so blithely call “space.” You see God has to be bigger. He dwells outside of time, outside of creation. The God who said, “let there be...” is our Lord.  As I read through the creation story again I came to an abrupt stop with the words: 

“Then God said, ‘let us make man in our image, after our likeness...’ so God created man in his image, in the image of God created He him.” (Gen. 1:26,27)  

“Then the Lord formed man of the dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living creature. (Gen. 2:7)

The scripture goes on to say that God planted a garden for man. A garden! A place for man to explore; 

a place to enjoy. 

Papa, This is what undoes me:  The immensity of space juxtaposed to a garden on a planet the size of a dust ball. Not only did You plant a garden for the man You made, but You actually walked with him. Then You became one of us. How is it possible that the Creator of the entire Universe desires my fellowship? But you do!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6_S20SccIY The Love of God

 George Beverly Shea sang at Billy Graham Crusades. 

He is alive, well and living with his wife of 25 years.  Shea will be 103 years old this year.

Journey to the Edge of Creation

“The heavens declare the glory of God...”

This weekend, Glen and I viewed a documentary on the vastness of our universe as seen from technology that has opened up new windows of wonder and beauty. The pageantry depicted in the film was awesome! I wish I could turn this into the video, but some of the numbers might be of interest.

Distance was presented as light years. A light year is how far you can travel by the speed of light--186,000 miles per second--multiplied by 360 days at that speed.

If we left earth on Jan 1 going the speed of light, we would reach:

     The moon in 2.3 seconds

     Pass Mercury and Venus and the Sun in 8 min. 17 sec.

     Pass Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in 5 hrs and 31 min

We would have traveled 3 1/2 billion miles and it would still be Jan 1st.

In four years we would reach the nearest star--25 trillion miles out

     It would take 100 light years to be able to see the arms of the milky way

     It would take1,000 light years to reach the arms and the disc of the milky way

     It would take 100,000 years before we would be able to recognize each point of light 

            within the milky way itself.  

    We would find that each point of light is a galaxy not just a star.

5  million light years out and the milky way comes into focus at the center

It would take 10 billion years before we would be able to view the structure of the universe and see how it is 

filled with galaxies.

The sheer quantities:

     It is estimated that there are 100 billion galaxies in the universe. 

     Each galaxy contains 200 billion or more stars

     Our Milky way is but one galaxy!

The orbiting Hubble telescope shows the predictability and order of the Universe.  It has reshaped our view of the Cosmos.  It was not until 1924 that Astronomers believed there was anything beyond our Milky Way!

“The great book of the universe stands open unto our gaze, but we must understand the language in which it was written.”  Galileo

The light of God’s eternal power and truth is reflected in what He has made:

                                                           ...Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain...  Ps 104:2

The Universe gives man significance:

When I look at your heavens, the work

Of your fingers,

The moon and the stars, which you 

have set into place,

What is man that you

Are mindful of him,

And the son of man,

That you care for him?

You have made him a little lower

Than the heavenly beings

And crowned him with glory and honor.

Psalm 8:3-5

Amazon.com  Wonders of God's Creation  6 CD's for $34

New Years Day

The day was so sweet.  A pot of split pea soup bubbling on the stove; a violin concerto flowing from our Bose; afternoon tea on the back deck overlooking our little lake. We watched the birds, chickadees, nut hatches, cardinals fly in and out of the feeders;  appreciated the colorful pansies still blooming in the warm sunshine--in Virginia, on January 1st.  It can’t get any better than that!  Thank you, Lord.

(It was raining by 5PM)